Little o Notation
Little o notation is a mathematical concept used in asymptotic analysis to describe the behavior of functions as they approach a limit, typically as the input grows large. Specifically, a function f(n) is said to be o(g(n)) if, for any positive constant \epsilon , there exists a value N such that for all n > N , the absolute value of f(n) is less than \epsilon \cdot g(n) . This indicates that f(n) grows significantly slower than g(n) .
In simpler terms, little o notation helps to compare the growth rates of two functions. If f(n) = o(g(n)) , it means that f(n) becomes negligible compared to g(n) as n increases. This is useful in computer science and mathematics for