Markov process

Mark´ov pro`cess

n.

1.

(Statistics) a random process in which the probabilities of states in a series depend only on the properties of the immediately preceding state or the next preceeding state, independent of the path by which the preceding state was reached. It is distinguished from a Markov chain in that the states of a Markov process may be continuous as well as discrete.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

Markov process - a simple stochastic process in which the distribution of future states depends only on the present state and not on how it arrived in the present state Markoff process Markoff chain, Markov chain - a Markov process for which the parameter is discrete time values stochastic process - a statistical process involving a number of random variables depending on a variable parameter (which is usually time)