abs(x) computes the absolute value of x, sqrt(x) computes the
(principal) square root of x, \(\sqrt{x}\). The naming follows the standard for computer languages such as C or Fortran.
Both are S4 generic and members of the
Math group generic.
Details
These are internal genericprimitive functions: methods
can be defined for them individually or via the
Math group generic. For complex
arguments (and the default method), z, abs(z) ==
Mod(z) and sqrt(z) == z^0.5. abs(x) returns an integer vector when x is
integer or logical.
References
Becker, R. A., Chambers, J. M. and Wilks, A. R. (1988)
The New S Language.
Wadsworth & Brooks/Cole.
See Also
Arithmetic for simple, log for logarithmic,
sin for trigonometric, and Special for
special mathematical functions. ‘plotmath’ for the use of sqrt in plot annotation.