Wolfram MathWorld says “As used in physics, the term “exact” generally refers to a solution that captures the entire physics and mathematics of a problem as opposed to one that is approximate, perturbative, etc. Exact solutions therefore need not be closed-form.” But
As used in physics, the term “exact” generally refers to a solution that captures the entire physics and mathematics of a problem as opposed to one that is approximate, perturbative, etc. Exact solutions therefore need not be closed-form.
But Terry Tao seems to take "exact solution" to mean a closed form solution.
Is one of these very standard? Or does usage just vary on this point?
