##  [Principal Component Analysis (PCA)](/principal-component-analysis-pca) 

  ##  [Principal Component Analysis (PCA)](https://natural.quantumdictionary.io/principal-component-analysis-pca-0) 

  

 [![Natural & Formal Sciences Dictionary](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2026-01/Natural%20%26%20Formal%20Sciences.png.webp?itok=2kCDRVQv)](/topic-specific-dictionaries/natural-formal-sciences)



**Natural & Formal Sciences Dictionary**

 







 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

Definition

A linear dimensionality-reduction method that finds orthogonal directions (principal components) in data space which successively maximize variance; computed via eigen-decomposition of the empirical covariance or singular value decomposition of the data matrix.