Kahan
Kahan is a surname. In science and technology, the name is most closely associated with the Kahan summation algorithm, a method for reducing numerical error when summing sequences of floating-point numbers. The algorithm was developed by computer scientist William Kahan, who contributed to the study of floating-point arithmetic and numerical analysis. It works by maintaining a small compensation term that captures lost low-order bits during each addition, improving accuracy for long or poorly scaled sums. The technique is widely taught in numerical analysis and has influenced implementations in scientific libraries and software that require precise accumulation of floating-point data.
Notable people with the surname include William Kahan, recognized for his work on floating-point arithmetic and