Zustandsabhängiger

Zustandsabhängiger is a German adjective formed from Zustands- (state) and abhängig (dependent). It describes something that changes with or is determined by the current state of a system, condition, or context. In scientific and technical usage, it denotes properties, processes, or effects that are not fixed but vary with state variables such as temperature, pressure, phase, or cognitive or environmental state.

Typical phrases include zustandsabhängige Eigenschaften (state-dependent properties), zustandsabhängiger Prozess (state-dependent process), and zustandsabhängige Wahrscheinlichkeit (state-dependent probability). The corresponding noun is Zustandsabhängigkeit (state dependency); the opposite concept is Zustandsunabhängigkeit (state independence).

The base form is zustandsabhängig; zustandsabhängiger is the masculine nominative singular inflection used before a masculine noun, while other genders or cases yield zustandsabhängige, zustandsabhängiges, etc. The term is common across disciplines such as physics, chemistry, psychology, and computer science. In psychology, it appears in the concept of state-dependent memory, where retrieval is more reliable when the cognitive or physiological state at recall matches the state at encoding. In physics and chemistry, state-dependent properties can include transport coefficients or reaction rates that depend on the system’s current state.

Overall, zustandsabhängiger conveys that certain characteristics are contingent on the state of a system rather than intrinsic and fixed.

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