power law

power law (plural power laws)

1. (mathematics) A mathematical relationship in which the magnitude of something is proportional to a fixed power of the magnitude of something else (i.e. the relationship takes the form ${\displaystyle f(x)=ax^{k}}$ ). [from 20th c.]
   • 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 314:

     the death toll from a large number of small civil wars is lower than that from a few big interstate wars, to say nothing of world wars, consistent with the power-law distribution of deadly quarrels.