adjacency matrix

This term is a technical specification used primarily in graph theory, computer science, and network analysis. It describes a binary or weighted representation of a graph's connectivity, where the row and column indices correspond to vertices. The primary utility of this structure is to allow for rapid lookup of whether an edge exists between two specific nodes.

In practical application, the term is almost exclusively used in formal academic or technical documentation. It is distinct from an adjacency list, which is a more memory-efficient way of storing the same graph data. While an adjacency matrix is a square array, it is conceptually treated as a single mathematical entity rather than a collection of individual matrices in most contexts.