Editing Differential (mathematics) (section)

== Other meanings ==
The term ''differential'' has also been adopted in homological algebra and algebraic topology, because of the role the exterior derivative plays in de Rham cohomology: in a [[cochain complex]] <math>(C_\bullet, d_\bullet),</math> the maps (or ''coboundary operators'') ''d<sub>i</sub>'' are often called differentials. Dually, the boundary operators in a chain complex are sometimes called ''codifferentials''.

The properties of the differential also motivate the algebraic notions of a ''[[derivation (abstract algebra)|derivation]]'' and a ''[[differential algebra]]''.