ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Parabolic cylinder function

A parabolic cylinder function is a funny looking math thing that mathematicians like to play with. Think of it like a big slide at a park, only instead of going up and down, it goes side to side.

Scientists use this math thingy to figure out how things move and how they bounce around. It's like a tool they use to understand the world.

If you imagine a swimming pool and you toss a ball into it, the ball will make these ripples in the water. That's sort of like what a parabolic cylinder function does. It helps scientists figure out how the ripples move around and change over time.

It’s not something you would need to worry about, but it helps scientists to solve problems that they might not be able to without this equation.