tanh

9.3

A math function that changes numbers to values between -1 and 1 and is used in computing

noun
/tæn/

Specialized

: tangente hiperbólica

We put the cell state through tanh to push the values to be between -1 and 1.

Examples

The model has the form carbon production, in mg-m4.d-, equal to 17.5 x tanh(43.4 x PAR at 10 m, in mol-m-2.d-/17.5).

Academic text (1999)
To normalize the data, we apply the tanh function so that the values range between -1 and 1.
F = I1 / (I1 + I2) = 1/2 + tanh(u),

Academic text (2002)
In machine learning, the activation function often used is tanh because it helps to reduce the effects of vanishing gradients.
You can use the tanh function to smoothly transform inputs in neural networks.

Surface Forms

tanh singular

tanh plural

Etymology

Tanh is a short form of hyper- + tangent. Think of hyper- like in hyperactive, meaning 'extra' or 'over', and tangent like the phrase 'go off on a tangent', so tanh is the 'hyperbolic tangent' — a smooth, 'stretched' version of the usual tangent that keeps values between -1 and 1, which is why it is useful in math and computer science.