Vector Math

This section covers vector math and vector manipulation functions.

Arrays

Arrays can be created with the array function.

For example, the expression below creates a numeric array with three elements:

array(1, 2, 3)

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with a JSON array:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": [
          1,
          2,
          3
        ]
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

Array Operations

Arrays can be passed as parameters to functions that operate on arrays.

For example, an array can be reversed with the rev function:

rev(array(1, 2, 3))

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": [
          3,
          2,
          1
        ]
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

Another example is the length function, which returns the length of an array:

length(array(1, 2, 3))

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": 3
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

A slice of an array can be taken with the copyOfRange function, which copies elements of an array from a start and end range.

copyOfRange(array(1,2,3,4,5,6), 1, 4)

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": [
          2,
          3,
          4
        ]
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

Vector Summarizations and Norms

There are a set of functions that perform summarizations and return norms of arrays. These functions operate over an array and return a single value. The following vector summarizations and norm functions are available: mult, add, sumSq, mean, l1norm, l2norm, linfnorm.

The example below shows the mult function, which multiples all the values of an array.

mult(array(2,4,8))

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": 64
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

The vector norm functions provide different formulas for calculating vector magnitude.

The example below calculates the l2norm of an array.

l2norm(array(2,4,8))

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": 9.16515138991168
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

Scalar Vector Math

Scalar vector math functions add, subtract, multiply or divide a scalar value with every value in a vector. The following functions perform these operations: scalarAdd, scalarSubtract, scalarMultiply and scalarDivide.

Below is an example of the scalarMultiply function, which multiplies the scalar value 3 with every value of an array.

scalarMultiply(3, array(1,2,3))

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": [
          3,
          6,
          9
        ]
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 0
      }
    ]
  }
}

Element-By-Element Vector Math

Two vectors can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided using element-by-element vector math functions. The available element-by-element vector math functions are: ebeAdd, ebeSubtract, ebeMultiply, ebeDivide.

The expression below performs the element-by-element subtraction of two arrays.

ebeSubtract(array(10, 15, 20), array(1,2,3))

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": [
          9,
          13,
          17
        ]
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 5
      }
    ]
  }
}

Dot Product and Cosine Similarity

The dotProduct and cosineSimilarity functions are often used as similarity measures between two sparse vectors. The dotProduct is a measure of both angle and magnitude while cosineSimilarity is a measure only of angle.

Below is an example of the dotProduct function:

dotProduct(array(2,3,0,0,0,1), array(2,0,1,0,0,3))

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": 7
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 15
      }
    ]
  }
}

Below is an example of the cosineSimilarity function:

cosineSimilarity(array(2,3,0,0,0,1), array(2,0,1,0,0,3))

When this expression is sent to the /stream handler it responds with:

{
  "result-set": {
    "docs": [
      {
        "return-value": 0.5
      },
      {
        "EOF": true,
        "RESPONSE_TIME": 7
      }
    ]
  }
}