octave - In Matlab, There is a point after a variable what does this expression mean?

Question

I am looking into a octave/matlab code and find the following:

        deltaT = 1;                        % sampling period for data
        ......
        R = rcValues(2:2:end)/1000; % convert these also
        C = rcValues(3:2:end)*1000; % convert kF to F
        RCfact = exp(-deltaT./(R.*C));

What does the point (.) mean in -deltaT. and R. in this mathematical expression? Thanks

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65892108/in-matlab-there-is-a-point-after-a-variable-what-does-this-expression-mean

Answer 1

The dot operator is used to execute an operation on each element of a matrix. In your case, if deltaT and R are single elements, using the dot operator doesn't do anything. HOWEVER, if they were a matrix, then the operation would've been executed in each element of the matrix.

The operator is used with multiplication, division, and exponentiation.

For more info visit https://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/answers/506078-please-help-me-understand-the-use-of-dot-operator#accepted_answer_416043