Unary Math

Math · Transform

Apply a single-input transformation: absolute value, sign, negate, square root, natural log, exponential, or reciprocal (1/x). Domain failures (sqrt of negative, log of non-positive, 1/0) emit NaN.

Unary Math applies a single-input mathematical transform to a series: absolute value, sign, negate, square root, natural log, exponential, or reciprocal. These are the standard function-of-one-thing operations from maths, exposed as a block so you can reshape a series — take its magnitude, flip its sign, compress its scale — wherever a strategy needs it.

How it works

Wire a series (or Bars, using close) into the input and pick an Operation:

• abs — magnitude, drops the sign (|x|).
• sign — −1, 0, or +1 depending on direction.
• negate — flips the sign (−x).
• sqrt — square root (for scaling/variance work).
• log — natural log (compresses large values; the basis of log returns).
• exp — exponential (the inverse of log).
• reciprocal — 1/x.

Domain failures emit NaN — sqrt of a negative, log of a non-positive, or 1/0 simply produce "no value" rather than erroring.

When to use it

Use Unary Math to reshape a series mathematically. abs turns a signed spread into a magnitude ("how far apart, regardless of direction"). sign extracts pure direction from any series. log compresses a wide-ranging series or builds log-return constructions. negate flips an indicator to combine it with another. These are plumbing operations — reach for the one that does the transform your formula needs.

Example

Magnitude of a spread: build close − SMA with Subtract, then apply Unary Math abs to get the distance from the average regardless of side — feed that into a Greater Than to detect "price is far from its mean" in either direction. Backtest in the Tester.

Tips & gotchas

• Seven transforms in one — pick the function your formula needs.
• Domain failures → NaN (sqrt of negative, log of ≤0, 1/0) — no crashes, just no value.
• abs for magnitude, sign for direction — the two most-used in trading logic.
• log compresses scale — useful before combining a wide-ranging series with others.

Related blocks

• Scalar Math
• Subtract
• Standardize
• % Change

Inputs

Socket	Type	What to wire in
In	series / bars	Operand. BARS input uses close.

Outputs

Output	Type	Plots as	Description
f(A)	series	Line · sub-pane	Per-bar transformed value.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	What it does
Operation	choice (abs, sign, negate, sqrt, log, exp, reciprocal)	abs

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Reference auto-generated from the block catalog · category Math.