👉 In mathematics, an exponential function or simply "exp" is a mathematical function that maps real numbers to non-negative integers. It's often used in cryptography and algebraic number theory. For example, consider the exponential function: \[ f(x) = 2^x \] This function represents how many times you need to multiply 2 by itself (or equivalently, how many times 2 can be divided into) until it becomes greater than or equal to some given value. In other words