In statistics, a varimax rotation is used to simplify the expression of a particular sub-space in terms of just a few major items each.
Preserving orthogonality requires that it is a rotation that leaves the sub-space invariant.
If these conditions hold, the factor loading matrix is said to have "simple structure," and varimax rotation brings the loading matrix closer to such simple structure (as much as the data allow).
One way of expressing the varimax criterion formally is this: Suggested by Henry Felix Kaiser in 1958,[1] it is a popular scheme for orthogonal rotation (where all factors remain uncorrelated with one another).
This article incorporates public domain material from the National Institute of Standards and Technology