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In the mathematical fields of order and domain theory, a Scott domain is an algebraic, bounded-complete and directed-complete partial order (dcpo). They are named in honour of Dana S. Scott, who was the first to study these structures at the advent of domain theory. Scott domains are very closely related to algebraic lattices, being different only in possibly lacking a greatest element. They are also closely related to Scott information systems, which constitute a "syntactic" representation of Scott domains.
While the term "Scott domain" is widely used with the above definition, the term "domain" does not have such a generally accepted meaning and different authors will use different definitions; Scott himself used "domain" for the structures now called "Scott domains". Additionally, Scott domains appear with other names like "algebraic semilattice" in some publications.
Originally, Dana Scott demanded a complete lattice, and the Russian mathematician Yuri Yershov constructed the isomorphic structure of dcpo. But this was not recognized until after scientific communications improved after the fall of the Iron Curtain. In honour of their work, a number of mathematical papers now dub this fundamental construction a "Scott–Ershov" domain.