How to interpret the residual function in functional linear regression?

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When I reading the

Functional Data Analysis

Writen by J.O. Ramsay B.W. Silverman.

At page 229, the author use the formula below to explain what is functional linear model,

$Prec_{mg}(t)=\mu(t)+\alpha_g(t)+\varepsilon_{mg}(t)$

And then the author said, $\varepsilon_{mg}(t)$ is the residual function.

I was confused that if we can use a function to specify the uncertainty, there should be no error then. I can not understand this point. Who can help me to explain this?