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Asymptotic Approximation
In mathematical analysis, asymptotic analysis, also known as asymptotics, is a method of describing limiting behavior. As an illustration, suppose that we are interested in the properties of a function as becomes very large. If , then as becomes very large, the term becomes insignificant compared to . The function is said to be "''asymptotically equivalent'' to , as ". This is often written symbolically as , which is read as " is asymptotic to ". An example of an important asymptotic result is the prime number theorem. Let denote the prime-counting function (which is not directly related to the constant pi), i.e. is the number of prime numbers that are less than or equal to . Then the theorem states that \pi(x)\sim\frac. Asymptotic analysis is commonly used in computer science as part of the analysis of algorithms and is often expressed there in terms of big O notation. Definition Formally, given functions and , we define a binary relation f(x) \sim g(x) \quad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geometry
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a ''geometer''. Until the 19th century, geometry was almost exclusively devoted to Euclidean geometry, which includes the notions of point, line, plane, distance, angle, surface, and curve, as fundamental concepts. During the 19th century several discoveries enlarged dramatically the scope of geometry. One of the oldest such discoveries is Carl Friedrich Gauss' ("remarkable theorem") that asserts roughly that the Gaussian curvature of a surface is independent from any specific embedding in a Euclidean space. This implies that surfaces can be studied ''intrinsically'', that is, as stand-alone spaces, and has been expanded into the theory of manifolds and Riemannian geometry. Later in the 19th century, it appeared that geometries ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airy Function
In the physical sciences, the Airy function (or Airy function of the first kind) is a special function named after the British astronomer George Biddell Airy (1801–1892). The function and the related function , are linearly independent solutions to the differential equation \frac - xy = 0 , known as the Airy equation or the Stokes equation. This is the simplest second-order linear differential equation with a turning point (a point where the character of the solutions changes from oscillatory to exponential). Definitions For real values of ''x'', the Airy function of the first kind can be defined by the improper Riemann integral: \operatorname(x) = \dfrac\int_0^\infty\cos\left(\dfrac + xt\right)\, dt\equiv \dfrac \lim_ \int_0^b \cos\left(\dfrac + xt\right)\, dt, which converges by Dirichlet's test. For any real number x there is positive real number M such that function \dfrac3 + xt is increasing, unbounded and convex with continuous and unbounded derivative on interval lin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exponential Integral
In mathematics, the exponential integral Ei is a special function on the complex plane. It is defined as one particular definite integral of the ratio between an exponential function and its argument. Definitions For real non-zero values of ''x'', the exponential integral Ei(''x'') is defined as : \operatorname(x) = -\int_^\infty \fract\,dt = \int_^x \fract\,dt. The Risch algorithm shows that Ei is not an elementary function. The definition above can be used for positive values of ''x'', but the integral has to be understood in terms of the Cauchy principal value due to the singularity of the integrand at zero. For complex values of the argument, the definition becomes ambiguous due to branch points at 0 and Instead of Ei, the following notation is used, :E_1(z) = \int_z^\infty \frac\, dt,\qquad, (z), 0. Properties Several properties of the exponential integral below, in certain cases, allow one to avoid its explicit evaluation through the definition abov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Factorial
In mathematics, the double factorial or semifactorial of a number , denoted by , is the product of all the integers from 1 up to that have the same parity (odd or even) as . That is, :n!! = \prod_^ (n-2k) = n (n-2) (n-4) \cdots. For even , the double factorial is :n!! = \prod_^\frac (2k) = n(n-2)(n-4)\cdots 4\cdot 2 \,, and for odd it is :n!! = \prod_^\frac (2k-1) = n(n-2)(n-4)\cdots 3\cdot 1 \,. For example, . The zero double factorial as an empty product. The sequence of double factorials for even = starts as : 1, 2, 8, 48, 384, 3840, 46080, 645120,... The sequence of double factorials for odd = starts as : 1, 3, 15, 105, 945, 10395, 135135,... The term odd factorial is sometimes used for the double factorial of an odd number. History and usage In a 1902 paper, the physicist Arthur Schuster wrote: states that the double factorial was originally introduced in order to simplify the expression of certain trigonometric integrals that arise in the derivation of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Error Function
In mathematics, the error function (also called the Gauss error function), often denoted by , is a complex function of a complex variable defined as: :\operatorname z = \frac\int_0^z e^\,\mathrm dt. This integral is a special (non-elementary) sigmoid function that occurs often in probability, statistics, and partial differential equations. In many of these applications, the function argument is a real number. If the function argument is real, then the function value is also real. In statistics, for non-negative values of , the error function has the following interpretation: for a random variable that is normally distributed with mean 0 and standard deviation , is the probability that falls in the range . Two closely related functions are the complementary error function () defined as :\operatorname z = 1 - \operatorname z, and the imaginary error function () defined as :\operatorname z = -i\operatorname iz, where is the imaginary unit Name The name "error function ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exponential Integral
In mathematics, the exponential integral Ei is a special function on the complex plane. It is defined as one particular definite integral of the ratio between an exponential function and its argument. Definitions For real non-zero values of ''x'', the exponential integral Ei(''x'') is defined as : \operatorname(x) = -\int_^\infty \fract\,dt = \int_^x \fract\,dt. The Risch algorithm shows that Ei is not an elementary function. The definition above can be used for positive values of ''x'', but the integral has to be understood in terms of the Cauchy principal value due to the singularity of the integrand at zero. For complex values of the argument, the definition becomes ambiguous due to branch points at 0 and Instead of Ei, the following notation is used, :E_1(z) = \int_z^\infty \frac\, dt,\qquad, (z), 0. Properties Several properties of the exponential integral below, in certain cases, allow one to avoid its explicit evaluation through the definition abov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gamma Function
In mathematics, the gamma function (represented by , the capital letter gamma from the Greek alphabet) is one commonly used extension of the factorial function to complex numbers. The gamma function is defined for all complex numbers except the non-positive integers. For every positive integer , \Gamma(n) = (n-1)!\,. Derived by Daniel Bernoulli, for complex numbers with a positive real part, the gamma function is defined via a convergent improper integral: \Gamma(z) = \int_0^\infty t^ e^\,dt, \ \qquad \Re(z) > 0\,. The gamma function then is defined as the analytic continuation of this integral function to a meromorphic function that is holomorphic in the whole complex plane except zero and the negative integers, where the function has simple poles. The gamma function has no zeroes, so the reciprocal gamma function is an entire function. In fact, the gamma function corresponds to the Mellin transform of the negative exponential function: \Gamma(z) = \mathcal M \ (z ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abuse Of Notation
In mathematics, abuse of notation occurs when an author uses a mathematical notation in a way that is not entirely formally correct, but which might help simplify the exposition or suggest the correct intuition (while possibly minimizing errors and confusion at the same time). However, since the concept of formal/syntactical correctness depends on both time and context, certain notations in mathematics that are flagged as abuse in one context could be formally correct in one or more other contexts. Time-dependent abuses of notation may occur when novel notations are introduced to a theory some time before the theory is first formalized; these may be formally corrected by solidifying and/or otherwise improving the theory. ''Abuse of notation'' should be contrasted with ''misuse'' of notation, which does not have the presentational benefits of the former and should be avoided (such as the misuse of constants of integration). A related concept is abuse of language or abuse of termin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Asymptotic Scale
In mathematics, an asymptotic expansion, asymptotic series or Poincaré expansion (after Henri Poincaré) is a formal series of functions which has the property that truncating the series after a finite number of terms provides an approximation to a given function as the argument of the function tends towards a particular, often infinite, point. Investigations by revealed that the divergent part of an asymptotic expansion is latently meaningful, i.e. contains information about the exact value of the expanded function. The most common type of asymptotic expansion is a power series in either positive or negative powers. Methods of generating such expansions include the Euler–Maclaurin summation formula and integral transforms such as the Laplace and Mellin transforms. Repeated integration by parts will often lead to an asymptotic expansion. Since a '' convergent'' Taylor series fits the definition of asymptotic expansion as well, the phrase "asymptotic series" usually implies a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big O Notation
Big ''O'' notation is a mathematical notation that describes the limiting behavior of a function when the argument tends towards a particular value or infinity. Big O is a member of a family of notations invented by Paul Bachmann, Edmund Landau, and others, collectively called Bachmann–Landau notation or asymptotic notation. The letter O was chosen by Bachmann to stand for ''Ordnung'', meaning the order of approximation. In computer science, big O notation is used to classify algorithms according to how their run time or space requirements grow as the input size grows. In analytic number theory, big O notation is often used to express a bound on the difference between an arithmetical function and a better understood approximation; a famous example of such a difference is the remainder term in the prime number theorem. Big O notation is also used in many other fields to provide similar estimates. Big O notation characterizes functions according to their growth rates: d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Partial Sum
In mathematics, a series is, roughly speaking, a description of the operation of adding infinitely many quantities, one after the other, to a given starting quantity. The study of series is a major part of calculus and its generalization, mathematical analysis. Series are used in most areas of mathematics, even for studying finite structures (such as in combinatorics) through generating functions. In addition to their ubiquity in mathematics, infinite series are also widely used in other quantitative disciplines such as physics, computer science, statistics and finance. For a long time, the idea that such a potentially infinite summation could produce a finite result was considered paradoxical. This paradox was resolved using the concept of a limit during the 17th century. Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise illustrates this counterintuitive property of infinite sums: Achilles runs after a tortoise, but when he reaches the position of the tortoise at the beginning of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Series (mathematics)
In mathematics, a series is, roughly speaking, a description of the operation of adding infinitely many quantities, one after the other, to a given starting quantity. The study of series is a major part of calculus and its generalization, mathematical analysis. Series are used in most areas of mathematics, even for studying finite structures (such as in combinatorics) through generating functions. In addition to their ubiquity in mathematics, infinite series are also widely used in other quantitative disciplines such as physics, computer science, statistics and finance. For a long time, the idea that such a potentially infinite summation could produce a finite result was considered paradoxical. This paradox was resolved using the concept of a limit during the 17th century. Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise illustrates this counterintuitive property of infinite sums: Achilles runs after a tortoise, but when he reaches the position of the tortoise at the beginning of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
