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In
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, the qualifier pointwise is used to indicate that a certain property is defined by considering each value f(x) of some function f. An important class of pointwise concepts are the ''pointwise operations'', that is, operations defined on functions by applying the operations to function values separately for each point in the
domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * Do ...
of definition. Important relations can also be defined pointwise.


Pointwise operations


Formal definition

A binary operation on a set can be lifted pointwise to an operation on the set of all functions from to as follows: Given two functions and , define the function by Commonly, ''o'' and ''O'' are denoted by the same symbol. A similar definition is used for unary operations ''o'', and for operations of other
arity Arity () is the number of arguments or operands taken by a function, operation or relation in logic, mathematics, and computer science. In mathematics, arity may also be named ''rank'', but this word can have many other meanings in mathematics. In ...
.


Examples

\begin (f+g)(x) & = f(x)+g(x) & \text \\ (f\cdot g)(x) & = f(x) \cdot g(x) & \text \\ (\lambda \cdot f)(x) & = \lambda \cdot f(x) & \text \end where f, g : X \to R. See also
pointwise product In mathematics, the pointwise product of two functions is another function, obtained by multiplying the images of the two functions at each value in the domain. If and are both functions with domain and codomain , and elements of can be mul ...
, and
scalar Scalar may refer to: *Scalar (mathematics), an element of a field, which is used to define a vector space, usually the field of real numbers * Scalar (physics), a physical quantity that can be described by a single element of a number field such ...
. An example of an operation on functions which is ''not'' pointwise is
convolution In mathematics (in particular, functional analysis), convolution is a operation (mathematics), mathematical operation on two function (mathematics), functions ( and ) that produces a third function (f*g) that expresses how the shape of one is ...
.


Properties

Pointwise operations inherit such properties as
associativity In mathematics, the associative property is a property of some binary operations, which means that rearranging the parentheses in an expression will not change the result. In propositional logic, associativity is a valid rule of replacement f ...
,
commutativity In mathematics, a binary operation is commutative if changing the order of the operands does not change the result. It is a fundamental property of many binary operations, and many mathematical proofs depend on it. Most familiar as the name of ...
and
distributivity In mathematics, the distributive property of binary operations generalizes the distributive law, which asserts that the equality x \cdot (y + z) = x \cdot y + x \cdot z is always true in elementary algebra. For example, in elementary arithmetic, ...
from corresponding operations on the
codomain In mathematics, the codomain or set of destination of a function is the set into which all of the output of the function is constrained to fall. It is the set in the notation . The term range is sometimes ambiguously used to refer to either the ...
. If A is some
algebraic structure In mathematics, an algebraic structure consists of a nonempty set ''A'' (called the underlying set, carrier set or domain), a collection of operations on ''A'' (typically binary operations such as addition and multiplication), and a finite set of ...
, the set of all functions X to the
carrier set In mathematics, an algebraic structure consists of a nonempty set ''A'' (called the underlying set, carrier set or domain), a collection of operations on ''A'' (typically binary operations such as addition and multiplication), and a finite set ...
of A can be turned into an algebraic structure of the same type in an analogous way.


Componentwise operations

Componentwise operations are usually defined on vectors, where vectors are elements of the set K^n for some
natural number In mathematics, the natural numbers are those numbers used for counting (as in "there are ''six'' coins on the table") and ordering (as in "this is the ''third'' largest city in the country"). Numbers used for counting are called ''Cardinal n ...
n and some
field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...
K. If we denote the i-th component of any vector v as v_i, then componentwise addition is (u+v)_i = u_i+v_i. Componentwise operations can be defined on matrices. Matrix addition, where (A + B)_ = A_ + B_ is a componentwise operation while
matrix multiplication In mathematics, particularly in linear algebra, matrix multiplication is a binary operation that produces a matrix from two matrices. For matrix multiplication, the number of columns in the first matrix must be equal to the number of rows in the s ...
is not. A
tuple In mathematics, a tuple is a finite ordered list (sequence) of elements. An -tuple is a sequence (or ordered list) of elements, where is a non-negative integer. There is only one 0-tuple, referred to as ''the empty tuple''. An -tuple is defi ...
can be regarded as a function, and a vector is a tuple. Therefore, any vector v corresponds to the function f:n\to K such that f(i)=v_i, and any componentwise operation on vectors is the pointwise operation on functions corresponding to those vectors.


Pointwise relations

In
order theory Order theory is a branch of mathematics that investigates the intuitive notion of order using binary relations. It provides a formal framework for describing statements such as "this is less than that" or "this precedes that". This article intr ...
it is common to define a pointwise
partial order In mathematics, especially order theory, a partially ordered set (also poset) formalizes and generalizes the intuitive concept of an ordering, sequencing, or arrangement of the elements of a set. A poset consists of a set together with a binary ...
on functions. With ''A'', ''B'' posets, the set of functions ''A'' → ''B'' can be ordered by ''f'' ≤ ''g'' if and only if (∀''x'' ∈ A) ''f''(''x'') ≤ ''g''(''x''). Pointwise orders also inherit some properties of the underlying posets. For instance if A and B are
continuous lattice In order theory, a continuous poset is a partially ordered set in which every element is the directed supremum of elements approximating it. Definitions Let a,b\in P be two elements of a preordered set (P,\lesssim). Then we say that a approxim ...
s, then so is the set of functions ''A'' → ''B'' with pointwise order. Using the pointwise order on functions one can concisely define other important notions, for instance:Gierz, et al., p. 26 * A ''
closure operator In mathematics, a closure operator on a set ''S'' is a function \operatorname: \mathcal(S)\rightarrow \mathcal(S) from the power set of ''S'' to itself that satisfies the following conditions for all sets X,Y\subseteq S : Closure operators are dete ...
'' ''c'' on a poset ''P'' is a
monotone Monotone refers to a sound, for example music or speech, that has a single unvaried tone. See: monophony. Monotone or monotonicity may also refer to: In economics *Monotone preferences, a property of a consumer's preference ordering. *Monotonic ...
and
idempotent Idempotence (, ) is the property of certain operation (mathematics), operations in mathematics and computer science whereby they can be applied multiple times without changing the result beyond the initial application. The concept of idempotence ...
self-map on ''P'' (i.e. a
projection operator In linear algebra and functional analysis, a projection is a linear transformation P from a vector space to itself (an endomorphism) such that P\circ P=P. That is, whenever P is applied twice to any vector, it gives the same result as if it wer ...
) with the additional property that id''A'' ≤ ''c'', where id is the
identity function Graph of the identity function on the real numbers In mathematics, an identity function, also called an identity relation, identity map or identity transformation, is a function that always returns the value that was used as its argument, un ...
. * Similarly, a projection operator ''k'' is called a ''
kernel operator In mathematics, a closure operator on a set ''S'' is a function \operatorname: \mathcal(S)\rightarrow \mathcal(S) from the power set of ''S'' to itself that satisfies the following conditions for all sets X,Y\subseteq S : Closure operators are de ...
'' if and only if ''k'' ≤ id''A''. An example of an
infinitary In mathematics and logic, an operation is finitary if it has finite arity, i.e. if it has a finite number of input values. Similarly, an infinitary operation is one with an infinite number of input values. In standard mathematics, an operation ...
pointwise relation is
pointwise convergence In mathematics, pointwise convergence is one of Modes of convergence (annotated index), various senses in which a sequence of functions can Limit (mathematics), converge to a particular function. It is weaker than uniform convergence, to which it i ...
of functions—a
sequence In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is calle ...
of functions (f_n)_^\infty with f_n:X \longrightarrow Y converges pointwise to a function f if for each x in X \lim_ f_n(x) = f(x).


Notes


References

''For order theory examples:'' * T. S. Blyth, ''Lattices and Ordered Algebraic Structures'', Springer, 2005, . * G. Gierz, K. H. Hofmann, K. Keimel, J. D. Lawson, M. Mislove,
D. S. Scott Dana Stewart Scott (born October 11, 1932) is an American logician who is the emeritus Hillman University Professor of Computer Science, Philosophy, and Mathematical Logic at Carnegie Mellon University; he is now retired and lives in Berkeley, ...
: ''Continuous Lattices and Domains'', Cambridge University Press, 2003. {{PlanetMath attribution, id=7260, title=Pointwise Mathematical terminology