Function (mathematics)In mathematics, a function from a set X to a set Y assigns to each element of X exactly one element of Y. The set X is called the domain of the function and the set Y is called the codomain of the function. Functions were originally the idealization of how a varying quantity depends on another quantity. For example, the position of a planet is a function of time. Historically, the concept was elaborated with the infinitesimal calculus at the end of the 17th century, and, until the 19th century, the functions that were considered were differentiable (that is, they had a high degree of regularity).
Analytic functionIn mathematics, an analytic function is a function that is locally given by a convergent power series. There exist both real analytic functions and complex analytic functions. Functions of each type are infinitely differentiable, but complex analytic functions exhibit properties that do not generally hold for real analytic functions. A function is analytic if and only if its Taylor series about converges to the function in some neighborhood for every in its domain.
Complex planeIn mathematics, the complex plane is the plane formed by the complex numbers, with a Cartesian coordinate system such that the x-axis, called the real axis, is formed by the real numbers, and the y-axis, called the imaginary axis, is formed by the imaginary numbers. The complex plane allows a geometric interpretation of complex numbers. Under addition, they add like vectors.
Ratio testIn mathematics, the ratio test is a test (or "criterion") for the convergence of a series where each term is a real or complex number and an is nonzero when n is large. The test was first published by Jean le Rond d'Alembert and is sometimes known as d'Alembert's ratio test or as the Cauchy ratio test. The usual form of the test makes use of the limit The ratio test states that: if L < 1 then the series converges absolutely; if L > 1 then the series diverges; if L = 1 or the limit fails to exist, then the test is inconclusive, because there exist both convergent and divergent series that satisfy this case.
Absolute convergenceIn mathematics, an infinite series of numbers is said to converge absolutely (or to be absolutely convergent) if the sum of the absolute values of the summands is finite. More precisely, a real or complex series is said to converge absolutely if for some real number Similarly, an improper integral of a function, is said to converge absolutely if the integral of the absolute value of the integrand is finite—that is, if Absolute convergence is important for the study of infinite series because its definition is strong enough to have properties of finite sums that not all convergent series possess – a convergent series that is not absolutely convergent is called conditionally convergent, while absolutely convergent series behave "nicely".
Root testIn mathematics, the root test is a criterion for the convergence (a convergence test) of an infinite series. It depends on the quantity where are the terms of the series, and states that the series converges absolutely if this quantity is less than one, but diverges if it is greater than one. It is particularly useful in connection with power series. The root test was developed first by Augustin-Louis Cauchy who published it in his textbook Cours d'analyse (1821). Thus, it is sometimes known as the Cauchy root test or Cauchy's radical test.
Limit (mathematics)In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function (or sequence) approaches as the input (or index) approaches some value. Limits are essential to calculus and mathematical analysis, and are used to define continuity, derivatives, and integrals. The concept of a limit of a sequence is further generalized to the concept of a limit of a topological net, and is closely related to and direct limit in . In formulas, a limit of a function is usually written as (although a few authors use "Lt" instead of "lim") and is read as "the limit of f of x as x approaches c equals L".
Taylor seriesIn mathematics, the Taylor series or Taylor expansion of a function is an infinite sum of terms that are expressed in terms of the function's derivatives at a single point. For most common functions, the function and the sum of its Taylor series are equal near this point. Taylor series are named after Brook Taylor, who introduced them in 1715. A Taylor series is also called a Maclaurin series when 0 is the point where the derivatives are considered, after Colin Maclaurin, who made extensive use of this special case of Taylor series in the mid-18th century.
Power seriesIn mathematics, a power series (in one variable) is an infinite series of the form where an represents the coefficient of the nth term and c is a constant. Power series are useful in mathematical analysis, where they arise as Taylor series of infinitely differentiable functions. In fact, Borel's theorem implies that every power series is the Taylor series of some smooth function. In many situations, c (the center of the series) is equal to zero, for instance when considering a Maclaurin series.
Series (mathematics)In mathematics, a series is, roughly speaking, 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.
Convergence testsIn mathematics, convergence tests are methods of testing for the convergence, conditional convergence, absolute convergence, interval of convergence or divergence of an infinite series . If the limit of the summand is undefined or nonzero, that is , then the series must diverge. In this sense, the partial sums are Cauchy only if this limit exists and is equal to zero. The test is inconclusive if the limit of the summand is zero. This is also known as the nth-term test, test for divergence, or the divergence test.
Analyticity of holomorphic functionsIn complex analysis, a complex-valued function of a complex variable : is said to be holomorphic at a point if it is differentiable at every point within some open disk centered at , and is said to be analytic at if in some open disk centered at it can be expanded as a convergent power series (this implies that the radius of convergence is positive). One of the most important theorems of complex analysis is that holomorphic functions are analytic and vice versa.
Convergent seriesIn mathematics, a series is the sum of the terms of an infinite sequence of numbers. More precisely, an infinite sequence defines a series S that is denoted The nth partial sum Sn is the sum of the first n terms of the sequence; that is, A series is convergent (or converges) if the sequence of its partial sums tends to a limit; that means that, when adding one after the other in the order given by the indices, one gets partial sums that become closer and closer to a given number.
Generating functionIn mathematics, a generating function is a way of encoding an infinite sequence of numbers (an) by treating them as the coefficients of a formal power series. This series is called the generating function of the sequence. Unlike an ordinary series, the formal power series is not required to converge: in fact, the generating function is not actually regarded as a function, and the "variable" remains an indeterminate. Generating functions were first introduced by Abraham de Moivre in 1730, in order to solve the general linear recurrence problem.
Holomorphic functionIn mathematics, a holomorphic function is a complex-valued function of one or more complex variables that is complex differentiable in a neighbourhood of each point in a domain in complex coordinate space Cn. The existence of a complex derivative in a neighbourhood is a very strong condition: it implies that a holomorphic function is infinitely differentiable and locally equal to its own Taylor series (analytic). Holomorphic functions are the central objects of study in complex analysis.
One-sided limitIn calculus, a one-sided limit refers to either one of the two limits of a function of a real variable as approaches a specified point either from the left or from the right. The limit as decreases in value approaching ( approaches "from the right" or "from above") can be denoted: The limit as increases in value approaching ( approaches "from the left" or "from below") can be denoted: If the limit of as approaches exists then the limits from the left and from the right both exist and are equal.
Abel's testIn mathematics, Abel's test (also known as Abel's criterion) is a method of testing for the convergence of an infinite series. The test is named after mathematician Niels Henrik Abel. There are two slightly different versions of Abel's test – one is used with series of real numbers, and the other is used with power series in complex analysis. Abel's uniform convergence test is a criterion for the uniform convergence of a series of functions dependent on parameters.
Uniform convergenceIn the mathematical field of analysis, uniform convergence is a mode of convergence of functions stronger than pointwise convergence. A sequence of functions converges uniformly to a limiting function on a set as the function domain if, given any arbitrarily small positive number , a number can be found such that each of the functions differs from by no more than at every point in .
Limit inferior and limit superiorIn mathematics, the limit inferior and limit superior of a sequence can be thought of as limiting (that is, eventual and extreme) bounds on the sequence. They can be thought of in a similar fashion for a function (see limit of a function). For a set, they are the infimum and supremum of the set's limit points, respectively. In general, when there are multiple objects around which a sequence, function, or set accumulates, the inferior and superior limits extract the smallest and largest of them; the type of object and the measure of size is context-dependent, but the notion of extreme limits is invariant.