Radioactive decayRadioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay, all of which involve emitting particles. The weak force is the mechanism that is responsible for beta decay, while the other two are governed by the electromagnetism and nuclear force.
Pseudo-differential operatorIn mathematical analysis a pseudo-differential operator is an extension of the concept of differential operator. Pseudo-differential operators are used extensively in the theory of partial differential equations and quantum field theory, e.g. in mathematical models that include ultrametric pseudo-differential equations in a non-Archimedean space. The study of pseudo-differential operators began in the mid 1960s with the work of Kohn, Nirenberg, Hörmander, Unterberger and Bokobza.
Resolvent formalismIn mathematics, the resolvent formalism is a technique for applying concepts from complex analysis to the study of the spectrum of operators on Banach spaces and more general spaces. Formal justification for the manipulations can be found in the framework of holomorphic functional calculus. The resolvent captures the spectral properties of an operator in the analytic structure of the functional.
Hyperbolic partial differential equationIn mathematics, a hyperbolic partial differential equation of order is a partial differential equation (PDE) that, roughly speaking, has a well-posed initial value problem for the first derivatives. More precisely, the Cauchy problem can be locally solved for arbitrary initial data along any non-characteristic hypersurface. Many of the equations of mechanics are hyperbolic, and so the study of hyperbolic equations is of substantial contemporary interest. The model hyperbolic equation is the wave equation.
Burgers' equationBurgers' equation or Bateman–Burgers equation is a fundamental partial differential equation and convection–diffusion equation occurring in various areas of applied mathematics, such as fluid mechanics, nonlinear acoustics, gas dynamics, and traffic flow. The equation was first introduced by Harry Bateman in 1915 and later studied by Johannes Martinus Burgers in 1948. For a given field and diffusion coefficient (or kinematic viscosity, as in the original fluid mechanical context) , the general form of Burgers' equation (also known as viscous Burgers' equation) in one space dimension is the dissipative system: When the diffusion term is absent (i.
Method of characteristicsIn mathematics, the method of characteristics is a technique for solving partial differential equations. Typically, it applies to first-order equations, although more generally the method of characteristics is valid for any hyperbolic partial differential equation. The method is to reduce a partial differential equation to a family of ordinary differential equations along which the solution can be integrated from some initial data given on a suitable hypersurface.
Partial differential equationIn mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which computes a function between various partial derivatives of a multivariable function. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" to be solved for, similar to how x is thought of as an unknown number to be solved for in an algebraic equation like x2 − 3x + 2 = 0. However, it is usually impossible to write down explicit formulas for solutions of partial differential equations.
Hölder conditionIn mathematics, a real or complex-valued function f on d-dimensional Euclidean space satisfies a Hölder condition, or is Hölder continuous, when there are real constants C ≥ 0, α > 0, such that for all x and y in the domain of f. More generally, the condition can be formulated for functions between any two metric spaces. The number α is called the exponent of the Hölder condition. A function on an interval satisfying the condition with α > 1 is constant. If α = 1, then the function satisfies a Lipschitz condition.
Exponential decayA quantity is subject to exponential decay if it decreases at a rate proportional to its current value. Symbolically, this process can be expressed by the following differential equation, where N is the quantity and λ (lambda) is a positive rate called the exponential decay constant, disintegration constant, rate constant, or transformation constant: The solution to this equation (see derivation below) is: where N(t) is the quantity at time t, N0 = N(0) is the initial quantity, that is, the quantity at time t = 0.
Exponential functionThe exponential function is a mathematical function denoted by or (where the argument x is written as an exponent). Unless otherwise specified, the term generally refers to the positive-valued function of a real variable, although it can be extended to the complex numbers or generalized to other mathematical objects like matrices or Lie algebras. The exponential function originated from the notion of exponentiation (repeated multiplication), but modern definitions (there are several equivalent characterizations) allow it to be rigorously extended to all real arguments, including irrational numbers.
