Partial derivativeIn mathematics, a partial derivative of a function of several variables is its derivative with respect to one of those variables, with the others held constant (as opposed to the total derivative, in which all variables are allowed to vary). Partial derivatives are used in vector calculus and differential geometry. The partial derivative of a function with respect to the variable is variously denoted by It can be thought of as the rate of change of the function in the -direction.
Covariant derivativeIn mathematics, the covariant derivative is a way of specifying a derivative along tangent vectors of a manifold. Alternatively, the covariant derivative is a way of introducing and working with a connection on a manifold by means of a differential operator, to be contrasted with the approach given by a principal connection on the frame bundle – see affine connection. In the special case of a manifold isometrically embedded into a higher-dimensional Euclidean space, the covariant derivative can be viewed as the orthogonal projection of the Euclidean directional derivative onto the manifold's tangent space.
Riemann mapping theoremIn complex analysis, the Riemann mapping theorem states that if is a non-empty simply connected open subset of the complex number plane which is not all of , then there exists a biholomorphic mapping (i.e. a bijective holomorphic mapping whose inverse is also holomorphic) from onto the open unit disk This mapping is known as a Riemann mapping. Intuitively, the condition that be simply connected means that does not contain any “holes”. The fact that is biholomorphic implies that it is a conformal map and therefore angle-preserving.
Symmetry of second derivativesIn mathematics, the symmetry of second derivatives (also called the equality of mixed partials) refers to the possibility of interchanging the order of taking partial derivatives of a function of n variables without changing the result under certain conditions (see below). The symmetry is the assertion that the second-order partial derivatives satisfy the identity so that they form an n × n symmetric matrix, known as the function's Hessian matrix.
PiecewiseIn mathematics, a piecewise-defined function (also called a piecewise function, a hybrid function, or definition by cases) is a function defined by multiple sub-functions, where each sub-function applies to a different interval in the domain. Piecewise definition is actually a way of expressing the function, rather than a characteristic of the function itself. A distinct, but related notion is that of a property holding piecewise for a function, used when the domain can be divided into intervals on which the property holds.
Sign functionIn mathematics, the sign function or signum function (from signum, Latin for "sign") is a function that returns the sign of a real number. In mathematical notation the sign function is often represented as . The signum function of a real number is a piecewise function which is defined as follows: Any real number can be expressed as the product of its absolute value and its sign function: It follows that whenever is not equal to 0 we have Similarly, for any real number , We can also ascertain that: The signum function is the derivative of the absolute value function, up to (but not including) the indeterminacy at zero.
Edge detectionEdge detection includes a variety of mathematical methods that aim at identifying edges, curves in a at which the image brightness changes sharply or, more formally, has discontinuities. The same problem of finding discontinuities in one-dimensional signals is known as step detection and the problem of finding signal discontinuities over time is known as change detection. Edge detection is a fundamental tool in , machine vision and computer vision, particularly in the areas of feature detection and feature extraction.
Gibbs phenomenonIn mathematics, the Gibbs phenomenon is the oscillatory behavior of the Fourier series of a piecewise continuously differentiable periodic function around a jump discontinuity. The th partial Fourier series of the function (formed by summing the lowest constituent sinusoids of the Fourier series of the function) produces large peaks around the jump which overshoot and undershoot the function values.
Step functionIn mathematics, a function on the real numbers is called a step function if it can be written as a finite linear combination of indicator functions of intervals. Informally speaking, a step function is a piecewise constant function having only finitely many pieces. A function is called a step function if it can be written as for all real numbers where , are real numbers, are intervals, and is the indicator function of : In this definition, the intervals can be assumed to have the following two properties: The intervals are pairwise disjoint: for The union of the intervals is the entire real line: Indeed, if that is not the case to start with, a different set of intervals can be picked for which these assumptions hold.
Step responseThe step response of a system in a given initial state consists of the time evolution of its outputs when its control inputs are Heaviside step functions. In electronic engineering and control theory, step response is the time behaviour of the outputs of a general system when its inputs change from zero to one in a very short time. The concept can be extended to the abstract mathematical notion of a dynamical system using an evolution parameter.
