Peano on derivative of measures: strict derivative of distributive set functions (Q991050): Difference between revisions

From the authors' abstract: By tracing research on coexistent magnitudes (grandeurs coexistantes) by Cauchy (1841), Peano in Applicazioni geometriche del calcolo infinitesimale (1887) defines the `density' (strict derivative) of a `mass' (a distributive set function) with respect to a `volume' (a positive distributive set function), proves its continuity (whenever the strict derivative exists) and shows the validity of a mass-density paradigm: `mass' is recovered from `density' by integration with respect to `volume'. It is remarkable that Peano's strict derivative provides a consistent mathematical ground to the concept of `infinitesimal ratio' between two magnitudes, successfully used since Kepler. Among intriguing questions the authors of the article range finding out whether Lebesgue was aware of the contributions of Peano. The paper features historical results of serious and long investigations. For instance, dealing with the mean value theorem due to Jordan's Cours d'analyse (1884), Peano proves the difference between differentiable functions and functions with continuous derivative.