A Cauchy-Dirac delta function (Q360434): Difference between revisions
From MaRDI portal
Created a new Item |
ReferenceBot (talk | contribs) Changed an Item |
||
(5 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Property / review text | |||
In his famous book [The principles of quantum mechanics. 4th ed. London: Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press (1958; Zbl 0080.22005)], the physicist \textit{Paul Dirac} introduced a mathematical object that is nowadays called the Dirac delta function, and which satisfies the relations \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty\delta(x)\,{\mathrm d}x=1\), and \(\delta(x)=0\) for \(x\neq 0\). It is well known that the delta function is not a function in a strict mathematical sense, and that a rigorous definition was provided by the theory of distributions. Dirac was not the first person dealing with objects of a similar nature, and the present paper traces the history back to Augustin Cauchy. As the authors explain, his ideas involved infinitesimal quantities. For example, Cauchy arrived at the formula \[ \frac{1}{2}\int_{a-\varepsilon}^{a+\varepsilon}F(\mu)\frac{\alpha\,{\mathrm d}\mu}{\alpha^2+(\mu-a)^2}=\frac{\pi}{2}F(a), \] which holds for any function \(F\) whenever \(\varepsilon\) and \(\alpha\) are infinitely small numbers. Nowadays, the function \(\mu\mapsto \frac{1}{\pi}\frac{\alpha}{\alpha^2+(\mu-a)^2}\) is known as the probability density function of the Cauchy distribution. The authors also point the readers' attention to a different example due to Cauchy, where a delta function appears outside the integral sign. The rest of the paper discusses various topics related to infinitesimals and the process of their rigorization. | |||
Property / review text: In his famous book [The principles of quantum mechanics. 4th ed. London: Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press (1958; Zbl 0080.22005)], the physicist \textit{Paul Dirac} introduced a mathematical object that is nowadays called the Dirac delta function, and which satisfies the relations \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty\delta(x)\,{\mathrm d}x=1\), and \(\delta(x)=0\) for \(x\neq 0\). It is well known that the delta function is not a function in a strict mathematical sense, and that a rigorous definition was provided by the theory of distributions. Dirac was not the first person dealing with objects of a similar nature, and the present paper traces the history back to Augustin Cauchy. As the authors explain, his ideas involved infinitesimal quantities. For example, Cauchy arrived at the formula \[ \frac{1}{2}\int_{a-\varepsilon}^{a+\varepsilon}F(\mu)\frac{\alpha\,{\mathrm d}\mu}{\alpha^2+(\mu-a)^2}=\frac{\pi}{2}F(a), \] which holds for any function \(F\) whenever \(\varepsilon\) and \(\alpha\) are infinitely small numbers. Nowadays, the function \(\mu\mapsto \frac{1}{\pi}\frac{\alpha}{\alpha^2+(\mu-a)^2}\) is known as the probability density function of the Cauchy distribution. The authors also point the readers' attention to a different example due to Cauchy, where a delta function appears outside the integral sign. The rest of the paper discusses various topics related to infinitesimals and the process of their rigorization. / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / reviewed by | |||
Property / reviewed by: Antonín Slavík / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID | |||
Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A55 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID | |||
Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A60 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID | |||
Property / Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 26-03 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / zbMATH DE Number | |||
Property / zbMATH DE Number: 6201721 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords | |||
delta function | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: delta function / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords | |||
Heaviside function | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: Heaviside function / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords | |||
Cauchy | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: Cauchy / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords | |||
Dirac | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: Dirac / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords | |||
hyperreals | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: hyperreals / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords | |||
infinitesimal | |||
Property / zbMATH Keywords: infinitesimal / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / MaRDI profile type | |||
Property / MaRDI profile type: MaRDI publication profile / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / OpenAlex ID | |||
Property / OpenAlex ID: W2037255590 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / arXiv ID | |||
Property / arXiv ID: 1206.0119 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q3742397 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Intermolecular forces of infinite range and the Boltzmann equation / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Nonstandard Analysis / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: God, king, and geometry: revisiting the introduction to Cauchy's \textit{Cours d'analyse} / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Ten misconceptions from the history of analysis and their debunking / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: An integer construction of infinitesimals: toward a theory of eudoxus hyperreals / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Who gave you the Cauchy-Weierstrass tale? The dual history of rigorous calculus / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q5789057 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: A new look at e.g. Björling and the Cauchy sum theorem / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: On Cauchy's Notion of Infinitesimal / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q5275450 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q4836486 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q3247887 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: The rise of non-Archimedean mathematics and the roots of a misconception. I: The emergence of non-Archimedean systems of magnitudes / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: CAUCHY'S VARIABLES AND ORDERS OF THE INFINITELY SMALL / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: The infinite and infinitesimal quantities of du Bois-Reymond and their reception / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Infinitesimals without logic / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q5676673 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q3532871 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q3023325 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Rings of Real-Valued Continuous Functions. I / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Cauchy's Continuum / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Stevin numbers and reality / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: A Burgessian critique of nominalistic tendencies in contemporary mathematics and its historiography / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Commuting and Noncommuting Infinitesimals / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Leibniz's infinitesimals: their fictionality, their modern implementations, and their foes from Berkeley to Russell and beyond / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Leibniz’s Laws of Continuity and Homogeneity / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q3801804 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q2715601 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Infinitely small quantities in Cauchy's textbooks / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Definite values of infinite sums: Aspects of the foundations of infinitesimal analysis around 1820 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Early delta functions and the use of infinitesimals in research / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Infinitesimals / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Dirac Delta Functions Via Nonstandard Analysis / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Internal set theory: A new approach to nonstandard analysis / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q4657422 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: A mathematical framework for Dirac's calculus / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Q3284604 / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: On the distribution of certain algebraic integers / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Numbers and models, standard and nonstandard / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Eine Erweiterung der Infinitesimalrechnung / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: The wake of Berkeley's analyst: Rigor mathematicae? / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Cauchy et Bolzano / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Über die Nicht-charakterisierbarkeit der Zahlenreihe mittels endlich oder abzählbar unendlich vieler Aussagen mit ausschliesslich Zahlenvariablen / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Dirac space / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: A Nonstandard Delta Function / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
Property / cites work | |||
Property / cites work: Comment on “Pointwise analysis of scalar fields: A nonstandard approach” [J. Math. Phys. 47, 092301 (2006)] / rank | |||
Normal rank | |||
links / mardi / name | links / mardi / name | ||
Latest revision as of 18:46, 6 July 2024
scientific article
Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
---|---|---|---|
English | A Cauchy-Dirac delta function |
scientific article |
Statements
A Cauchy-Dirac delta function (English)
0 references
27 August 2013
0 references
In his famous book [The principles of quantum mechanics. 4th ed. London: Clarendon Press, Oxford University Press (1958; Zbl 0080.22005)], the physicist \textit{Paul Dirac} introduced a mathematical object that is nowadays called the Dirac delta function, and which satisfies the relations \(\int_{-\infty}^\infty\delta(x)\,{\mathrm d}x=1\), and \(\delta(x)=0\) for \(x\neq 0\). It is well known that the delta function is not a function in a strict mathematical sense, and that a rigorous definition was provided by the theory of distributions. Dirac was not the first person dealing with objects of a similar nature, and the present paper traces the history back to Augustin Cauchy. As the authors explain, his ideas involved infinitesimal quantities. For example, Cauchy arrived at the formula \[ \frac{1}{2}\int_{a-\varepsilon}^{a+\varepsilon}F(\mu)\frac{\alpha\,{\mathrm d}\mu}{\alpha^2+(\mu-a)^2}=\frac{\pi}{2}F(a), \] which holds for any function \(F\) whenever \(\varepsilon\) and \(\alpha\) are infinitely small numbers. Nowadays, the function \(\mu\mapsto \frac{1}{\pi}\frac{\alpha}{\alpha^2+(\mu-a)^2}\) is known as the probability density function of the Cauchy distribution. The authors also point the readers' attention to a different example due to Cauchy, where a delta function appears outside the integral sign. The rest of the paper discusses various topics related to infinitesimals and the process of their rigorization.
0 references
delta function
0 references
Heaviside function
0 references
Cauchy
0 references
Dirac
0 references
hyperreals
0 references
infinitesimal
0 references
0 references
0 references
0 references