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.
Trigonometric functionsIn mathematics, the trigonometric functions (also called circular functions, angle functions or goniometric functions) are real functions which relate an angle of a right-angled triangle to ratios of two side lengths. They are widely used in all sciences that are related to geometry, such as navigation, solid mechanics, celestial mechanics, geodesy, and many others. They are among the simplest periodic functions, and as such are also widely used for studying periodic phenomena through Fourier analysis.
Legendre polynomialsIn mathematics, Legendre polynomials, named after Adrien-Marie Legendre (1782), are a system of complete and orthogonal polynomials with a vast number of mathematical properties and numerous applications. They can be defined in many ways, and the various definitions highlight different aspects as well as suggest generalizations and connections to different mathematical structures and physical and numerical applications. Closely related to the Legendre polynomials are associated Legendre polynomials, Legendre functions, Legendre functions of the second kind, and associated Legendre functions.
Polynomial interpolationIn numerical analysis, polynomial interpolation is the interpolation of a given bivariate data set by the polynomial of lowest possible degree that passes through the points of the dataset. Given a set of n + 1 data points , with no two the same, a polynomial function is said to interpolate the data if for each . There is always a unique such polynomial, commonly given by two explicit formulas, the Lagrange polynomials and Newton polynomials.
Taylor's theoremIn calculus, Taylor's theorem gives an approximation of a -times differentiable function around a given point by a polynomial of degree , called the -th-order Taylor polynomial. For a smooth function, the Taylor polynomial is the truncation at the order of the Taylor series of the function. The first-order Taylor polynomial is the linear approximation of the function, and the second-order Taylor polynomial is often referred to as the quadratic approximation.
Inverse trigonometric functionsIn mathematics, the inverse trigonometric functions (occasionally also called arcus functions, antitrigonometric functions or cyclometric functions) are the inverse functions of the trigonometric functions (with suitably restricted domains). Specifically, they are the inverses of the sine, cosine, tangent, cotangent, secant, and cosecant functions, and are used to obtain an angle from any of the angle's trigonometric ratios. Inverse trigonometric functions are widely used in engineering, navigation, physics, and geometry.
DerivativeIn mathematics, the derivative shows the sensitivity of change of a function's output with respect to the input. Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. For example, the derivative of the position of a moving object with respect to time is the object's velocity: this measures how quickly the position of the object changes when time advances. The derivative of a function of a single variable at a chosen input value, when it exists, is the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the function at that point.
LogarithmIn mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means that the logarithm of a number x to the base b is the exponent to which b must be raised to produce x. For example, since 1000 = 103, the logarithm base 10 of 1000 is 3, or log10 (1000) = 3. The logarithm of x to base b is denoted as logb (x), or without parentheses, logb x, or even without the explicit base, log x, when no confusion is possible, or when the base does not matter such as in big O notation.
TrigonometryTrigonometry () is a branch of mathematics concerned with relationships between angles and ratios of lengths. The field emerged in the Hellenistic world during the 3rd century BC from applications of geometry to astronomical studies. The Greeks focused on the calculation of chords, while mathematicians in India created the earliest-known tables of values for trigonometric ratios (also called trigonometric functions) such as sine. Throughout history, trigonometry has been applied in areas such as geodesy, surveying, celestial mechanics, and navigation.
Hermite polynomialsIn mathematics, the Hermite polynomials are a classical orthogonal polynomial sequence. The polynomials arise in: signal processing as Hermitian wavelets for wavelet transform analysis probability, such as the Edgeworth series, as well as in connection with Brownian motion; combinatorics, as an example of an Appell sequence, obeying the umbral calculus; numerical analysis as Gaussian quadrature; physics, where they give rise to the eigenstates of the quantum harmonic oscillator; and they also occur in some cases of the heat equation (when the term is present); systems theory in connection with nonlinear operations on Gaussian noise.
List of trigonometric identitiesIn trigonometry, trigonometric identities are equalities that involve trigonometric functions and are true for every value of the occurring variables for which both sides of the equality are defined. Geometrically, these are identities involving certain functions of one or more angles. They are distinct from triangle identities, which are identities potentially involving angles but also involving side lengths or other lengths of a triangle. These identities are useful whenever expressions involving trigonometric functions need to be simplified.
Logarithmic scaleA logarithmic scale (or log scale) is a way of displaying numerical data over a very wide range of values in a compact way. As opposed to a linear number line in which every unit of distance corresponds to adding by the same amount, on a logarithmic scale, every unit of length corresponds to multiplying the previous value by the same amount. Hence, such a scale is nonlinear: the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and so on, are not equally spaced. Rather, the numbers 10, 100, 1000, 10000, and 100000 would be equally spaced.
Lagrange polynomialIn numerical analysis, the Lagrange interpolating polynomial is the unique polynomial of lowest degree that interpolates a given set of data. Given a data set of coordinate pairs with the are called nodes and the are called values. The Lagrange polynomial has degree and assumes each value at the corresponding node, Although named after Joseph-Louis Lagrange, who published it in 1795, the method was first discovered in 1779 by Edward Waring. It is also an easy consequence of a formula published in 1783 by Leonhard Euler.
Brook TaylorBrook Taylor (18 August 1685 – 29 December 1731) was an English mathematician best known for creating Taylor's theorem and the Taylor series, which are important for their use in mathematical analysis. Brook Taylor was born in Edmonton (former Middlesex). Taylor was the son of John Taylor, MP of Patrixbourne, Kent and Olivia Tempest, the daughter of Sir Nicholas Tempest, Baronet of Durham. He entered St John's College, Cambridge, as a fellow-commoner in 1701, and took degrees in LL.B. in 1709 and LL.D. in 1714.
Newton polynomialIn the mathematical field of numerical analysis, a Newton polynomial, named after its inventor Isaac Newton, is an interpolation polynomial for a given set of data points. The Newton polynomial is sometimes called Newton's divided differences interpolation polynomial because the coefficients of the polynomial are calculated using Newton's divided differences method. Given a set of k + 1 data points where no two xj are the same, the Newton interpolation polynomial is a linear combination of Newton basis polynomials with the Newton basis polynomials defined as for j > 0 and .
Derivative testIn calculus, a derivative test uses the derivatives of a function to locate the critical points of a function and determine whether each point is a local maximum, a local minimum, or a saddle point. Derivative tests can also give information about the concavity of a function. The usefulness of derivatives to find extrema is proved mathematically by Fermat's theorem of stationary points. The first-derivative test examines a function's monotonic properties (where the function is increasing or decreasing), focusing on a particular point in its domain.
Hyperbolic functionsIn mathematics, hyperbolic functions are analogues of the ordinary trigonometric functions, but defined using the hyperbola rather than the circle. Just as the points (cos t, sin t) form a circle with a unit radius, the points (cosh t, sinh t) form the right half of the unit hyperbola. Also, similarly to how the derivatives of sin(t) and cos(t) are cos(t) and –sin(t) respectively, the derivatives of sinh(t) and cosh(t) are cosh(t) and +sinh(t) respectively. Hyperbolic functions occur in the calculations of angles and distances in hyperbolic geometry.
Orthogonal polynomialsIn mathematics, an orthogonal polynomial sequence is a family of polynomials such that any two different polynomials in the sequence are orthogonal to each other under some inner product. The most widely used orthogonal polynomials are the classical orthogonal polynomials, consisting of the Hermite polynomials, the Laguerre polynomials and the Jacobi polynomials. The Gegenbauer polynomials form the most important class of Jacobi polynomials; they include the Chebyshev polynomials, and the Legendre polynomials as special cases.
Trigonometric tablesIn mathematics, tables of trigonometric functions are useful in a number of areas. Before the existence of pocket calculators, trigonometric tables were essential for navigation, science and engineering. The calculation of mathematical tables was an important area of study, which led to the development of the first mechanical computing devices. Modern computers and pocket calculators now generate trigonometric function values on demand, using special libraries of mathematical code.
Logarithmic meanIn mathematics, the logarithmic mean is a function of two non-negative numbers which is equal to their difference divided by the logarithm of their quotient. This calculation is applicable in engineering problems involving heat and mass transfer. The logarithmic mean is defined as: for the positive numbers x, y. The logarithmic mean of two numbers is smaller than the arithmetic mean and the generalized mean with exponent one-third but larger than the geometric mean, unless the numbers are the same, in which case all three means are equal to the numbers.