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Spherical Harmonics
In mathematics and physical science, spherical harmonics are special functions defined on the surface of a sphere. They are often employed in solving partial differential equations in many scientific fields. The table of spherical harmonics contains a list of common spherical harmonics. Since the spherical harmonics form a complete set of orthogonal functions and thus an orthonormal basis, every function defined on the surface of a sphere can be written as a sum of these spherical harmonics. This is similar to periodic functions defined on a circle that can be expressed as a sum of circular functions (sines and cosines) via Fourier series. Like the sines and cosines in Fourier series, the spherical harmonics may be organized by (spatial) angular frequency, as seen in the rows of functions in the illustration on the right. Further, spherical harmonics are basis functions for irreducible representations of SO(3), the group of rotations in three dimensions, and thus play a cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Group Theory
In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field (mathematics), fields, and vector spaces, can all be seen as groups endowed with additional operation (mathematics), operations and axioms. Groups recur throughout mathematics, and the methods of group theory have influenced many parts of algebra. Linear algebraic groups and Lie groups are two branches of group theory that have experienced advances and have become subject areas in their own right. Various physical systems, such as crystals and the hydrogen atom, and Standard Model, three of the four known fundamental forces in the universe, may be modelled by symmetry groups. Thus group theory and the closely related representation theory have many important applications in physics, chemistry, and materials science. Group theory is also cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orthogonal
In mathematics, orthogonality (mathematics), orthogonality is the generalization of the geometric notion of ''perpendicularity''. Although many authors use the two terms ''perpendicular'' and ''orthogonal'' interchangeably, the term ''perpendicular'' is more specifically used for lines and planes that intersect to form a right angle, whereas ''orthogonal'' is used in generalizations, such as ''orthogonal vectors'' or ''orthogonal curves''. ''Orthogonality'' is also used with various meanings that are often weakly related or not related at all with the mathematical meanings. Etymology The word comes from the Ancient Greek ('), meaning "upright", and ('), meaning "angle". The Ancient Greek (') and Classical Latin ' originally denoted a rectangle. Later, they came to mean a right triangle. In the 12th century, the post-classical Latin word ''orthogonalis'' came to mean a right angle or something related to a right angle. Mathematics Physics Optics In optics, polarization ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre Simon De Laplace
Pierre-Simon, Marquis de Laplace (; ; 23 March 1749 – 5 March 1827) was a French polymath, a scholar whose work has been instrumental in the fields of physics, astronomy, mathematics, engineering, statistics, and philosophy. He summarized and extended the work of his predecessors in his five-volume ''Mécanique céleste'' (''Celestial Mechanics'') (1799–1825). This work translated the geometric study of classical mechanics to one based on calculus, opening up a broader range of problems. Laplace also popularized and further confirmed Sir Isaac Newton's work. In statistics, the Bayesian interpretation of probability was developed mainly by Laplace. Laplace formulated Laplace's equation, and pioneered the Laplace transform which appears in many branches of mathematical physics, a field that he took a leading role in forming. The Laplacian differential operator, widely used in mathematics, is also named after him. He restated and developed the nebular hypothesis of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Higher Dimensions
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on itfor example, the point at 5 on a number line. A surface, such as the boundary of a cylinder or sphere, has a dimension of two (2D) because two coordinates are needed to specify a point on itfor example, both a latitude and longitude are required to locate a point on the surface of a sphere. A two-dimensional Euclidean space is a two-dimensional space on the plane. The inside of a cube, a cylinder or a sphere is three-dimensional (3D) because three coordinates are needed to locate a point within these spaces. In classical mechanics, space and time are different categories and refer to absolute space and time. That conception of the world is a four-dimensional space but not the one that was found ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maximum Principle
In the mathematical fields of differential equations and geometric analysis, the maximum principle is one of the most useful and best known tools of study. Solutions of a differential inequality in a domain ''D'' satisfy the maximum principle if they achieve their maxima at the boundary of ''D''. The maximum principle enables one to obtain information about solutions of differential equations without any explicit knowledge of the solutions themselves. In particular, the maximum principle is a useful tool in the numerical approximation of solutions of ordinary and partial differential equations and in the determination of bounds for the errors in such approximations. In a simple two-dimensional case, consider a function of two variables such that :\frac+\frac=0. The weak maximum principle, in this setting, says that for any open precompact subset of the domain of , the maximum of on the closure of is achieved on the boundary of . The strong maximum principle says that, unle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unit Vector
In mathematics, a unit vector in a normed vector space is a Vector (mathematics and physics), vector (often a vector (geometry), spatial vector) of Norm (mathematics), length 1. A unit vector is often denoted by a lowercase letter with a circumflex, or "hat", as in \hat (pronounced "v-hat"). The term ''normalized vector'' is sometimes used as a synonym for ''unit vector''. The normalized vector û of a non-zero vector u is the unit vector in the direction of u, i.e., :\mathbf = \frac=(\frac, \frac, ... , \frac) where ‖u‖ is the Norm (mathematics), norm (or length) of u and \, \mathbf\, = (u_1, u_2, ..., u_n). The proof is the following: \, \mathbf\, =\sqrt=\sqrt=\sqrt=1 A unit vector is often used to represent direction (geometry), directions, such as normal directions. Unit vectors are often chosen to form the basis (linear algebra), basis of a vector space, and every vector in the space may be written as a linear combination form of unit vectors. Orthogonal coordinates ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orientation (geometry)
In geometry, the orientation, attitude, bearing, direction, or angular position of an object – such as a Line (geometry), line, plane (geometry), plane or rigid body – is part of the description of how it is placed in the Euclidean space, space it occupies. More specifically, it refers to the imaginary rotation that is needed to move the object from a reference placement to its current placement. A rotation may not be enough to reach the current placement, in which case it may be necessary to add an imaginary translation (geometry), translation to change the object's position (geometry), position (or linear position). The position and orientation together fully describe how the object is placed in space. The above-mentioned imaginary rotation and translation may be thought to occur in any order, as the orientation of an object does not change when it translates, and its position does not change when it rotates. Euler's rotation theorem shows that in three dimensions any orien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spherical Coordinate System
In mathematics, a spherical coordinate system specifies a given point in three-dimensional space by using a distance and two angles as its three coordinates. These are * the radial distance along the line connecting the point to a fixed point called the origin; * the polar angle between this radial line and a given ''polar axis''; and * the azimuthal angle , which is the angle of rotation of the radial line around the polar axis. (See graphic regarding the "physics convention".) Once the radius is fixed, the three coordinates (''r'', ''θ'', ''φ''), known as a 3-tuple, provide a coordinate system on a sphere, typically called the spherical polar coordinates. The plane passing through the origin and perpendicular to the polar axis (where the polar angle is a right angle) is called the ''reference plane'' (sometimes '' fundamental plane''). Terminology The radial distance from the fixed point of origin is also called the ''radius'', or ''radial line'', or ''radial coor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Degree Of A Polynomial
In mathematics, the degree of a polynomial is the highest of the degrees of the polynomial's monomials (individual terms) with non-zero coefficients. The degree of a term is the sum of the exponents of the variables that appear in it, and thus is a non-negative integer. For a univariate polynomial, the degree of the polynomial is simply the highest exponent occurring in the polynomial. The term order has been used as a synonym of ''degree'' but, nowadays, may refer to several other concepts (see Order of a polynomial (other)). For example, the polynomial 7x^2y^3 + 4x - 9, which can also be written as 7x^2y^3 + 4x^1y^0 - 9x^0y^0, has three terms. The first term has a degree of 5 (the sum of the powers 2 and 3), the second term has a degree of 1, and the last term has a degree of 0. Therefore, the polynomial has a degree of 5, which is the highest degree of any term. To determine the degree of a polynomial that is not in standard form, such as (x+1)^2 - (x-1)^2, one c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homogeneous Polynomial
In mathematics, a homogeneous polynomial, sometimes called quantic in older texts, is a polynomial whose nonzero terms all have the same degree. For example, x^5 + 2 x^3 y^2 + 9 x y^4 is a homogeneous polynomial of degree 5, in two variables; the sum of the exponents in each term is always 5. The polynomial x^3 + 3 x^2 y + z^7 is not homogeneous, because the sum of exponents does not match from term to term. The function defined by a homogeneous polynomial is always a homogeneous function. An algebraic form, or simply form, is a function defined by a homogeneous polynomial.However, as some authors do not make a clear distinction between a polynomial and its associated function, the terms ''homogeneous polynomial'' and ''form'' are sometimes considered as synonymous. A binary form is a form in two variables. A ''form'' is also a function defined on a vector space, which may be expressed as a homogeneous function of the coordinates over any basis. A polynomial of degree 0 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
