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In 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. An example of step functions (the red graph).
Mathematical induction can be informally illustrated by reference to the sequential effect of falling dominoes. [1] [2]Mathematical induction is a method for proving that a statement () is true for every natural number, that is, that the infinitely many cases (), (), (), (), … all hold.
Rigor is a cornerstone quality of mathematics, and can play an important role in preventing mathematics from degenerating into fallacies. well-behaved An object is well-behaved (in contrast with being Pathological ) if it satisfies certain prevailing regularity properties, or if it conforms to mathematical intuition (even though intuition can ...
In mathematics, the regulated integral is a definition of integration for regulated functions, which are defined to be uniform limits of step functions. The use of the regulated integral instead of the Riemann integral has been advocated by Nicolas Bourbaki and Jean Dieudonné.
Originally constructed as a curve, this is one of the basic examples of self-similar sets—that is, it is a mathematically generated pattern reproducible at any magnification or reduction. It is named after the Polish mathematician Wacław Sierpiński but appeared as a decorative pattern many centuries before the work of Sierpiński.
The Heaviside step function, or the unit step function, usually denoted by H or θ (but sometimes u, 1 or 𝟙), is a step function named after Oliver Heaviside, the value of which is zero for negative arguments and one for positive arguments. Different conventions concerning the value H(0) are in use.
A recursive step — a set of rules that reduces all successive cases toward the base case. For example, the following is a recursive definition of a person's ancestor. One's ancestor is either: One's parent (base case), or; One's parent's ancestor (recursive step). The Fibonacci sequence is another classic example of recursion: Fib(0) = 0 as ...
The apparent plural form in English goes back to the Latin neuter plural mathematica , based on the Greek plural ta mathēmatiká (τὰ μαθηματικά) and means roughly "all things mathematical", although it is plausible that English borrowed only the adjective mathematic(al) and formed the noun mathematics anew, after the pattern of ...