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Gaussian optics is a technique in geometrical optics that describes the behaviour of light rays in optical systems by using the paraxial approximation, in which only rays which make small angles with the optical axis of the system are considered. [2] In this approximation, trigonometric functions can be expressed as linear functions of the angles.
In multivariable calculus, in the context of differential equations defined by a vector valued function R n to R m, the Fréchet derivative A is a linear operator on R considered as a vector space over itself, and corresponds to the best linear approximation of a function.
In mathematics, the total derivative of a function f at a point is the best linear approximation near this point of the function with respect to its arguments. Unlike partial derivatives, the total derivative approximates the function with respect to all of its arguments, not just a single one.
The linear approximation of a function is the first order Taylor expansion around the point of interest. In the study of dynamical systems , linearization is a method for assessing the local stability of an equilibrium point of a system of nonlinear differential equations or discrete dynamical systems . [ 1 ]
Multivariable calculus is used in many fields of natural and social science and engineering to model and study high-dimensional systems that exhibit deterministic behavior. In economics , for example, consumer choice over a variety of goods, and producer choice over various inputs to use and outputs to produce, are modeled with multivariate ...
In 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 k {\textstyle k} of the Taylor series of the function.
In vector calculus, the Jacobian matrix (/ dʒ ə ˈ k oʊ b i ə n /, [1] [2] [3] / dʒ ɪ-, j ɪ-/) of a vector-valued function of several variables is the matrix of all its first-order partial derivatives.
The calculus of variations may be said to begin with Newton's minimal resistance problem in 1687, followed by the brachistochrone curve problem raised by Johann Bernoulli (1696). [2] It immediately occupied the attention of Jacob Bernoulli and the Marquis de l'Hôpital , but Leonhard Euler first elaborated the subject, beginning in 1733.