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In mathematics, a Riemann sum is a certain kind of approximation of an integral by a finite sum. It is named after nineteenth century German mathematician Bernhard Riemann . One very common application is in numerical integration , i.e., approximating the area of functions or lines on a graph, where it is also known as the rectangle rule .
Loosely speaking, the Riemann integral is the limit of the Riemann sums of a function as the partitions get finer. If the limit exists then the function is said to be integrable (or more specifically Riemann-integrable). The Riemann sum can be made as close as desired to the Riemann integral by making the partition fine enough.
The trapezoidal rule may be viewed as the result obtained by averaging the left and right Riemann sums, and is sometimes defined this way. The integral can be even better approximated by partitioning the integration interval, applying the trapezoidal rule to each subinterval, and summing the results. In practice, this "chained" (or "composite ...
The Darboux integral, which is defined by Darboux sums (restricted Riemann sums) yet is equivalent to the Riemann integral. A function is Darboux-integrable if and only if it is Riemann-integrable. Darboux integrals have the advantage of being easier to define than Riemann integrals.
A converging sequence of Riemann sums. The number in the upper left is the total area of the blue rectangles. They converge to the definite integral of the function. We are describing the area of a rectangle, with the width times the height, and we are adding the areas together.
The harmonic number H n can be interpreted as a Riemann sum of the integral: + = (+). The n th harmonic number is about as large as the natural logarithm of n . The reason is that the sum is approximated by the integral ∫ 1 n 1 x d x , {\displaystyle \int _{1}^{n}{\frac {1}{x}}\,dx,} whose value is ln n .
A quadrature rule is an approximation of the definite integral of a function, usually stated as a weighted sum of function values at specified points within the domain of integration. Numerical integration methods can generally be described as combining evaluations of the integrand to get an approximation to the integral.
A partition of an interval being used in a Riemann sum. The partition itself is shown in grey at the bottom, with the norm of the partition indicated in red. In mathematics, a partition of an interval [a, b] on the real line is a finite sequence x 0, x 1, x 2, …, x n of real numbers such that a = x 0 < x 1 < x 2 < … < x n = b.