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Finding global maxima and minima is the goal of mathematical optimization. If a function is continuous on a closed interval, then by the extreme value theorem, global maxima and minima exist. Furthermore, a global maximum (or minimum) either must be a local maximum (or minimum) in the interior of the domain, or must lie on the boundary of the ...
Fermat's theorem is central to the calculus method of determining maxima and minima: in one dimension, one can find extrema by simply computing the stationary points (by computing the zeros of the derivative), the non-differentiable points, and the boundary points, and then investigating this set to determine the extrema.
Finding the extrema of functionals is similar to finding the maxima and minima of functions. The maxima and minima of a function may be located by finding the points where its derivative vanishes (i.e., is equal to zero). The extrema of functionals may be obtained by finding functions for which the functional derivative is equal to zero.
Fermat's Last Theorem, about integer solutions to a n + b n = c n; Fermat's little theorem, a property of prime numbers; Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares, about primes expressible as a sum of squares; Fermat's theorem (stationary points), about local maxima and minima of differentiable functions
Stated precisely, suppose that f is a real-valued function defined on some open interval containing the point x and suppose further that f is continuous at x.. If there exists a positive number r > 0 such that f is weakly increasing on (x − r, x] and weakly decreasing on [x, x + r), then f has a local maximum at x.
In mathematical analysis, the maxima and minima (the respective plurals of maximum and minimum) of a function, known collectively as extrema (the plural of extremum), are the largest and smallest value of the function, either within a given range (the local or relative extrema) or on the entire domain of a function (the global or absolute extrema).
The conditions that distinguish maxima, or minima, from other stationary points are called 'second-order conditions' (see 'Second derivative test'). If a candidate solution satisfies the first-order conditions, then the satisfaction of the second-order conditions as well is sufficient to establish at least local optimality.
Maxima and minima; First derivative test; Second derivative test; Extreme value theorem; Differential equation; Differential operator; Newton's method; Taylor's theorem; L'Hôpital's rule; General Leibniz rule; Mean value theorem; Logarithmic derivative; Differential (calculus) Related rates; Regiomontanus' angle maximization problem; Rolle's ...