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In mathematics, the Laplace transform, named after Pierre-Simon Laplace (/ l ə ˈ p l ɑː s /), is an integral transform that converts a function of a real variable (usually , in the time domain) to a function of a complex variable (in the complex-valued frequency domain, also known as s-domain, or s-plane).
In mathematics, the Laplace transform is a powerful integral transform used to switch a function from the time domain to the s-domain. The Laplace transform can be used in some cases to solve linear differential equations with given initial conditions. First consider the following property of the Laplace transform:
Consider the following second-order problem, ′ + + = () =, where = {,, <is the Heaviside step function.The Laplace transform is defined by, = {()} = ().Upon taking term-by-term Laplace transforms, and utilising the rules for derivatives and integrals, the integro-differential equation is converted into the following algebraic equation,
The unilateral Laplace transform takes as input a function whose time domain is the non-negative reals, which is why all of the time domain functions in the table below are multiples of the Heaviside step function, u(t). The entries of the table that involve a time delay τ are required to be causal (meaning that τ > 0).
In pure mathematics the argument t can be any variable, and Laplace transforms are used to study how differential operators transform the function. In science and engineering applications, the argument t often represents time (in seconds), and the function f ( t ) often represents a signal or waveform that varies with time.
To counteract this problem, classical control theory uses the Laplace transform to change an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) in the time domain into a regular algebraic polynomial in the frequency domain. Once a given system has been converted into the frequency domain it can be manipulated with greater ease.
The multidimensional Laplace transform is useful for the solution of boundary value problems. Boundary value problems in two or more variables characterized by partial differential equations can be solved by a direct use of the Laplace transform. [3] The Laplace transform for an M-dimensional case is defined [3] as
The Laplace transform is a generalized Fourier transform. It allows a transform of any system or signal because it is a transform into the complex plane instead of just the jω line like the Fourier transform. The major difference is that the Laplace transform has a region of convergence for which the transform is valid.