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In mathematical analysis, the maximum and minimum [a] of a function are, respectively, the greatest and least value taken by the function. Known generically as extremum , [ b ] they may be defined either within a given range (the local or relative extrema) or on the entire domain (the global or absolute extrema) of a function.
Maximal functions appear in many forms in harmonic analysis (an area of mathematics).One of the most important of these is the Hardy–Littlewood maximal function.They play an important role in understanding, for example, the differentiability properties of functions, singular integrals and partial differential equations.
In particular, the many definitions of continuity employ the concept of limit: roughly, a function is continuous if all of its limits agree with the values of the function. The concept of limit also appears in the definition of the derivative : in the calculus of one variable, this is the limiting value of the slope of secant lines to the graph ...
In mathematics, the arguments of the maxima (abbreviated arg max or argmax) and arguments of the minima (abbreviated arg min or argmin) are the input points at which a function output value is maximized and minimized, respectively. [note 1] While the arguments are defined over the domain of a function, the output is part of its codomain.
In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function (or sequence) approaches as the argument (or index) approaches some value. [1] Limits of functions are essential to calculus and mathematical analysis, and are used to define continuity, derivatives, and integrals.
In mathematics, a smooth maximum of an indexed family x 1, ..., x n of numbers is a smooth approximation to the maximum function (, …,), meaning a parametric family of functions (, …,) such that for every α, the function is smooth, and the family converges to the maximum function as .
Explicitly including the definition of the limit of a function, we obtain a self-contained definition: Given a function : as above and an element of the domain , is said to be continuous at the point when the following holds: For any positive real number >, however small, there exists some positive real number > such that for all in the domain ...
The function f is variously called an objective function, criterion function, loss function, cost function (minimization), [8] utility function or fitness function (maximization), or, in certain fields, an energy function or energy functional. A feasible solution that minimizes (or maximizes) the objective function is called an optimal solution.