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-rw-r--r-- | content/know/category/index.md | 6 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | content/know/category/mathematics.md | 10 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | content/know/category/physics.md | 27 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | content/know/concept/index.md | 1 | ||||
-rw-r--r-- | latex/know/concept/dirac-delta-function/source.md | 99 |
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diff --git a/content/know/category/index.md b/content/know/category/index.md index b8f0456..ba4936c 100644 --- a/content/know/category/index.md +++ b/content/know/category/index.md @@ -9,5 +9,11 @@ Alphabetical list of categories in this knowledge base. Note that these categories might overlap, i.e. share certain concepts. +## M +* [Mathematics](/know/category/mathematics/) + +## P +* [Physics](/know/category/physics/) + ## Q * [Quantum mechanics](/know/category/quantum-mechanics/) diff --git a/content/know/category/mathematics.md b/content/know/category/mathematics.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e873d90 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/know/category/mathematics.md @@ -0,0 +1,10 @@ ++++ +title = "Category: mathematics" ++++ + +# + +Alphabetical list of concepts in this category. + +## D +* [Dirac delta function](/know/concept/dirac-delta-function/) diff --git a/content/know/category/physics.md b/content/know/category/physics.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bcba4d --- /dev/null +++ b/content/know/category/physics.md @@ -0,0 +1,27 @@ ++++ +title = "Category: physics" ++++ + +# + +Alphabetical list of concepts in this category. + +## B +* [Bloch's theorem](/know/concept/blochs-theorem/) + +## D +* [Dirac delta function](/know/concept/dirac-delta-function/) +* [Dirac notation](/know/concept/dirac-notation/) + +## P +* [Pauli exclusion principle](/know/concept/pauli-exclusion-principle/) +* [Probability current](/know/concept/probability-current/) + +## S +* [Slater determinant](/know/concept/slater-determinant/) + +## T +* [Time-independent perturbation theory](/know/concept/time-independent-perturbation-theory/) + +## W +* [Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin approximation](/know/concept/wentzel-kramers-brillouin-approximation/) diff --git a/content/know/concept/index.md b/content/know/concept/index.md index 7d9c183..697c622 100644 --- a/content/know/concept/index.md +++ b/content/know/concept/index.md @@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ Alphabetical list of concepts in this knowledge base. * [Bloch's theorem](/know/concept/blochs-theorem/) ## D +* [Dirac delta function](/know/concept/dirac-delta-function/) * [Dirac notation](/know/concept/dirac-notation/) ## P diff --git a/latex/know/concept/dirac-delta-function/source.md b/latex/know/concept/dirac-delta-function/source.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..478efb4 --- /dev/null +++ b/latex/know/concept/dirac-delta-function/source.md @@ -0,0 +1,99 @@ +% Dirac delta function + + +# Dirac delta function + +The **Dirac delta function** $\delta(x)$, often just called the **delta function**, +is an infinitely narrow discontinuous "spike" at $x = 0$ whose area is +defined to be 1: + +$$\begin{aligned} + \boxed{ + \delta(x) = + \begin{cases} + +\infty & \mathrm{if}\: x = 0 \\ + 0 & \mathrm{if}\: x \neq 0 + \end{cases} + \quad \mathrm{and} \quad + \int_{-\varepsilon}^\varepsilon \delta(x) \dd{x} = 1 + } +\end{aligned}$$ + +It is sometimes also called the **sampling function**, due to its most +important property: the so-called **sampling property**: + +$$\begin{aligned} + \boxed{ + \int f(x) \: \delta(x - x_0) \: dx = \int f(x) \: \delta(x_0 - x) \: dx = f(x_0) + } +\end{aligned}$$ + +$\delta(x)$ is thus an effective weapon against integrals. This may not seem very +useful due to its "unnatural" definition, but in fact it appears as the +limit of several reasonable functions: + +$$\begin{aligned} + \delta(x) + = \lim_{n \to +\infty} \!\Big\{ \frac{n}{\sqrt{\pi}} \exp(- n^2 x^2) \Big\} + = \lim_{n \to +\infty} \!\Big\{ \frac{n}{\pi} \frac{1}{1 + n^2 x^2} \Big\} + = \lim_{n \to +\infty} \!\Big\{ \frac{\sin(n x)}{\pi x} \Big\} +\end{aligned}$$ + +The last one is especially important, since it is equivalent to the +following integral, which appears very often in the context of +Fourier transforms: + +$$\begin{aligned} + \boxed{ + \delta(x) + %= \lim_{n \to +\infty} \!\Big\{\frac{\sin(n x)}{\pi x}\Big\} + = \frac{1}{2\pi} \int_{-\infty}^\infty \exp(i k x) \dd{k} + \propto \hat{\mathcal{F}}\{1\} + } +\end{aligned}$$ + +When the argument of $\delta(x)$ is scaled, the delta function is itself scaled: + +$$\begin{aligned} + \boxed{ + \delta(s x) = \frac{1}{|s|} \delta(x) + } +\end{aligned}$$ + +*__Proof.__ Because it is symmetric, $\delta(s x) = \delta(|s| x)$. Then by +substituting $\sigma = |s| x$:* + +$$\begin{aligned} + \int \delta(|s| x) \dd{x} + &= \frac{1}{|s|} \int \delta(\sigma) \dd{\sigma} = \frac{1}{|s|} +\end{aligned}$$ + +*__Q.E.D.__* + +An even more impressive property is the behaviour of the derivative of +$\delta(x)$: + +$$\begin{aligned} + \boxed{ + \int f(\xi) \: \delta'(x - \xi) \dd{\xi} = f'(x) + } +\end{aligned}$$ + +*__Proof.__ Be careful about which variable is used for the +differentiation:* + +$$\begin{aligned} + \int f(\xi) \: \frac{d\delta(x - \xi)}{dx} \dd{\xi} + &= \frac{d}{dx} \int f(\xi) \: \delta(x - \xi) \dd{x} + = f'(x) +\end{aligned}$$ + +*__Q.E.D.__* + +This property also generalizes nicely for the higher-order derivatives: + +$$\begin{aligned} + \boxed{ + \int f(\xi) \: \frac{d^n \delta(x - \xi)}{dx^n} \dd{\xi} = \dv[n]{f(x)}{x} + } +\end{aligned}$$ |