Linked Questions
14 questions linked to/from Why is the Gaussian so pervasive in mathematics?
40
votes
8
answers
12k
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How does one motivate the analytic continuation of the Riemann zeta function?
I saw the functional equation and its proof for the Riemann zeta function many times, but usually the books start with, e.g. tricky change of variable of Gamma function or other seemingly unmotivated ...
- 3,806
45
votes
5
answers
3k
views
An "analytic continuation" of power series coefficients
Cauchy residue theorem tells us that for a function
$$f(z) = \sum_{k \in \mathbb{Z}} a(k) z^k,$$
the coefficient $a(k)$ can be extracted by an integral formula
$$a(k) = \frac{1}{2\pi i}\oint f(z) z^{-...
- 1,324
23
votes
7
answers
5k
views
What makes Gaussian distributions special?
I'm looking for as many different arguments or derivations as possible that support the informal claim that Gaussian/Normal distributions are "the most fundamental" among all distributions.
...
48
votes
2
answers
7k
views
Geometric interpretation of the half-derivative?
For $f(x)=x$, the half-derivative of $f$ is
$$\frac{d^{\frac{1}{2}}}{dx^{\frac{1}{2}}} x = 2 \sqrt{\frac{x}{\pi}} \;.$$
Is there some geometric interpretation of (Q1) this specific derivative, and, (...
- 151k
20
votes
6
answers
7k
views
Does the derivative of log have a Dirac delta term?
Dirac writes down the following formula on page 61 of his "Principles of quantum mechanics":
$\frac{d}{dx}\log x = \frac{1}{x} -i\pi\delta(x)$, see http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1947pqm..book.....D ...
- 16.6k
5
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Are umbral moonshine and umbral calculus connected?
In a 2013 article, Cheng, Duncan and Harvey introduce the concept of umbral moonshine as a generalization of monstrous moonshine. The terminology they use, starting with the title, is common in umbral ...
- 491
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Ramanujan's Master Formula: A proof and relation to umbral calculus
The Ramanujan's master theorem states that:
$$
\int_0^{\infty}x^{s-1}\sum_{n=0}^{\infty}\frac{(-1)^n}{n!}a_nx^ndx=\Gamma(s)a_{-s}
$$
I found a really strange proof recently on a personal blog:
Define
$...
- 302
12
votes
1
answer
978
views
How are Sheffer polynomials related to Lie theory?
Sheffer polynomials $\{P_n(x)\}$ have generating function $P(x,t) = \sum_{n=0}^{\infty}P_n(x)t^n=A(t)e^{xu(t)}$.
This form reminds me of the Lie group–Lie algebra correspondence. Is there any ...
11
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What's the matrix of logarithm of derivative operator ($\ln D$)? What is the role of this operator in various math fields?
Babusci and Dattoli, On the logarithm of the derivative operator, arXiv:1105.5978, gives some great results:
\begin{align*}
(\ln D) 1 & {}= -\ln x -\gamma \\
(\ln D) x^n & {}= x^n (\psi (n+1)-\...
- 10.1k
11
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Green's function of the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operator
The Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operator $L$ is given by
$$
Lu = \Delta u- \frac{1}{2}x\cdot \nabla u.
$$
Is there a known closed form expression of the Green's function of $L$ on $\mathbb R^d$ (for $d\geq 2$ ...
6
votes
1
answer
408
views
Can there be an application of discrete mathematics in PDEs, mainly the ones used in hydrodynamics?
Can there be applications of graph theory, combinatorics etc. in PDEs mainly hydrodynamics?
Tried my luck with Google's search engine, didn't show much info.
I guess you can try to use these features ...
- 1,594
7
votes
1
answer
430
views
What makes Gaussian distributions special? Local field version?
This question is inspired by the recent one about Gaussian measures over the reals:
What makes Gaussian distributions special?
I would be interested in a similar list of characterizations for the ...
1
vote
1
answer
305
views
What's the name of this semi-group theorem?
I encountered this theorem, that for a bounded linear transform $L$ and a real parameter $t$ and initial data $u_0$, we have
$$\frac{d}{dt} \exp(Lt)[u_0] = L \exp(Lt)[u_0].$$
What is the name of this ...
- 217
1
vote
0
answers
154
views
Generating Hermite polynomial with coefficient recurrance relation algorithm
I am writing a math paper for my numerical analysis class about orthogonal Hermite polynomials. I want to implement the algorithm for generating the "probabilist's Hermite polynomials":
$$
\...
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