SEARCH MATHWORLD

Algebra Calculus and Analysis > Generalized Functions >

Applied Mathematics Interactive Entries > Interactive Demonstrations >
Calculus and Analysis
Discrete Mathematics
Foundations of Mathematics Delta Function
Geometry
History and Terminology
Number Theory
Probability and Statistics
Recreational Mathematics
The delta function is a generalized function that can be defined as the limit of a class of delta sequences. The delta
Topology
function is sometimes called "Dirac's delta function" or the "impulse symbol" (Bracewell 1999). It is implemented in
Mathematica as DiracDelta[x].
Alphabetical Index
Formally, is a linear functional from a space (commonly taken as a Schwartz space or the space of all smooth
Interactive Entries
functions of compact support ) of test functions . The action of on , commonly denoted or , then
Random Entry
gives the value at 0 of for any function . In engineering contexts, the functional nature of the delta function is
New in MathWorld
often suppressed.
MathWorld Classroom
The delta function can be viewed as the derivative of the Heaviside step function,
About MathWorld
Contribute to MathWorld
Send a Message to the Team (1)
MathWorld Book
(Bracewell 1999, p. 94).
13,056 entries
Last updated: Mon Apr 18 2011 The delta function has the fundamental property that

(2)

and, in fact,

(3)

for .

Additional identities include

(4)

for , as well as

(5)

(6)

More generally, the delta function of a function of is given by

(7)

where the s are the roots of . For example, examine

(8)

Then , so and , giving

(9)

The fundamental equation that defines derivatives of the delta function is

(10)

Letting in this definition, it follows that

(11)

(12)
 (12)

(13)

where the second term can be dropped since , so (13) implies

(14)

In general, the same procedure gives

(15)

but since any power of times integrates to 0, it follows that only the constant term contributes. Therefore, all
terms multiplied by derivatives of vanish, leaving , so

(16)

which implies
(17)

Other identities involving the derivative of the delta function include

(18)

(19)

(20)

where denotes convolution,

(21)

and

(22)

An integral identity involving is given by

(23)

The delta function also obeys the so-called sifting property

(24)

(Bracewell 1999, pp. 74-75).

A Fourier series expansion of gives

(25)

(26)

(27)

(28)

so

(29)

(30)

The delta function is given as a Fourier transform as

(31)

Similarly,
 (32)

(Bracewell 1999, p. 95). More generally, the Fourier transform of the delta function is

(33)

The delta function can be defined as the following limits as ,

(34)

(35)

(36)

(37)

(38)

(39)

(40)

where is an Airy function, is a Bessel function of the first kind, and is a Laguerre polynomial of
arbitrary positive integer order.

The delta function can also be defined by the limit as

(41)
Delta functions can also be defined in two dimensions, so that in two-dimensional Cartesian coordinates

(42)

(43)

(44)

and

(45)

Similarly, in polar coordinates,

(46)

(Bracewell 1999, p. 85).

In three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates

(47)

(48)

and

(49)

in cylindrical coordinates ,

(50)

In spherical coordinates ,

(51)

(Bracewell 1999, p. 85).

A series expansion in cylindrical coordinates gives

(52)

(53)

The solution to some ordinary differential equations can be given in terms of derivatives of (Kanwal 1998).
For example, the differential equation

(54)

has classical solution

(55)

and distributional solution

(56)

(M. Trott, pers. comm., Jan. 19, 2006). Note that unlike classical solutions, a distributional solution to an th-order
ODE need not contain independent constants.

SEE ALSO: Delta Sequence, Doublet Function, Fourier Transform--Delta Function, Generalized Function, Impulse
Symbol, Poincaré-Bertrand Theorem, Shah Function, Sokhotsky's Formula

RELATED WOLFRAM SITES: http://functions.wolfram.com/GeneralizedFunctions/DiracDelta/,

http://functions.wolfram.com/GeneralizedFunctions/DiracDelta2/

REFERENCES:
 Arfken, G. Mathematical Methods for Physicists, 3rd ed. Orlando, FL: Academic Press, pp. 481-485, 1985.

Bracewell, R. "The Impulse Symbol." Ch. 5 in The Fourier Transform and Its Applications, 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 74-104,
2000.

Dirac, P. A. M. Quantum Mechanics, 4th ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1958.

Gasiorowicz, S. Quantum Physics. New York: Wiley, pp. 491-494, 1974.

Kanwal, R. P. "Applications to Ordinary Differential Equations." Ch. 6 in Generalized Functions, Theory and Technique, 2nd ed.
Boston, MA: Birkhäuser, pp. 291-255, 1998.

Papoulis, A. Probability, Random Variables, and Stochastic Processes, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 97-98, 1984.

Spanier, J. and Oldham, K. B. "The Dirac Delta Function ." Ch. 10 in An Atlas of Functions. Washington, DC: Hemisphere,
pp. 79-82, 1987.

van der Pol, B. and Bremmer, H. Operational Calculus Based on the Two-Sided Laplace Integral. Cambridge, England: Cambridge
University Press, 1955.

CITE THIS AS:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Delta Function." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/DeltaFunction.html

Contact the MathWorld Team

© 1999-2011 Wolfram Research, Inc. | Terms of Use