Hermite Polynomials - Definition

Definition

There are two different ways of standardizing the Hermite polynomials:

(the "probabilists' Hermite polynomials"), and

(the "physicists' Hermite polynomials"). These two definitions are not exactly equivalent; either is a rescaling of the other, to wit

These are Hermite polynomial sequences of different variances; see the material on variances below.

The notation He and H is that used in the standard references Tom H. Koornwinder, Roderick S. C. Wong, and Roelof Koekoek et al. (2010) and Abramowitz & Stegun. The polynomials Hen are sometimes denoted by Hn, especially in probability theory, because

is the probability density function for the normal distribution with expected value 0 and standard deviation 1.

The first eleven probabilists' Hermite polynomials are:

and the first eleven physicists' Hermite polynomials are:

Read more about this topic:  Hermite Polynomials

Famous quotes containing the word definition:

    ... if, as women, we accept a philosophy of history that asserts that women are by definition assimilated into the male universal, that we can understand our past through a male lens—if we are unaware that women even have a history—we live our lives similarly unanchored, drifting in response to a veering wind of myth and bias.
    Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)

    No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this—”devoted and obedient.” This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.
    Florence Nightingale (1820–1910)

    I’m beginning to think that the proper definition of “Man” is “an animal that writes letters.”
    Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)