Definition and First Consequences
A function is called a step function if it can be written as
- for all real numbers
where are real numbers, are intervals, and is the indicator function of :
In this definition, the intervals can be assumed to have the following two properties:
- The intervals are disjoint, for
- The union of the intervals is the entire real line,
Indeed, if that is not the case to start with, a different set of intervals can be picked for which these assumptions hold. For example, the step function
can be written as
Read more about this topic: Step Function
Famous quotes containing the words definition and/or consequences:
“... we all know the wags definition of a philanthropist: a man whose charity increases directly as the square of the distance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“There is not much that even the most socially responsible scientists can do as individuals, or even as a group, about the social consequences of their activities.”
—Eric J. Hobsbawm (b. 1917)
