Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Examples of path functions include work, heat and arc length. In contrast to path functions, state functions are independent of the path taken. Thermodynamic state variables are point functions, differing from path functions. For a given state, considered as a point, there is a definite value for each state variable and state function.
In mathematics, a path in a topological space is a continuous function from a closed interval into . Paths play an important role in the fields of topology and mathematical analysis . For example, a topological space for which there exists a path connecting any two points is said to be path-connected .
The difference between initial and final states of the system's internal energy does not account for the extent of the energy interactions transpired. Therefore, internal energy is a state function (i.e. exact differential), while heat and work are path functions (i.e. inexact differentials) because integration must account for the path taken.
In the thermodynamics of equilibrium, a state function, function of state, or point function for a thermodynamic system is a mathematical function relating several state variables or state quantities (that describe equilibrium states of a system) that depend only on the current equilibrium thermodynamic state of the system [1] (e.g. gas, liquid, solid, crystal, or emulsion), not the path which ...
The two dashed paths shown above are homotopic relative to their endpoints. The animation represents one possible homotopy. In topology, two continuous functions from one topological space to another are called homotopic (from Ancient Greek: ὁμός homós "same, similar" and τόπος tópos "place") if one can be "continuously deformed" into the other, such a deformation being called a ...
The path integral formulation is a description in quantum mechanics that generalizes the stationary action principle of classical mechanics.It replaces the classical notion of a single, unique classical trajectory for a system with a sum, or functional integral, over an infinity of quantum-mechanically possible trajectories to compute a quantum amplitude.
The central quantity of Lagrangian mechanics is the Lagrangian, a function which summarizes the dynamics of the entire system. Overall, the Lagrangian has units of energy, but no single expression for all physical systems. Any function which generates the correct equations of motion, in agreement with physical laws, can be taken as a Lagrangian.
is called a sample function, a realization, or, particularly when is interpreted as time, a sample path of the stochastic process {(,):}. [50] This means that for a fixed ω ∈ Ω {\displaystyle \omega \in \Omega } , there exists a sample function that maps the index set T {\displaystyle T} to the state space S {\displaystyle S} . [ 28 ]