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Maxima and minima x 2: Unique global minimum at x = 0. x 3: No global minima or maxima. Although the first derivative (3x 2) is 0 at x = 0, this is an inflection point. (2nd derivative is 0 at that point.) Unique global maximum at x = e. (See figure at right) x −x: Unique global maximum over the positive real numbers at x = 1/e.
The calculus of variations (or variational calculus) is a field of mathematical analysis that uses variations, which are small changes in functions and functionals, to find maxima and minima of functionals: mappings from a set of functions to the real numbers.
In numerical analysis, a quasi-Newton method is an iterative numerical method used either to find zeroes or to find local maxima and minima of functions via an iterative recurrence formula much like the one for Newton's method, except using approximations of the derivatives of the functions in place of exact derivatives.
Fermat's theorem is central to the calculus method of determining maxima and minima: in one dimension, one can find extrema by simply computing the stationary points (by computing the zeros of the derivative), the non-differentiable points, and the boundary points, and then investigating this set to determine the extrema.
In calculus, a derivative test uses the derivatives of a function to locate the critical points of a function and determine whether each point is a local maximum, a local minimum, or a saddle point. Derivative tests can also give information about the concavity of a function.
Adequality is a technique developed by Pierre de Fermat in his treatise Methodus ad disquirendam maximam et minimam [1] (a Latin treatise circulated in France c. 1636 ) to calculate maxima and minima of functions, tangents to curves, area, center of mass, least action, and other problems in calculus.
Multivariable calculus (also known as multivariate calculus) is the extension of calculus in one variable to calculus with functions of several variables: the differentiation and integration of functions involving multiple variables (multivariate), rather than just one. [1]
The stationary points are the red circles. In this graph, they are all relative maxima or relative minima. The blue squares are inflection points.. In mathematics, particularly in calculus, a stationary point of a differentiable function of one variable is a point on the graph of the function where the function's derivative is zero.