Introduction to the Theory of Distributions

The second edition of a classic graduate text on the theory of distributions.

F. G. Friedlander (Author), M. Joshi (Author)

9780521649711, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 21 January 1999

188 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.28 kg

'… a very clear, accurate and stimulating version of an important topic, with the emphasis in the right place and with the minimum of fuss.' Review of the first edition in Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society

The theory of distributions is an extension of classical analysis which has acquired a particular importance in the field of linear partial differential equations, as well as having many other applications, for example in harmonic analysis. Underlying it is the theory of topological vector spaces, but it is possible to give a systematic presentation without presupposing a knowledge, or using more than a bare minimum, of this. This book, first published in 1999, adopts this course and is based on graduate lectures given over a number of years. The prerequisites are few, but a reasonable degree of mathematical maturity is expected of the reader, as the treatment is rigorous throughout. From the outset the theory is developed in several variables, unlike most elementary texts; it is taken as far as such important topics as Schwartz kernels, the Paley-Wiener-Schwartz theorem and Sobolev spaces.

1. Test functions and distributions
2. Differentiation and multiplication
3. Distributions and compact support
4. Tensor products
5. Convolution
6. Distribution kernels
7. Co-ordinate transforms and pullbacks
8. Fourier transforms
9. Plancherel's theorem
10. The Fourier-Laplace transform
Appendix. Topological vector spaces
11. The calculus of wavefront sets.

Subject Areas: Calculus & mathematical analysis [PBK]