Spherical Mean - Definition

Definition

Consider an open set U in the Euclidean space Rn and a continuous function u defined on U with real or complex values. Let x be a point in U and r > 0 be such that the closed ball B(x, r) of center x and radius r is contained in U. The spherical mean over the sphere of radius r centered at x is defined as

where ∂B(x, r) is the (n−1)-sphere forming the boundary of B(x, r), dS denotes integration with respect to spherical measure and ωn−1(r) is the "surface area" of this (n−1)-sphere.

Equivalently, the spherical mean is given by

where ωn−1 is the area of the (n−1)-sphere of radius 1.

The spherical mean is often denoted as

The spherical mean is also defined for Riemannian manifolds in a natural manner.

Read more about this topic:  Spherical Mean

Famous quotes containing the word definition:

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

    It is very hard to give a just definition of love. The most we can say of it is this: that in the soul, it is a desire to rule; in the spirit, it is a sympathy; and in the body, it is but a hidden and subtle desire to possess—after many mysteries—what one loves.
    François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)

    Mothers often are too easily intimidated by their children’s negative reactions...When the child cries or is unhappy, the mother reads this as meaning that she is a failure. This is why it is so important for a mother to know...that the process of growing up involves by definition things that her child is not going to like. Her job is not to create a bed of roses, but to help him learn how to pick his way through the thorns.
    Elaine Heffner (20th century)