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:
“No man, not even a doctor, ever gives any other definition of what a nurse should be than this—”devoted and obedient.” This definition would do just as well for a porter. It might even do for a horse. It would not do for a policeman.”
—Florence Nightingale (1820–1910)
“... we all know the wag’s definition of a philanthropist: a man whose charity increases directly as the square of the distance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Beauty, like all other qualities presented to human experience, is relative; and the definition of it becomes unmeaning and useless in proportion to its abstractness. To define beauty not in the most abstract, but in the most concrete terms possible, not to find a universal formula for it, but the formula which expresses most adequately this or that special manifestation of it, is the aim of the true student of aesthetics.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)