A vector-valued function, also referred to as a vector function, is a mathematical function of one or more variables whose range is a set of multidimensional vectors or infinite-dimensional vectors. The input of a vector-valued function could be a scalar or a vector (that is, the dimension of the domain could be 1 1 1 or greater than 1 1 1); the dimension of the function’s domain has no relation to the dimension of its range.
Contents
1 Example: Helix
A common example of a vector-valued function is one that depends on a single real parameter
t
t
t, often representing time, producing a vector
v
(
t
)
v(t)
v(t) as the result. In terms of the standard unit vectors
i
,
j
,
k
i, j, k
i,j,k of Cartesian 3-space, these specific types of vector-valued functions are given by expressions such as
r
(
t
)
=
f
(
t
)
i
+
g
(
t
)
j
+
h
(
t
)
k
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} (t)=f(t)\mathbf {i} +g(t)\mathbf {j} +h(t)\mathbf {k} }
r(t)=f(t)i+g(t)j+h(t)k
where
f
(
t
)
,
g
(
t
)
,
h
(
t
)
f(t), g(t), h(t)
f(t),g(t),h(t) are the coordinate functions of the parameter
t
t
t, and the domain of this vector-valued function is the intersection of the domains of the functions
f
,
g
,
h
f, g, h
f,g,h. It can also be referred to in a different notation:
r
(
t
)
=
⟨
f
(
t
)
,
g
(
t
)
,
h
(
t
)
⟩
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} (t)=\langle f(t),g(t),h(t)\rangle }
r(t)=⟨f(t),g(t),h(t)⟩
The vector r ( t ) r(t) r(t) has its tail at the origin and its head at the coordinates evaluated by the function.
The vector shown in the graph to the right is the evaluation of function ⟨ 2 cos t , 4 sin t , t ⟩ {\displaystyle \langle 2\cos t,\,4\sin t,\,t\rangle } ⟨2cost,4sint,t⟩ near t = 19.5 t = 19.5 t=19.5 (between 6 π 6 \pi 6π and 6.5 π 6.5 \pi 6.5π; i.e., somewhat more than 3 rotations). The helix is the path traced by the tip of the vector as t t t increases from zero through 8 π 8\pi 8π.
In
2
D
2D
2D, We can analogously speak about vector-valued functions as
r
(
t
)
=
f
(
t
)
i
+
g
(
t
)
j
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} (t)=f(t)\mathbf {i} +g(t)\mathbf {j} }
r(t)=f(t)i+g(t)j
or
r
(
t
)
=
⟨
f
(
t
)
,
g
(
t
)
⟩
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} (t)=\langle f(t),g(t)\rangle }
r(t)=⟨f(t),g(t)⟩
2 Linear case
In the linear case the function can be expressed in terms of matrices:
y
=
A
x
y = Ax
y=Ax
where
y
y
y is an
n
∗
1
n * 1
n∗1 output vector,
x
x
x is a
k
∗
1
k * 1
k∗1 vector of inputs, and
A
A
A is an
n
∗
k
n * k
n∗k matrix of paramters. Closely related is the affine case (linear up to translation) where the function takes the form
y
=
A
x
+
b
y = Ax + b
y=Ax+b
where in addition
b
b
b is an
n
∗
1
n * 1
n∗1 vector of parameters.
The linear case arises often, for example in multiple regression, where for instance the
n
∗
1
n * 1
n∗1 vector
y
^
{\hat {y}}
y^ of predicted values of a dependent value is expressed linearly in terms of a
k
∗
1
k * 1
k∗1 vector
β
^
\hat \beta
β^ (k < n) of estimated values of model parameters:
y
^
=
X
β
^
,
{\displaystyle {\hat {y}}=X{\hat {\beta }},}
y^=Xβ^,
in which
X
X
X (playing the role of
A
A
A in the previous generic form) is an
n
∗
k
n * k
n∗k matrix of fixed (empirically based) numbers.
3 Parametric representation of a surface
A surface of a 2-dimensional set of points embedded in (most commonly) 3-dimensional space. One way to represent a surface is with parametric equations. In which two parameters
s
,
t
s, t
s,t determine the three Cartesian coordinates of any point on the surface:
(
x
,
y
,
z
)
=
(
f
(
s
,
t
)
,
g
(
s
,
t
)
,
h
(
s
,
t
)
)
≡
F
(
s
,
t
)
.
{\displaystyle (x,y,z)=(f(s,t),g(s,t),h(s,t))\equiv F(s,t).}
(x,y,z)=(f(s,t),g(s,t),h(s,t))≡F(s,t).
Here
F
F
F is a vector-valued function. For a surface embedded in n-dimensional space, one similarly has the representation:
(
x
1
,
x
2
,
.
.
.
,
x
n
)
=
(
f
1
(
s
,
t
)
,
f
2
(
s
,
t
)
,
.
.
.
,
f
n
(
s
,
t
)
)
≡
F
(
s
,
t
)
.
{\displaystyle (x_{1},x_{2},...,x_{n})=(f_{1}(s,t),f_{2}(s,t),...,f_{n}(s,t))\equiv F(s,t).}
(x1,x2,...,xn)=(f1(s,t),f2(s,t),...,fn(s,t))≡F(s,t).
4 Derivative of a three-dimensional vector function
Many vector-valued functions, like scalar-valued functions, can be differentiated by simply differentiating the components in the Cartesian coordinate system. Thus, if
r
(
t
)
=
f
(
t
)
i
+
g
(
t
)
j
+
h
(
t
)
k
{\displaystyle \mathbf {r} (t)=f(t)\mathbf {i} +g(t)\mathbf {j} +h(t)\mathbf {k} }
r(t)=f(t)i+g(t)j+h(t)k
is a vector-valued function, then
d
r
d
t
=
f
′
(
t
)
i
+
g
′
(
t
)
j
+
h
′
(
t
)
k
.
{\displaystyle {\frac {d\mathbf {r} }{dt}}=f'(t)\mathbf {i} +g'(t)\mathbf {j} +h'(t)\mathbf {k} .}
dtdr=f′(t)i+g′(t)j+h′(t)k.
The vector derivative admits the following physical interpretation: if
r
(
t
)
r(t)
r(t) represents the position of a particle, then the derivative is the velocity of the particle
v
(
t
)
=
d
r
d
t
.
{\displaystyle \mathbf {v} (t)={\frac {d\mathbf {r} }{dt}}.}
v(t)=dtdr.
Likewise, the derivative of the velocity is the acceleration
d
v
d
t
=
a
(
t
)
.
{\displaystyle {\frac {d\mathbf {v} }{dt}}=\mathbf {a} (t).}
dtdv=a(t).
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