Homogeneous function

Article summary

In mathematics, a homogeneous function is a function of several variables such that the following holds: If each of the function's arguments is multiplied by the same scalar, then the function's value is multiplied by some power of this scalar; the power is called the degree of homogeneity, or simply the degree. That is, if is an integer, a function of variables is homogeneous of degree if : f(sx_1,\ldots, sx_n)=s^k f(x_1,\ldots, x_n) for every x_1, \ldots, x_n, and s\ne 0. This is also referred to a th-degree or th-order homogeneous function. For example, a homogeneous polynomial of degree defines a homogeneous function of degree . The above definition extends to functions whose domain and codomain are vector spaces over a field : a function f : V \to W between two -vector spaces is homogeneous of degree k if for all nonzero s \in F and v \in V. This definition is often further generalized to functions whose domain is not , but a cone in , that is, a subset of such that \mathbf{v}\in C implies s \mathbf{v}\in C for every nonzero scalar . In the case of functions of several real variables and real vector spaces, a slightly more general form of homogeneity called positive homogeneity is often considered, by requiring only that the above identities hold for s > 0, and allowing any real number as a degree of homogeneity. Every homogeneous real function is positively homogeneous.…

Key claims

No claims recorded.

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
3. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

No sources recorded.