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Lecture 1
Introduction
In one-variable calculus you have studied functions of one real variable, in particular
the concepts of continuity, differentiation and integration. Functions of one variable
can capture the dependence of some quantity by only one other quantity. In practice
however, one often needs to investigate the dependence on one or more quantities
on many variables, such as time, location, temperature, air pressure, or costs of
different products etc. Therefore it in natural to consider functions that depend on
many variables. We will write f (x, y) for a function of two variables, f (x, y, z) for
a function of three variables or, more generally, f (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) for a function of
n variables. Instead of f other letters can be used (such as g, h, F, G, H or f1 , f2
etc.). Here it is assumed that a domain is specified to which the argument variables
belong. We will write R2 for the set of all pairs (x, y) of real numbers, R3 for all
triples of real numbers and Rn for all n-tuples of real numbers. The domains of
multivariable functions are subsets of those.
It is convenient to plot functions of one variable as a graph in the two-dimensional
plane (and, vice versa, one can study curves in the plane using functions). Similar
to this, a function of two variables can be plotted as a surface in three-dimensional
space, and two-dimensional curved surfaces can be studied by functions of two variables. Visualising functions of more than two variables is more difficult.
In this unit we will cover the concepts of continuity, differentiation and integration of functions of many variables, as well as applying these concepts to study the
geometry of curves and surfaces.
1.1
First we will recall some concepts from linear algebra that were introduced in
Math101. Recall that a point P0 in 2-space can be described by a pair of numbers, namely its Cartesian coordinates (x0 , y0 )1 . We use a coordinate system of two
perpendicular axes, the x-axis and y-axis. Now, x0 is the number on the x-axis
that corresponds to the perpendicular projection of P0 to the x-axis (parallel to the
y-axis) and y0 is the number on the y-axis that corresponds to the perpendicular
projection of P0 to the y-axis (parallel to the x-axis).
1
Here we use the lower indices 0 to indicate that these are the coordinates of the point P0 .
y0
(x 0 , y0 )
x0
In 3-space, the situation is similar. Here we need an extra axis, the z-axis.
Usually we make the z-axis vertical and pointing upward, while we make the x-axis
and y-axis to form a horizontal xy-plane as follows
z
(x 0 ,y0 ,z0 )
y0
x0
x
1.2 Vectors
Solution: We first draw the coordinate axes to obtain the xyz-coordinate system.
Then find (1, 2) on the xy-plane, draw a vertical line through the point, and move
down one unit (since z0 = 1), and we arrive at (1, 2, 1).
2
1
(1,2,-1)
x
1.2
Vectors
Shifts in the plane or space can be described by saying to what point P2 a given
point P1 has been shifted. The line connecting P1 and P2 gives the direction of the
shift. Any other point Q1 would be shifted along a line parallel to by a distance
equal to the distance between P1 and P2 to a point Q2 , so that P1 , P2 , Q1 , Q2 form
a parallelogram. For this description it did not matter whether we started at P1 or
Q1 , so instead of the pairs P1 (x1 , y1 , z1 )P2 (x2 , y2 , z2 ) or Q1 (X1 , Y1 , Z1)Q2 (X2 , Y2 , Z2 )
we may consider the object
~v = hx2 x1 , y2 y1 , z2 z1 i = hX2 X1 , Y2 Y1 , Z2 Z1 i
called vector (in 3-space)2 . To indicate that a vector ~v is represented by an initial
The same concept works in the 2-dimensional plane and any n-dimensional space. To keep
things simple, but not too simple, we restrict here to 3-dimensional space.
1.2 Vectors