Specifying derivatives of functions
- To: mathgroup at christensen.cybernetics.net
- Subject: [mg1177] Specifying derivatives of functions
- From: mrj at cs.su.oz.au (Mark James)
- Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 04:43:32 -0400
I have a function that can't be differentiated symbolically, so I want to specify the derivative explicitly so that it is matched and used whenever the derivative is requested. Here is a simple example using a function whose derivative can be found: ------ f[x_,y_] := x y (* The function *) D[ Literal[f[x_,y_]], y_ ] ^:= 2x (* Specify a different derivative *) Derivative[0,1][Literal[f[x_,y_]]] ^:= 2x (* Another way, equivalent? *) ?f (* Look at the rules we've got *) D[ f[1,y], y ] (* Use normal derivative, output = 1 *) D[ Unevaluated[f[1,y]], y ] (* Use alternate derivative, output = 2 *) (* How can I ensure the alternative derivative is always picked up, e.g if I take the derivative of a function based on it. *) g[y_] = f[1,y]; g'[1] (* Want output = 2 *) (* How can I force unevaluation of f whenever it is wrapped by the D function and get the alternate rule to match? *) ----- One solution may be to remove the Unevaluated and Literal, and match on "x y". But I am using interpolated functions and I don't think pattern matching on these objects goes too well. I would appreciate any hints. Thanks. Mark James | EMAIL : mrj at cs.su.oz.au | Basser Department of Computer Science, F09 | PHONE : +61-2-351-4276 | The University of Sydney NSW 2006 AUSTRALIA | FAX : +61-2-351-3838 |