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Dirac delta function
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====Oscillatory integrals==== In areas of physics such as [[wave propagation]] and [[wave|wave mechanics]], the equations involved are [[hyperbolic partial differential equations|hyperbolic]] and so may have more singular solutions. As a result, the nascent delta functions that arise as fundamental solutions of the associated [[Cauchy problem]]s are generally [[oscillatory integral]]s. An example, which comes from a solution of the [[Euler–Tricomi equation]] of [[transonic]] [[gas dynamics]],{{sfn|Vallée|Soares|2004|loc=§7.2}} is the rescaled [[Airy function]] <math display="block">\varepsilon^{-1/3}\operatorname{Ai}\left (x\varepsilon^{-1/3} \right). </math> Although using the Fourier transform, it is easy to see that this generates a semigroup in some sense—it is not absolutely integrable and so cannot define a semigroup in the above strong sense. Many nascent delta functions constructed as oscillatory integrals only converge in the sense of distributions (an example is the [[Dirichlet kernel]] below), rather than in the sense of measures. Another example is the Cauchy problem for the [[wave equation]] in {{math|'''R'''<sup>1+1</sup>}}:{{sfn|Hörmander|1983|loc=§7.8}} <math display="block"> \begin{align} c^{-2}\frac{\partial^2u}{\partial t^2} - \Delta u &= 0\\ u=0,\quad \frac{\partial u}{\partial t} = \delta &\qquad \text{for }t=0. \end{align} </math> The solution {{mvar|u}} represents the displacement from equilibrium of an infinite elastic string, with an initial disturbance at the origin. Other approximations to the identity of this kind include the [[sinc function]] (used widely in electronics and telecommunications) <math display="block">\eta_\varepsilon(x)=\frac{1}{\pi x}\sin\left(\frac{x}{\varepsilon}\right)=\frac{1}{2\pi}\int_{-\frac{1}{\varepsilon}}^{\frac{1}{\varepsilon}} \cos(kx)\,dk </math> and the [[Bessel function]] <math display="block"> \eta_\varepsilon(x) = \frac{1}{\varepsilon}J_{\frac{1}{\varepsilon}} \left(\frac{x+1}{\varepsilon}\right). </math>
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