< Page:Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics (1902).djvu
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96
CERTAIN IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS
etc., when is a continuous function of commencing with the value , or when we choose to attribute to a fictitious continuity commencing with the value zero, as described on page 90.
where may be substituted for in the cases above described. If, therefore, is known, and as function of , and may be found by quadratures.
is therefore positive if . It is an increasing function of , if . If is not capable of being diminished without limit, vanishes for the least possible value of , if . If is even,
If we substitute in these equations the values of and which we have found, we get
| (304) |
| (305) |
It appears from these equations that is always a continuous increasing function of , commencing with the value , even when this is not the case with respect to and . The same is true of , when , or when if increases continuously with from the value .
The last equation may be derived from the preceding by differentiation with respect to . Successive differentiations give, if ,
| (306) |
| (307) |
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