analysis

Field of mathematics that incorporates the methods of algebra and calculus—specifically of limits, continuity, and infinite series—to analyze classes of functions and equations having general properties (e.g., differentiability). Analysis builds on the work of G.W. Leibniz and Isaac Newton by exploring the applications of the derivative and the integral. Several distinct but related subfields have developed, including the calculus of variations, differential equations, Fourier analysis (see Fourier transform), complex analysis, vector and tensor analysis, real analysis, and functional analysis. See also numerical analysis.

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