Jordan measure

Jordan measure

In mathematics, the Jordan measure (also known as the Jordan content) is an extension of the notion of size (length, area, volume) to shapes more complicated than, for example, a triangle, disk, or parallelipiped.

It turns out that for a set to have Jordan measure it should be well-behaved in a certain restrictive sense. For this reason, it is now more common to work with the Lebesgue measure, which is an extension of the Jordan measure to a larger class of sets. Historically speaking, Jordan measure came first, towards the end of the nineteenth century.

Jordan measure is named after its originator, the French mathematician Camille Jordan.

Jordan measure of "simple sets"

Consider the Euclidean space R"n". One starts by considering products of bounded intervals :C= [a_1, b_1) imes [a_2, b_2) imes cdots imes [a_n, b_n)which are closed at the left end and open at the right end (half-open intervals is a technical choice; as we see below, one can use closed or open intervals if preferred). Such a set will be called a "n"-"dimensional rectangle", or simply a "rectangle". One defines the "Jordan measure" of such a rectangle to be the product of the lengths of the intervals:

:m(C)=(b_1-a_1)(b_2-a_2) cdots(b_n-a_n).

Next, one considers "simple sets", sometimes called "polyrectangles", which are a finite unions of rectangles,

: S=C_1cup C_2cup cdots cup C_k

for any "k"≥1. One cannot define the Jordan measure of "S" as simply the sum of the measures of the individual rectangles, because such a representation of "S" is far from unique, and there could be significant overlaps between the rectangles. Luckily, any such simple set "S" can be rewritten as a union of another finite family of rectangles, rectangles which this time are mutually disjoint, and then one defines the Jordan measure "m"("S") as the sum of measures of the disjoint rectangles. One can show that this definition of the Jordan measure of "S" is independent of the representation of "S" as a finite union of disjoint rectangles. It is in the "rewriting" step that the assumption of rectangles being made of half-open intervals is used.

Extension to more complicated sets

Notice that a set which is a product of closed intervals,

: [a_1, b_1] imes [a_2, b_2] imes cdots imes [a_n, b_n]

is not a simple set, and neither is a ball. Thus, so far the set of Jordan measurable sets is still very limited. The key step is then defining a bounded set to be "Jordan measurable" if it is "well-approximated" by simple sets, exactly in the same way as a function is Riemann integrable if it is well-approximated by piecewise-constant functions.

Formally, for a bounded set "B", define its "inner Jordan measure" as :m_*(B)=sup_{Ssubset B} m (S)and its "outer measure" as :m^*(B)=inf_{Ssupset B} m (S)where the infimum and supremum are taken over simple sets "S". The set "B" is said to be Jordan measurable if the inner measure of "B" equals the outer measure. The common value of the two measures is then simply called the Jordan measure of "B".

It turns out that all rectangles (with or without boundary), as well all balls, simplexes, etc., are Jordan measurable. Also, if one considers two continuous functions, the set of points between the graphs of those functions is Jordan measurable as long as that set is bounded and the common domain of the two functions is Jordan measurable. Any finite union and intersection of Jordan sets is measurable, as well as the set difference of any two Jordan measurable sets. One can also prove that a bounded set is Jordan measurable if and only if its boundary is Jordan measurable and has Jordan measure zero.

The Lebesgue measure

This last property greatly limits the types of sets which are Jordan measurable. For example, the set of rational numbers contained in the interval [0,1] is then not Jordan measurable, as its boundary is [0,1] which is not of Jordan measure zero. Intuitively however, the set of rational numbers is a "small" set, as it is countable, and it should have "size" zero. That is indeed true, but only if one replaces the Jordan measure with the Lebesgue measure. The Lebesgue measure of a set is the same as its Jordan measure as long as that set has a Jordan measure. However, the Lebesgue measure is defined for a much wider class of sets, like the set of rational numbers in an interval mentioned earlier, and also for sets which may be unbounded or fractals. Also, the Lebesgue measure, unlike the Jordan measure, is a true measure, that is, any countable union of Lebesgue measurable sets is Lebesgue measurable, but this not true if "Lebesgue" is replaced by "Jordan".

References

*
*

External links

*MathWorld|urlname=JordanMeasure|title=Jordan Measure|author=Derwent, John


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Jordan (disambiguation) — Jordan is a country in the Middle East.Jordan may also refer to: Middle Eastern geography * Jordan, Tehran * Jordan River United States geography * Jordan, Indiana * Jordan, Iowa * Jordan, Minnesota, a city in Scott County * Jordan, Minneapolis,… …   Wikipedia

  • measure — measurer, n. /mezh euhr/, n., v., measured, measuring. n. 1. a unit or standard of measurement: weights and measures. 2. a system of measurement: liquid measure. 3. an instrument, as a graduated rod or a container of standard capacity, for… …   Universalium

  • Measure (mathematics) — Informally, a measure has the property of being monotone in the sense that if A is a subset of B, the measure of A is less than or equal to the measure of B. Furthermore, the measure of the empty set is required to be 0. In mathematical analysis …   Wikipedia

  • measure theory — noun A branch of mathematical analysis, concerned with the theory of integration, that generalizes the intuitive notions of length, area and volume. See Also: Borel measure, complex measure, Haar measur …   Wiktionary

  • JORDAN, HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF — (Ar. al mamlaka al Urdunniyya al Hashimiyya), an independent state in W. Asia, bordering on Israel and the West Bank of the Jordan River in the west, saudi arabia in the south and southeast, iraq in the east, and syria in the north. Transjordania …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • jordan — /jawr dn/, n. Brit. Dial. See chamber pot. [1350 1400; ME jurdan urinal, perh. after JORDAN, the river, by coarse jesting] * * * Jordan Introduction Jordan Background: For most of its history since independence from British administration in 1946 …   Universalium

  • Jordan — Jordanian /jawr day nee euhn/, n., adj. /jawr dn/; for 3 also Fr. /zhawrdd dahonn /, n. 1. David Starr /stahr/, 1851 1931, U.S. biologist and educator. 2. June, born 1936, U.S. poet, novelist, and essayist. 3. Marie Ennemond Camille /mann rddee… …   Universalium

  • Jordan decomposition — In mathematics, Jordan decomposition may refer to* Hahn decomposition theorem, and the Jordan decomposition of a measure * Jordan normal form of a matrix * Jordan–Chevalley decomposition of a matrix * Deligne Lusztig theory, and its Jordan… …   Wikipedia

  • Camille Jordan — Born January 5, 1838(1838 01 05) Lyon …   Wikipedia

  • Oregon Ballot Measure 43 (2006) — Measure 43 Requires 48 hour notice to unemancipated minor s parents before providing abortion; authorizes lawsuits, physician discipline. Election results Yes or no …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”