difference equation

English

Noun

difference equation (plural difference equations)

Examples (restricted sense)
$3\Delta ^{2}(a_{n})+2\Delta (a_{n})+7a_{n}=0\,$

1. (mathematics) An equation involving an ordered sequence of real numbers ($\left\{a_{n}\right\}_{n=1}^{\infty }$) and some of its differences, where the first difference is defined as $\Delta (a_{n})=a_{n+1}-a_{n}\,$ and the k^th difference is defined recursively as $\Delta ^{k}(a_{n})=\Delta ^{k-1}(a_{n+1})-\Delta ^{k-1}(a_{n})\,$.
2. (mathematics) more broadly, any recurrence relation

Translations

math: type of equation

• Finnish: differenssiyhtälö

recurrence relation — see recurrence relation

See also

• differential equation