Kronecker delta

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Not to be confused with the Dirac delta function, nor with the Kronecker symbol.
In mathematics, the Kronecker delta (named after Leopold Kronecker) is a function of
two variables, usually just non-negative integers. The function is 1 if the variables are equal, and 0
otherwise:

where the Kronecker delta δij is a piecewise function of variables i and j. For example, δ1 2 = 0,
whereas δ3 3 = 1.
The Kronecker delta appears naturally in many areas of mathematics, physics and engineering,
as a means of compactly expressing its definition above.
In linear algebra, the n × n identity matrix I has entries equal to the Kronecker delta:

where i and j take the values 1, 2, ..., n, and the inner product of vectors can be written as

The restriction to positive integers is common, but there is no reason it cannot

have negative integers as well as positive, or any discrete rational numbers.
If i and j above take rational values, then for example

This latter case is for convenience.

Contents
[hide]

• 1Properties
• 2Alternative notation
• 3Digital signal processing
• 4Properties of the delta function
• 5Relationship to the Dirac delta function
• 6Generalizations
o 6.1Definitions of generalized Kronecker delta
o 6.2Properties of the generalized Kronecker delta
• 7Integral representations
• 8The Kronecker comb
• 9Kronecker integral
• 10See also
• 11References

Properties[edit]
The following equations are satisfied:

Therefore, the matrix δ can be considered as an identity matrix.

Another useful representation is the following form:

This can be derived using the formula for the finite geometric series.

Alternative notation[edit]
Using the Iverson bracket:

Often, a single-argument notation δi is used, which is equivalent to

setting j = 0:

In linear algebra, it can be thought of as a tensor, and is written δi

j. Sometimes the Kronecker delta is called the substitution tensor.
[1]

Digital signal processing[edit]

An impulse function

Similarly, in digital signal processing, the same concept is

represented as a sequence or discrete function on ℤ (the integers):

The function is referred to as an impulse, or unit impulse. When

it is the input to a discrete-time signal processing element, the
output is called the impulse response of the element.

Properties of the delta function[edit]

The Kronecker delta has the so-called sifting property that
for j ∈ ℤ:
and if the integers are viewed as a measure space,
endowed with the counting measure, then this property
coincides with the defining property of the Dirac delta
function

and in fact Dirac's delta was named after the

Kronecker delta because of this analogous property. In
signal processing it is usually the context (discrete or
continuous time) that distinguishes the Kronecker and
Dirac "functions". And by convention, δ(t) generally
indicates continuous time (Dirac), whereas arguments
like i, j, k, l, m, and n are usually reserved for discrete
time (Kronecker). Another common practice is to
represent discrete sequences with square brackets;
thus: δ[n]. It is important to note that the Kronecker
delta is not the result of directly sampling the Dirac
delta function.
The Kronecker delta forms the multiplicative identity
element of an incidence algebra.[2]

Relationship to the Dirac delta

function[edit]
In probability theory and statistics, the Kronecker delta
and Dirac delta function can both be used to represent
a discrete distribution. If the support of a distribution
consists of points x = {x1, ..., xn}, with corresponding
probabilities p1, ..., pn, then the probability mass
function p(x) of the distribution over x can be written,
using the Kronecker delta, as

Equivalently, the probability density function f(x) of

the distribution can be written using the Dirac delta
function as

Under certain conditions, the Kronecker delta

can arise from sampling a Dirac delta function.
For example, if a Dirac delta impulse occurs
exactly at a sampling point and is ideally
lowpass-filtered (with cutoff at the critical
frequency) per the Nyquist–Shannon sampling
theorem, the resulting discrete-time signal will
be a Kronecker delta function.

Generalizations[edit]
If it is considered as a type (1,1) tensor, the
Kronecker tensor can be written δi
j with

a covariant index j and contravariant index i:

This (1,1) tensor represents:

• The identity mapping (or identity

matrix), considered as a linear
mapping V → V or V∗ → V∗
• The trace or tensor contraction,
considered as a
mapping V∗ ⊗ V → K
• The map K → V∗ ⊗ V, representing
scalar multiplication as a sum of outer
products.
The generalized Kronecker
delta or multi-index Kronecker delta of
order 2p is a type (p,p) tensor that is a
completely antisymmetric in its p upper
indices, and also in its p lower indices.
Two definitions that differ by a factor
of p! are in use. Below, the version is
presented has nonzero components
scaled to be ±1. The second version has
nonzero components that are ±1/p!, with
consequent changes scaling factors in
formulae, such as the scaling factors
of 1/p! in § Properties of generalized
Kronecker delta below disappearing.[3]
Definitions of generalized
Kronecker delta[edit]
In terms of the indices:[4][5]

Let Sp be the symmetric group of

degree p, then:
Using anti-symmetrization:

In terms of
a p × p determinant:[6]

Using the Laplace

expansion (Laplace's
formula) of determinant, it
may be
defined recursively:[7]

where the caron, ˇ,

indicates an index
that is omitted from
the sequence.
When p = n (the
dimension of the
vector space), in
terms of the Levi-
Civita symbol: