Given a function of variables, and given functions of one variable, then the total derivative of the composite function is (if it exists) simply its derivative with respect to , but understood as a linear combinationof the partial derivatives of , via the chain rule:
This has various evident generalizations. One is the horizontal derivative in variational calculus, see at variational bicomplex.
Last revised on September 13, 2017 at 18:28:34. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.