International Journal of Mathematical Education in

Science and Technology

ISSN: 0020-739X (Print) 1464-5211 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tmes20

A generalization of the Leibnitz rule of successive

differentiation

J. Das

To cite this article: J. Das (2002) A generalization of the Leibnitz rule of successive differentiation,
International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 33:5, 739-742, DOI:
10.1080/002073902320602888

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/002073902320602888

Published online: 11 Nov 2010.

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Download by: [Columbia University Libraries] Date: 10 August 2017, At: 21:21
 Classroom notes 739
Downloaded by [Columbia University Libraries] at 21:21 10 August 2017

Figure 10

…5† 6) …4†. Let f be the function:

»
… † ˆ 1 if y ˆ x2 ; x 6ˆ 0
f x; y
0
otherwise
The function f (®gure 10) is not continuous at …0; 0† and Dv f …0; 0† ˆ 0 for each
unit vector v:

A generalization of the Leibnitz rule of successive

di€ erentiation

J. DAS (NEÂE CHAUDHURI)

Department of Pure Mathematics, University of Calcutta, 35, Ballygunge Circular Road,
Calcutta-700019, India

(Received 21 June 2001 )

This note generalizes the well-known Leibnitz rule of successive

di€ erentiation for the product of two functions to a similar result for the
product of three functions.

1. Introduction
The well-known Leibnitz rule of successive di€ erentiation of the product of
two functions u, v : I ! R (the set of real numbers) (I » R ) states that
Xn
³ ´
…n†
…uv† ˆ n …n¡r† …r†
u v ; n ˆ 1; 2 . . . …1:1†
ˆ
r 0
r
n
… † … † … † … †
where f n ˆ f n …t† ² ddtnf ; f 0 ˆ f 0 …t † ˆ f …t †:
The aim of this note is to derive similar formula for the nth derivative of the
product of three functions u, v, w: I ! R .
 740 Classroom notes

2. A lemma
Let X ˆ …x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xm †, Y ˆ …y1 ; y2 ; . . . ; ym †, …X; x† ˆ …x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xm ; x†, and
…x; X † ˆ …x; x1 ; x2 ; . . . ; xm †, A ˆ …aij †m£m and Om ˆ …0; 0; . . . 0†1£m .
Then
" #
T
O m A
XAY T ˆ …X; x† …y; Y †T …2:1†
0 Om
" #
Om 0
ˆ …x; X † …Y; y†T …2:2†
T
A Om
" #
0 Om
ˆ …x; X † …y; T †T …2:3†
Downloaded by [Columbia University Libraries] at 21:21 10 August 2017

T
Om A
The validity of the lemma can easily be checked. We shall see in the next section
that this lemma plays the key role in framing the desired rule for the nth derivative
of uvw.

3. Theorem
T
…uvw†…n† ˆ U ‰nŠ V fng W ‰nŠ ; …n ˆ 1; 2; . . .† …3:1†

where
‰ Š … † … ¡ † … †
U n ˆ …u n ; u n 1 ; . . . ; u 1 ; u†
‰ Š … † … ¡ † … †
W n ˆ …w n ; w n 1 ; . . . ; w 1 ; w †
and
fn g
V ˆ ‰vni;k Š 1 4 i; k 4 n ‡ 1
with
vni;k ˆ 0; when 1 4 k 4 n ‡ 1 ¡ i
Á !Á !
n i¡1 … ‡k¡n¡2†
ˆ vi ; when n ‡ 2 ¡ i 4 k 4 n ‡ 1
i¡1 i‡k¡n¡2
14i4n ‡ 1

Proof. The proof, of course, uses the method of induction. First we note that
" #
‰1Š f1 g ‰1Š …1† 0 v
U V W ˆ …u ; u† …w…1† ; w†T
…1†
v v
" #
…1† vw
ˆ …u ; u†
… † … †
vw 1 ‡ v 1 w
ˆ u…1† vw ‡ uvw…1† ‡ uv…1† w

ˆ …uvw†…1† :
 Classroom notes 741

Hence (3.1) holds for n ˆ 1.

We next assume that equation (3.1) is true for n ˆ m:
T
…uvw†…m† ˆ U ‰mŠ V fmg W ‰mŠ …3:2†

Di€ erentiating both sides of relation (3.2) we obtain

³ ´ ³ ´ ³ ´
…uvw†…m‡1† ˆ d U ‰mŠ V fmg W ‰mŠ ‡ U ‰mŠ d V fmg W ‰mŠ ‡ U ‰mŠ V fmg d W ‰mŠ
T T T

dx dx dx
" # 2 3
f g 0 Om
OT V m ‰ ‡ ŠT ‰ ‡ ŠT
W m 1 ‡ U m 1 4 T d fmg 5W m 1
m
ˆ U ‰m‡1Š ‰ ‡ Š

0 Om Om V
dx
Downloaded by [Columbia University Libraries] at 21:21 10 August 2017

" #
Om 0 ‰ ‡ ŠT
‡ U ‰m‡1Š Wm 1
fmg T
V Om
T
ˆ U ‰m‡1Š ‰Vm1 ‡ Vm2 ‡ Vm3 ŠW ‰m‡1Š …say† …3:3†
T
ˆ U ‰m‡1Š VW ‰m‡1Š …3:4†

The proof of the theorem will be complete if we can show that

f ‡ g
V ˆV m 1 …3:5†

Writing
Vmk ˆ …vki;j;m † …k ˆ 1; 2; 3†; …1 4 i; j: 4 m ‡ 2†

we note from relation (3.3) that

8
>
>
> 0 when 1 4 j 4 m ¡ i ‡ 2
>
> Á !Á !
< m i ¡1
…‡¡ ¡ †
v1i;j;m ˆ > vi j m 3 when m ¡ i ‡ 3 4 j 4 m ‡ 2 …3:6†
>
>
> i¡1 i‡j¡m¡3
>
:
14i 4m ‡ 2
8
>
>0 when 1 4 j 4 m ¡ i ‡ 3
>
> Á !Á !
>
< m i¡2 …‡¡ ¡ †
v2i;j;m ˆ
> vi j m 3 when m ¡ i ‡ 4 4 j 4 m ‡ 2 …3:7†
>
> i ¡ 2 i ‡ j ¡ m ¡ 4
>
>
:
14i 4m ‡ 2
8
>
>
> 0 when 1 4 j 4 m ¡ i ‡ 2
>
> Á !Á !
< m i¡2 …‡¡ ¡ †
v3i;j;m ˆ
> vi j m 3 when m ¡ i ‡ 3 4 j 4 m ‡ 2 …3:8†
>
> ¡
i 2 ‡ ¡
i j m 3¡
>
>
:
14i 4m ‡ 2

In the notation, we use the convention: ¡…¡1 n† ˆ 0, if n is a positive integer or zero.

If V ˆ …vi;j;m †, we obtain from relation (3.3) and (3.4), using equation (3.6),
(3.7) and (3.8)
 742 Classroom notes

vi;j;m ˆ 0 if 1 4 j 4 m ¡ i ‡ 2; 1 4 i 4 m ‡ 2 …3:9†
Á !Á ! Á !Á !
m i¡1 m i¡2
vi;m¡i‡3;m ˆ v‡0‡ v
i¡1 0 i¡2 0
Á !
m‡1
ˆ v if 1 4 i 4 m ‡ 2 …3:10†
i¡1

and
(Á !Á ! Á !Á !
m i¡1 m i¡2
vi;j;m ˆ ‡
i¡1 i‡j ¡m¡3 i¡2 i‡j¡m¡4
Downloaded by [Columbia University Libraries] at 21:21 10 August 2017

Á !Á !)
m i¡2 …‡¡ ¡ †
‡ vi j m 3
i¡2 i‡j¡m¡3
Á !Á !
m‡1 i¡1 …‡¡ ¡ †
ˆ v i j m 3 if m ¡ i ‡ 3 4 j 4 m ‡ 2; 1 4 i 4 m ‡ 2
i¡1 i‡j ¡m¡3
…3:11†
‡1
Equations (3.9), (3.10) and (3.11) prove that vi;j;m ˆ vm i;j , 1 4 i; j 4 m
‡ 2. Hence,
if equation (3.1) is true for n ˆ m, then it is also true for n ˆ m ‡ 1. This completes
the proof of the theorem.

4. Remarks
The next step is to derive a similar result for the nth derivative of the product of
p functions. This will require a proper extension of the lemma of section 2.

Why the square root function is not linear

DAVID E. DOBBS
Department of Mathematics, University of Tennessee, Knoxville,
Tennessee 37996-1300, USA; e-mail: dobbs@math.utk.edu

(Received 2 July 2001 )

Six proofs are given for the fact that for each integer n 5 2, the nth root
function, viewed as a function from the set of non-negative real numbers to
itself, is not linear. If p is a prime number, then Z =pZ is characterized, up to
isomorphism, as the only integral domain D of characteristic p such that D
admits a pth root function D ! D which is linear. The ®rst part of this note
could ®nd classroom use in courses on precalculus or calculus; the second part,
in courses on abstract algebra.