Professional Documents
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Math Brush Up
• In
univariate
calculus
we
have
func1ons
that
depend
only
on
one
variable,
e.g.,
f(x)
• To
op1mize
means
to
find
the
value
of
x
that
maximizes
or
minimizes
f(x)
• We
find
the
value
of
x,
by
differen1a1ng,
and
seCng
the
deriva1ve
equal
to
zero:
f’(x)
=
0
• To
find
whether
the
solu1on
x*
is
a
maximum
or
a
minimum
we
need
to
look
at
the
second
order
deriva1ve
f’’(x),
in
this
course
we
will
take
it
as
given
whether
we
are
looking
for
a
max
or
min
Math Brush Up
Math Brush Up
Math Brush Up
• In
Economics
we
oLen
have
to
use
func1ons
that
depend
on
more
than
one
variable,
e.g.,:
• Produc1on
as
a
func1on
of
capital
and
labor:
Q=f(K,L)
• U1lity
that
depends
on
several
inputs:
U=f(x1,
x2,
x3)
• We
need
to
use
mul1variate
op1miza1on
Math Brush Up
• Lets
first
consider
an
unconstrained
maximiza1on
problem
with
a
func1on
that
depends
on
two
variables
x1
and
x2:
• Just
like
in
the
single
variable
case,
we
find
a
solu1on
that
sa1sfies
the
first
order
condi1ons: