Finite difference

A finite difference is a mathematical

expression of the form f (x + b) − f (x + a).
If a finite difference is divided by b − a, one
gets a difference quotient. The
approximation of derivatives by finite
differences plays a central role in finite
difference methods for the numerical
solution of differential equations,
especially boundary value problems.
The difference operator, commonly
denoted is the operator that maps a
function f to the function defined by

A difference equation is a functional

equation that involves the finite difference
operator in the same way as a differential
equation involves derivatives. There are
many similarities between difference
equations and differential equations,
specially in the solving methods. Certain
recurrence relations can be written as
difference equations by replacing iteration
notation with finite differences.
In numerical analysis, finite differences are
widely used for approximating derivatives,
and the term "finite difference" is often
used as an abbreviation of "finite
difference approximation of
derivatives".[1][2][3] Finite difference
approximations are finite difference
quotients in the terminology employed
above.

Finite differences were introduced by

Brook Taylor in 1715 and have also been
studied as abstract self-standing
mathematical objects in works by George
Boole (1860), L. M. Milne-Thomson (1933),
and Károly Jordan (1939). Finite
differences trace their origins back to one
of Jost Bürgi's algorithms (c. 1592) and
work by others including Isaac Newton.
The formal calculus of finite differences
can be viewed as an alternative to the
calculus of infinitesimals.[4]

Basic types

The three types of the finite differences. The central difference about x gives the best approximation of the derivative of
the function at x.
Three basic types are commonly
considered: forward, backward, and central
finite differences.[1][2][3]

A forward difference, denoted of a

function f is a function defined as

Depending on the application, the spacing

h may be variable or constant. When
omitted, h is taken to be 1; that is,

A backward difference uses the function

values at x and x − h, instead of the values
at x + h and x:
Finally, the central difference is given by

Relation with derivatives

Finite difference is often used as an
approximation of the derivative, typically in
numerical differentiation.

The derivative of a function f at a point x is

defined by the limit.
If h has a fixed (non-zero) value instead of
approaching zero, then the right-hand side
of the above equation would be written

Hence, the forward difference divided by h

approximates the derivative when h is
small. The error in this approximation can
be derived from Taylor's theorem.
Assuming that f is twice differentiable, we
have
The same formula holds for the backward
difference:

However, the central (also called centered)

difference yields a more accurate
approximation. If f is three times
differentiable,

The main problem with the central

difference method, however, is that
oscillating functions can yield zero
derivative. If f (nh) = 1 for n odd, and
f (nh) = 2 for n even, then f ′(nh) = 0 if it is
calculated with the central difference
scheme. This is particularly troublesome if
the domain of f is discrete. See also
Symmetric derivative

Authors for whom finite differences mean

finite difference approximations define the
forward/backward/central differences as
the quotients given in this section (instead
of employing the definitions given in the
previous section).[1][2][3]

Higher-order differences
In an analogous way, one can obtain finite
difference approximations to higher order
derivatives and differential operators. For
example, by using the above central
difference formula for f ′(x + h2 ) and
f ′(x − h2 ) and applying a central difference
formula for the derivative of f ′ at x, we
obtain the central difference
approximation of the second derivative of
f:

Second-order central

Similarly we can apply other differencing

formulas in a recursive manner.

Second order forward

 Second order backward

More generally, the nth order forward,

backward, and central differences are
given by, respectively,

Forward

or for h = 1,
 Backward

Central

These equations use binomial coefficients

n
after the summation sign shown as ( i ).
Each row of Pascal's triangle provides the
coefficient for each value of i.

Note that the central difference will, for

odd n, have h multiplied by non-integers.
This is often a problem because it
amounts to changing the interval of
discretization. The problem may be
remedied taking the average of
δn[ f ](x − h2 ) and δn[ f ](x + h2 ).

Forward differences applied to a sequence

are sometimes called the binomial
transform of the sequence, and have a
number of interesting combinatorial
properties. Forward differences may be
evaluated using the Nörlund–Rice integral.
The integral representation for these types
of series is interesting, because the
integral can often be evaluated using
asymptotic expansion or saddle-point
techniques; by contrast, the forward
difference series can be extremely hard to
evaluate numerically, because the binomial
coefficients grow rapidly for large n.

The relationship of these higher-order

differences with the respective derivatives
is straightforward,

Higher-order differences can also be used

to construct better approximations. As
mentioned above, the first-order difference
approximates the first-order derivative up
to a term of order h. However, the
combination

approximates f ′(x) up to a term of order

h2. This can be proven by expanding the
above expression in Taylor series, or by
using the calculus of finite differences,
explained below.

If necessary, the finite difference can be

centered about any point by mixing
forward, backward, and central
differences.
Polynomials
For a given polynomial of degree n ≥ 1,
expressed in the function P(x), with real
numbers a ≠ 0 and b and lower order terms
(if any) marked as l.o.t.:

After n pairwise differences, the following

result can be achieved, where h ≠ 0 is a
real number marking the arithmetic
difference:[5]
Only the coefficient of the highest-order
term remains. As this result is constant
with respect to x, any further pairwise
differences will have the value 0.

Inductive proof

Base case

Let Q(x) be a polynomial of degree 1:

This proves it for the base case.

Step case

Let R(x) be a polynomial of degree m-1

where m ≥ 2 and the coefficient of the
highest-order term be a ≠ 0. Assuming the
following holds true for all polynomials of
degree m-1:

Let S(x) be a polynomial of degree m. With

one pairwise difference:

As ahm ≠ 0, this results in a polynomial

T(x) of degree m-1, with ahm as the
coefficient of the highest-order term. Given
the assumption above and m-1 pairwise
differences (resulting in a total of m
pairwise differences for S(x)), it can be
found that:

This completes the proof.

Application

This identity can be used to find the

lowest-degree polynomial that intercepts a
number of points (x, y) where the
difference on the x-axis from one point to
the next is a constant h ≠ 0. For example,
given the following points:

x y

1 4

4 109

7 772

10 2641

13 6364

We can use a differences table, where all

cells to the right of the first y, the following
relation to the cells in the column
immediately to the left exists for a cell
(a+1, b+1), with the top-leftmost cell being
at coordinate (0, 0):
To find the first term, the following table
can be used:

x y Δy Δ 2y Δ 3y

1 4

4 109 105

7 772 663 558

10 2641 1869 1206 648

13 6364 3723 1854 648

This arrives at a constant 648. The

arithmetic difference is h=3, as
established above. Given the number of
pairwise differences needed to reach the
constant, it can be surmised this is a
polynomial of degree 3. Thus, using the
identity above:
Solving for a, it can be found to have the
value 4. Thus, the first term of the
polynomial is 4x3.

Then, subtracting out the first term, which

lowers the polynomial's degree, and
finding the finite difference again:

x y Δy Δ 2y

1 4 - 4(1)3 = 4 - 4 = 0

4 109 - 4(4)3 = 109 - 256 = -147 -147

7 772 - 4(7)3 = 772 - 1372 = -600 -453 -306

10 2641 - 4(10)3 = 2641 - 4000 = -1359 -759 -306

13 6364 - 4(13)3 = 6364 - 8788 = -2424 -1065 -306

Here, the constant is achieved after only 2

pairwise differences, thus the following
result:
Solving for a, which is -17, the polynomial's
second term is -17x2.

Moving on to the next term, by subtracting

out the second term:

x y Δy

1 0 - (-17(1)2) = 0 + 17 = 17

4 -147 - (-17(4)2) = -147 + 272 = 125 108

7 -600 - (-17(7)2) = -600 + 833 = 233 108

10 -1359 - (-17(10)2) = -1359 + 1700 = 341 108

13 -2424 - (-17(13)2) = -2424 + 2873 = 449 108

Thus the constant is achieved after only 1

pairwise difference:

It can be found that a = 36 and thus the

third term of the polynomial is 36x.
Subtracting out the third term:

x y

1 17 - 36(1) = 17 - 36 = -19

4 125 - 36(4) = 125 - 144 = -19

7 233 - 36(7) = 233 - 252 = -19

10 341 - 36(10) = 341 - 360 = -19

13 449 - 36(13) = 449 - 468 = -19

Without any pairwise differences, it is

found that the 4th and final term of the
polynomial is the constant -19. Thus, the
lowest-degree polynomial intercepting all
the points in the first table is found:

Arbitrarily sized kernels

Using linear algebra one can construct
finite difference approximations which
utilize an arbitrary number of points to the
left and a (possibly different) number of
points to the right of the evaluation point,
for any order derivative. This involves
solving a linear system such that the
Taylor expansion of the sum of those
points around the evaluation point best
approximates the Taylor expansion of the
desired derivative. Such formulas can be
represented graphically on a hexagonal or
diamond-shaped grid.[6]

This is useful for differentiating a function

on a grid, where, as one approaches the
edge of the grid, one must sample fewer
and fewer points on one side.
The details are outlined in these notes (htt
ps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FDn
otes.djvu) .

The Finite Difference Coefficients

Calculator (http://web.media.mit.edu/~crt
aylor/calculator.html) constructs finite
difference approximations for non-
standard (and even non-integer) stencils
given an arbitrary stencil and a desired
derivative order.

Properties

For all positive k and n

 Leibniz rule:

In differential equations
An important application of finite
differences is in numerical analysis,
especially in numerical differential
equations, which aim at the numerical
solution of ordinary and partial differential
equations. The idea is to replace the
derivatives appearing in the differential
equation by finite differences that
approximate them. The resulting methods
are called finite difference methods.

Common applications of the finite

difference method are in computational
science and engineering disciplines, such
as thermal engineering, fluid mechanics,
etc.

Newton's series
The Newton series consists of the terms
of the Newton forward difference
equation, named after Isaac Newton; in
essence, it is the Newton interpolation
formula, first published in his Principia
Mathematica in 1687,[7] [8] namely the
discrete analog of the continuous Taylor
expansion,

which holds for any polynomial function f

and for many (but not all) analytic
functions. (It does not hold when f is
exponential type . This is easily seen, as
the sine function vanishes at integer
multiples of ; the corresponding Newton
series is identically zero, as all finite
differences are zero in this case. Yet
clearly, the sine function is not zero.) Here,
the expression

is the binomial coefficient, and

is the "falling factorial" or "lower factorial",

while the empty product (x)0 is defined to
be 1. In this particular case, there is an
assumption of unit steps for the changes
in the values of x, h = 1 of the
generalization below.
Note the formal correspondence of this
result to Taylor's theorem. Historically, this,
as well as the Chu–Vandermonde identity,

(following from it, and corresponding to

the binomial theorem), are included in the
observations that matured to the system
of umbral calculus.

Newton series expansions can be superior

to Taylor series expansions when applied
to discrete quantities like quantum spins
(see Holstein–Primakoff transformation),
bosonic operator functions or discrete
counting statistics.[9]

To illustrate how one may use Newton's

formula in actual practice, consider the
first few terms of doubling the Fibonacci
sequence f = 2, 2, 4, ... One can find a
polynomial that reproduces these values,
by first computing a difference table, and
then substituting the differences that
correspond to x0 (underlined) into the
formula as follows,
For the case of nonuniform steps in the
values of x, Newton computes the divided
differences,

the series of products,

and the resulting polynomial is the scalar
product,[10]

In analysis with p-adic numbers, Mahler's

theorem states that the assumption that f
is a polynomial function can be weakened
all the way to the assumption that f is
merely continuous.

Carlson's theorem provides necessary and

sufficient conditions for a Newton series
to be unique, if it exists. However, a
Newton series does not, in general, exist.
The Newton series, together with the
Stirling series and the Selberg series, is a
special case of the general difference
series, all of which are defined in terms of
suitably scaled forward differences.

In a compressed and slightly more general

form and equidistant nodes the formula
reads

Calculus of finite differences

The forward difference can be considered
as an operator, called the difference
operator, which maps the function f to
Δh[ f ].[11][12] This operator amounts to

where Th is the shift operator with step h,

defined by Th[ f ](x) = f (x + h), and I is the
identity operator.

The finite difference of higher orders can

be defined in recursive manner as
n n−1
Δh ≡ Δh(Δh ). Another equivalent
n
definition is Δh = [Th − I]n.

The difference operator Δh is a linear

operator, as such it satisfies
Δh[αf + βg](x) = α Δh[ f ](x) + β Δh[g](x).
It also satisfies a special Leibniz rule
indicated above,
Δh(f (x)g(x)) = (Δhf (x)) g(x+h) + f (x) (Δhg(x))
. Similar statements hold for the backward
and central differences.

Formally applying the Taylor series with

respect to h, yields the formula

where D denotes the continuum derivative

operator, mapping f to its derivative f ′. The
expansion is valid when both sides act on
analytic functions, for sufficiently small h.
Thus, Th = ehD, and formally inverting the
exponential yields

This formula holds in the sense that both

operators give the same result when
applied to a polynomial.

Even for analytic functions, the series on

the right is not guaranteed to converge; it
may be an asymptotic series. However, it
can be used to obtain more accurate
approximations for the derivative. For
instance, retaining the first two terms of
the series yields the second-order
approximation to f ′(x) mentioned at the
end of the section Higher-order
differences.

The analogous formulas for the backward

and central difference operators are

The calculus of finite differences is related

to the umbral calculus of combinatorics.
This remarkably systematic
correspondence is due to the identity of
the commutators of the umbral quantities
to their continuum analogs (h → 0 limits),
A large number of formal differential
relations of standard calculus involving
functions f (x) thus map systematically to
umbral finite-difference analogs involving
−1
f (xTh ).

For instance, the umbral analog of a

monomial xn is a generalization of the
above falling factorial (Pochhammer k-
symbol),

so that
hence the above Newton interpolation
formula (by matching coefficients in the
expansion of an arbitrary function f (x) in
such symbols), and so on.

For example, the umbral sine is

As in the continuum limit, the eigenfunction

Δh
of h also happens to be an exponential,

and hence Fourier sums of continuum

functions are readily mapped to umbral
Fourier sums faithfully, i.e., involving the
same Fourier coefficients multiplying these
umbral basis exponentials.[13] This umbral
exponential thus amounts to the
exponential generating function of the
Pochhammer symbols.

Thus, for instance, the Dirac delta function

maps to its umbral correspondent, the
cardinal sine function,

and so forth.[14] Difference equations can

often be solved with techniques very
similar to those for solving differential
equations.

The inverse operator of the forward

difference operator, so then the umbral
integral, is the indefinite sum or
antidifference operator.

Rules for calculus of finite difference

operators

Analogous to rules for finding the

derivative, we have:

Constant rule: If c is a constant, then

Linearity: if a and b are constants,

All of the above rules apply equally well to
any difference operator as to Δ, including δ
and ∇.
Product rule:

Quotient rule:

or

Summation rules:
See references.[15][16][17][18]

Generalizations
A generalized finite difference is usually
defined as

where μ = (μ0, …, μN) is its coefficient

vector. An infinite difference is a further
generalization, where the finite sum
above is replaced by an infinite series.
Another way of generalization is making
coefficients μk depend on point x:
μk = μk(x), thus considering weighted
finite difference. Also one may make
the step h depend on point x: h = h(x).
Such generalizations are useful for
constructing different modulus of
continuity.
The generalized difference can be seen
as the polynomial rings R[Th]. It leads to
difference algebras.
Difference operator generalizes to
Möbius inversion over a partially ordered
set.
 As a convolution operator: Via the
formalism of incidence algebras,
difference operators and other Möbius
inversion can be represented by
convolution with a function on the poset,
called the Möbius function μ; for the
difference operator, μ is the sequence
(1, −1, 0, 0, 0, …).

Multivariate finite
differences
Finite differences can be considered in
more than one variable. They are
analogous to partial derivatives in several
variables.
Some partial derivative approximations
are:

Alternatively, for applications in which the

computation of f is the most costly step,
and both first and second derivatives must
be computed, a more efficient formula for
the last case is

since the only values to compute that are

not already needed for the previous four
equations are f (x + h, y + k) and
f (x − h, y − k).

See also
Discrete calculus
Divided differences
Finite-difference time-domain method
(FDTD)
 Finite volume method
FTCS scheme
Gilbreath's conjecture
Sheffer sequence
Summation by parts
Time scale calculus
Upwind differencing scheme for
convection

References
1. Paul Wilmott; Sam Howison; Jeff
Dewynne (1995). The Mathematics of
Financial Derivatives: A Student
Introduction (https://archive.org/detail
s/mathematicsoffin00wilm/page/13
 7) . Cambridge University Press.
p. 137 (https://archive.org/details/mat
hematicsoffin00wilm/page/137) .
ISBN 978-0-521-49789-3.

2. Peter Olver (2013). Introduction to

Partial Differential Equations. Springer
Science & Business Media. p. 182.
ISBN 978-3-319-02099-0.

3. M Hanif Chaudhry (2007). Open-

Channel Flow. Springer. p. 369.
ISBN 978-0-387-68648-6.
4. Jordán, op. cit., p. 1 and Milne-
Thomson, p. xxi. Milne-Thomson,
Louis Melville (2000): The Calculus of
Finite Differences (Chelsea Pub Co,
2000) ISBN 978-0821821077

5. "Finite differences of polynomials" (htt

ps://divisbyzero.com/2018/02/13/finit
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February 13, 2018.
6. Fraser, Duncan C. (January 1, 1909).
"On the Graphic Delineation of
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8. Iaroslav V. Blagouchine (2018). "Three
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(http://math.colgate.edu/~integers/sjs
3/sjs3.pdf) (PDF). Integers (Electronic
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11. Boole, George, (1872). A Treatise On

The Calculus of Finite Differences, 2nd
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(https://archive.org/details/cu319240
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12. Jordan, Charles, (1939/1965).
"Calculus of Finite Differences",
Chelsea Publishing. On-line: [1] (http
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13. Zachos, C. (2008). "Umbral
Deformations on Discrete Space-
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Bibcode:2008IJMPA..23.2005Z (http
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s/1304.0429) .
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486-67260-3.

16. Ames, W.F. (1977). Numerical

Methods for Partial Differential
Equations. New York, NY: Academic
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1.

17. Hildebrand, F.B. (1968). Finite-

Difference Equations and Simulations.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Section 2.2.
18. Flajolet, Philippe; Sedgewick, Robert
(1995). "Mellin transforms and
asymptotics: Finite differences and
Rice's integrals" (http://algo.inria.fr/flaj
olet/Publications/FlSe95.pdf) (PDF).
Theoretical Computer Science. 144
(1–2): 101–124. doi:10.1016/0304-
3975(94)00281-M (https://doi.org/10.
1016%2F0304-3975%2894%2900281-
M) .
Richardson, C. H. (1954): An Introduction
to the Calculus of Finite Differences (Van
Nostrand (1954) online copy (http://babe
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982945;view=1up;seq=5)
 Mickens, R. E. (1991): Difference
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0442001360

External links
"Finite-difference calculus" (https://ww
w.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?tit
le=Finite-difference_calculus) ,
Encyclopedia of Mathematics, EMS
Press, 2001 [1994]
Table of useful finite difference formula
generated using (http://reference.wolfra
m.com/mathematica/tutorial/NDSolveP
DE.html#c:4) Mathematica
 D. Gleich (2005), Finite Calculus: A
Tutorial for Solving Nasty Sums (https://
web.archive.org/web/20090419132601/
http://www.stanford.edu/~dgleich/publi
cations/finite-calculus.pdf)
Discrete Second Derivative from
Unevenly Spaced Points (http://mathfor
meremortals.wordpress.com/2013/01/
12/a-numerical-second-derivative-from-t
hree-points/)

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