Burkill-Cesari integral
An extension of Burkill's integration process (for interval and rectangular functions; cf. Burkill integral) to set functions in abstract settings, introduced by L. Cesari in [a8], [a9]. It finds applications in the Weierstrass-type approach to the calculus of variations (see [a1], [a10], [a11], the survey [a2], and [a5], [a6], [a7]).
Elementary integration process for interval functions.
Given an interval , let
denote the collection of all closed subintervals. Let
be the family of finite partitions
of
and let
be the mesh function defined by
.
An interval function is said to be integrable if the limit
exists and is finite.
One of the main applications of this process is to the Jordan length of a continuous rectifiable curve , which coincides with the integral of the function
,
.
Burkill integration process for rectangle functions.
Given a closed rectangle , let
denote the collection of all closed subrectangles with sides parallel to the axes. Let
be the family of Cartesian subdivisions
of
and let
be the mesh function defined by
.
A rectangle function is said to be Burkill integrable if the limit
![]() |
exists and is finite.
It has been proved that the area of a continuous surface of bounded variation coincides with the Burkill integral of a suitable rectangular function.
Burkill–Cesari integration process in an abstract setting.
Given a topological space , let
be the family of all subsets of
. Let
be a given class of sets, called "intervals" . A finite system
is a finite collection of non-overlapping intervals, i.e.
and
,
,
, where
and
denote the
-interior and
-closure, respectively.
Let be a given net of finite systems and let
be the function defined by
when
and
otherwise.
A function , where
is a Banach space, is said to be Burkill–Cesari integrable over
if the limit
![]() |
exists.
An efficient condition for the existence of the Burkill–Cesari integral is Cesari quasi-additivity: A function is said to be quasi-additive [a8] over
if for each
there exists a
such that for every
there exists a
such that for every
,
![]() |
![]() |
where ,
.
The function is said to be of bounded variation if
.
A quasi-additive function is Burkill–Cesari integrable. Moreover, if is quasi-additive and of bounded variation on
, then both functions
and
are quasi-additive on all subsets
.
An analogous Burkill–Cesari weak integration process was introduced in [a3].
Subject to a suitable strengthening of the setting, the Burkill–Cesari integral admits extension to measures. Moreover, the total variation of the Burkill–Cesari measure of a function coincides with the Burkill–Cesari measure of
.
Connections of the Burkill–Cesari process with martingale theory were presented in [a4] (cf. also Martingale). A characterization of lower semicontinuity for Burkill–Cesari integrals was proposed in [a7]. The integration processes of Riemann, Lebesgue–Stieltjes, Hellinger, Bochner, Pettis, and Henstock can be regarded as particular Burkill–Cesari integrals (cf. also Riemann integral; Lebesgue–Stieltjes integral; Hellinger integral; Bochner integral; Pettis integral; Kurzweil–Henstock integral).
The variation, length and area of a curve or surface of bounded variation (not necessarily continuous) find a meaningful definition in terms of the Burkill–Cesari integral. Furthermore, a definition of weighted length and area can be introduced by means of this process.
More generally, the Burkill–Cesari integral has important applications in the definition of Weierstrass-type integrals in the calculus of variations (cf. Variational calculus). In fact the classical Lebesgue functionals are valid only with respect to Sobolev's variety, but the corresponding Weierstrass integrals provide a good and meaningful extension to the bounded variation setting.
References
[a1] | J.C. Breckenridge, "Burkill–Cesari integrals of quasi additive interval functions" Pacific J. Math. , 37 (1971) pp. 635–654 |
[a2] | C. Vinti, "Nonlinear integration and Weierstrass integral over a manifold: connections with theorems on martingales" J. Optimization Th. App. , 41 (1983) pp. 213–237 |
[a3] | P. Brandi, A. Salvadori, "Sull'integrale debole alla Burkill–Cesari" Atti Sem. Mat. Fis. Univ. Modena , 23 (1978) pp. 14–38 |
[a4] | P. Brandi, A. Salvadori, "Martingale ed integrale alla Burkill–Cesari" Atti Accad. Naz. Lincei , 67 (1979) pp. 197–203 |
[a5] | P. Brandi, A. Salvadori, "A quasi-additive type condition and the integral over a BV variety" Pacific J. Math. , 146 (1990) pp. 1–19 |
[a6] | P. Brandi, A. Salvadori, "On the non-parametric integral over a BV surface" J. Nonlinear Anal. , 13 (1989) pp. 1127–1137 |
[a7] | P. Brandi, A. Salvadori, "On the semicontinuity of Burkill–Cesari integral" Rend. Circ. Mat. Palermo , 63 (1994) pp. 161–180 |
[a8] | L. Cesari, "Quasi-additive set functions and the concept of integral over a variety" Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. , 102 (1962) pp. 94–113 |
[a9] | Cesari,L, "Extension problem for quasi-additive set functions and Radon–Nykodym derivatives" Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. , 102 (1962) pp. 114–145 |
[a10] | G. Warner, "The Burkill--Cesari integral" Duke Math. J , 35 (1968) pp. 61–78 |
[a11] | G. Warner, "The generalized Weierstrass-type integral ![]() |
Burkill-Cesari integral. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Burkill-Cesari_integral&oldid=19041