Gibbs Dyadic Differentiation on Groups - Evolution of the Concept

Abstract

Differential operators are usually used to determine the rate of change and the direction of change of a signal modeled by a function in some appropriately selected function space. Gibbs derivatives are introduced as operators permitting differentiation of piecewise constant functions. Being initially intended for applications in Walsh dyadic analysis, they are defined as operators having Walsh functions as eigenfunctions. This feature was used in different generalizations and extensions of the concept firstly defined for functions on finite dyadic groups. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of the evolution of this concept into a particlar class of differential operators for functions on various groups.