Decomposition of a Nonlinear Multivariate Function using the Heaviside Step Function

Abstract

Whereas the Dirac delta function introduced by P. A. M. Dirac in 1930 in his famous quantum mechanics text has been well studied, a not famous formula related to the delta function using the Heaviside step function in a single-variable form, also given in Dirac's text, has been poorly studied. We demonstrate the decomposition of a nonlinear multivariate function into a sum of integrals in which each integrand is composed of a derivative of the function and a direct product of Heaviside step functions. It is an extension of Dirac's single-variable form to that for multiple variables. Moreover, it remains mathematically equivalent to the definition of the Dirac delta function with multiple variables, and offers a mathematically unified expression.