Distributions with dynamic test functions and multiplication by discontinuous functions

Abstract

As follows from the Schwartz Impossibility Theorem, multiplication of two distributions is in general impossible. Nevertheless, often one needs to multiply a distribution by a discontinuous function, not by an arbitrary distribution. In the present paper we construct a space of distributions where the general operation of multiplication by a discontinuous function is defined, continuous, commutative, associative and for which the Leibniz product rule holds. In the new space of distributions, the classical delta-function $δ_τ$ extends to a family of delta-functions $δ_τ^α$, dependent on the \textit{shape} $α$. We show that the various known definitions of the product of the Heaviside function and the delta-function in the classical space of distributions $\mathcal D'$ become particular cases of the multiplication in the new space of distributions, and provide the applications of the new space of distributions to the ordinary differential equations which arise in optimal control theory. Also, we compare our approach of the Schwartz distribution theory with the approach of the Colombeau generalized functions algebra, where the general operation of multiplication of two distributions is defined.