The Kronecker Delta Function Song

Walter F. Smith, Spring 2002

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Leopold Kronecker said that God had

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Made the integers but nothing in between.

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The study of transcen-dental numbers was mad!

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And the irrationals, he thought they were obscene!

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Although he was eccentric, old Leo was hero!

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He studied elliptic functions, so they say.

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But he did something else, and it equals one or zero--

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It’s the reason physicists remember him today!

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Kronecker delta functions are such fun --

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A little delta and a tiny m- n !

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If the subscripts are equal, the value is just one,

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But zero if they’re different, let’s sing the song again! (2X)

that’s enough, this is the end! (last time)

ã 2002 Walter Fox Smith