Distributed parameter system (as opposed to a lumped parameter system) refers to a system whose state space is infinite-dimensional. A body whose state is heterogenous has a distributed parameter. It is usually described by partial differential equations.

An example of a distributed parameter system is a bar on the real line that extends from the origin to the point 1 and whose temperature (state) is given by the function T, where T(x) is the temperature at the point x and x belongs to the interval , if the temperature is assumed to vary continuously along the bar.

(That space is infinite-dimensional because T may simultaneously have an infinite number of independent values (at different values of x). For an exact explanation, see Hamel dimension.)

See also

• Systems theory
• Control theory

Systems theory | Systems