Parallel (operator)
Mathematical operation modeling parallel resistors From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The parallel operator (pronounced "parallel",[1] following the parallel lines notation from geometry;[2][3] also known as reduced sum, parallel sum or parallel addition) is a binary operation which is used as a shorthand in electrical engineering,[4][5][6][nb 1] but is also used in kinetics, fluid mechanics and financial mathematics.[7][8] The name parallel comes from the use of the operator computing the combined resistance of resistors in parallel.

Overview
Summarize
Perspective
The parallel operator represents the reciprocal value of a sum of reciprocal values (sometimes also referred to as the "reciprocal formula" or "harmonic sum") and is defined by:[9][6][10][11]
where a, b, and are elements of the extended complex numbers [12][13]
The operator gives half of the harmonic mean of two numbers a and b.[7][8]
As a special case, for any number :
Further, for all distinct numbers :
with representing the absolute value of , and meaning the minimum (least element) among x and y.
If and are distinct positive real numbers then
The concept has been extended from a scalar operation to matrices[14][15][16][17][18] and further generalized.[19]
Notation
The operator was originally introduced as reduced sum by Sundaram Seshu in 1956,[20][21][14] studied as operator ∗
by Kent E. Erickson in 1959,[22][23][14] and popularized by Richard James Duffin and William Niles Anderson, Jr. as parallel addition or parallel sum operator :
in mathematics and network theory since 1966.[15][16][1] While some authors continue to use this symbol up to the present,[7][8] for example, Sujit Kumar Mitra used ∙
as a symbol in 1970.[14] In applied electronics, a ∥
sign became more common as the operator's symbol around 1974.[24][25][26][27][28][nb 1][nb 2] This was often written as doubled vertical line (||) available in most character sets (sometimes italicized as //
[29][30]), but now can be represented using Unicode character U+2225 ( ∥ ) for "parallel to". In LaTeX and related markup languages, the macros \|
and \parallel
are often used (and rarely \smallparallel
is used) to denote the operator's symbol.
Properties
Summarize
Perspective
Let represent the extended complex plane excluding zero, and the bijective function from to such that One has identities
and
This implies immediately that is a field where the parallel operator takes the place of the addition, and that this field is isomorphic to
The following properties may be obtained by translating through the corresponding properties of the complex numbers.
Field properties
As for any field, satisfies a variety of basic identities.
It is commutative under parallel and multiplication:
It is associative under parallel and multiplication:[12][7][8]
Both operations have an identity element; for parallel the identity is while for multiplication the identity is 1:
Every element of has an inverse under parallel, equal to the additive inverse under addition. (But 0 has no inverse under parallel.)
The identity element is its own inverse,
Every element of has a multiplicative inverse :
Multiplication is distributive over parallel:[1][7][8]
Repeated parallel
Repeated parallel is equivalent to division,
Or, multiplying both sides by n,
Unlike for repeated addition, this does not commute:
Binomial expansion
Using the distributive property twice, the product of two parallel binomials can be expanded as
The square of a binomial is
The cube of a binomial is
In general, the nth power of a binomial can be expanded using binomial coefficients which are the reciprocal of those under addition, resulting in an analog of the binomial formula:
Logarithm and exponential
The following identities hold:
Factoring parallel polynomials
As with a polynomial under addition, a parallel polynomial with coefficients in (with ) can be factored into a product of monomials:
for some roots (possibly repeated) in
Analogous to polynomials under addition, the polynomial equation
implies that for some k.
Quadratic formula
A linear equation can be easily solved via the parallel inverse:
To solve a parallel quadratic equation, complete the square to obtain an analog of the quadratic formula
Including zero
The extended complex numbers including zero, is no longer a field under parallel and multiplication, because 0 has no inverse under parallel. (This is analogous to the way is not a field because has no additive inverse.)
For every non-zero a,
The quantity can either be left undefined (see indeterminate form) or defined to equal 0.
Precedence
In the absence of parentheses, the parallel operator is defined as taking precedence over addition or subtraction, similar to multiplication.[1][31][9][10]
Applications
Summarize
Perspective
There are applications of the parallel operator in electronics, optics, and study of periodicity:
Circuit analysis
In electrical engineering, the parallel operator can be used to calculate the total impedance of various serial and parallel electrical circuits.[nb 2] There is a duality between the usual (series) sum and the parallel sum.[7][8]
For instance, the total resistance of resistors connected in parallel is the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the individual resistors.
Likewise for the total capacitance of serial capacitors.[nb 2]
Coalescence of independent probability density functions.
The coalesced density function fcoalesced(x) of n independent probability density functions f1(x), f2(x), …, fn(x), is equal to the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocal densities.[32]
Lens equation
In geometric optics the thin lens approximation to the lens maker's equation.
Synodic period
The time between conjunctions of two orbiting bodies is called the synodic period. If the period of the slower body is T2, and the period of the faster is T1, then the synodic period is
Examples
Summarize
Perspective
Question:
- Three resistors , and are connected in parallel. What is their resulting resistance?
Answer:
- The effectively resulting resistance is ca. 57 kΩ.
- A construction worker raises a wall in 5 hours. Another worker would need 7 hours for the same work. How long does it take to build the wall if both workers work in parallel?
Answer:
- They will finish in close to 3 hours.
Implementation

Suggested already by Kent E. Erickson as a subroutine in digital computers in 1959,[22] the parallel operator is implemented as a keyboard operator on the Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) scientific calculators WP 34S since 2008[33][34][35] as well as on the WP 34C[36] and WP 43S since 2015,[37][38] allowing to solve even cascaded problems with few keystrokes like 270↵ Enter180∥120∥.
Projective view
Summarize
Perspective
Given a field F there are two embeddings of F into the projective line P(F): z → [z : 1] and z → [1 : z]. These embeddings overlap except for [0:1] and [1:0]. The parallel operator relates the addition operation between the embeddings. In fact, the homographies on the projective line are represented by 2 x 2 matrices M(2,F), and the field operations (+ and ×) are extended to homographies. Each embedding has its addition a + b represented by the following matrix multiplications in M(2,A):
The two matrix products show that there are two subgroups of M(2,F) isomorphic to (F,+), the additive group of F. Depending on which embedding is used, one operation is +, the other is
Notes
- While the use of the symbol ∥ for "parallel" in geometry reaches as far back as 1673 in John Kersey the elder's work,[A] this came into more use only since about 1875.[B] The usage of a mathematical operator for parallel circuits originates from network theory in electrical engineering. Sundaram Seshu introduced a reduced sum operator in 1956,[C] Kent E. Erickson proposed an asterisk (∗) to symbolize the operator in 1959,[D] whilst Richard James Duffin and William Niles Anderson, Jr. used a colon (:) for the parallel addition since 1966.[E] Sujit Kumar Mitra used a middot (∙) for it in 1970.[F] The first usage of the parallel symbol (∥) for this operator in applied electronics is unknown, but might have originated from Stephen D. Senturia and Bruce D. Wedlock's 1974 book "Electronic Circuits and Applications",[G] which evolved from their introductory electronics course at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with concepts of teaching network theory and electronics derived from an earlier course taught by Campbell "Cam" Leach Searle. It was further popularized through John W. McWane's 1981 book "Introduction to Electronics and Instrumentation",[H] which grew out of an identically-named MIT course developed as part of the influential Technical Curriculum Development Project between 1974 and 1979. This symbol was probably also introduced because the other used symbols could be easily confused with signs commonly used for multiplication and division in some contexts.
- In electrical circuits the parallel operator can be applied to, respectively, parallel resistances (R in [Ω]) or inductances (L in [H]) as well as to impedances (Z in [Ω]) or reactances (X in [Ω]). Ignoring the operator symbol's then-misleading glyph it can also be applied to series circuits of, respectively, conductances (G in [S]) or capacitances (C in [F]) as well as to admittances (Y in [S]) or susceptances (B in [S]).
References
Further reading
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.