In mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

, time-scale calculus is a unification of the theory of difference equations with that of differential equation

Differential equation

A differential equation is a mathematical equation for an unknown function of one or several variables that relates the values of the function itself and its derivatives of various orders...

s, unifying integral and differential calculus

Calculus

Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...

 with the calculus of finite differences, offering a formalism for studying hybrid discrete–continuous dynamical system

Dynamical system

A dynamical system is a concept in mathematics where a fixed rule describes the time dependence of a point in a geometrical space. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a clock pendulum, the flow of water in a pipe, and the number of fish each springtime in a...

s. It has applications in any field that requires simultaneous modelling of discrete and continuous data. It gives a new definition of a derivative such that if you differentiate a function which acts on the real numbers then the definition is equivalent to standard differentiation, but if you use a function acting on the integers then it is equivalent to the forward difference operator.
It was introduced in 1988 by the German mathematician Stefan Hilger.