Parameters, usually denoted λ, introduced to assist in finding the maximum or minimum value of a function f of several variables x1,x2,…xn, subject to some constraint that connects the variables. An important application of the method of Lagrange multipliers is its use in the derivation of the Boltzmann distribution in statistical mechanics, in which one of the Lagrange multipliers is –1/kT, where k is the Boltzmann constant and T is the thermodynamic temperature. Lagrange multipliers were introduced by the Italian-born French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange(1736–1813).