Gaussian integralThe Gaussian integral, also known as the Euler–Poisson integral, is the integral of the Gaussian function over the entire real line. Named after the German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, the integral is Abraham de Moivre originally discovered this type of integral in 1733, while Gauss published the precise integral in 1809. The integral has a wide range of applications. For example, with a slight change of variables it is used to compute the normalizing constant of the normal distribution.
LogarithmIn mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means that the logarithm of a number x to the base b is the exponent to which b must be raised to produce x. For example, since 1000 = 103, the logarithm base 10 of 1000 is 3, or log10 (1000) = 3. The logarithm of x to base b is denoted as logb (x), or without parentheses, logb x, or even without the explicit base, log x, when no confusion is possible, or when the base does not matter such as in big O notation.
Natural logarithmThe natural logarithm of a number is its logarithm to the base of the mathematical constant e, which is an irrational and transcendental number approximately equal to 2.718281828459. The natural logarithm of x is generally written as ln x, loge x, or sometimes, if the base e is implicit, simply log x. Parentheses are sometimes added for clarity, giving ln(x), loge(x), or log(x). This is done particularly when the argument to the logarithm is not a single symbol, so as to prevent ambiguity.
Common logarithmIn mathematics, the common logarithm is the logarithm with base 10. It is also known as the decadic logarithm and as the decimal logarithm, named after its base, or Briggsian logarithm, after Henry Briggs, an English mathematician who pioneered its use, as well as standard logarithm. Historically, it was known as logarithmus decimalis or logarithmus decadis. It is indicated by log(x), log10 (x), or sometimes Log(x) with a capital L (however, this notation is ambiguous, since it can also mean the complex natural logarithmic multi-valued function).
FactorialIn mathematics, the factorial of a non-negative integer , denoted by , is the product of all positive integers less than or equal to . The factorial of also equals the product of with the next smaller factorial: For example, The value of 0! is 1, according to the convention for an empty product. Factorials have been discovered in several ancient cultures, notably in Indian mathematics in the canonical works of Jain literature, and by Jewish mystics in the Talmudic book Sefer Yetzirah.
Complex logarithmIn mathematics, a complex logarithm is a generalization of the natural logarithm to nonzero complex numbers. The term refers to one of the following, which are strongly related: A complex logarithm of a nonzero complex number , defined to be any complex number for which . Such a number is denoted by . If is given in polar form as , where and are real numbers with , then is one logarithm of , and all the complex logarithms of are exactly the numbers of the form for integers .
Double factorialIn mathematics, the double factorial of a number n, denoted by n!!, is the product of all the positive integers up to n that have the same parity (odd or even) as n. That is, Restated, this says that for even n, the double factorial is while for odd n it is For example, 9!! = 9 × 7 × 5 × 3 × 1 = 945. The zero double factorial 0!! = 1 as an empty product. The sequence of double factorials for even n = 0, 2, 4, 6, 8,... starts as The sequence of double factorials for odd n = 1, 3, 5, 7, 9,...
Stirling's approximationIn mathematics, Stirling's approximation (or Stirling's formula) is an approximation for factorials. It is a good approximation, leading to accurate results even for small values of . It is named after James Stirling, though a related but less precise result was first stated by Abraham de Moivre. One way of stating the approximation involves the logarithm of the factorial: where the big O notation means that, for all sufficiently large values of , the difference between and will be at most proportional to the logarithm.
Euler's formulaEuler's formula, named after Leonhard Euler, is a mathematical formula in complex analysis that establishes the fundamental relationship between the trigonometric functions and the complex exponential function. Euler's formula states that for any real number x: where e is the base of the natural logarithm, i is the imaginary unit, and cos and sin are the trigonometric functions cosine and sine respectively. This complex exponential function is sometimes denoted cis x ("cosine plus i sine").
E (mathematical constant)The number e, also known as Euler's number, is a mathematical constant approximately equal to 2.71828 that can be characterized in many ways. It is the base of natural logarithms. It is the limit of (1 + 1/n)n as n approaches infinity, an expression that arises in the study of compound interest. It can also be calculated as the sum of the infinite series It is also the unique positive number a such that the graph of the function y = ax has a slope of 1 at x = 0.
PiThe number pi (paɪ; spelled out as "pi") is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, approximately equal to 3.14159. The number pi appears in many formulae across mathematics and physics. It is an irrational number, meaning that it cannot be expressed exactly as a ratio of two integers, although fractions such as are commonly used to approximate it. Consequently, its decimal representation never ends, nor enters a permanently repeating pattern.
Exponential functionThe exponential function is a mathematical function denoted by or (where the argument x is written as an exponent). Unless otherwise specified, the term generally refers to the positive-valued function of a real variable, although it can be extended to the complex numbers or generalized to other mathematical objects like matrices or Lie algebras. The exponential function originated from the notion of exponentiation (repeated multiplication), but modern definitions (there are several equivalent characterizations) allow it to be rigorously extended to all real arguments, including irrational numbers.
PermutationIn mathematics, a permutation of a set is, loosely speaking, an arrangement of its members into a sequence or linear order, or if the set is already ordered, a rearrangement of its elements. The word "permutation" also refers to the act or process of changing the linear order of an ordered set. Permutations differ from combinations, which are selections of some members of a set regardless of order. For example, written as tuples, there are six permutations of the set {1, 2, 3}, namely (1, 2, 3), (1, 3, 2), (2, 1, 3), (2, 3, 1), (3, 1, 2), and (3, 2, 1).
Parity of a permutationIn mathematics, when X is a finite set with at least two elements, the permutations of X (i.e. the bijective functions from X to X) fall into two classes of equal size: the even permutations and the odd permutations. If any total ordering of X is fixed, the parity (oddness or evenness) of a permutation of X can be defined as the parity of the number of inversions for σ, i.e., of pairs of elements x, y of X such that x < y and σ(x) > σ(y). The sign, signature, or signum of a permutation σ is denoted sgn(σ) and defined as +1 if σ is even and −1 if σ is odd.
Polar coordinate systemIn mathematics, the polar coordinate system is a two-dimensional coordinate system in which each point on a plane is determined by a distance from a reference point and an angle from a reference direction. The reference point (analogous to the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system) is called the pole, and the ray from the pole in the reference direction is the polar axis. The distance from the pole is called the radial coordinate, radial distance or simply radius, and the angle is called the angular coordinate, polar angle, or azimuth.
Stirling numbers of the first kindIn mathematics, especially in combinatorics, Stirling numbers of the first kind arise in the study of permutations. In particular, the Stirling numbers of the first kind count permutations according to their number of cycles (counting fixed points as cycles of length one). The Stirling numbers of the first and second kind can be understood as inverses of one another when viewed as triangular matrices. This article is devoted to specifics of Stirling numbers of the first kind.
Fresnel integralThe Fresnel integrals S(x) and C(x) are two transcendental functions named after Augustin-Jean Fresnel that are used in optics and are closely related to the error function (erf). They arise in the description of near-field Fresnel diffraction phenomena and are defined through the following integral representations: The simultaneous parametric plot of S(x) and C(x) is the Euler spiral (also known as the Cornu spiral or clothoid).
Falling and rising factorialsIn mathematics, the falling factorial (sometimes called the descending factorial, falling sequential product, or lower factorial) is defined as the polynomial The rising factorial (sometimes called the Pochhammer function, Pochhammer polynomial, ascending factorial, rising sequential product, or upper factorial) is defined as The value of each is taken to be 1 (an empty product) when These symbols are collectively called factorial powers. The Pochhammer symbol, introduced by Leo August Pochhammer, is the notation (x)_n , where n is a non-negative integer.
Binary logarithmIn mathematics, the binary logarithm (log2n) is the power to which the number 2 must be raised to obtain the value n. That is, for any real number x, For example, the binary logarithm of 1 is 0, the binary logarithm of 2 is 1, the binary logarithm of 4 is 2, and the binary logarithm of 32 is 5. The binary logarithm is the logarithm to the base 2 and is the inverse function of the power of two function. As well as log2, an alternative notation for the binary logarithm is lb (the notation preferred by ISO 31-11 and ISO 80000-2).
Permutation groupIn mathematics, a permutation group is a group G whose elements are permutations of a given set M and whose group operation is the composition of permutations in G (which are thought of as bijective functions from the set M to itself). The group of all permutations of a set M is the symmetric group of M, often written as Sym(M). The term permutation group thus means a subgroup of the symmetric group. If M = {1, 2, ..., n} then Sym(M) is usually denoted by Sn, and may be called the symmetric group on n letters.
