Holonomic function

In mathematics, and more specifically in analysis, a holonomic function is a smooth function of several variables that is a solution of a system of linear homogeneous differential equations with polynomial coefficients and satisfies a suitable dimension condition in terms of D-modules theory. More precisely, a holonomic function is an element of a holonomic module of smooth functions. Holonomic functions can also be described as differentiably finite functions, also known as D-finite functions. When a power series in the variables is the Taylor expansion of a holonomic function, the sequence of its coefficients, in one or several indices, is also called holonomic. Holonomic sequences are also called P-recursive sequences: they are defined recursively by multivariate recurrences satisfied by the whole sequence and by suitable specializations of it. The situation simplifies in the univariate case: any univariate sequence that satisfies a linear homogeneous recurrence relation with polynomial coefficients, or equivalently a linear homogeneous difference equation with polynomial coefficients, is holonomic. Let be a field of characteristic 0 (for example, or ). A function is called D-finite (or holonomic) if there exist polynomials such that holds for all x. This can also be written as where and is the differential operator that maps to . is called an annihilating operator of f (the annihilating operators of form an ideal in the ring , called the annihilator of ). The quantity r is called the order of the annihilating operator. By extension, the holonomic function f is said to be of order r when an annihilating operator of such order exists. A sequence is called P-recursive (or holonomic) if there exist polynomials such that holds for all n. This can also be written as where and the shift operator that maps to . is called an annihilating operator of c (the annihilating operators of form an ideal in the ring , called the annihilator of ). The quantity r is called the order of the annihilating operator.