The Confluent Hypergeometric Function

The subject of this book is the higher transcendental function known as the confluent hypergeometric function. In the last two decades this function has taken on an ever increasing significance because of its use in the application of mathematics to physical and technical problems. There is no doubt that this trend will continue until the general theory of confluent hypergeometric functions becomes familiar to the majority of physicists in much the same way as the cylinder functions, which were previously less well known, are now used in many engineering and physical problems. This book is intended to further this development. The important practical significance of the functions which are treated hardly demands an involved discussion since they include, as special cases, a number of simpler special functions which have long been the everyday tool of the physicist. It is sufficient to mention that these include, among others, the logarithmic integral, the integral sine and cosine, the error integral, the Fresnel integral, the cylinder functions and the cylinder function in parabolic cylindrical coordinates. For anyone who puts forth the effort to study the confluent hypergeometric function in more detail there is the inestimable advantage of being able to understand the properties of other functions derivable from it. This gen eral point of view is particularly useful in connection with series ex pansions valid for values of the argument near zero or infinity and in connection with the various integral representations.

An extensive summary of mathematical functions that occur in physical and engineering problems

Mathematics is playing an ever more important role in the physical and biological sciences, provoking a blurring of boundaries between scientific disciplines and a resurgence of interest in the modern as well as the clas sical techniques of applied mathematics. This renewal of interest, both in research and teaching, has led to the establishment of the series: Texts in Applied Mathematics (TAM). The development of new courses is a natural consequence of a high level of excitement on the research frontier as newer techniques, such as numerical and symbolic computer systems, dynamical systems, and chaos, mix with and reinforce the traditional methods of applied mathematics. Thus, the purpose of this textbook series is to meet the current and future needs of these advances and encourage the teaching of new courses. TAM will publish textbooks suitable for use in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses, and will complement the Applied Mathe matical Sciences (AMS) series, which will focus on advanced textbooks and research level monographs. Preface A wide range of problems exists in classical and quantum physics, engi neering, and applied mathematics in which special functions arise. The procedure followed in most texts on these topics (e. g. , quantum mechanics, electrodynamics, modern physics, classical mechanics, etc. ) is to formu late the problem as a differential equation that is related to one of several special differential equations (Hermite's, Bessel's, Laguerre's, Legendre's, etc. ).

This handbook focuses on special functions in physics in the real and complex domain. It covers more than 170 different functions with additional numerical hints for efficient computation, which are useful to anyone who needs to program with other programming languages as well. The book comes with MATLAB-based programs for each of these functions and a detailed html-based documentation. Some of the explained functions are: Gamma and Beta functions; Legendre functions, which are linked to quantum mechanics and electrodynamics; Bessel functions; hypergeometric functions, which play an important role in mathematical physics; orthogonal polynomials, which are largely used in computational physics; and Riemann zeta functions, which play an important role, e.g., in quantum chaos or string theory. The book’s primary audience are scientists, professionals working in research areas of industries, and advanced students in physics, applied mathematics, and engineering.