Special functions are particular mathematical functions that have more or less established names and notations due to their importance in mathematical analysis, functional analysis, geometry, physics, or other applications.
The term is defined by consensus, and thus lacks a general formal definition, but the list of mathematical functions contains functions that are commonly accepted as special.
Tables of special functions
Many special functions appear as solutions of differential equations or integrals of elementary functions. Therefore, tables of integrals usually include descriptions of special functions, and tables of special functions include most important integrals; at least, the integral representation of special functions. Because symmetries of differential equations are essential to both physics and mathematics, the theory of special functions is closely related to the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, as well as certain topics in mathematical physics.
Symbolic computation engines usually recognize the majority of special functions.
Notations used for special functions
Functions with established international notations are the sine (), cosine (), exponential function (), and error function ( or ).
Some special functions have several notations:
The natural logarithm may be denoted , , , or depending on the context. The tangent function may be denoted , , or ( is used in several European languages). Arctangent may be denoted , , , or . The Bessel functions may be denoted
Subscripts are often used to indicate arguments, typically integers. In a few cases, the semicolon (;) or even backslash (\) is used as a separator. In this case, the translation to algorithmic languages admits ambiguity and may lead to confusion.
Superscripts may indicate not only exponentiation, but modification of a function. Examples (particularly with trigonometric and hyperbolic functions) include:
usually means
is typically , but never
usually means , not ; this one typically causes the most confusion, since the meaning of this superscript is inconsistent with the others.
Evaluation of special functions
Most special functions are considered as a function of a complex variable. They are analytic; the singularities and cuts are described; the differential and integral representations are known and the expansion to the Taylor series or asymptotic series are available. In addition, sometimes there exist relations with other special functions; a complicated special function can be expressed in terms of simpler functions. Various representations can be used for the evaluation; the simplest way to evaluate a function is to expand it into a Taylor series. However, such representation may converge slowly or not at all. In algorithmic languages, rational approximations are typically used, although they may behave badly in the case of complex argument(s).
History of special functions
Classical theory
While trigonometry and exponential functions were systematized and unified by the eighteenth century, the search for a complete and unified theory of special functions has continued since the nineteenth century. The high point of special function theory in 1800–1900 was the theory of elliptic functions; treatises that were essentially complete, such as that of Tannery and Molk, expounded all the basic identities of the theory using techniques from analytic function theory (based on complex analysis). The end of the century also saw a very detailed discussion of spherical harmonics.
Changing and fixed motivations
While pure mathematicians sought a broad theory deriving as many as possible of the known special functions from a single principle, for a long time the special functions were the province of applied mathematics. Applications to the physical sciences and engineering determined the relative importance of functions. Before electronic computation, the importance of a special function was affirmed by the laborious computation of extended tables of values for ready look-up, as for the familiar logarithm tables. (Babbage's difference engine was an attempt to compute such tables.) For this purpose, the main techniques are:
numerical analysis, the discovery of infinite series or other analytical expressions allowing rapid calculation; and reduction of as many functions as possible to the given function.
More theoretical questions include: asymptotic analysis; analytic continuation and monodromy in the complex plane; and symmetry principles and other structural equations.