Special Functions (The GNU C Library)

### 19.6 Special Functions ¶

These are some more exotic mathematical functions which are sometimes useful. Currently they only have real-valued versions.

Function: `double` erf `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` erff `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` erfl `(long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` erffN `(_FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` erffNx `(_FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `erf` returns the error function of x. The error function is defined as

      erf (x) = 2/sqrt(pi) * integral from 0 to x of exp(-t^2) dt

Function: `double` erfc `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` erfcf `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` erfcl `(long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` erfcfN `(_FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` erfcfNx `(_FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `erfc` returns `1.0 - erf(x)`, but computed in a fashion that avoids round-off error when x is large.

Function: `double` lgamma `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` lgammaf `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` lgammal `(long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` lgammafN `(_FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` lgammafNx `(_FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Unsafe race:signgam | AS-Unsafe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `lgamma` returns the natural logarithm of the absolute value of the gamma function of x. The gamma function is defined as

      gamma (x) = integral from 0 to ∞ of t^(x-1) e^-t dt

  The sign of the gamma function is stored in the global variable signgam, which is declared in `math.h`. It is `1` if the intermediate result was positive or zero, or `-1` if it was negative.

  To compute the real gamma function you can use the `tgamma` function or you can compute the values as follows:

      lgam = lgamma(x);
      gam  = signgam*exp(lgam);

  The gamma function has singularities at the non-positive integers. `lgamma` will raise the zero divide exception if evaluated at a singularity.

Function: `double` lgamma_r `(double x, int *signp)` ¶
Function: `float` lgammaf_r `(float x, int *signp)` ¶
Function: `long double` lgammal_r `(long double x, int *signp)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` lgammafN_r `(_FloatN x, int *signp)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` lgammafNx_r `(_FloatNx x, int *signp)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `lgamma_r` is just like `lgamma`, but it stores the sign of the intermediate result in the variable pointed to by signp instead of in the signgam global. This means it is reentrant.

  The `lgammafN_r` and `lgammafNx_r` functions are GNU extensions.

Function: `double` gamma `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` gammaf `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` gammal `(long double x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Unsafe race:signgam | AS-Unsafe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  These functions exist for compatibility reasons. They are equivalent to `lgamma` etc. It is better to use `lgamma` since for one the name reflects better the actual computation, and moreover `lgamma` is standardized in ISO C99 while `gamma` is not.

Function: `double` tgamma `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` tgammaf `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` tgammal `(long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` tgammafN `(_FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` tgammafNx `(_FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `tgamma` applies the gamma function to x. The gamma function is defined as

      gamma (x) = integral from 0 to ∞ of t^(x-1) e^-t dt

  This function was introduced in ISO C99. The `_FloatN` and `_FloatNx` variants were introduced in ISO/IEC TS 18661-3.

Function: `double` j0 `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` j0f `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` j0l `(long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` j0fN `(_FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` j0fNx `(_FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `j0` returns the Bessel function of the first kind of order 0 of x. It may signal underflow if x is too large.

  The `_FloatN` and `_FloatNx` variants are GNU extensions.

Function: `double` j1 `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` j1f `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` j1l `(long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` j1fN `(_FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` j1fNx `(_FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `j1` returns the Bessel function of the first kind of order 1 of x. It may signal underflow if x is too large.

  The `_FloatN` and `_FloatNx` variants are GNU extensions.

Function: `double` jn `(int n, double x)` ¶
Function: `float` jnf `(int n, float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` jnl `(int n, long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` jnfN `(int n, _FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` jnfNx `(int n, _FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `jn` returns the Bessel function of the first kind of order n of x. It may signal underflow if x is too large.

  The `_FloatN` and `_FloatNx` variants are GNU extensions.

Function: `double` y0 `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` y0f `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` y0l `(long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` y0fN `(_FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` y0fNx `(_FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `y0` returns the Bessel function of the second kind of order 0 of x. It may signal underflow if x is too large. If x is negative, `y0` signals a domain error; if it is zero, `y0` signals overflow and returns -∞.

  The `_FloatN` and `_FloatNx` variants are GNU extensions.

Function: `double` y1 `(double x)` ¶
Function: `float` y1f `(float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` y1l `(long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` y1fN `(_FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` y1fNx `(_FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `y1` returns the Bessel function of the second kind of order 1 of x. It may signal underflow if x is too large. If x is negative, `y1` signals a domain error; if it is zero, `y1` signals overflow and returns -∞.

  The `_FloatN` and `_FloatNx` variants are GNU extensions.

Function: `double` yn `(int n, double x)` ¶
Function: `float` ynf `(int n, float x)` ¶
Function: `long double` ynl `(int n, long double x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatN` ynfN `(int n, _FloatN x)` ¶
Function: `_FloatNx` ynfNx `(int n, _FloatNx x)` ¶

  Preliminary: | MT-Safe | AS-Safe | AC-Safe | See POSIX Safety Concepts.

  `yn` returns the Bessel function of the second kind of order n of x. It may signal underflow if x is too large. If x is negative, `yn` signals a domain error; if it is zero, `yn` signals overflow and returns -∞.

  The `_FloatN` and `_FloatNx` variants are GNU extensions.