gamma_incomplete(1/2,0)?



Am Montag, den 30.11.2009, 19:03 -0500 schrieb Raymond Toy:
> Current CVS says gamma_incomplete(1/2,0) is sqrt(%pi)/2.  But the help
> for gamma_incomplete says gamma_incomplete(a,z) =
> integrate(exp(-t)*t^(a-1),t,0,z).  (This matches A&S 6.5.2.)
> 
> So from the documentation, I would expect the integral to be 0.
> 
> Which is correct?  Since A&S is our reference, I think the current value
> is incorrect and we should return 0.

Sorry, but I think the documentation is wrong. The problem is that the
Incomplete Gamma function and the lower Incomplete Gamma function are
easy to mix up. I think these are the defintions (e.g. wolfram.com)

Incomplete Gamma functions:

 gamma_incomplete(a,z) = integrate(exp(-t)*t^(a-1),t,z,inf)


lower Incomplete Gamma function (gammagreek in Maxima):

 lower_gamma_incomplete(a,z)= integrate(exp(-t)*t^(a-1),t,0,z)

Dieter Kaiser