
Special Functions and Orthogonal Polynomials
Cambridge University Press
2nd Edition
Published on 17. May 2016
Book
Hardback
488 pages
978-1-107-10698-7 (ISBN)
Description
The subject of special functions is often presented as a collection of disparate results, rarely organized in a coherent way. This book emphasizes general principles that unify and demarcate the subjects of study. The authors' main goals are to provide clear motivation, efficient proofs, and original references for all of the principal results. The book covers standard material, but also much more. It shows how much of the subject can be traced back to two equations - the hypergeometric equation and confluent hypergeometric equation - and it details the ways in which these equations are canonical and special. There is extended coverage of orthogonal polynomials, including connections to approximation theory, continued fractions, and the moment problem, as well as an introduction to new asymptotic methods. There are also chapters on Meijer G-functions and elliptic functions. The final chapter introduces Painleve transcendents, which have been termed the 'special functions of the twenty-first century'.
Reviews / Votes
'... an excellent graduate textbook, one of the two best available on this subject...' Warren Johnson, MAA Reviews (www.maa.org)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises; 7 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
936 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-107-10698-7 (9781107106987)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Richard Beals | Roderick Wong
Special Functions and Orthogonal Polynomials
E-Book
05/2016
Cambridge University Press
€70.99
Available for download

Richard Beals
Special Functions and Orthogonal Polynomials
E-Book
05/2016
Cambridge University Press
€61.49
Available for download
Persons
Richard Beals is a former Professor of Mathematics at the University of Chicago and Yale University. He is the author or co-author of books on mathematical analysis, linear operators and inverse scattering theory, and has authored more than 100 research papers in areas including partial differential equations, mathematical economics and mathematical psychology. Roderick Wong is Chair Professor of Mathematics at the City University of Hong Kong. He is the author of books on asymptotic approximations of integrals and applied analysis. He has published over 140 research papers in areas such as asymptotic analysis, singular perturbation theory and special functions.
Content
1. Orientation; 2. Gamma, beta, zeta; 3. Second-order differential equations; 4. Orthogonal polynomials on an interval; 5. The classical orthogonal polynomials; 6. Semiclassical orthogonal polynomials; 7. Asymptotics of orthogonal polynomials: two methods; 8. Confluent hypergeometric functions; 9. Cylinder functions; 10. Hypergeometric functions; 11. Spherical functions; 12. Generalized hypergeometric functions; G-functions; 13. Asymptotics; 14. Elliptic functions; 15. Painleve transcendents; Appendix A. Complex analysis; Appendix B. Fourier analysis; References; Index.