Generalized hypergeometric function

In mathematics, a generalized hypergeometric series is a power series in which the ratio of successive coefficients
indexed by n is a rational function of n. The series, if convergent, defines a generalized hypergeometric function,
which may then be defined over a wider domain of the argument by analytic continuation. The generalized
hypergeometric series is sometimes just called the hypergeometric series, though this term also sometimes just refers
to the Gaussian hypergeometric series. Generalized hypergeometric functions include the (Gaussian)
hypergeometric function and the confluent hypergeometric function as special cases, which in turn have many
particular special functions as special cases, such as elementary functions, Bessel functions, and the classical
orthogonal polynomials.

Contents
Notation
Terminology
Convergence conditions
Basic properties
Euler's integral transform
Differentiation
Contiguous function and related identities
Identities
Saalschütz's theorem
Dixon's identity
Dougall's formula
Generalization of Kummer's transformations and identities for 2F2
Kummer's relation
Clausen's formula
Special cases
The series 0F0
The series 1F0
The series 0F1
Example
The series 1F1
The series 2F0
The series 2F1
The series 3F0
The series 3F1
Dilogarithm
Hahn polynomials
Wilson polynomials
Generalizations
Notes
References
 External links

Notation
A hypergeometric series is formally defined as a power series

in which the ratio of successive coefficients is a rational function of n. That is,

where A(n) and B(n) are polynomials in n.

For example, in the case of the series for the exponential function,

we have:

So this satisfies the definition with A(n) = 1 and B(n) = n + 1 .

It is customary to factor out the leading term, so β0 is assumed to be 1. The polynomials can be factored into linear
factors of the form (aj + n) and (bk + n) respectively, where the aj and bk are complex numbers.

For historical reasons, it is assumed that (1 + n) is a factor of B. If this is not already the case then both A and B can
be multiplied by this factor; the factor cancels so the terms are unchanged and there is no loss of generality.

The ratio between consecutive coefficients now has the form

where c and d are the leading coefficients of A and B. The series then has the form

or, by scaling z by the appropriate factor and rearranging,

This has the form of an exponential generating function. This series is usually denoted by
or

Using the rising factorial or Pochhammer symbol

this can be written

(Note that this use of the Pochhammer symbol is not standard; however it is the standard usage in this context.)

Terminology
When all the terms of the series are defined and it has a non-zero radius of convergence, then the series defines an
analytic function. Such a function, and its analytic continuations, is called the hypergeometric function.

The case when the radius of convergence is 0 yields many interesting series in mathematics, for example the
incomplete gamma function has the asymptotic expansion

which could be written za−1 e−z 2 F0 (1−a,1;;−z−1 ). However, the use of the term hypergeometric series is usually
restricted to the case where the series defines an actual analytic function.

The ordinary hypergeometric series should not be confused with the basic hypergeometric series, which, despite its
name, is a rather more complicated and recondite series. The "basic" series is the q-analog of the ordinary
hypergeometric series. There are several such generalizations of the ordinary hypergeometric series, including the
ones coming from zonal spherical functions on Riemannian symmetric spaces.

The series without the factor of n! in the denominator (summed over all integers n, including negative) is called the
bilateral hypergeometric series.

Convergence conditions
There are certain values of the aj and bk for which the numerator or the denominator of the coefficients is 0.

If any aj is a non-positive integer (0, −1, −2, etc.) then the series only has a finite number of terms
and is, in fact, a polynomial of degree −aj.
If any bk is a non-positive integer (excepting the previous case with −bk < aj) then the denominators
become 0 and the series is undefined.

Excluding these cases, the ratio test can be applied to determine the radius of convergence.

If p < q + 1 then the ratio of coefficients tends to zero. This implies that the series converges for any
finite value of z and thus defines an entire function of z. An example is the power series for the
exponential function.
 If p = q + 1 then the ratio of coefficients tends to one. This implies that the series converges for
|z| < 1 and diverges for |z| > 1. Whether it converges for |z| = 1 is more difficult to determine. Analytic
continuation can be employed for larger values of z.
If p > q + 1 then the ratio of coefficients grows without bound. This implies that, besides z = 0, the
series diverges. This is then a divergent or asymptotic series, or it can be interpreted as a symbolic
shorthand for a differential equation that the sum satisfies formally.

The question of convergence for p=q+1 when z is on the unit circle is more difficult. It can be shown that the series
converges absolutely at z = 1 if

Further, if p=q+1, and z is real, then the following convergence result holds Quigley et al. (2013):

Basic properties
It is immediate from the definition that the order of the parameters aj, or the order of the parameters bk can be
changed without changing the value of the function. Also, if any of the parameters aj is equal to any of the
parameters bk, then the matching parameters can be "cancelled out", with certain exceptions when the parameters
are non-positive integers. For example,

This cancelling is a special case of a reduction formula that may be applied whenever a parameter on the top row
differs from one on the bottom row by a non-negative integer.[1]

Euler's integral transform

The following basic identity is very useful as it relates the higher-order hypergeometric functions in terms of
integrals over the lower order ones[2]

Differentiation

The generalized hypergeometric function satisfies

Contiguous function and related identities

From the differentiation formulas given above, the linear space spanned by

contains each of

Since the space has dimension 2, any three of these p+q+2 functions are linearly dependent. These dependencies
can be written out to generate a large number of identities involving .

For example, in the simplest non-trivial case,

,
,
,

So

This, and other important examples,

,
 ,

can be used to generate continued fraction expressions known as Gauss's continued fraction.

Similarly, by applying the differentiation formulas twice, there are such functions contained in

which has dimension three so any four are linearly dependent. This generates more identities and the process can be
continued. The identities thus generated can be combined with each other to produce new ones in a different way.

A function obtained by adding ±1 to exactly one of the parameters aj, bk in

is called contiguous to

Using the technique outlined above, an identity relating and its two contiguous functions can be given,
six identities relating and any two of its four contiguous functions, and fifteen identities relating
and any two of its six contiguous functions have been found. (The first one was derived in the
previous paragraph. The last fifteen were given by Gauss in his 1812 paper.)

Identities
A number of other hypergeometric function identities were discovered in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A
20th century contribution to the methodology of proving these identities is the Egorychev method.

Saalschütz's theorem

Saalschütz's theorem[3] (Saalschütz 1890) is

For extension of this theorem, see a research paper by Rakha & Rathie.

Dixon's identity

Dixon's identity,[4] first proved by Dixon (1902), gives the sum of a well-poised 3 F2 at 1:
For generalization of Dixon's identity, see a paper by Lavoie, et al.

Dougall's formula

Dougall's formula (Dougall 1907) gives the sum of a very well-poised (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Well-Poised.
html) series that is terminating and 2-balanced.

Terminating means that m is a non-negative integer and 2-balanced means that

Many of the other formulas for special values of hypergeometric functions can be derived from this as special or
limiting cases.

Generalization of Kummer's transformations and identities for 2F 2

Identity 1.

where

Identity 2.

which links Bessel functions to 2 F2 ; this reduces to Kummer's second formula for b = 2a:

Identity 3.

Identity 4.
which is a finite sum if b-d is a non-negative integer.

Kummer's relation

Kummer's relation is

Clausen's formula

Clausen's formula

was used by de Branges to prove the Bieberbach conjecture.

Special cases
Many of the special functions in mathematics are special cases of the confluent hypergeometric function or the
hypergeometric function; see the corresponding articles for examples.

The series 0F 0

As noted earlier, . The differential equation for this function is , which has solutions
where k is a constant.

The series 1F 0

An important case is:

The differential equation for this function is

or

which has solutions

is the geometric series with ratio z and coefficient 1.

is also useful.

The series 0F 1

A special case is:

Example

We can get this result, using the formula with rising factorials, as follows:

The functions of the form are called confluent hypergeometric limit functions and are closely related
to Bessel functions.

The relationship is:

The differential equation for this function is

or
When a is not a positive integer, the substitution

gives a linearly independent solution

so the general solution is

where k, l are constants. (If a is a positive integer, the independent solution is given by the appropriate Bessel
function of the second kind.)

The series 1F 1

The functions of the form are called confluent hypergeometric functions of the first kind, also
written . The incomplete gamma function is a special case.

The differential equation for this function is

or

When b is not a positive integer, the substitution

gives a linearly independent solution

so the general solution is

where k, l are constants.

When a is a non-positive integer, −n, is a polynomial. Up to constant factors, these are the Laguerre
polynomials. This implies Hermite polynomials can be expressed in terms of 1 F1 as well.

The series 2F 0

This occurs in connection with the exponential integral function Ei(z).

Historically, the most important are the functions of the form . These are sometimes called Gauss's
hypergeometric functions, classical standard hypergeometric or often simply hypergeometric functions. The term
Generalized hypergeometric function is used for the functions p Fq if there is risk of confusion. This function was
first studied in detail by Carl Friedrich Gauss, who explored the conditions for its convergence.

The differential equation for this function is

or

It is known as the hypergeometric differential equation. When c is not a positive integer, the substitution

gives a linearly independent solution

so the general solution for |z| < 1 is

where k, l are constants. Different solutions can be derived for other values of z. In fact there are 24 solutions,
known as the Kummer solutions, derivable using various identities, valid in different regions of the complex plane.

When a is a non-positive integer, −n,

is a polynomial. Up to constant factors and scaling, these are the Jacobi polynomials. Several other classes of
orthogonal polynomials, up to constant factors, are special cases of Jacobi polynomials, so these can be expressed
using 2 F1 as well. This includes Legendre polynomials and Chebyshev polynomials.

A wide range of integrals of elementary functions can be expressed using the hypergeometric function, e.g.:

The series 3F 0

This occurs in connection with Mott polynomials.[5]

The series 3F 1

This occurs in the theory of Bessel functions. It provides a way to compute Bessel functions of large arguments.
Dilogarithm

is the dilogarithm[6]

Hahn polynomials

is a Hahn polynomial.

Wilson polynomials

is a Wilson polynomial.

Generalizations
The generalized hypergeometric function is linked to the Meijer G-function and the MacRobert E-function.
Hypergeometric series were generalised to several variables, for example by Paul Emile Appell and Joseph Kampé
de Fériet; but a comparable general theory took long to emerge. Many identities were found, some quite
remarkable. A generalization, the q-series analogues, called the basic hypergeometric series, were given by Eduard
Heine in the late nineteenth century. Here, the ratios considered of successive terms, instead of a rational function of
n, are a rational function of qn . Another generalization, the elliptic hypergeometric series, are those series where the
ratio of terms is an elliptic function (a doubly periodic meromorphic function) of n.

During the twentieth century this was a fruitful area of combinatorial mathematics, with numerous connections to
other fields. There are a number of new definitions of general hypergeometric functions, by Aomoto, Israel Gelfand
and others; and applications for example to the combinatorics of arranging a number of hyperplanes in complex N-
space (see arrangement of hyperplanes).

Special hypergeometric functions occur as zonal spherical functions on Riemannian symmetric spaces and semi-
simple Lie groups. Their importance and role can be understood through the following example: the
hypergeometric series 2 F1 has the Legendre polynomials as a special case, and when considered in the form of
spherical harmonics, these polynomials reflect, in a certain sense, the symmetry properties of the two-sphere or,
equivalently, the rotations given by the Lie group SO(3). In tensor product decompositions of concrete
representations of this group Clebsch–Gordan coefficients are met, which can be written as 3 F2 hypergeometric
series.

Bilateral hypergeometric series are a generalization of hypergeometric functions where one sums over all integers,
not just the positive ones.

Fox–Wright functions are a generalization of generalized hypergeometric functions where the Pochhammer
symbols in the series expression are generalised to gamma functions of linear expressions in the index n.

Notes
1. Prudnikov, A. P.; Brychkov, Yu. A.; Marichev, O. I. (1990). Integrals & Series Volume 3: More Special
Functions. Gordon and Breach. p. 439.
2. (Slater 1966, Equation (4.1.2))
3. See (Slater 1966, Section 2.3.1) or (Bailey 1935, Section 2.2) for a proof.
4. See (Bailey 1935, Section 3.1) for a detailed proof. An alternative proof is in (Slater 1966,
Section 2.3.3)
5. See Erdélyi et al. 1955.
6. Candan, Cagatay. "A Simple Proof of F(1,1,1;2,2;x)=dilog(1-x)/x" (http://www.eee.metu.edu.tr/~ccan
dan/pub_dir/hyper_rel.pdf) (PDF).

References
Askey, R. A.; Daalhuis, Adri B. Olde (2010), "Generalized hypergeometric function" (http://dlmf.nist.
gov/16), in Olver, Frank W. J.; Lozier, Daniel M.; Boisvert, Ronald F.; Clark, Charles W. (eds.), NIST
Handbook of Mathematical Functions, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-19225-5,
MR 2723248 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=2723248)
Andrews, George E.; Askey, Richard & Roy, Ranjan (1999). Special functions. Encyclopedia of
Mathematics and its Applications. 71. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78988-2.
MR 1688958 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=1688958).
Bailey, W.N. (1935). Generalized Hypergeometric Series. Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics and
Mathematical Physics. 32. London: Cambridge University Press. Zbl 0011.02303 (https://zbmath.or
g/?format=complete&q=an:0011.02303).
Dixon, A.C. (1902). "Summation of a certain series" (https://zenodo.org/record/1433433). Proc.
London Math. Soc. 35 (1): 284–291. doi:10.1112/plms/s1-35.1.284 (https://doi.org/10.1112%2Fplm
s%2Fs1-35.1.284). JFM 34.0490.02 (https://zbmath.org/?format=complete&q=an:34.0490.02).
Dougall, J. (1907). "On Vandermonde's theorem and some more general expansions" (https://doi.or
g/10.1017%2FS0013091500033642). Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc. 25: 114–132.
doi:10.1017/S0013091500033642 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0013091500033642).
Erdélyi, Arthur; Magnus, Wilhelm; Oberhettinger, Fritz; Tricomi, Francesco G. (1955). Higher
transcendental functions. Vol. III. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York-Toronto-London.
MR 0066496 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=0066496).
Gasper, George; Rahman, Mizan (2004). Basic Hypergeometric Series. Encyclopedia of
Mathematics and Its Applications. 96 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 978-0-521-83357-8. MR 2128719 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=2128719).
Zbl 1129.33005 (https://zbmath.org/?format=complete&q=an:1129.33005). (the first edition has
ISBN 0-521-35049-2)
Gauss, Carl Friedrich (1813). "Disquisitiones generales circa seriam infinitam
" (https://books.google.com/books?id=uDMAAAAAQAAJ).
Commentationes Societatis Regiae Scientarum Gottingensis Recentiores (in Latin). Göttingen. 2. (a
reprint of this paper can be found in Carl Friedrich Gauss, Werke (https://archive.org/details/bub_gb
_uDMAAAAAQAAJ), p. 125)
Grinshpan, A. Z. (2013), "Generalized hypergeometric functions: product identities and weighted
norm inequalities", The Ramanujan Journal, 31 (1–2): 53–66, doi:10.1007/s11139-013-9487-x (http
s://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs11139-013-9487-x), S2CID 121054930 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/Co
rpusID:121054930)
Heckman, Gerrit & Schlichtkrull, Henrik (1994). Harmonic Analysis and Special Functions on
Symmetric Spaces. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-336170-7. (part 1 treats
hypergeometric functions on Lie groups)
Lavoie, J.L.; Grondin, F.; Rathie, A.K.; Arora, K. (1994). "Generalizations of Dixon's theorem on the
sum of a 3F2". Math. Comp. 62 (205): 267–276. doi:10.2307/2153407 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F2
153407). JSTOR 2153407 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2153407).
Miller, A. R.; Paris, R. B. (2011). "Euler-type transformations for the generalized hypergeometric
function r+2Fr+1" (https://rke.abertay.ac.uk/en/publications/30e4ad50-271e-40a7-bfb3-dc6515871b
50). Z. Angew. Math. Phys. 62: 31–45. doi:10.1007/s00033-010-0085-0 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2F
s00033-010-0085-0). S2CID 30484300 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:30484300).
 Quigley, J.; Wilson, K.J.; Walls, L.; Bedford, T. (2013). "A Bayes linear Bayes Method for Estimation
of Correlated Event Rates" (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/43403/1/EventRatesRA.pdf) (PDF). Risk
Analysis. 33 (12): 2209–2224. doi:10.1111/risa.12035 (https://doi.org/10.1111%2Frisa.12035).
PMID 23551053 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23551053).
Rathie, Arjun K.; Pogány, Tibor K. (2008). "New summation formula for 3F2(1/2) and a Kummer-
type II transformation of 2F2(x)" (http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/37118). Mathematical Communications. 13:
63–66. MR 2422088 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=2422088). Zbl 1146.33002 (http
s://zbmath.org/?format=complete&q=an:1146.33002).
Rakha, M.A.; Rathie, Arjun K. (2011). "Extensions of Euler's type- II transformation and Saalschutz's
theorem" (https://doi.org/10.4134%2Fbkms.2011.48.1.151). Bull. Korean Math. Soc. 48 (1): 151–
156. doi:10.4134/bkms.2011.48.1.151 (https://doi.org/10.4134%2Fbkms.2011.48.1.151).
Saalschütz, L. (1890). "Eine Summationsformel". Zeitschrift für Mathematik und Physik (in German).
35: 186–188. JFM 22.0262.03 (https://zbmath.org/?format=complete&q=an:22.0262.03).
Slater, Lucy Joan (1966). Generalized Hypergeometric Functions. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-06483-5. MR 0201688 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?
mr=0201688). Zbl 0135.28101 (https://zbmath.org/?format=complete&q=an:0135.28101). (there is a
2008 paperback with ISBN 978-0-521-09061-2)
Yoshida, Masaaki (1997). Hypergeometric Functions, My Love: Modular Interpretations of
Configuration Spaces. Braunschweig/Wiesbaden: Friedr. Vieweg & Sohn. ISBN 978-3-528-06925-
4. MR 1453580 (https://www.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=1453580).

External links
The book "A = B" (https://web.archive.org/web/20060129095451/http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~wilf/Ae
qB.html), this book is freely downloadable from the internet.
MathWorld
Weisstein, Eric W. "Generalized Hypergeometric Function" (https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Gen
eralizedHypergeometricFunction.html). MathWorld.
Weisstein, Eric W. "Hypergeometric Function" (https://mathworld.wolfram.com/HypergeometricF
unction.html). MathWorld.
Weisstein, Eric W. "Confluent Hypergeometric Function of the First Kind" (https://mathworld.wolf
ram.com/ConfluentHypergeometricFunctionoftheFirstKind.html). MathWorld.
Weisstein, Eric W. "Confluent Hypergeometric Limit Function" (https://mathworld.wolfram.com/C
onfluentHypergeometricLimitFunction.html). MathWorld.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Generalized_hypergeometric_function&oldid=993682064"

This page was last edited on 11 December 2020, at 22:37 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site,
you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a
non-profit organization.