source: downloads/boost_1_34_1/libs/math/doc/math-sf.qbk @ 33

[def __asinh [link boost_math.math_special_functions.asinh asinh]]
[def __acosh [link boost_math.math_special_functions.acosh acosh]]
[def __atanh [link boost_math.math_special_functions.atanh atanh]]
[def __sinc_pi [link boost_math.math_special_functions.sinc_pi sinc_pi]]
[def __sinhc_pi [link boost_math.math_special_functions.sinhc_pi sinhc_pi]]

[def __log1p [link boost_math.math_special_functions.log1p log1p]]
[def __expm1 [link boost_math.math_special_functions.expm1 expm1]]
[def __hypot [link boost_math.math_special_functions.hypot hypot]]

[def __form1 [^\[0;+'''∞'''\[]]
[def __form2 [^\]-'''∞''';+1\[]]
[def __form3 [^\]-'''∞''';-1\[]]
[def __form4 [^\]+1;+'''∞'''\[]]
[def __form5 `[^\[-1;-1+'''ε'''\[]]
[def __form6 '''ε''']
[def __form7 [^\]+1-'''ε''';+1\]]]

[def __effects [*Effects: ]]
[def __formula [*Formula: ]]
[def __exm1 '''<code>e<superscript>x</superscript> - 1</code>''']
[def __ex '''<code>e<superscript>x</superscript></code>''']
[def __te '''2&#x03B5;''']


[section Math Special Functions]

[section Overview]

The Special Functions library currently provides eight templated special functions, 
in namespace boost. Two of these (__sinc_pi and __sinhc_pi) are needed by our 
implementation of quaternions and octonions.

The functions __acosh, __asinh and __atanh are entirely classical, 
the function __sinc_pi sees heavy use in signal processing tasks, 
and the function __sinhc_pi is an ad'hoc function whose naming is modelled on 
__sinc_pi and hyperbolic functions.

The functions __log1p, __expm1 and __hypot are all part of the C99 standard
but not yet C++.  Two of these (__log1p and __hypot) were needed for the
[link boost_math.inverse_complex complex number inverse trigonometric functions].

The functions implemented here can throw standard exceptions, but no 
exception specification has been made.

[endsect]

[section Header Files]

The interface and implementation for each function (or forms of a function) 
are both supplied by one header file:

* [@../../boost/math/special_functions/acosh.hpp acosh.hpp]
* [@../../boost/math/special_functions/asinh.hpp asinh.hpp]
* [@../../boost/math/special_functions/atanh.hpp atanh.hpp]
* [@../../boost/math/special_functions/expm1.hpp expm1.hpp]
* [@../../boost/math/special_functions/hypot.hpp hypot.hpp]
* [@../../boost/math/special_functions/log1p.hpp log1p.hpp]
* [@../../boost/math/special_functions/sinc.hpp sinc.hpp]
* [@../../boost/math/special_functions/sinhc.hpp sinhc.hpp] 
    
[endsect]

[section Synopsis]

   namespace boost{ namespace math{

   template<typename T>
   T __acosh(const T x);

   template<typename T>
   T __asinh(const T x);

   template<typename T>
   T __atanh(const T x);
   
   template<typename T>
   T __expm1(const T x);
   
   template<typename T>
   T __hypot(const T x);
   
   template<typename T>
   T __log1p(const T x);

   template<typename T>
   T __sinc_pi(const T x);

   template<typename T, template<typename> class U>
   U<T> __sinc_pi(const U<T> x);

   template<typename T>
   T __sinhc_pi(const T x);

   template<typename T, template<typename> class U>
   U<T> __sinhc_pi(const U<T> x);

   }
   }

[endsect]

[section acosh]

   template<typename T> 
   T acosh(const T x);

Computes the reciprocal of (the restriction to the range of __form1) 
[link boost_math.background_information_and_white_papers.the_inverse_hyperbolic_functions 
the hyperbolic cosine function], at x. Values returned are positive. Generalised 
Taylor series are used near 1 and Laurent series are used near the 
infinity to ensure accuracy.

If x is in the range __form2 a quiet NaN is returned (if the system allows, 
otherwise a `domain_error` exception is generated).

[endsect]

[section asinh]

   template<typename T> 
   T asinh(const T x);

Computes the reciprocal of 
[link boost_math.background_information_and_white_papers.the_inverse_hyperbolic_functions
the hyperbolic sine function]. 
Taylor series are used at the origin and Laurent series are used near the 
infinity to ensure accuracy.

[endsect]

[section atanh]

   template<typename T> 
   T atanh(const T x);

Computes the reciprocal of 
[link boost_math.background_information_and_white_papers.the_inverse_hyperbolic_functions
the hyperbolic tangent function], at x. 
Taylor series are used at the origin to ensure accuracy.

If x is in the range 
__form3
or in the range 
__form4
a quiet NaN is returned 
(if the system allows, otherwise a `domain_error` exception is generated).

If x is in the range 
__form5, 
minus infinity is returned 
(if the system allows, otherwise an `out_of_range` exception 
is generated), with 
__form6
denoting numeric_limits<T>::epsilon().

If x is in the range 
__form7, 
plus infinity is returned (if the system allows, 
otherwise an `out_of_range` exception is generated), with 
__form6
denoting 
numeric_limits<T>::epsilon().

[endsect]

[section:expm1 expm1]

   template <class T>
   T expm1(T t);

__effects returns __exm1.

For small x, then __ex is very close to 1, as a result calculating __exm1 results
in catastrophic cancellation errors when x is small.  `expm1` calculates __exm1 using
a series expansion when x is small (giving an accuracy of less than __te).

Finally when BOOST_HAS_EXPM1 is defined then the `float/double/long double` 
specializations of this template simply forward to the platform's 
native implementation of this function.

[endsect]

[section:hypot hypot]

   template <class T>
   T hypot(T x, T y);
   
__effects computes [$../../libs/math/doc/images/hypot.png] in such a way as to avoid undue underflow and overflow.

When calculating [$../../libs/math/doc/images/hypot.png] it's quite easy for the intermediate terms to either
overflow or underflow, even though the result is in fact perfectly representable.
One possible alternative form is [$../../libs/math/doc/images/hypot2.png], but that can overflow or underflow
if x and y are of very differing magnitudes.  The `hypot` function takes care of 
all the special cases for you, so you don't have to.

[endsect]

[section:log1p log1p]

   template <class T>
   T log1p(T x);
   
__effects returns the natural logarithm of `x+1`.

There are many situations where it is desirable to compute `log(x+1)`. 
However, for small `x` then `x+1` suffers from catastrophic cancellation errors 
so that `x+1 == 1` and `log(x+1) == 0`, when in fact for very small x, the 
best approximation to `log(x+1)` would be `x`.  `log1p` calculates the best
approximation to `log(1+x)` using a Taylor series expansion for accuracy 
(less than __te).
Note that there are faster methods available, for example using the equivalence:

   log(1+x) == (log(1+x) * x) / ((1-x) - 1)

However, experience has shown that these methods tend to fail quite spectacularly
once the compiler's optimizations are turned on.  In contrast, the series expansion
method seems to be reasonably immune optimizer-induced errors.

Finally when BOOST_HAS_LOG1P is defined then the `float/double/long double` 
specializations of this template simply forward to the platform's 
native implementation of this function.

[endsect]

[section sinc_pi]

   template<typename T> 
   T sinc_pi(const T x);

   template<typename T, template<typename> class U> 
   U<T> sinc_pi(const U<T> x);

Computes 
[link boost_math.background_information_and_white_papers.sinus_cardinal_and_hyperbolic_sinus_cardinal_functions 
the Sinus Cardinal] of x. The second form is for complexes, 
quaternions, octonions... Taylor series are used at the origin 
to ensure accuracy.

[endsect]

[section sinhc_pi]

   template<typename T> 
   T sinhc_pi(const T x);

   template<typename T, template<typename> class U> 
   U<T> sinhc_pi(const U<T> x);

Computes 
[link boost_math.background_information_and_white_papers.sinus_cardinal_and_hyperbolic_sinus_cardinal_functions
the Hyperbolic Sinus Cardinal] of x. The second form is for 
complexes, quaternions, octonions... Taylor series are used at the origin 
to ensure accuracy.

[endsect]

[section Test Programs]

The [@../../libs/math/special_functions/special_functions_test.cpp 
special_functions_test.cpp] 
and [@../../libs/math/test/log1p_expm1_test.cpp log1p_expm1_test.cpp] test programs test the functions for 
float, double and long double arguments ([@../../libs/math/special_functions/output.txt sample output], with message 
output enabled).

If you define the symbol BOOST_SPECIAL_FUNCTIONS_TEST_VERBOSE, you will 
get additional output 
([@../../libs/math/special_functions/output_more.txt verbose output]), 
which may prove useful for 
tuning on your platform (the library use "reasonable" tolerances, 
which may prove to be too strict for your platform); this will only be 
helpfull if you enable message output at the same time, of course 
(by uncommenting the relevant line in the test or by adding `--log_level=messages` 
to your command line,...).

[endsect]

[section Acknowledgements]

The mathematical text has been typeset with [@http://www.nisus-soft.com/ 
Nisus Writer], and the 
illustrations have been made with [@http://www.pacifict.com/
Graphing Calculator]. Jens Maurer 
was the Review Manager for this library. More acknowledgements in the 
History section. Thank you to all who contributed to the discution 
about this library.

[endsect]

[section History]

* 1.5.0 - 17/12/2005: John Maddock added __log1p, __expm1 and __hypot.  Converted documentation to Quickbook Format.
* 1.4.2 - 03/02/2003: transitionned to the unit test framework; <boost/config.hpp> now included by the library headers (rather than the test files).
* 1.4.1 - 18/09/2002: improved compatibility with Microsoft compilers.
* 1.4.0 - 14/09/2001: added (after rewrite) __acosh and __asinh, which were submited by Eric Ford; applied changes for Gcc 2.9.x suggested by John Maddock; improved accuracy; sanity check for test file, related to accuracy.
* 1.3.2 - 07/07/2001: introduced namespace math.
* 1.3.1 - 07/06/2001:(end of Boost review) split special_functions.hpp into atanh.hpp, sinc.hpp and sinhc.hpp; improved efficiency of __atanh with compile-time technique (Daryle Walker); improved accuracy of all functions near zero (Peter Schmitteckert).
* 1.3.0 - 26/03/2001: support for complexes & all, for cardinal functions.
* 1.2.0 - 31/01/2001: minor modifications for Koenig lookup.
* 1.1.0 - 23/01/2001: boostification.
* 1.0.0 - 10/08/1999: first public version. 

[endsect]

[section To Do]

* Add more functions.
* Improve test of each function. 

[endsect]    
[endsect]