Re: Factorials on the 86


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Re: Factorials on the 86



In article <34E4BC0D.23EA71D6@aol.com> Todd Stanley <toddestan@aol.com> writes:
>What is the Gamma function and what does it do (as in what does the
>number it give out mean)?

Well, it's kind of like a factorial function for non-integers.  :)  The
definition I found in Schaum's Mathematical Handbook is:

Gamma(n) = Integral( t^(n-1)*exp(-t), t, 0, infinity ) for n>0

The book also has a graph of the Gamma function which includes negative
numbers, but I don't see a definition for how to get them with a quick
look at it.

--
      .      .        .       .         -- James Marshall     (ORI)  *   ,
 ,.  -- )-- ,   , . -- )-- ,            marshall@astro.umd.edu
          '             '       http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall    '''
"Astronomy is a dyslexic's nightmare."                               ,   *


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