Concept
Exponential function
Related concepts (25)
Ratio test
In mathematics, the ratio test is a test (or "criterion") for the convergence of a series where each term is a real or complex number and an is nonzero when n is large. The test was first published by Jean le Rond d'Alembert and is sometimes known as d'Alembert's ratio test or as the Cauchy ratio test. The usual form of the test makes use of the limit The ratio test states that: if L < 1 then the series converges absolutely; if L > 1 then the series diverges; if L = 1 or the limit fails to exist, then the test is inconclusive, because there exist both convergent and divergent series that satisfy this case.
Characterizations of the exponential function
In mathematics, the exponential function can be characterized in many ways. The following characterizations (definitions) are most common. This article discusses why each characterization makes sense, and why the characterizations are independent of and equivalent to each other. As a special case of these considerations, it will be demonstrated that the three most common definitions given for the mathematical constant e are equivalent to each other.
Exsecant
The exsecant (exsec, exs) and excosecant (excosec, excsc, exc) are trigonometric functions defined in terms of the secant and cosecant functions. They used to be important in fields such as surveying, railway engineering, civil engineering, astronomy, and spherical trigonometry and could help improve accuracy, but are rarely used today except to simplify some calculations.
Domain coloring
In complex analysis, domain coloring or a color wheel graph is a technique for visualizing complex functions by assigning a color to each point of the complex plane. By assigning points on the complex plane to different colors and brightness, domain coloring allows for a function from the complex plane to itself — whose graph would normally require four space dimensions — to be easily represented and understood. This provides insight to the fluidity of complex functions and shows natural geometric extensions of real functions.
Principal branch
In mathematics, a principal branch is a function which selects one branch ("slice") of a multi-valued function. Most often, this applies to functions defined on the complex plane. Principal branches are used in the definition of many inverse trigonometric functions, such as the selection either to define that or that A more familiar principal branch function, limited to real numbers, is that of a positive real number raised to the power of 1/2. For example, take the relation y = x1/2, where x is any positive real number.