Identity obeyed by many special functions related to the gamma function
This article is about the identity obeyed by special functions related to the gamma function. For the multiplication rule in probability theory, see Independence (probability theory).
Inmathematics, the multiplication theorem is a certain type of identity obeyed by many special functions related to the gamma function. For the explicit case of the gamma function, the identity is a product of values; thus the name. The various relations all stem from the same underlying principle; that is, the relation for one special function can be derived from that for the others, and is simply a manifestation of the same identity in different guises.
The multiplication theorem takes two common forms. In the first case, a finite number of terms are added or multiplied to give the relation. In the second case, an infinite number of terms are added or multiplied. The finite form typically occurs only for the gamma and related functions, for which the identity follows from a p-adic relation over a finite field. For example, the multiplication theorem for the gamma function follows from the Chowla–Selberg formula, which follows from the theory of complex multiplication. The infinite sums are much more common, and follow from characteristic zero relations on the hypergeometric series.
The following tabulates the various appearances of the multiplication theorem for finite characteristic; the characteristic zero relations are given further down. In all cases, n and k are non-negative integers. For the special case of n = 2, the theorem is commonly referred to as the duplication formula.
The duplication formula and the multiplication theorem for the gamma function are the prototypical examples. The duplication formula for the gamma function is
It is also called the Legendre duplication formula[1]orLegendre relation, in honor of Adrien-Marie Legendre. The multiplication theorem is
for integer k ≥ 1, and is sometimes called Gauss's multiplication formula, in honour of Carl Friedrich Gauss. The multiplication theorem for the gamma functions can be understood to be a special case, for the trivial Dirichlet character, of the Chowla–Selberg formula.
Formally similar duplication formulas hold for the sine function, which are rather simple consequences of the trigonometric identities. Here one has the duplication formula
The periodic zeta function[2] is sometimes defined as
where Lis(z) is the polylogarithm. It obeys the duplication formula
As such, it is an eigenvector of the Bernoulli operator with eigenvalue 21−s. The multiplication theorem is
The periodic zeta function occurs in the reflection formula for the Hurwitz zeta function, which is why the relation that it obeys, and the Hurwitz zeta relation, differ by the interchange of s → 1−s.
The Bernoulli polynomials may be obtained as a limiting case of the periodic zeta function, taking s to be an integer, and thus the multiplication theorem there can be derived from the above. Similarly, substituting q = log z leads to the multiplication theorem for the polylogarithm.
The Bernoulli map is a certain simple model of a dissipativedynamical system, describing the effect of a shift operator on an infinite string of coin-flips (the Cantor set). The Bernoulli map is a one-sided version of the closely related Baker's map. The Bernoulli map generalizes to a k-adic version, which acts on infinite strings of k symbols: this is the Bernoulli scheme. The transfer operator corresponding to the shift operator on the Bernoulli scheme is given by
Perhaps not surprisingly, the eigenvectors of this operator are given by the Bernoulli polynomials. That is, one has that
It is the fact that the eigenvalues that marks this as a dissipative system: for a non-dissipative measure-preserving dynamical system, the eigenvalues of the transfer operator lie on the unit circle.
One may construct a function obeying the multiplication theorem from any totally multiplicative function. Let be totally multiplicative; that is, for any integers m, n. Define its Fourier series as
Assuming that the sum converges, so that g(x) exists, one then has that it obeys the multiplication theorem; that is, that
That is, g(x) is an eigenfunction of Bernoulli transfer operator, with eigenvalue f(k). The multiplication theorem for the Bernoulli polynomials then follows as a special case of the multiplicative function . The Dirichlet characters are fully multiplicative, and thus can be readily used to obtain additional identities of this form.
The multiplication theorem over a field of characteristic zero does not close after a finite number of terms, but requires an infinite series to be expressed. Examples include that for the Bessel function:
where and may be taken as arbitrary complex numbers. Such characteristic-zero identities follow generally from one of many possible identities on the hypergeometric series.
Milton Abramowitz and Irene A. Stegun, eds. Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables, (1972) Dover, New York. (Multiplication theorems are individually listed chapter by chapter)