How reliable are mathematica's special functions? (Hypergeometric and
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg103060] How reliable are mathematica's special functions? (Hypergeometric and
- From: janey <janemkiwi at gmail.com>
- Date: Sun, 6 Sep 2009 07:37:44 -0400 (EDT)
I don't know if WRI will divulge anything about their algorithms for numerical approximation of Hypergeometric functions. Can I trust it? Mathematica 6.0 can handle AppelF1[1.6+.6] say, but Mathematica 7.0 won't even give an actual number (this is a problem all up the diagonal after a certain point. The problem occurs with parameters roughly as follows: AppellF1[1/2, .3, .3, 1/4, -100 z^4, z^4]; One: Before I try and figure out more of the nature of the function at different points, can anyone tell me if there are known problems with mathematica's special functions being reliable? Two: Given that I want to plot this function in a portion of the plane, can I have Mathematica overlook these sets of non-computable (by mathematica) points, and still get a plot? Thanks, Janey.