Integral Function Some functions are most conveniently defined in the form of integrals.

The Gamma Function The gamma function is defined by the integral

This is a fundamental recurrence relation for gamma function. It can also be written as

With it we can derive a number of other results. For instance, when x n , a positive integer 1 ,then

So far, we have used the original definition

for case where x is a positive integer n. What happens when x

1 ? 2

From this, using the recurrence relation

, we can obtain the following

Negative values of x Since , then

The same result occurs for all negative integral value of x which does not follows the original definition, but which is obtainable from the recurrence relation. For at x 1 For at x 2

Also at x

1 2 3 2

And at x

Graph of gamma function

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