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13,634 entries
Last updated: Thu Dec 7 2017
Created, developed, and
nurtured by Eric Weisstein
at Wolfram Research
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PochhammerSymbol.html
Pochhammer Symbol -- from Wolfram MathWorld
Calculus and Analysis > Special Functions > Gamma Functions >
Calculus and Analysis > Special Functions > Factorials > pochhammer symbol
Calculus and Analysis > Special Functions > Product Functions >
More...
THINGS TO TRY:
pochhammer symbol
Pochhammer Symbol
5x5 Hilbert matrix
Fourier transform exp(-x^2)
The Pochhammer symbol
(1)
(2)
(Abramowitz and Stegun 1972, p. 256; Spanier 1987; Koepf 1998, p. 5) for is an unfortunate notation used in the
theory of special functions for the rising factorial, also known as the rising factorial power (Graham et al. 1994, p. 48)
or ascending Factorial (Boros and Moll 2004, p. 16). The Pochhammer symbol is implemented in the Wolfram
Language as Pochhammer[x, n].
In combinatorics, the notation (Roman 1984, p. 5), (Comtet 1974, p. 6), or (Graham et al. 1994, p. 48) is
used for the rising factorial, while or denotes the falling factorial (Graham et al. 1994, p. 48). Extreme caution is
therefore needed in interpreting the notations and .
The first few values of for nonnegative integers are
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(OEIS A054654).
In closed form, can be written
(8)
where is a Stirling number of the first kind.
The Pochhammer symbol satisfies
(9)
the dimidiation formulas
(10)
(11)
and the duplications formula
(12)
(Boros and Moll 2004, p. 17).
A ratio of Pochhammer symbols is given in closed form by
(13)
(Boros and Moll 2004, p. 17).
The derivative is given by
(14)
1/3
12/8/2017 Pochhammer Symbol -- from Wolfram MathWorld
where is the digamma function.

Special values include

(15)

(16)

The Pochhammer symbol obeys the transformation due to Euler

(17)

where is the forward difference and

(18)

(Nrlund 1955).

The sum of can be done in closed form as

(19)

for .

Consider the product

(20)

(21)

This function converges to 0, to a finite value, or diverges, depending on the value of . The critical curve is given by
the implicit equation

(22)

Inside this curve, the function converges to 0, whereas outside it, it diverges. The maximum real value at which
convergence occurs is given by (OEIS A090462), and the minimum value by . The
extremal values of are given by (OEIS A090463). On the critical contour, takes on the
value

(23)

Plotting a suitably scaled version of with finite shows beautiful and subtle structures such as those illustrated
above for (M. Trott, pers. comm., Dec. 1, 2003).

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PochhammerSymbol.html 2/3
12/8/2017 Pochhammer Symbol -- from Wolfram MathWorld

Another beautiful visualization plots , as illustrated above for (M. Trott, pers. comm., Dec. 2,
2003).

SEE ALSO:
Factorial, Falling Factorial, Generalized Hypergeometric Function, Hankel's Symbol, Harmonic Logarithm,
Hypergeometric Function, Kramp's Symbol, Rising Factorial

RELATED WOLFRAM SITES:

http://functions.wolfram.com/GammaBetaErf/Pochhammer/

REFERENCES:
Abramowitz, M. and Stegun, I. A. (Eds.). Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables,
9th printing. New York: Dover, 1972.
Boros, G. and Moll, V. Irresistible Integrals: Symbolics, Analysis and Experiments in the Evaluation of Integrals. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Comtet, L. Advanced Combinatorics: The Art of Finite and Infinite Expansions, rev. enl. ed. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Reidel, 1974.
Erdlyi, A.; Magnus, W.; Oberhettinger, F.; and Tricomi, F. G. Higher Transcendental Functions, Vol. 1. New York: Krieger, p. 52,
1981.
Graham, R. L.; Knuth, D. E.; and Patashnik, O. Concrete Mathematics: A Foundation for Computer Science, 2nd ed. Reading,
MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994.
Koepf, W. Hypergeometric Summation: An Algorithmic Approach to Summation and Special Function Identities. Braunschweig,
Germany: Vieweg, 1998.
Nrlund, N. E. "Hypergeometric Functions." Acta Math. 94, 289-349, 1955.
Roman, S. The Umbral Calculus. New York: Academic Press, p. 5, 1984.
Sloane, N. J. A. Sequences A054654, A090462, and A090463 in "The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences."
Spanier, J. and Oldham, K. B. "The Pochhammer Polynomials ." Ch. 18 in An Atlas of Functions. Washington, DC:
Hemisphere, pp. 149-165, 1987.

Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha: Pochhammer Symbol

CITE THIS AS:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Pochhammer Symbol." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource.
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PochhammerSymbol.html

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