Inverse Trigonometric Functions - Continued Fractions For Arctangent

Continued Fractions For Arctangent

Two alternatives to the power series for arctangent are these generalized continued fractions:


\arctan z=\cfrac{z} {1+\cfrac{(1z)^2} {3-1z^2+\cfrac{(3z)^2} {5-3z^2+\cfrac{(5z)^2} {7-5z^2+\cfrac{(7z)^2} {9-7z^2+\ddots}}}}}
=\cfrac{z} {1+\cfrac{(1z)^2} {3+\cfrac{(2z)^2} {5+\cfrac{(3z)^2} {7+\cfrac{(4z)^2} {9+\ddots\,}}}}}\,

The second of these is valid in the cut complex plane. There are two cuts, from −i to the point at infinity, going down the imaginary axis, and from i to the point at infinity, going up the same axis. It works best for real numbers running from −1 to 1. The partial denominators are the odd natural numbers, and the partial numerators (after the first) are just (nz)2, with each perfect square appearing once. The first was developed by Leonhard Euler; the second by Carl Friedrich Gauss utilizing the Gaussian hypergeometric series.

Read more about this topic:  Inverse Trigonometric Functions

Famous quotes containing the word continued:

    If my sons are to become the kind of men our daughters would be pleased to live among, attention to domestic details is critical. The hostilities that arise over housework...are crushing the daughters of my generation....Change takes time, but men’s continued obliviousness to home responsibilities is causing women everywhere to expire of trivialities.
    Mary Kay Blakely (20th century)