Hypergeometric Functions - The Hypergeometric Series

The Hypergeometric Series

The hypergeometric function is defined for |z| < 1 by the power series

provided that c does not equal 0, −1, −2, ... . Here (q)_n is the Pochhammer symbol, which is defined by:

$(q)_n = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} 1 & \mbox{if } n = 0 \\ q(q+1) \cdots (q+n-1) & \mbox{if } n > 0 \end{array} \right .$

Notice that the series terminates if either a or b is a nonpositive integer. For complex arguments z with |z| ≥ 1 it can be analytically continued along any path in the complex plane that avoids the branch points 0 and 1.

Read more about this topic: Hypergeometric Functions

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