Transcendental Function - Definition

Definition

Formally, an analytic function ƒ(z) of the real or complex variables z1,…,zn is transcendental if z1, …, zn, ƒ(z) are algebraically independent, i.e., if ƒ is transcendental over the field C(z1, …,zn).

A transcendental function is a function that "transcends" algebra in the sense that it cannot be expressed in terms of a finite sequence of the algebraic operations of addition, multiplication, power, and root extraction.

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