Special functions

In mathematics, several functions of a real or complex variable are important enough to deserve their own name. This is a listing of pointers to those articles which explain these special functions in more detail.

• Polynomials: can be generated by addition and multiplication alone.
• Exponential function: raise a fixed number to a variable power.
• Logarithm: the inverses of exponential functions; useful to solve equations involving exponentials.
• Trigonometric functions: Sine, Cosine, etc.; used in geometry and to describe periodic phenomena.
• [Hyperbolic functions]?: formally similiar to the trigonometric functions
• Gamma function: A generalization of the factorial function.
• Elliptic integrals: Important in many applications, for instance when studying ellipses.
• [Elliptic functions]?: The inverses of elliptic integrals; used to model double-periodic phenomena
• Bessel functions: Defined by a differential equation; useful in astronomy and mechanics.