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Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen
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The modified Bessel function of the 1st kind $I_0$ is defined by $$ I_0(z)=\frac1\pi\int_0^{2\pi}e^{z\cos\theta}\,d\theta $$ and arises, among other places, in the probability density function of a noncentral $\chi^2(2)$ random variable.

The error function is defined by $$ \text{erf}(z)=\frac2{\sqrt\pi}\int_0^z e^{-t^2}dt $$ and is closely related to the cumulative distribution function for the standard normal distribution.

I believe these are not elementary functions, but

is either $I_0$ or $\text{erf}$ elementary "relative to" the other?

That is, if we were to add one of them to our repertoire of "elementary" functions, would the other one become "elementary"?


Edit: @Suvrit mentioned that with the confluent hypergeometric function $_1F_1=M$, $$ \text{erf}(z)=\frac2{\sqrt\pi} M\left(\frac12,\frac32,-z^2\right)\cdot z\qquad\text{and} $$ $$ I_0(z)= M\left(\frac12,1,2z\right)e^{-z},\qquad\text{where} $$ $$M(1/2;b;z)=\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{(1/2)^{(n)}z^n}{b^{(n)}n!}\qquad\text{and}$$ $$ a^{(n)}=a(a+1)\cdots (a+n-1) $$ so that $a^{(2)}=(a+1)a$ etc. In particular $$(1/2)^{(n)} = \frac12 \frac32 \frac52 \dots = \frac{(2n)!}{n!4^n}\qquad\text{and}$$ $$\frac{(1/2)^{(n)}}{(3/2)^{(n)}}=\frac{\frac12\frac32\frac52\dots\frac{2n-1}{2}}{\frac32\frac52\frac72\dots\frac{2n+1}{2}}=\frac{1/2}{(2n+1)/2}=\frac1{2n+1}.$$ So the question can be rephrased as:

are the following functions elementary relative to eachother? \begin{align} f(z):=M\left(\frac12,\frac32,-z^2\right)&=\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^n}{2n+1}\frac{z^{2n}}{n!},&\qquad\text{and}\\ g(z):=M\left(\frac12,1,2z\right)&=\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{(2n)!}{n!2^n}\frac{z^n}{n!}.& \end{align}

The modified Bessel function of the 1st kind $I_0$ is defined by $$ I_0(z)=\frac1\pi\int_0^{2\pi}e^{z\cos\theta}\,d\theta $$ and arises, among other places, in the probability density function of a noncentral $\chi^2(2)$ random variable.

The error function is defined by $$ \text{erf}(z)=\frac2{\sqrt\pi}\int_0^z e^{-t^2}dt $$ and is closely related to the cumulative distribution function for the standard normal distribution.

I believe these are not elementary functions, but

is either $I_0$ or $\text{erf}$ elementary "relative to" the other?

That is, if we were to add one of them to our repertoire of "elementary" functions, would the other one become "elementary"?

The modified Bessel function of the 1st kind $I_0$ is defined by $$ I_0(z)=\frac1\pi\int_0^{2\pi}e^{z\cos\theta}\,d\theta $$ and arises, among other places, in the probability density function of a noncentral $\chi^2(2)$ random variable.

The error function is defined by $$ \text{erf}(z)=\frac2{\sqrt\pi}\int_0^z e^{-t^2}dt $$ and is closely related to the cumulative distribution function for the standard normal distribution.

I believe these are not elementary functions, but

is either $I_0$ or $\text{erf}$ elementary "relative to" the other?

That is, if we were to add one of them to our repertoire of "elementary" functions, would the other one become "elementary"?


Edit: @Suvrit mentioned that with the confluent hypergeometric function $_1F_1=M$, $$ \text{erf}(z)=\frac2{\sqrt\pi} M\left(\frac12,\frac32,-z^2\right)\cdot z\qquad\text{and} $$ $$ I_0(z)= M\left(\frac12,1,2z\right)e^{-z},\qquad\text{where} $$ $$M(1/2;b;z)=\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{(1/2)^{(n)}z^n}{b^{(n)}n!}\qquad\text{and}$$ $$ a^{(n)}=a(a+1)\cdots (a+n-1) $$ so that $a^{(2)}=(a+1)a$ etc. In particular $$(1/2)^{(n)} = \frac12 \frac32 \frac52 \dots = \frac{(2n)!}{n!4^n}\qquad\text{and}$$ $$\frac{(1/2)^{(n)}}{(3/2)^{(n)}}=\frac{\frac12\frac32\frac52\dots\frac{2n-1}{2}}{\frac32\frac52\frac72\dots\frac{2n+1}{2}}=\frac{1/2}{(2n+1)/2}=\frac1{2n+1}.$$ So the question can be rephrased as:

are the following functions elementary relative to eachother? \begin{align} f(z):=M\left(\frac12,\frac32,-z^2\right)&=\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^n}{2n+1}\frac{z^{2n}}{n!},&\qquad\text{and}\\ g(z):=M\left(\frac12,1,2z\right)&=\sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{(2n)!}{n!2^n}\frac{z^n}{n!}.& \end{align}

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Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen
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Elementary function relative to erf

The modified Bessel function of the 1st kind $I_0$ is defined by $$ I_0(z)=\frac1\pi\int_0^{2\pi}e^{z\cos\theta}\,d\theta $$ and arises, among other places, in the probability density function of a noncentral $\chi^2(2)$ random variable.

The error function is defined by $$ \text{erf}(z)=\frac2{\sqrt\pi}\int_0^z e^{-t^2}dt $$ and is closely related to the cumulative distribution function for the standard normal distribution.

I believe these are not elementary functions, but

is either $I_0$ or $\text{erf}$ elementary "relative to" the other?

That is, if we were to add one of them to our repertoire of "elementary" functions, would the other one become "elementary"?