scipy.special.gamma

scipy.special.gamma(z) = <ufunc 'gamma'>

Gamma function.

\[\Gamma(z) = \int_0^\infty x^{z-1} e^{-x} dx = (z - 1)!\]

The gamma function is often referred to as the generalized factorial since z*gamma(z) = gamma(z+1) and gamma(n+1) = n! for natural number n.

Parameters:

z : float or complex array_like

Returns:

float or complex

The value(s) of gamma(z)

Examples

>>> from scipy.special import gamma, factorial

>>> gamma([0, 0.5, 1, 5])
array([         inf,   1.77245385,   1.        ,  24.        ])

>>> z = 2.5 + 1j
>>> gamma(z)
(0.77476210455108352+0.70763120437959293j)
>>> gamma(z+1), z*gamma(z)  # Recurrence property
((1.2292740569981171+2.5438401155000685j),
 (1.2292740569981158+2.5438401155000658j))

>>> gamma(0.5)**2  # gamma(0.5) = sqrt(pi)
3.1415926535897927

Plot gamma(x) for real x

>>> x = np.linspace(-3.5, 5.5, 2251)
>>> y = gamma(x)

>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
>>> plt.plot(x, y, 'b', alpha=0.6, label='gamma(x)')
>>> k = np.arange(1, 7)
>>> plt.plot(k, factorial(k-1), 'k*', alpha=0.6,
...          label='(x-1)!, x = 1, 2, ...')
>>> plt.xlim(-3.5, 5.5)
>>> plt.ylim(-10, 25)
>>> plt.grid()
>>> plt.xlabel('x')
>>> plt.legend(loc='lower right')
>>> plt.show()