# Gamma function

In mathematics, the gamma function (represented by Γ, the capital Greek alphabet letter gamma) is one commonly used extension of the factorial function to complex numbers. The gamma function is defined for all complex numbers except the non-positive integers, and for any positive integer n, Γ ( n ) = ( n − 1 ) !   . {\displaystyle \Gamma (n)=(n-1)!\ .} Derived by Daniel Bernoulli, for complex numbers with a positive real part the gamma function is defined via a convergent improper integral: Γ ( z ) = ∫ 0 ∞ x z − 1 e − x d x ,   Re ⁡ z > 0   . {\displaystyle \Gamma (z)=\int _{0}^{\infty }x^{z-1}e^{-x}\,dx,\ \operatorname {Re} z>0\ .} The gamma function then is defined as the analytic continuation of this integral function to a meromorphic function that is holomorphic in the whole complex plane except the non-positive integers, where the function has simple poles. Other extensions of the factorial function do exist, but the gamma function is the most popular and useful. It is a component in various probability-distribution functions, and as such it is applicable in the fields of probability and statistics, as well as combinatorics. The gamma function has no zeroes, so the reciprocal gamma function 1/Γ(z) is a holomorphic function. In fact the gamma function corresponds to the Mellin transform of the negative exponential function: Γ ( z ) = { M e − x } ( z ) {\displaystyle \Gamma (z)=\{{\mathcal {M}}e^{-x}\}(z)}

## Words

This table shows the example usage of word lists for keywords extraction from the text above.

WordWord FrequencyNumber of ArticlesRelevance
gamma1425450.454
function17221220.396
z10120650.259
γ67830.224
x8298920.176