COMPLEX VARIABLES: HOMEWORK 9

The problems below concern the gamma and the psi function, defined as:
1
0 (z)


(z) = z Q
(z)
=
z
z/n
(z)
ze
n=1 1 + n e
(1) Use Theorem 16.8 of Lecture 16 (page 9) to prove that

Y
z
z  z
e 2ni
ez 1 = ze 2
1
2ni
n=1,2,
(2) Use Lecture 16 page 5, to prove that
0 (z) =
(3) Use Gau formula:

(z) =
0

1
(z
+
n)2
n=0
ezt
et

t
1 et


dt

to prove that
(1)
Z

 
1
= 2 ln(2)
2

(4) Recall that we defined B(p, q) =

xp1 (1 x)q1 dx. Prove that (for Re(z) > 0):

(z) = lim B(z, n)nz

n

(Hint: problem 3 of homework 8).

(5) Recall that we defined the numbers b0 , b1 , b2 , as the coefficients of the Taylor series

X
t
bn n
=
t
t
e 1 n=0 n!
(It was stated in the class that b0 = 1 and b1 = 1/2). Prove that these numbers satisfy
the following relation, for each n 2:
n1
X
k=0

bk
=0
k!(n k)!