std::lgamma

float       lgamma( float arg );

double      lgamma( double arg );

long double lgamma( long double arg );

double      lgamma( IntegralType arg );

Parameters

Return value

If no errors occur, the value of the logarithm of the gamma function of arg, that is log
e|∫∞
0targ-1
e^-t dt|, is returned.

If a pole error occurs, +HUGE_VAL, +HUGE_VALF, or +HUGE_VALL is returned.

If a range error due to overflow occurs, ±HUGE_VAL, ±HUGE_VALF, or ±HUGE_VALL is returned.

Error handling

Errors are reported as specified in math_errhandling.

If arg is zero or is an integer less than zero, a pole error may occur.

If the implementation supports IEEE floating-point arithmetic (IEC 60559),

• If the argument is 1, +0 is returned
• If the argument is 2, +0 is returned
• If the argument is ±0, +∞ is returned and FE_DIVBYZERO is raised
• If the argument is a negative integer, +∞ is returned and FE_DIVBYZERO is raised
• If the argument is ±∞, +∞ is returned.
• If the argument is NaN, NaN is returned

Notes

If arg is a natural number, std::lgamma(arg) is the logarithm of the factorial of arg-1.

The POSIX version of lgamma is not thread-safe: each execution of the function stores the sign of the gamma function of arg in the static external variable signgam. Some implementations provide lgamma_r, which takes a pointer to user-provided storage for singgam as the second parameter, and is thread-safe.

There is a non-standard function named gamma in various implementations, but its definition is inconsistent. For example, glibc and 4.2BSD version of gamma executes lgamma, but 4.4BSD version of gamma executes tgamma.

Example

#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>
#include <cerrno>
#include <cstring>
#include <cfenv>
#pragma STDC FENV_ACCESS ON
const double pi = std::acos(-1);
int main()
{
    std::cout << "lgamma(10) = " << std::lgamma(10)
              << ",  log(9!) = " << std::log(2*3*4*5*6*7*8*9) << '\n'
              << "lgamma(0.5) = " << std::lgamma(0.5)
              << " , log(sqrt(pi)) = " << std::log(std::sqrt(pi)) << '\n';
    // special values
    std::cout << "lgamma(1) = " << std::lgamma(1) << '\n'
              << "lgamma(+Inf) = " << std::lgamma(INFINITY) << '\n';
    // error handling 
    errno=0; std::feclearexcept(FE_ALL_EXCEPT);
    std::cout << "lgamma(0) = " << std::lgamma(0) << '\n';
    if(errno == ERANGE)
        std::cout << "    errno == ERANGE: " << std::strerror(errno) << '\n';
    if(std::fetestexcept(FE_DIVBYZERO))
        std::cout << "    FE_DIVBYZERO raised\n";
}

lgamma(10) = 12.8018,  log(9!) = 12.8018
lgamma(0.5) = 0.572365 , log(sqrt(pi)) = 0.572365
lgamma(1) = 0
lgamma(+Inf) = inf
lgamma(0) = inf
    errno == ERANGE: Numerical result out of range
    FE_DIVBYZERO raised

See also

External links

Weisstein, Eric W. "Log Gamma Function." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource.