Towards a general theory of special functions

ABSTRACT

A list of a number of natural developments for the field of algebraic manipulation is given. Then the prospects for a general theory of functions defined by ordinary differential equations are discussed. The claim is made that recent developments in mathematics indicate that it should be possible to algorithmically generate many properties of solutions to differential equations. Such a theory is preferable to a less general effort to make algebraic manipulation systems knowledgeable about the usual special functions (e.g. exponential, hypergeometric).

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INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
algebraic geometry, algebraic manipulation, algebraic simplification, differential algebra, special functions, symbolic integration