Weierstrass's elliptic functions
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In mathematics, Weierstrass's elliptic functions are elliptic functions that take a particularly simple form (cf Jacobi's elliptic functions); they are named for Karl Weierstrass. This class of functions are also referred to as P-functions and generally written using the symbol
(a stylised letter p called Weierstrass p).
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[edit] Definitions
Weierstrass P function defined over a subset of the complex plane using a standard visualization technique in which white corresponds to a pole, black to a zero, and maximal saturation to
Note the regular lattice of poles, and two interleaving lattices of zeroes.
The Weierstrass elliptic function can be defined in three closely related ways, each of which possesses certain advantages. One is as a function of a complex variable z and a lattice Λ in the complex plane. Another is in terms of z and two complex numbers ω1 and ω2 defining a pair of generators, or periods, for the lattice. The third is in terms z and of a modulus τ in the upper half-plane. This is related to the previous definition by τ = ω2 / ω1, which by the conventional choice on the pair of periods is in the upper half-plane. Using this approach, for fixed z the Weierstrass functions become modular functions of τ.
In terms of the two periods, Weierstrass's elliptic function is an elliptic function with periods ω1 and ω2 defined as
Then Λ = mω1 + nω2 are the points of the period lattice, so that
for any pair of generators of the lattice defines the Weierstrass function as a function of a complex variable and a lattice.
If τ is a complex number in the upper half-plane, then
The above sum is homogeneous of degree minus two, from which we may define the Weierstrass
function for any pair of periods, as
We may compute
very rapidly in terms of theta functions; because these converge so quickly, this is a more expeditious way of computing
than the series we used to define it. The formula here is
where
There is a second order pole at each point of the period lattice (including the origin). With these definitions,
is an even function and its derivative with respect to z,
, an odd function.
Further development of the theory of elliptic functions shows that the condition on Weierstrass's function (correctly called pe) is determined up to addition of a constant and multiplication by a non-zero constant by the condition on the poles alone, amongst all meromorphic functions with the given period lattice.
[edit] Invariants
If points close to the origin are considered the appropriate Laurent series is
where
(here Ωm,n = mω1 + nω2 and a dashed summation refers to summation over all pairs of integers except m = n = 0). The numbers g2 and g3 are known as the invariants — they are two terms out of the Eisenstein series. (Abramowitz and Stegun restrict themselves to the case of real g2 and g3, stating that this case "seems to cover most applications"; this may be true from the point of view of applied mathematics. If ω1 is real and ω2 pure imaginary, or if
, the invariants are real).
Note that g2 and g3 are homogeneous functions of degree -4 and -6; that is,
- g2(λω1,λω2) = λ − 4g2(ω1,ω2)
and
- g3(λω1,λω2) = λ − 6g3(ω1,ω2).
Thus, by convention, one frequently writes g2 and g3 in terms of the half-period ratio τ = ω2 / ω1 and take τ to lie in the upper half-plane. Thus, g2(τ) = g2(1,ω2 / ω1) and g3(τ) = g3(1,ω2 / ω1).
The Fourier series for g2 and g3 can be written in terms of the square of the nome q = exp(iπτ) as
and
where σa(k) is the divisor function. This formula may be re-written in terms of Lambert series.
The invariants may be expressed in terms of Jacobi's theta functions. This method is very convenient for numerical calculation: the theta functions converge very quickly. In the notation of Abramowitz and Stegun, but denoting the primitive half-periods by ω1,ω2, the invariants satisfy
and
where τ = ω2 / ω1 is the half-period ratio and q = eπiτ is the nome.
[edit] Special cases
If the invariants are g2 = 0, g3 = 1, then this is known as the equianharmonic case; g2 = 1, g3 = 0 is the lemniscatic case.
[edit] Differential equation
With this notation, the
function satisfies the following differential equation:
where dependence on ω1 and ω2 is suppressed.
[edit] Integral equation
The Weierstrass elliptic function can be given as the inverse of an elliptic integral. Let
Here, g2 and g3 are taken as constants. Then one has
The above follows directly by integrating the differential equation.
[edit] Modular discriminant
The modular discriminant Δ is defined as
This is studied in its own right, as a cusp form, in modular form theory (that is, as a function of the period lattice).
Note that Δ = (2π)12η24 where η is the Dedekind eta function.
The discriminant is a modular form of weight 12. That is, under the action of the modular group, it transforms as
with τ being the half-period ratio, and a,b,c and d being integers, with ad − bc = 1.
[edit] The constants e1, e2 and e3
Consider the cubic polynomial equation 4t3 − g2t − g3 = 0 with roots e1, e2, and e3. If the discriminant
is not zero, no two of these roots are equal. Since the quadratic term of this cubic polynomial is zero, the roots are related by the equation
- e1 + e2 + e3 = 0
The linear and constant coefficients (g2 and g3, respectively) are related to the roots by the equations[1]
- g3 = 4e1e2e3
In the case of real invariants, the sign of Δ determines the nature of the roots. If Δ > 0, all three are real and it is conventional to name them so that e1 > e2 > e3. If Δ < 0, it is conventional to write e1 = − α + βi (where
, β > 0), whence
and e2 is real and non-negative.
The half-periods ω1 and ω2 of Weierstrass' elliptic function are related to the roots
where ω3 = − (ω1 + ω2). Since the derivative of Weierstrass' elliptic function equals the above cubic polynomial of the function's value,
for i = 1,2,3; if the function's value equals a root of the polynomial, the derivative is zero.
If g2 and g3 are real and Δ > 0, the ei are all real, and
is real on the perimeter of the rectangle with corners 0, ω3, ω1 + ω3, and ω1. If the roots are ordered as above (e1 > e2 > e3), then the first half-period is completely real
whereas the third half-period is completely imaginary
[edit] Addition theorems
The Weierstrass elliptic functions have several properties that may be proved:
(a symmetrical version would be
where u + v + w = 0).
Also
and the duplication formula
unless 2z is a period.
[edit] The case with 1 a basic half-period
If ω1 = 1, much of the above theory becomes simpler; it is then conventional to write τ for ω2. For a fixed τ in the upper half-plane, so that the imaginary part of τ is positive, we define the Weierstrass
function by
The sum extends over the lattice {n+mτ : n and m in Z} with the origin omitted. Here we regard τ as fixed and
as a function of z; fixing z and letting τ vary leads into the area of elliptic modular functions.
[edit] General theory
is a meromorphic function in the complex plane with a double pole at each lattice points. It is doubly periodic with periods 1 and τ; this means that
satisfies
The above sum is homogeneous of degree minus two, and if c is any non-zero complex number,
from which we may define the Weierstrass
function for any pair of periods. We also may take the derivative (of course, with respect to z) and obtain a function algebraically related to
by
where g2 and g3 depend only on τ, being modular forms. The equation
- Y2 = X3 − g2X − g3
defines an elliptic curve, and we see that
is a parametrization of that curve.
The totality of meromorphic doubly periodic functions with given periods defines an algebraic function field, associated to that curve. It can be shown that this field is
so that all such functions are rational functions in the Weierstrass function and its derivative.
We can also wrap a single period parallelogram into a torus, or donut-shaped Riemann surface, and regard the elliptic functions associated to a given pair of periods to be functions defined on that Riemann surface.
The roots e1, e2, and e3 of the equation X3 − g2X − g3 depend on τ and can be expressed in terms of theta functions; we have
Since g2 = − 4(e1e2 + e2e3 + e3e1) and g3 = 4e1e2e3 we have these in terms of theta functions also.
We may also express
in terms of theta functions; because these converge very rapidly, this is a more expeditious way of computing
than the series we used to define it.
The function
has two zeroes (modulo periods) and the function
has three. The zeroes of
are easy to find: since
is an odd function they must be at the half-period points. On the other hand it is very difficult to express the zeroes of
by closed formula, except for special values of the modulus (e.g. when the period lattice is the Gaussian integers). An expression was found, by Zagier and Eichler.
The Weierstrass theory also includes the Weierstrass zeta function, which is an indefinite integral of
and not doubly-periodic, and a theta function called the Weierstrass sigma function, of which his zeta-function is the log-derivative. The sigma-function has zeroes at all the period points (only), and can be expressed in terms of Jacobi's functions. This gives one way to convert between Weierstrass and Jacobi notations.
The Weierstrass sigma-function is an entire function; it played the role of 'typical' function in a theory of random entire functions of J. E. Littlewood.
[edit] Relation to Jacobi elliptic functions
For numerical work, it is often convenient to calculate the Weierstrass elliptic function in terms of the Jacobi's elliptic functions. The basic relations are[2]
where e1-3 are the three roots described above and where the modulus k of the Jacobi functions equals
and their argument w equals
[edit] References
- Naum Illyich Akhiezer, Elements of the Theory of Elliptic Functions, (1970) Moscow, translated into English as AMS Translations of Mathematical Monographs Volume 79 (1990) AMS, Rhode Island ISBN 0-8218-4532-2
- Tom M. Apostol, Modular Functions and Dirichlet Series in Number Theory, Second Edition (1990), Springer, New York ISBN 0-387-97127-0 (See chapter 1.)
- K. Chandrasekharan, Elliptic functions (1980), Springer-Verlag ISBN 0-387-15295-4
- Serge Lang, Elliptic Functions (1973), Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0-201-04162-6
- E. T. Whittaker and G. N. Watson, A course of modern analysis, Cambridge University Press, 1952, chapters 20 and 21
- Konrad Knopp, Funktionentheorie II (1947), Dover; Republished in English translation as Theory of Functions (1996), Dover ISBN 0-486-69219-1
- Abramowitz and Stegun, chapter 18








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