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[parent] sine integral (Definition)

The function sine integral (in Latin sinus integralis) from $ \mathbb{R}$ to $ \mathbb{R}$ is defined as

$\displaystyle {\mathrm{Si}}{x} := \int_0^x\frac{\sin t}{t} dt = \int_0^x{\mathrm{sinc}}(t) dt,$ (1)

or alternatively as

$\displaystyle {\mathrm{Si}}{x} \,:=\, \int_0^1\frac{\sin{tx}}{t}\,dt.$

It isn't an elementary function. The equation (1) implies the Taylor series expansion

$\displaystyle {\mathrm{Si}}{z} = z\!-\!\frac{z^3}{3\!\cdot\!3!}\!+\!\frac{z^5}{5\!\cdot\!5!} -\!\frac{z^7}{7\!\cdot\!7!}\!+-\ldots,$
which converges for all complex values $ z$ and thus defines an entire transcendental function.

$ {\mathrm{Si}}{x}$ satisfies the linear third order differential equation

$\displaystyle xf'''(x)\!+\!2f''(x)\!+\!xf'(x) = 0.$
\includegraphics[scale=0.4]{sinint}

Remark 1.      $ \lim_{x\to\infty}{\mathrm{Si}}{x} = \frac{\pi}{2}$

Remark 2. There is also another ``sine integral''

$\displaystyle {\mathrm{si}}{x}\; :=\; \int_\infty^x\frac{\sin t}{t}\,dt\; =\; {\mathrm{Si}}{x}-\frac{\pi}{2}$
and the corresponding cosine integral

$\displaystyle {\mathrm{ci}}{x} := \int_\infty^x\frac{\cos t}{t}\,dt = \gamma\!+\ln{x}+\!\int_0^x\frac{\cos{t}\!-\!1}{t}\,dt$
where $ \gamma$ is the Euler-Mascheroni constant.




"sine integral" is owned by pahio. [ full author list (2) ]
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See Also: sinc function, sine integral at infinity, logarithmic integral, curvature of Nielsen's spiral, Laplace transform of sine integral, Fresnel integrals, hyperbolic sine integral

Other names:  sinus integralis, Si
Also defines:  sine integral, sinus integralis, cosine integral

This object's parent.

Attachments:
sine integral at infinity (Derivation) by pahio
relative of cosine integral (Example) by pahio
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Cross-references: differential equation, entire transcendental function, complex, converges, Taylor series, implies, equation, elementary function, function
There are 11 references to this entry.

This is version 13 of sine integral, born on 2005-03-04, modified 2008-10-04.
Object id is 6844, canonical name is SineIntegral.
Accessed 13310 times total.

Classification:
AMS MSC30A99 (Functions of a complex variable :: General properties :: Miscellaneous)

Pending Errata and Addenda
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Opera better than Firefox? by pahio on 2006-02-07 09:39:31
Hi all! My computer has about two months refused to show me (with Firefox and Exploder) the PlanetMath entries. Now I downloaded Opera (8.5) and with it I can see all entries perfectly =o)
Jussi
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