xref: /freebsd/lib/msun/man/exp.3 (revision cc16dea626cf2fc80cde667ac4798065108e596c)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1985, 1991 Regents of the University of California.
2.\" All rights reserved.
3.\"
4.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
6.\" are met:
7.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10.\"    notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11.\"    documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
12.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
13.\"    may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
14.\"    without specific prior written permission.
15.\"
16.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
17.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
18.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
19.\" ARE DISCLAIMED.  IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
20.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
21.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
22.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
23.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
24.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
25.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
26.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
27.\"
28.\"     from: @(#)exp.3	6.12 (Berkeley) 7/31/91
29.\" $FreeBSD$
30.\"
31.Dd June 3, 2013
32.Dt EXP 3
33.Os
34.Sh NAME
35.Nm exp ,
36.Nm expf ,
37.Nm expl ,
38.\" The sorting error is intentional.  exp, expf, and expl should be adjacent.
39.Nm exp2 ,
40.Nm exp2f ,
41.Nm exp2l ,
42.Nm expm1 ,
43.Nm expm1f ,
44.Nm expm1l ,
45.Nm pow ,
46.Nm powf
47.Nd exponential and power functions
48.Sh LIBRARY
49.Lb libm
50.Sh SYNOPSIS
51.In math.h
52.Ft double
53.Fn exp "double x"
54.Ft float
55.Fn expf "float x"
56.Ft long double
57.Fn expl "long double x"
58.Ft double
59.Fn exp2 "double x"
60.Ft float
61.Fn exp2f "float x"
62.Ft long double
63.Fn exp2l "long double x"
64.Ft double
65.Fn expm1 "double x"
66.Ft float
67.Fn expm1f "float x"
68.Ft long double
69.Fn expm1l "long double x"
70.Ft double
71.Fn pow "double x" "double y"
72.Ft float
73.Fn powf "float x" "float y"
74.Sh DESCRIPTION
75The
76.Fn exp ,
77.Fn expf ,
78and
79.Fn expl
80functions compute the base
81.Ms e
82exponential value of the given argument
83.Fa x .
84.Pp
85The
86.Fn exp2 ,
87.Fn exp2f ,
88and
89.Fn exp2l
90functions compute the base 2 exponential of the given argument
91.Fa x .
92.Pp
93The
94.Fn expm1 ,
95.Fn expm1f ,
96and the
97.Fn expm1l
98functions compute the value exp(x)\-1 accurately even for tiny argument
99.Fa x .
100.Pp
101The
102.Fn pow
103and the
104.Fn powf
105functions compute the value
106of
107.Ar x
108to the exponent
109.Ar y .
110.Sh ERROR (due to Roundoff etc.)
111The values of
112.Fn exp 0 ,
113.Fn expm1 0 ,
114.Fn exp2 integer ,
115and
116.Fn pow integer integer
117are exact provided that they are representable.
118.\" XXX Is this really true for pow()?
119Otherwise the error in these functions is generally below one
120.Em ulp .
121.Sh RETURN VALUES
122These functions will return the appropriate computation unless an error
123occurs or an argument is out of range.
124The functions
125.Fn pow x y
126and
127.Fn powf x y
128raise an invalid exception and return an \*(Na if
129.Fa x
130< 0 and
131.Fa y
132is not an integer.
133.Sh NOTES
134The function
135.Fn pow x 0
136returns x**0 = 1 for all x including x = 0, \*(If, and \*(Na .
137Previous implementations of pow may
138have defined x**0 to be undefined in some or all of these
139cases.
140Here are reasons for returning x**0 = 1 always:
141.Bl -enum -width indent
142.It
143Any program that already tests whether x is zero (or
144infinite or \*(Na) before computing x**0 cannot care
145whether 0**0 = 1 or not.
146Any program that depends
147upon 0**0 to be invalid is dubious anyway since that
148expression's meaning and, if invalid, its consequences
149vary from one computer system to another.
150.It
151Some Algebra texts (e.g.\& Sigler's) define x**0 = 1 for
152all x, including x = 0.
153This is compatible with the convention that accepts a[0]
154as the value of polynomial
155.Bd -literal -offset indent
156p(x) = a[0]\(**x**0 + a[1]\(**x**1 + a[2]\(**x**2 +...+ a[n]\(**x**n
157.Ed
158.Pp
159at x = 0 rather than reject a[0]\(**0**0 as invalid.
160.It
161Analysts will accept 0**0 = 1 despite that x**y can
162approach anything or nothing as x and y approach 0
163independently.
164The reason for setting 0**0 = 1 anyway is this:
165.Bd -ragged -offset indent
166If x(z) and y(z) are
167.Em any
168functions analytic (expandable
169in power series) in z around z = 0, and if there
170x(0) = y(0) = 0, then x(z)**y(z) \(-> 1 as z \(-> 0.
171.Ed
172.It
173If 0**0 = 1, then
174\*(If**0 = 1/0**0 = 1 too; and
175then \*(Na**0 = 1 too because x**0 = 1 for all finite
176and infinite x, i.e., independently of x.
177.El
178.Sh SEE ALSO
179.Xr fenv 3 ,
180.Xr ldexp 3 ,
181.Xr log 3 ,
182.Xr math 3
183.Sh STANDARDS
184These functions conform to
185.St -isoC-99 .
186