Weierstrass's elliptic functions
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In mathematics, Weierstrass introduced some particular elliptic functions that have become the basis for the most standard notations used.
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Definitions
Consider two complex numbers ω1 and ω2 defining a lattice. There are some significant choices of convention, and the literature is not consistent in its usage. It is common to name these constants so that ω2 / ω1 has a positive imaginary part. As defined below, the two numbers serve as half-periods. Compare the trigonometric usage of 2π.
Then Weierstrass's elliptic function is an elliptic function with periods 2ω1 and 2ω2 is defined as
where
represents the sum over all pairs of integers m and n except m = n = 0. It is usual to write Ωm,n = 2mω1 + 2nω1, the points of the period lattice, so that
.
There is thus a second order pole at each point of the period lattice (including the origin). With these definitions,
is an even function and its derivative
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.
It can be shown that
which converges faster than the other formula given above.
Invariants
If points close to the origin are considered the appropriate Laurent series is
where
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.
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.
Differential equation
With this notation, the
function satisfies the following differential equation:
where dependence on ω1 and ω2 is suppressed.
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.
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.
The constants e1, e2 and e3
Consider the algebraic equation 4t3 − g2t − g3 = 0, and name its roots e1, e2, and e3. It can be shown from the non-vanishing of the discriminant that no two of these three are equal.
Algebraic considerations show that e1 + e2 + e3 = 0.
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. We also have
where ω3 = − ω1 − ω2. Also,
for i = 1,2,3.
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.
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.
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.
General theory
is a meromorphic function in the complex plane with poles at the 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.
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
- E. T. Whittaker and G. N. Watson, A course of modern analysis, Cambridge University Press, 1952, chapters 20 and 21
- Abramowitz and Stegun, chapter 18

