Concept
In mathematics, the multiplication theorem is a certain type of identity obeyed by many special functions related to the gamma function. For the explicit case of the gamma function, the identity is a product of values; thus the name. The various relations all stem from the same underlying principle; that is, the relation for one special function can be derived from that for the others, and is simply a manifestation of the same identity in different guises. The multiplication theorem takes two common forms. In the first case, a finite number of terms are added or multiplied to give the relation. In the second case, an infinite number of terms are added or multiplied. The finite form typically occurs only for the gamma and related functions, for which the identity follows from a p-adic relation over a finite field. For example, the multiplication theorem for the gamma function follows from the Chowla–Selberg formula, which follows from the theory of complex multiplication. The infinite sums are much more common, and follow from characteristic zero relations on the hypergeometric series. The following tabulates the various appearances of the multiplication theorem for finite characteristic; the characteristic zero relations are given further down. In all cases, n and k are non-negative integers. For the special case of n = 2, the theorem is commonly referred to as the duplication formula. The duplication formula and the multiplication theorem for the gamma function are the prototypical examples. The duplication formula for the gamma function is It is also called the Legendre duplication formula or Legendre relation, in honor of Adrien-Marie Legendre. The multiplication theorem is for integer k ≥ 1, and is sometimes called Gauss's multiplication formula, in honour of Carl Friedrich Gauss. The multiplication theorem for the gamma functions can be understood to be a special case, for the trivial Dirichlet character, of the Chowla–Selberg formula.