Numerical differences between the variables of a symmetric integral can be
reduced in magnitude by successive factors of 4 by repeated applications of the
duplication theorem, as shown by (19.26.18). When the differences are
moderately small, the iteration is stopped, the elementary symmetric functions
of certain differences are calculated, and a polynomial consisting of a fixed
number of terms of the sum in (19.19.7) is evaluated. For
the polynomial of degree 7, for example, is
where the elementary symmetric functions
are defined by
(19.19.4). If (19.36.1) is used instead of its first five
terms, then the factor
in Carlson (1995, (2.2)) is
changed to
.
For both
and
the factor
in
Carlson (1995, (2.18)) is changed to
when the
following polynomial of degree 7 (the same for both) is used instead of its
first seven terms:
Polynomials of still higher degree can be obtained from (19.19.5) and (19.19.7).
The duplication method starts with computation of
. The
reductions in §19.29(i) represent
as squares, for example
in (19.29.4). Because
may be real and
negative, or even complex, care is needed to ensure
,
and similarly for
and
. This precaution is needed only for
.
Alternatively, the first duplication is done analytically as in
Carlson and FitzSimons (2000), where further information can be found.
Three applications of (19.26.18) yield
where, in the notation of (19.19.7) with
and
,
The first five terms of (19.36.1) suffice for
All cases of
,
,
, and
are
computed by essentially the same procedure (after transforming Cauchy principal
values by means of (19.20.14) and (19.2.20)). Complex
values of the variables are allowed, with some restrictions in the case of
that are sufficient but not always necessary. The computation is
slowest for complete cases. For details see Carlson (1995, 2002) and Carlson and FitzSimons (2000). In the Appendix of the last
reference it is shown how to compute
without computing
more than once. Because of cancellations in (19.26.21) it is advisable
to compute
from
and
by (19.21.10)
or else to use §19.36(ii).
Legendre’s integrals can be computed from symmetric integrals by using the
relations in §19.25(i). Note the remark following
(19.25.11). If (19.25.9) is used when
,
cancellations may lead to loss of significant figures when
is close to 1
and
, as shown by Reinsch and Raab (2000). The cancellations
can be eliminated, however, by using (19.25.10).
Complete cases of Legendre’s integrals and symmetric integrals can be computed with quadratic convergence by the AGM method (including Bartky transformations), using the equations in §19.8(i) and §19.22(ii), respectively.
The incomplete integrals
and
can be
computed by successive transformations in which two of the three variables
converge quadratically to a common value and the integrals reduce to
, accompanied by two quadratically convergent series in the case of
; compare Carlson (1965, §§5,6). (In Legendre’s
notation the modulus
approaches 0 or 1.) Let
where
, and
Then (19.22.18) implies that
is independent of
. As
,
,
, and
converge
quadratically to limits 0,
, and
, respectively; hence
If
and
, so that
, then this procedure
reduces to the AGM method for the complete integral.
The step from
to
is an ascending Landen transformation if
(leading ultimately to a hyperbolic case of
) or a
descending Gauss transformation if
(leading to a circular case of
). If
,
, and
are permuted so that
,
then the computation of
is fastest if we make
by choosing
when
or
when
.
We compute
by setting
,
, and
. Then
Hence
in agreement with (19.36.5). Here
is computed either by
the duplication algorithm in Carlson (1995) or via
(19.2.19).
To (19.36.6) add
Then
If the iteration of (19.36.6) and (19.36.12) is stopped
when
(
and
being approximated by
and
,
and the infinite series being truncated), then the relative error in
and
is less than
if we neglect terms of order
.
can be evaluated by using (19.25.5).
can be evaluated by using (19.25.7), and
by using (19.21.10), but cancellations may become
significant. Thompson (1997, pp. 499, 504) uses descending Landen
transformations for both
and
. A
summary for
is given in Gautschi (1975, §3).
For computation of
and
with complex
see Fettis and Caslin (1969) and Morita (1978).
(19.22.20) reduces to
if
or
, and
(19.22.19) reduces to
if
or
. Near these
points there will be loss of significant figures in the computation of
or
.
Descending Gauss transformations of
(see
(19.8.20)) are used in Fettis (1965) to compute a large
table (see §19.37(iii)). This method loses significant figures in
if
and
are nearly equal unless they are given exact
values—as they can be for tables. If
, then the method
fails, but the function can be expressed by (19.6.13) in terms of
, for which Neuman (1969b) uses ascending Landen
transformations.
Computation of Legendre’s integrals of all three kinds by quadratic transformation is described by Cazenave (1969, pp. 128–159, 208–230).
Quadratic transformations can be applied to compute Bulirsch’s integrals
(§19.2(iii)). The function
is computed by
successive Bartky transformations (Bulirsch and Stoer (1968),
Bulirsch (1969b)). The function
is
computed by descending Landen transformations if
is real, or by descending
Gauss transformations if
is complex (Bulirsch (1965b)). Remedies
for cancellation when
is real and near 0 are supplied in
Midy (1975). See also Bulirsch (1969a) and
Reinsch and Raab (2000).
Bulirsch (1969a, b) extend Bartky’s transformation to
by expressing it in terms of the first incomplete
integral, a complete integral of the third kind, and a more complicated
integral to which Bartky’s method can be applied. The cases
and
require different
treatment for numerical purposes, and again precautions are needed to avoid
cancellations.
Lee (1990) compares the use of theta functions for computation of
,
, and
,
, with four other
methods. Also, see Todd (1975) for a special case of
. For computation of Legendre’s integral of the third kind,
see
Abramowitz and Stegun (1964, §§17.7 and 17.8, Examples 15, 17, 19, and 20).
For integrals of the second and third kinds see
Lawden (1989, §§3.4–3.7).
Numerical quadrature is slower than most methods for the standard integrals but can be useful for elliptic integrals that have complicated representations in terms of standard integrals. See §3.5.
For series expansions of Legendre’s integrals see §19.5. Faster
convergence of power series for
and
can
be achieved by using (19.5.1) and (19.5.2) in the
right-hand sides of (19.8.12). A three-part computational procedure
for
is described by Franke (1965) for
.
When the values of complete integrals are known, addition theorems with
(§19.11(ii)) ease the computation of functions such as
when
is small and positive.
Similarly, §19.26(ii) eases the computation of functions such as
when
(
) is small compared with
.
These special theorems are also useful for checking computer codes.