Debye function

In mathematics, the family of Debye functions is defined by

$D_n(x) = \frac{n}{x^n} \int_0^x \frac{t^n}{e^t - 1}\,dt.$

The functions are named in honor of Peter Debye, who came across this function (with n = 3) in 1912 when he analytically computed the heat capacity of a solid. His method is now called the Debye model.

See also

• Incomplete polylogarithm
• Polylogarithm

References

• Abramowitz, Milton; Stegun, Irene A., eds. (1965), "Chapter 27", Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables, New York: Dover, pp. 998, ISBN 978-0486612720, MR0167642, http://www.math.sfu.ca/~cbm/aands/page_998.htm .

External links

• Fortran 77 code by Allan MacLeod from Transactions on Mathematical Software
• Fortran 90 version
• "Debye function" entry in MathWorld