Database of the special functions of mathematical physics

Abstract

We describe a knowledge-based computer project on the special functions of mathematical physics, which uses a unified structural approach to their classification. A prototype program package SFTools is presented. Special functions addressed by the system include hypergeometric-type functions, Heun functions, Painlevé transcendents and orthogonal polynomials. For these functions, basic differential equations are given with emphasis on singularities, integral relations, series expansions, Riemann P-symbols (Riemann scheme) and other important characteristics. In order to structure the information, we use the processes of confluence and reduction of equations widely.