math/doc/sf/erf_inv.qbk

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[section:error_inv Error Function Inverses]
[h4 Synopsis]
``
#include <boost/math/special_functions/erf.hpp>
``
namespace boost{ namespace math{
template <class T>
``__sf_result`` erf_inv(T p);
template <class T, class ``__Policy``>
``__sf_result`` erf_inv(T p, const ``__Policy``&);
template <class T>
``__sf_result`` erfc_inv(T p);
template <class T, class ``__Policy``>
``__sf_result`` erfc_inv(T p, const ``__Policy``&);
}} // namespaces
The return type of these functions is computed using the __arg_promotion_rules:
the return type is `double` if T is an integer type, and T otherwise.
[optional_policy]
[h4 Description]
template <class T>
``__sf_result`` erf_inv(T z);
template <class T, class ``__Policy``>
``__sf_result`` erf_inv(T z, const ``__Policy``&);
Returns the [@http://functions.wolfram.com/GammaBetaErf/InverseErf/ inverse error function]
of z, that is a value x such that:
[expression ['p = erf(x);]]
[graph erf_inv]
template <class T>
``__sf_result`` erfc_inv(T z);
template <class T, class ``__Policy``>
``__sf_result`` erfc_inv(T z, const ``__Policy``&);
Returns the inverse of the complement of the error function of z, that is a
value x such that:
[expression ['p = erfc(x);]]
[graph erfc_inv]
[h4 Accuracy]
For types up to and including 80-bit long doubles the approximations used
are accurate to less than ~ 2 epsilon. For higher precision types these
functions have the same accuracy as the
[link math_toolkit.sf_erf.error_function forward error functions].
[table_erf_inv]
[table_erfc_inv]
The following error plot are based on an exhaustive search of the functions domain, MSVC-15.5 at `double` precision,
and GCC-7.1/Ubuntu for `long double` and `__float128`.
[graph erfc__double]
[graph erfc__80_bit_long_double]
[graph erfc____float128]
[h4 Testing]
There are two sets of tests:
* Basic sanity checks attempt to "round-trip" from
/x/ to /p/ and back again. These tests have quite
generous tolerances: in general both the error functions and their
inverses change so rapidly in some places that round tripping to more than a couple
of significant digits isn't possible. This is especially true when
/p/ is very near one: in this case there isn't enough
"information content" in the input to the inverse function to get
back where you started.
* Accuracy checks using high-precision test values. These measure
the accuracy of the result, given /exact/ input values.
[h4 Implementation]
These functions use a rational approximation [jm_rationals]
to calculate an initial
approximation to the result that is accurate to ~10[super -19],
then only if that has insufficient accuracy compared to the epsilon for T,
do we clean up the result using
[@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_rational_approximation Halley iteration].
Constructing rational approximations to the erf/erfc functions is actually
surprisingly hard, especially at high precision. For this reason no attempt
has been made to achieve 10[super -34 ] accuracy suitable for use with 128-bit
reals.
In the following discussion, /p/ is the value passed to erf_inv, and /q/ is
the value passed to erfc_inv, so that /p = 1 - q/ and /q = 1 - p/ and in both
cases we want to solve for the same result /x/.
For /p < 0.5/ the inverse erf function is reasonably smooth and the approximation:
[expression ['x = p(p + 10)(Y + R(p))]]
Gives a good result for a constant Y, and R(p) optimised for low absolute error
compared to |Y|.
For q < 0.5 things get trickier, over the interval /0.5 > q > 0.25/
the following approximation works well:
[expression ['x = sqrt(-2log(q)) / (Y + R(q))]]
While for q < 0.25, let
[expression ['z = sqrt(-log(q))]]
Then the result is given by:
[expression ['x = z(Y + R(z - B))]]
As before Y is a constant and the rational function R is optimised for low
absolute error compared to |Y|. B is also a constant: it is the smallest value
of /z/ for which each approximation is valid. There are several approximations
of this form each of which reaches a little further into the tail of the erfc
function (at `long double` precision the extended exponent range compared to
`double` means that the tail goes on for a very long way indeed).
[endsect] [/ :error_inv The Error Function Inverses]
[/
Copyright 2006 John Maddock and Paul A. Bristow.
Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0.
(See accompanying file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at
http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt).
]