
In mathematics, the Gudermannian function relates a
hyperbolic angle measure
to a
circular angle measure
called the ''gudermannian'' of
and denoted
. The Gudermannian function reveals a close relationship between the
circular function
In mathematics, the trigonometric functions (also called circular functions, angle functions or goniometric functions) are real functions which relate an angle of a right-angled triangle to ratios of two side lengths. They are widely used in all ...
s and
hyperbolic functions. It was introduced in the 1760s by
Johann Heinrich Lambert, and later named for
Christoph Gudermann who also described the relationship between circular and hyperbolic functions in 1830. The gudermannian is sometimes called the hyperbolic amplitude as a
limiting case of the
Jacobi elliptic amplitude when parameter
The
real Gudermannian function is typically defined for
to be the integral of the hyperbolic secant
:
The real inverse Gudermannian function can be defined for
as the
integral of the (circular) secant
:
The hyperbolic angle measure
is called the ''anti-gudermannian'' of
or sometimes the lambertian of
, denoted
In the context of
geodesy
Geodesy or geodetics is the science of measuring and representing the Figure of the Earth, geometry, Gravity of Earth, gravity, and Earth's rotation, spatial orientation of the Earth in Relative change, temporally varying Three-dimensional spac ...
and
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...
for latitude
,
(scaled by arbitrary constant
) was historically called the meridional part of
(
French: ''latitude croissante''). It is the vertical coordinate of the
Mercator projection.
The two angle measures
and
are related by a common
stereographic projection
In mathematics, a stereographic projection is a perspective transform, perspective projection of the sphere, through a specific point (geometry), point on the sphere (the ''pole'' or ''center of projection''), onto a plane (geometry), plane (th ...
:
and this identity can serve as an alternative definition for
and
valid throughout the
complex plane
In mathematics, the complex plane is the plane (geometry), plane formed by the complex numbers, with a Cartesian coordinate system such that the horizontal -axis, called the real axis, is formed by the real numbers, and the vertical -axis, call ...
:
:
__TOC__
Circular–hyperbolic identities
We can evaluate the integral of the hyperbolic secant using the stereographic projection (
hyperbolic half-tangent) as a
change of variables:
:
Letting
and
we can derive a number of identities between hyperbolic functions of
and circular functions of

:
These are commonly used as expressions for
and
for real values of
and
with
For example, the numerically well-behaved formulas
:
(Note, for
and for complex arguments, care must be taken choosing
branches of the inverse functions.)
We can also express
and
in terms of
:
If we expand
and
in terms of the
exponential, then we can see that
and
are all
Möbius transformation
In geometry and complex analysis, a Möbius transformation of the complex plane is a rational function of the form
f(z) = \frac
of one complex number, complex variable ; here the coefficients , , , are complex numbers satisfying .
Geometrically ...
s of each-other (specifically, rotations of the
Riemann sphere
In mathematics, the Riemann sphere, named after Bernhard Riemann,
is a Mathematical model, model of the extended complex plane (also called the closed complex plane): the complex plane plus one point at infinity. This extended plane represents ...
):
:
For real values of
and
with
, these Möbius transformations can be written in terms of trigonometric functions in several ways,
:
These give further expressions for
and
for real arguments with
For example,
:
Complex values

As a
function of a complex variable,
conformally maps the infinite strip
to the infinite strip
while
conformally maps the infinite strip
to the infinite strip
Analytically continued by
reflections to the whole complex plane,
is a periodic function of period
which sends any infinite strip of "height"
onto the strip
Likewise, extended to the whole complex plane,
is a periodic function of period
which sends any infinite strip of "width"
onto the strip
For all points in the complex plane, these functions can be correctly written as:
:
For the
and
functions to remain invertible with these extended domains, we might consider each to be a
multivalued function (perhaps
and
, with
and
the
principal branch) or consider their domains and codomains as
Riemann surface
In mathematics, particularly in complex analysis, a Riemann surface is a connected one-dimensional complex manifold. These surfaces were first studied by and are named after Bernhard Riemann. Riemann surfaces can be thought of as deformed vers ...
s.
If
then the real and imaginary components
and
can be found by:
:
(In practical implementation, make sure to use the
2-argument arctangent,
Likewise, if
then components
and
can be found by:
:
Multiplying these together reveals the additional identity
[
:
]
Symmetries
The two functions can be thought of as rotations or reflections of each-other, with a similar relationship as between sine and hyperbolic sine:
:
The functions are both odd and they commute with complex conjugation
In mathematics, the complex conjugate of a complex number is the number with an equal real part and an imaginary part equal in magnitude but opposite in sign. That is, if a and b are real numbers, then the complex conjugate of a + bi is a - ...
. That is, a reflection across the real or imaginary axis in the domain results in the same reflection in the codomain:
:
The functions are periodic, with periods and :
:
A translation in the domain of by results in a half-turn rotation and translation in the codomain by one of and vice versa for
:
A reflection in the domain of across either of the lines results in a reflection in the codomain across one of the lines and vice versa for
:
This is related to the identity
:
Specific values
A few specific values (where indicates the limit at one end of the infinite strip):
:
Derivatives
As the Gudermannian and inverse Gudermannian functions can be defined as the antiderivatives of the hyperbolic secant and circular secant functions, respectively, their derivatives are those secant functions:
:
Argument-addition identities
By combining hyperbolic and circular argument-addition identities,
:
with the circular–hyperbolic identity,
:
we have the Gudermannian argument-addition identities:
:
Further argument-addition identities can be written in terms of other circular functions, but they require greater care in choosing branches in inverse functions. Notably,
:
which can be used to derive the per-component computation for the complex Gudermannian and inverse Gudermannian.
In the specific case double-argument identities are
:
Taylor series
The Taylor series
In mathematics, the Taylor series or Taylor expansion of a function is an infinite sum of terms that are expressed in terms of the function's derivatives at a single point. For most common functions, the function and the sum of its Taylor ser ...
near zero, valid for complex values with are
:
where the numbers are the Euler secant numbers, 1, 0, -1, 0, 5, 0, -61, 0, 1385 ... (sequences , , and in the OEIS). These series were first computed by James Gregory in 1671.
Because the Gudermannian and inverse Gudermannian functions are the integrals of the hyperbolic secant and secant functions, the numerators and are same as the numerators of the Taylor series for and , respectively, but shifted by one place.
The reduced unsigned numerators are 1, 1, 1, 61, 277, ... and the reduced denominators are 1, 6, 24, 5040, 72576, ... (sequences and in the OEIS).
History
The function and its inverse are related to the Mercator projection. The vertical coordinate in the Mercator projection is called isometric latitude, and is often denoted In terms of latitude
In geography, latitude is a geographic coordinate system, geographic coordinate that specifies the north-south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from −90° at t ...
on the sphere (expressed in radian
The radian, denoted by the symbol rad, is the unit of angle in the International System of Units (SI) and is the standard unit of angular measure used in many areas of mathematics. It is defined such that one radian is the angle subtended at ...
s) the isometric latitude can be written
:
The inverse from the isometric latitude to spherical latitude is (Note: on an ellipsoid of revolution, the relation between geodetic latitude and isometric latitude is slightly more complicated.)
Gerardus Mercator
Gerardus Mercator (; 5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish people, Flemish geographer, cosmographer and Cartography, cartographer. He is most renowned for creating the Mercator 1569 world map, 1569 world map based on a new Mercator pr ...
plotted his celebrated map in 1569, but the precise method of construction was not revealed. In 1599, Edward Wright described a method for constructing a Mercator projection numerically from trigonometric tables, but did not produce a closed formula. The closed formula was published in 1668 by James Gregory.
The Gudermannian function per se was introduced by Johann Heinrich Lambert in the 1760s at the same time as the hyperbolic functions. He called it the "transcendent angle", and it went by various names until 1862 when Arthur Cayley suggested it be given its current name as a tribute to Christoph Gudermann's work in the 1830s on the theory of special functions.
Gudermann had published articles in '' Crelle's Journal'' that were later collected in a book
which expounded and to a wide audience (although represented by the symbols and ).
The notation was introduced by Cayley who starts by calling the Jacobi elliptic amplitude in the degenerate case where the elliptic modulus is so that reduces to This is the inverse of the integral of the secant function. Using Cayley's notation,
:
He then derives "the definition of the transcendent",
:
observing that "although exhibited in an imaginary form, tis a real function of
The Gudermannian and its inverse were used to make trigonometric tables
In mathematics, tables of trigonometric functions are useful in a number of areas. Before the existence of pocket calculators, trigonometric tables were essential for navigation, science and engineering. The calculation of mathematical tables ...
of circular functions also function as tables of hyperbolic functions. Given a hyperbolic angle , hyperbolic functions could be found by first looking up in a Gudermannian table and then looking up the appropriate circular function of , or by directly locating in an auxiliary column of the trigonometric table.
Generalization
The Gudermannian function can be thought of mapping points on one branch of a hyperbola to points on a semicircle. Points on one sheet of an ''n''-dimensional hyperboloid of two sheets can be likewise mapped onto a ''n''-dimensional hemisphere via stereographic projection. The hemisphere model of hyperbolic space uses such a map to represent hyperbolic space.
Applications
*The angle of parallelism function in hyperbolic geometry
In mathematics, hyperbolic geometry (also called Lobachevskian geometry or János Bolyai, Bolyai–Nikolai Lobachevsky, Lobachevskian geometry) is a non-Euclidean geometry. The parallel postulate of Euclidean geometry is replaced with:
:For a ...
is the complement of the gudermannian,
* On a Mercator projection a line of constant latitude is parallel to the equator (on the projection) at a distance proportional to the anti-gudermannian of the latitude.
* The Gudermannian function (with a complex argument) may be used to define the transverse Mercator projection.
* The Gudermannian function appears in a non-periodic solution of the inverted pendulum
An inverted pendulum is a pendulum that has its center of mass above its Lever, pivot point. It is unstable equilibrium, unstable and falls over without additional help. It can be suspended stably in this inverted position by using a control s ...
.
* The Gudermannian function appears in a moving mirror solution of the dynamical Casimir effect
In quantum field theory, the Casimir effect (or Casimir force) is a physical force (physics), force acting on the macroscopic boundaries of a confined space which arises from the quantum fluctuations of a field (physics), field. The term Casim ...
.
* If an infinite number of infinitely long, equidistant, parallel, coplanar, straight wires are kept at equal potentials
Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability, in a wide variety of fields from physics to the social sciences.
Mathematics and physics
* Scalar potential, a scalar field whose gradient is a given vector field
* Vector potential ...
with alternating signs, the potential-flux distribution in a cross-sectional plane perpendicular to the wires is the complex Gudermannian function.
* The Gudermannian function is a sigmoid function
A sigmoid function is any mathematical function whose graph of a function, graph has a characteristic S-shaped or sigmoid curve.
A common example of a sigmoid function is the logistic function, which is defined by the formula
:\sigma(x ...
, and as such is sometimes used as an activation function in machine learning.
* The (scaled and shifted) Gudermannian function is the cumulative distribution function
In probability theory and statistics, the cumulative distribution function (CDF) of a real-valued random variable X, or just distribution function of X, evaluated at x, is the probability that X will take a value less than or equal to x.
Ever ...
of the hyperbolic secant distribution.
* A function based on the Gudermannian provides a good model for the shape of spiral galaxy
Spiral galaxies form a galaxy morphological classification, class of galaxy originally described by Edwin Hubble in his 1936 work ''The Realm of the Nebulae'' arms.
See also
* Tractrix
*
Notes
References
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* Supplement No. 1 t
''The Canadian Cartographer'' 13
*
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* irst published as *
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External links
* Penn, Michael (2020
"the Gudermannian function!"
on YouTube.
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Trigonometry
Elementary special functions
Exponentials