Skip to main content
Springer logoLink to Springer
. 2017 Aug 29;2017(1):200. doi: 10.1186/s13660-017-1475-z

Turán type inequalities for generalized Mittag-Leffler function

Xiang Kai Dou 1, Li Yin 1,
PMCID: PMC5574953  PMID: 28932098

Abstract

In this paper, we show several Turán type inequalities for a generalized Mittag-Leffler function with four parameters via the (p,k)-gamma function.

Keywords: Turán type inequalities; generalized Mittag-Leffler function; (p,k)-gamma function

Introduction and main results

In 1950, Turán established a remarkable inequality in the special function theory,

[Pn+1(r)]2>Pn(r)Pn+2(r)

for all r(1,1) and nN, where Pn is the Legendre polynomial, that is,

Pn(r)=F(n,n+1;1;1r2).

Here, for given complex numbers a, b and c with c0,1,2, , the Gaussian hypergeometric function is the analytic continuation to the slit place C[1,) of the series

F(a,b;c;z)=2F1(a,b;c;z)=n=0(a,n)(b,n)(c,n)znn!,|z|<1.

Here, (a,0)=1 for a0, and (a,n) is the shifted factorial function or the Appell symbol

(a,n)=a(a+1)(a+2)(a+n1)

for nZ+; see [1, 2]. There is an extensive topic dealing with Turán type inequalities, and it has been generalized in many directions for various orthogonal, polynomial and special functions.

The Mittag-Leffler function is defined by

Eα,β(z)=n=0znΓ(αn+β),z,α,βC,Re(α)>0,Re(β)>0, 1.1

where Γ() is a classical gamma function. The Mittag-Leffler function plays an important role in several branches of mathematics and engineering sciences, such as statistics, chemistry, mechanics, quantum physics, informatics and others. In particular, it is involved in the explicit formula for the resolvent of Riemann-Liouville fractional integrals by Hille and Tamarkin. Many properties and applications of Mittag-Leffler have been collected, for instance, in references [3, 4]. We also refer to the references [57]. For a recent introduction on the Mittag-Leffler functions and its generalizations, the reader may see [6] and [8].

In 2016, Mehrez and Sitnik [9] obtained some Turán type inequalities for Mittag-Leffler functions by considering monotonicity for special ratios of sections for series of Mittag-Leffler functions. Recently, in [10], Yin and Huang also established some Turán type inequalities for the following generalized Mittag-Leffler function via the p-gamma function:

Eα,β,p(z)=n=0znΓp(αn+β),α,β,zC,p(0,),Re(α)>0,Re(β)>0. 1.2

Motivated by [9, 10], we consider the following generalized Mittag-Leffler function with four parameters:

Eα,β,p,k(z)=n=0znΓp,k(αn+β),α,β,zC,p,k(0,),Re(α)>0,Re(β)>0, 1.3

where Γp,k(x) is a classical (p,k)-gamma function defined by

Γp,k(x)=p!kp(kp)xk1(x)p,k

and

(x)p,k=x(x+k)(x+(p1)k).

It is easily seen that the functions (1.2) and (1.3) are special cases of Wright-Fox functions in the Wright series representation (or multi-index Mittag-Leffler functions) in [11].

It is well known that limpΓp,k(x)=Γ,k(x)=Γk(x), and Γ,1(x)=Γ(x), where Γk(x)=k!kxx(x+1)(x+p) and Γ(x)=0tx1etdt, x>0 are k-gamma and gamma functions, respectively. These formulas and more properties can be found in [2].

The logarithmic derivative of the (p,k)-gamma function

ψp,k(x)=ddxlogΓp,k(x)=Γp,k(x)Γp,k(x)

is known as a generalized digamma function. Its derivatives ψp,k(n)(x) are known as generalized polygamma functions.

Our results read as follows.

Theorem 1.1

For α,β,p,k>0 and fixed z>0, the function f:βΓp,k(β)Eα,β,p,k(z) is strictly log-convex on (0,). As a result, we have the following inequality:

Eα,β+k,p,k2(z)<(β+k)(β+pk)β(β+(p+1)k)Eα,β,p,k(z)Eα,β+2k,p,k(z). 1.4

Corollary 1.1

For α,p,k>0, β2>β1>0 and fixed z(0,), we have

Eα,β1+k,p,k(z)Eα,β1,p,k(z)<β2(β1+pk)β1(β2+pk)Eα,β2+k,p,k(z)Eα,β2,p,k(z). 1.5

Putting

Eα,β,p,kn(z)=Eα,β,p,k(z)m=0nzmΓp,k(αm+β)=m=n+1zmΓp,k(αm+β), 1.6

we obtain the following results.

Theorem 1.2

For nN, α,β,p,k,z>0, we have

Eα,β,p,kn(z)Eα,β,p,kn+2(z)[Eα,β,p,kn+1(z)]2. 1.7

Remark 1.1

For proofs we apply a method introduced and studied in detail in Sitnik and Mehrez (see [9, 1214]).

Lemmas

Lemma 2.1

[12]

Let {an} and {bn} (n=0,1,2,) be real numbers, such that bn>0 and {anbn}n0 is increasing (decreasing). Then {a0+a1++anb0+b1++bn} is increasing (decreasing).

Lemma 2.2

[9]

Let {an} and {bn} (n=0,1,2,) be real numbers and let the power series A(x)=n=0anxn and B(x)=n=0bnxn be convergent if |x|<r. If bn>0 (n=0,1,2,) and the sequence {anbn}n0 is (strictly) increasing (decreasing), then the function A(x)B(x) is also (strictly) increasing (decreasing) on [0,r).

Proofs of main results

Proof of Theorem 1.1

Simple computation yields

β(logΓp,k(β)Γp,k(αk+β))=Γp,k(αk+β)Γp,k(β)Γp,k(β)Γp,k(αk+β)Γp,k(β)Γp,k(αk+β)(Γp,k(αk+β))2=ψp,k(β)ψp,k(αk+β),

and

2β2(logΓp,k(β)Γp,k(αk+β))=ψp,k(β)ψp,k(αk+β)<0,

where we apply that the function ψp,k(x) is concave on R. Therefore, we find that the function βΓp,k(β)Γp,k(αk+β) is strictly log-convex on (0,). Using the fact that the sum of log-convex functions is also log-convex, we see that the function f is strictly log-convex on (0,).

Due to inequality (1.4), we easily derive

logf(β+β+k2)<logf(β)+logf(β+2k)2.

That is,

Eα,β+k,p,k2(z)<Γp,k(β)Γp,k(β+2k)[Γp,k(β+k)]2Eα,β,p,k(z)Eα,β+2k,p,k(z).

Using the definition of Γp,k(x), we easily obtain

Γp,k(β)Γp,k(β+2k)[Γp,k(β+k)]2=p!kp(kp)βk1(β)p,kp!kp(kp)β+2kk1(β+2k)p,kp!kp(kp)β+kk1(β+k)p,k=(β+k)(β+pk)β(β+(p+1)k),

so we have

Eα,β+k,p,k2(z)<(β+k)(β+pk)β(β+(p+1)k)Eα,β,p,k(z)Eα,β+2k,p,k(z).

The proof of Theorem 1.1 is complete. □

Proof of Corollary 1.1

Since the function f(β) is strictly log-convex, we see that the function

f(β+k)f(β)=Γp,k(β+k)Eα,β+k,p,k(z)Γp,k(β)Eα,β,p,k(z)

is strictly increasing on (0,). By taking 0<β1<β2, we have

Γp,k(β1+k)Eα,β1+k,p.k(z)Γp,k(β1)Eα,β1,p,k(z)<Γp,k(β2+k)Eα,β2+k,p,k(z)Γp,k(β2)Eα,β2,p,k(z).

By using the formula

Γp,k(β2+k)Γp,k(β2)Γp,k(β1)Γp,k(β1+k)=p!kp(kp)β2+kk1(β2+k)p,kp!kp(kp)β2k1(β2)p,kp!kp(kp)β1k1(β1)p,kp!kp(kp)β1+kk1(β1+k)p,k=(β2)p,k(β1+k)p,k(β1)p,k(β2+k)p,k=β2(β1+pk)β1(β2+pk),

we complete the proof. □

Proof of Theorem 1.2

Using the formulas

Eα,β,p,kn(z)=Eα,β,p,kn+1(z)+zn+1Γp,k[α(n+1)+β]

and

Eα,β,p,kn+2(z)=Eα,β,p,kn+1(z)zn+2Γp,k[α(n+2)+β],

we have

Eα,β,p,kn(z)Eα,β,p,kn+2(z)[Eα,β,p,kn+1(z)]2=[Eα,β,p,kn+1(z)+zn+1Γp,k[α(n+1)+β]][Eα,β,p,kn+1(z)zn+2Γp,k[α(n+2)+β]]=Eα,β,p,kn+1(z)[zn+1Γp,k[α(n+1)+β]zn+2Γp,k[α(n+2)+β]]z2n+3Γp,k[α(n+1)+β]Γp,k[α(n+2)+β]=m=n+3zn+m+1Γp,k(αm+β)Γp,k[α(n+1)+β]m=n+3zn+m+1Γp,k[α(m1)+β]Γp,k[α(n+2)+β]=m=n+3Γp,k[α(m1)+β]Γp,k[α(n+2)+β]Γp,k(αm+β)Γp,k[α(n+1)+β]Γp,k(αm+β)Γp,k[α(n+1)+β]Γp,k[α(m1)+β]Γp,k[α(n+2)+β]×zn+m+1.

Since the function Γp,k(x) is log-convex on (0,), we know that the function xΓp,k(x+a)Γp,k(x) (a>0) is increasing on (0,). Thus, with a=α, x=α(n+1)+β<α(n+1)+β+α(m(n+2)) and using Lemma 2.1 and Lemma 2.2, we obtain

Γp,k[β+α(n+1)+α]Γp,k[β+α(n+1)]Γp,k[β+α(n+1)+α+α(m(n+2))]Γp,k[β+α(n+1)+α(m(n+2))].

That is,

Γp,k[α(n+2)+β]Γp,k[α(n+1)+β]Γp,k(αm+β)Γp,k[α(m1)+β].

It follows that

Eα,β,p,kn(z)Eα,β,p,kn+2(z)[Eα,β,p,kn+1(z)]20.

 □

Conclusions

In this paper, we show several Turán type inequalities for a generalized Mittag-Leffler function with four parameters via the (p,k)-gamma function, and we generalize some known results.

Acknowledgements

The authors were supported by NSFC 11401041, Science Foundation of Binzhou University under grant number BZXYL1704, and by the Science and Technology Foundation of Shandong Province J16LI52. The authors are grateful to anonymous referees for their careful corrections to and valuable comments on the original version of this paper.

Footnotes

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

All authors contributed equally to the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Contributor Information

Xiang Kai Dou, Email: bzhdouxk@163.com.

Li Yin, Email: yinli_79@163.com.

References

  • 1.Abramowitz M, Stegun I, editors. Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs and Mathematical Tables. New York: Dover; 1965. [Google Scholar]
  • 2.Gasper G, Rahman M. Basic Hypergeometric Series. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2004. [Google Scholar]
  • 3.Dethelm K. The Analysis of Fractional Differential Equations: An Application-Oriented Exposition Using Differential Operators of Caputo Type. New York: Springer; 2010. [Google Scholar]
  • 4.Kilbas AA, Srivastava HM, Trujillo JJ. Theory and Applications of Fractional Differential Equations. Moscow: Nauka; 1966. [Google Scholar]
  • 5.Dzherbashyan MM. Integral Transform Representations of Functions in the Complex Domain. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2006. [Google Scholar]
  • 6.Gorenflo R, Kilbas AA, Mainardi F, Rogosin SV. Mittag-Leffler Functions, Related Topics and Applications. New York: Springer; 2014. [Google Scholar]
  • 7.Olver FWJ, Lozier DW, Boisvert RF, Clark CW. NIST Handbook of Mathematical Functions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2010. [Google Scholar]
  • 8.Paneva Konovska J. From Bessel to Multi-Index Mittag-Leffler Functions. London: World Scientific; 2016. [Google Scholar]
  • 9.Sitnik SM, Mehrez Kh. Functional Inequalities for the Mittag-Leffler Functions. Results Math. 2017;72(1-2):703–714. doi: 10.1007/s00025-017-0664-x. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 10.Yin L, Huang LG. Turán type inequalities for generalized Mittag-Leffler functions. J. Math. Inequal. 2017;13(3):667–672. doi: 10.1186/s13660-017-1475-z. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  • 11.Kilbas AA, Saigo M. H-Transforms, Theory and Applications. Boca Raton: Chapman & Hall/CRC; 2004. [Google Scholar]
  • 12.Sitnik SM, Mehrez Kh. Proofs of some conjectures on monotonicity of ratios of Kummer, Gauss and generalized hypergeometric functions. Analysis. 2016;36:263–268. doi: 10.1515/anly-2015-0029. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
  • 13.Sitnik SM, Mehrez Kh. On monotonicity of ratios of some q-hypergeometric functions. Mat. Vesn. 2016;68:225–231. [Google Scholar]
  • 14.Sitnik SM, Mehrez Kh. Monotonicity of ratios of some hypergeometric functions. Sib. Èlektron. Mat. Izv. 2016;13:260–268. [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Inequalities and Applications are provided here courtesy of Springer

RESOURCES