S11ACF (PDF version)
S Chapter Contents
S Chapter Introduction
NAG Library Manual

NAG Library Routine Document

S11ACF

Note:  before using this routine, please read the Users' Note for your implementation to check the interpretation of bold italicised terms and other implementation-dependent details.

+ Contents

    1  Purpose
    7  Accuracy

1  Purpose

S11ACF returns the value of the inverse hyperbolic cosine, arccoshx, via the function name. The result is in the principal positive branch.

2  Specification

FUNCTION S11ACF ( X, IFAIL)
REAL (KIND=nag_wp) S11ACF
INTEGER  IFAIL
REAL (KIND=nag_wp)  X

3  Description

S11ACF calculates an approximate value for the inverse hyperbolic cosine, arccoshx. It is based on the relation
arccoshx=lnx+x2-1.
This form is used directly for 1<x<10k, where k=n/2+1, and the machine uses approximately n decimal place arithmetic.
For x10k, x2-1 is equal to x to within the accuracy of the machine and hence we can guard against premature overflow and, without loss of accuracy, calculate
arccoshx=ln2+lnx.

4  References

Abramowitz M and Stegun I A (1972) Handbook of Mathematical Functions (3rd Edition) Dover Publications

5  Parameters

1:     X – REAL (KIND=nag_wp)Input
On entry: the argument x of the function.
Constraint: X1.0.
2:     IFAIL – INTEGERInput/Output
On entry: IFAIL must be set to 0, -1​ or ​1. If you are unfamiliar with this parameter you should refer to Section 3.3 in the Essential Introduction for details.
For environments where it might be inappropriate to halt program execution when an error is detected, the value -1​ or ​1 is recommended. If the output of error messages is undesirable, then the value 1 is recommended. Otherwise, if you are not familiar with this parameter, the recommended value is 0. When the value -1​ or ​1 is used it is essential to test the value of IFAIL on exit.
On exit: IFAIL=0 unless the routine detects an error or a warning has been flagged (see Section 6).

6  Error Indicators and Warnings

If on entry IFAIL=0 or -1, explanatory error messages are output on the current error message unit (as defined by X04AAF).
Errors or warnings detected by the routine:
IFAIL=1
The routine has been called with an argument less than 1.0, for which arccoshx is not defined. The result returned is zero.

7  Accuracy

If δ and ε are the relative errors in the argument and result respectively, then in principle
ε x x2-1 arccoshx ×δ .
That is the relative error in the argument is amplified by a factor at least xx2-1arccoshx  in the result. The equality should apply if δ is greater than the machine precision (δ due to data errors etc.) but if δ is simply a result of round-off in the machine representation it is possible that an extra figure may be lost in internal calculation and round-off. The behaviour of the amplification factor is shown in the following graph:
Figure 1
Figure 1
It should be noted that for x>2 the factor is always less than 1.0. For large x we have the absolute error E in the result, in principle, given by
Eδ.
This means that eventually accuracy is limited by machine precision. More significantly for x close to 1, x-1δ, the above analysis becomes inapplicable due to the fact that both function and argument are bounded, x1, arccoshx0. In this region we have
Eδ.
That is, there will be approximately half as many decimal places correct in the result as there were correct figures in the argument.

8  Further Comments

None.

9  Example

This example reads values of the argument x from a file, evaluates the function at each value of x and prints the results.

9.1  Program Text

Program Text (s11acfe.f90)

9.2  Program Data

Program Data (s11acfe.d)

9.3  Program Results

Program Results (s11acfe.r)


S11ACF (PDF version)
S Chapter Contents
S Chapter Introduction
NAG Library Manual

© The Numerical Algorithms Group Ltd, Oxford, UK. 2012