In mathematics, Legendre's relation can be expressed in either of two forms: as a relation between
complete elliptic integral
In integral calculus, an elliptic integral is one of a number of related functions defined as the value of certain integrals, which were first studied by Giulio Fagnano and Leonhard Euler (). Their name originates from their originally arising in ...
s, or as a relation between periods and quasiperiods of
elliptic function
In the mathematical field of complex analysis, elliptic functions are a special kind of meromorphic functions, that satisfy two periodicity conditions. They are named elliptic functions because they come from elliptic integrals. Originally those i ...
s. The two forms are equivalent as the periods and quasiperiods can be expressed in terms of complete elliptic integrals. It was introduced (for complete elliptic integrals) by .
Complete elliptic integrals
Legendre's relation stated using complete elliptic integrals is
:
where ''K'' and ''K''′ are the
complete elliptic integral
In integral calculus, an elliptic integral is one of a number of related functions defined as the value of certain integrals, which were first studied by Giulio Fagnano and Leonhard Euler (). Their name originates from their originally arising in ...
s of the first kind for values satisfying , and ''E'' and ''E''′ are the complete elliptic integrals of the second kind.
This form of Legendre's relation expresses the fact that the Wronskian of the complete elliptic integrals (considered as solutions of a differential equation) is a constant.
Elliptic functions
Legendre's relation stated using elliptic functions is
:
where ''ω''
1 and ''ω''
2 are the periods of the
Weierstrass elliptic function
In mathematics, the Weierstrass elliptic functions are elliptic functions that take a particularly simple form. They are named for Karl Weierstrass. This class of functions are also referred to as ℘-functions and they are usually denoted by t ...
, and ''η''
1 and ''η''
2 are the quasiperiods of the
Weierstrass zeta function
In mathematics, the Weierstrass functions are special functions of a complex variable that are auxiliary to the Weierstrass elliptic function. They are named for Karl Weierstrass. The relation between the sigma, zeta, and \wp functions is analogo ...
. Some authors normalize these in a different way differing by factors of 2, in which case the right hand side of the Legendre relation is ''i'' or ''i'' / 2. This relation can be proved by integrating the Weierstrass zeta function about the boundary of a fundamental region and applying Cauchy's
residue theorem
In complex analysis, the residue theorem, sometimes called Cauchy's residue theorem, is a powerful tool to evaluate line integrals of analytic functions over closed curves; it can often be used to compute real integrals and infinite series as wel ...
.
Proof
Proof of the lemniscatic case
The lemniscatic arc sine and the complementary lemniscatic arcsine are defined as follows:
: