Someone told me this, but I dont get it. $$\Gamma (Happy Birthday + 1)$$ Why is this the way to greet a mathematician on his birthday with an excitement?
Asked
Active
Viewed 2.3k times
3
-
3the gamma function extends $n!$, $\Gamma(n+1)=n!$ – yoyo Aug 25 '13 at 17:52
1 Answers
11
The joke is that
$$\Gamma(n + 1) = n!$$
is the factorial function. So
$$\Gamma(\text{Happy Birthday} + 1) = \text{Happy Birthday}!$$
-
6
-
6@DominicMichaelis Well, one does generally celebrate on natural-number # of years... – Steven Stadnicki Aug 25 '13 at 17:54
-
6@DominicMichaelis I suppose that by the time one learns of the gamma function, one has stopped celebrating half birthdays ;) – Aug 25 '13 at 17:56