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The logarithm is denoted "log b x" (pronounced as "the logarithm of x to base b", "the base-b logarithm of x", or most commonly "the log, base b, of x "). An equivalent and more succinct definition is that the function log b is the inverse function to the function x ↦ b x {\displaystyle x\mapsto b^{x}} .
The identities of logarithms can be used to approximate large numbers. Note that log b (a) + log b (c) = log b (ac), where a, b, and c are arbitrary constants. Suppose that one wants to approximate the 44th Mersenne prime, 2 32,582,657 −1. To get the base-10 logarithm, we would multiply 32,582,657 by log 10 (2), getting 9,808,357.09543 ...
In keeping with the general notation, some English authors use expressions like sin −1 (x) to denote the inverse of the sine function applied to x (actually a partial inverse; see below). [8] [6] Other authors feel that this may be confused with the notation for the multiplicative inverse of sin (x), which can be denoted as (sin (x)) −1. [6]
If p is a probability, then p/(1 − p) is the corresponding odds; the logit of the probability is the logarithm of the odds, i.e.: = = = = (). The base of the logarithm function used is of little importance in the present article, as long as it is greater than 1, but the natural logarithm with base e is the one most often used.
The natural logarithm of a number is its logarithm to the base of the mathematical constant e, which is an irrational and transcendental number approximately equal to 2.718 281 828 459. [1] The natural logarithm of x is generally written as ln x, log e x, or sometimes, if the base e is implicit, simply log x.
Any logarithm base can be used, since one can be converted to another by multiplying by a fixed constant. [1] Logarithmic growth is the inverse of exponential growth and is very slow. [2] A familiar example of logarithmic growth is a number, N, in positional notation, which grows as log b (N), where b is the base of the number system used, e.g ...
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Such complex logarithm functions are analogous to the real logarithm function: >, which is the inverse of the real exponential function and hence satisfies e ln x = x for all positive real numbers x. Complex logarithm functions can be constructed by explicit formulas involving real-valued functions, by integration of /, or by the process of ...