Mathematical Functions #

This library provides basic mathematical functions. It provides all its functions and constants inside the table [math]{#pdf-math}. Functions with the annotation "integer/float" give integer results for integer arguments and float results for non-integer arguments. The rounding functions math.ceil, math.floor, and math.modf return an integer when the result fits in the range of an integer, or a float otherwise.

math.abs (x) #

Returns the maximum value between x and -x. (integer/float)

math.acos (x) #

Returns the arc cosine of x (in radians).

math.asin (x) #

Returns the arc sine of x (in radians).

math.atan (y [, x]) #

Returns the arc tangent of y/x (in radians), but uses the signs of both arguments to find the quadrant of the result. It also handles correctly the case of x being zero.

The default value for x is 1, so that the call math.atan(y) returns the arc tangent of y.

math.ceil (x) #

Returns the smallest integral value greater than or equal to x.

math.cos (x) #

Returns the cosine of x (assumed to be in radians).

math.deg (x) #

Converts the angle x from radians to degrees.

math.exp (x) #

Returns the value e^x^ (where e is the base of natural logarithms).

math.floor (x) #

Returns the largest integral value less than or equal to x.

math.fmod (x, y) #

Returns the remainder of the division of x by y that rounds the quotient towards zero. (integer/float)

math.huge #

The float value HUGE_VAL, a value greater than any other numeric value.

math.log (x [, base]) #

Returns the logarithm of x in the given base. The default for base is e (so that the function returns the natural logarithm of x).

math.max (x, ···) #

Returns the argument with the maximum value, according to the Lua operator <.

math.maxinteger #

An integer with the maximum value for an integer.

math.min (x, ···) #

Returns the argument with the minimum value, according to the Lua operator <.

math.mininteger #

An integer with the minimum value for an integer.

math.modf (x) #

Returns the integral part of x and the fractional part of x. Its second result is always a float.

math.pi #

The value of π.

math.rad (x) #

Converts the angle x from degrees to radians.

math.random ([m [, n]]) #

When called without arguments, returns a pseudo-random float with uniform distribution in the range [0,1). When called with two integers m and n, math.random returns a pseudo-random integer with uniform distribution in the range [m, n]. The call math.random(n), for a positive n, is equivalent to math.random(1,n). The call math.random(0) produces an integer with all bits (pseudo)random.

This function uses the xoshiro256** algorithm to produce pseudo-random 64-bit integers, which are the results of calls with argument 0. Other results (ranges and floats) are unbiased extracted from these integers.

Lua initializes its pseudo-random generator with the equivalent of a call to math.randomseed with no arguments, so that math.random should generate different sequences of results each time the program runs.

math.randomseed ([x [, y]]) #

When called with at least one argument, the integer parameters x and y are joined into a 128-bit seed that is used to reinitialize the pseudo-random generator; equal seeds produce equal sequences of numbers. The default for y is zero.

When called with no arguments, Lua generates a seed with a weak attempt for randomness.

This function returns the two seed components that were effectively used, so that setting them again repeats the sequence.

To ensure a required level of randomness to the initial state (or contrarily, to have a deterministic sequence, for instance when debugging a program), you should call math.randomseed with explicit arguments.

math.sin (x) #

Returns the sine of x (assumed to be in radians).

math.sqrt (x) #

Returns the square root of x. (You can also use the expression x^0.5 to compute this value.)

math.tan (x) #

Returns the tangent of x (assumed to be in radians).

math.tointeger (x) #

If the value x is convertible to an integer, returns that integer. Otherwise, returns fail.

math.type (x) #

Returns "integer" if x is an integer, "float" if it is a float, or fail if x is not a number.

math.ult (m, n) #

Returns a boolean, true if and only if integer m is below integer n when they are compared as unsigned integers.