Definition:Logarithmic Integral

Definition
The logarithmic integral is defined as:


 * $\displaystyle \operatorname {li} \left({x}\right) = \int_0^x \frac {\mathrm d t} {\ln \left({t}\right)}$

where $\ln$ denotes the natural logarithm function.

Since $\dfrac 1 {\ln \left({t}\right)}$ is undefined at $t = 0$ and $t = 1$, this is interpreted to mean:


 * $\displaystyle \operatorname {li} \left({x}\right) = \lim_{\epsilon \mathop \to 0} \left({\int_\epsilon^{1 - \epsilon} \frac {\mathrm d t} {\ln \left({t}\right)} + \int_{1 + \epsilon}^x \frac {\mathrm d t} {\ln \left({t}\right)} }\right)$

Also defined as
By defining the integrand to be $0$ at $t = 0$, the lower limit can be taken in the first integral to be $0$.

The logarithmic integral and the Eulerian logarithmic integral are not consistently denoted in the literature (some sources use $\operatorname {li} \left({x}\right)$ to indicate the Eulerian version, for example).

It is therefore important to take care which is being referred to at any point.

Also known as
The logarithmic integral is also seen referred to as the integral logarithm.