DLMF Project News

This update includes several corrections caught by our readers, along with a number of clarifications and small additions of useful additional material (see Version 1.0.5 (October 1, 2012) for details). The suggestions at How to Cite should be more useful, and sample BibTeX entries are now provided. Additionally, the production process has improved the fidelity of the web conversion, resulting in better layout and presentation of math.

We have reports of problems with MathML display when using MathPlayer 2.2 with IE9. Previous versions, such as IE8, seem to work well. The beta version 3 of MathPlayer should work better; please monitor Design Science’s MathPlayer plugin pages for information about updates.

As a last resort, recall that you can choose the HTML+images format in the Customize DLMF page — although we would hope this need only be a temporary measure.

This minor update improves rendering of math (particularly continued fractions and line-breaks) and graphics (some diagrams and larger VRML) in several places, as well as enhancements to navigation and additions to the software index. Updated information about VRML and 3D browsers is available; see Viewing DLMF Interactive 3D Graphics.

The NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions was selected for recognition as an Outstanding Information Technology Achievement in Government for 2011 by Government Computer News (GCN). According to GCN, these awards “have come to symbolize the best and most notable IT accomplishments in advancing the work of government agencies.” Ten projects were selected for recognition this year from more than 200 nominations. The selection was based on “the degree of innovation in the technology plan carried out, the quality of the leadership that carried the project to fruition,” and “the degree to which a given IT project improved an agency’s ability to operate more efficiently or serve the public more effectively”. Other awardees this year include an app from the City of Boston that enables citizens to request city services from their smartphones and the IT infrastructure that supports the TSA’s secure flight program.NIST staff members cited for this achievement are Daniel Lozier, Frank Olver, Ronald Boisvert, Bruce Miller, Bonita Saunders, Marjorie McClain, Abdou Youssef, Qming Wang, Brian Antonishek, and Charles Clark. The project team was formally honored at the 24th Annual GCN Awards Gala, October 19, 2011 at the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner in McLean, Va. For further information see http://gcn.com/articles/2011/08/05/2011-gcn-award-winners.aspx?sc_lang=en and http://gcn.com/articles/2011/10/17/nist-math-handbook-profile-main.aspx.

This update makes some clarifications (see Version 1.0.3 (Aug 29, 2011) for details), along with other minor modifications to the online version: additions to the software index (see Software Index); updated help files; a correction to the VRML phase coloring for 22.3.24; and improved associations between notations described in Mathematical Introduction and their usages.

We are pleased to acknowledge native support for MathML in Version 5.1 of the Safari web browser! While it is an excellent initial implementation, it omits support for the mmultiscripts element — a critical element for presenting hypergeometric functions.

To avoid confusion, we regret not yet delivering MathML to Safari browsers, by default. In the meantime, those Safari users who wish to experiment with MathML may enable it by checking XHTML+MathML for ‘Document Format’ at Customize DLMF; the use of STIX fonts is also encouraged (See Special fonts for MathML).

We will continue to monitor Safari development.

A quick followup improves rendering in several places, particularly for InternetExplorer; the help pages were revised.

Some new releases of web browsers are causing problems with older VRML plugins; see VRML/X3D Browsers for Windows.

We are proud to announce an update of the DLMF to version 1.0.1 which corrects a number of issues:

• A small number of errors and clarifications were made, see Version 1.0.1 (June 27, 2011) for details;

• The listings of available software for special functions have been updated, see Software Index for details

• Several improvements were made to the document conversion, layout and presentation.

The just-released version 4 of Firefox fixes a disturbing MathML display bug. Previously, unless STIX fonts were installed, the surd for the square root of a fraction would not stretch enough to cover both the numerator and denominator. This caused, for example, the first square root within the parentheses in 8.11.12 to look like sqrt(pi)/2 rather than sqrt(pi/2). (See Mozilla Bug 454155).

Users of Firefox before version 4 should upgrade; when that is not possible, installing the STIX fonts is recommended (See Special fonts for MathML).

[Incidentally, such rendering errors can easily be verified by comparing the displayed MathML to the source TeX code or the png image of the formula which can be found under ‘Encoding’ in the ‘info box’ (hover over or click the symbol next to every numbered formula)].

We are proud to announce the public availability of the Digital Library of Mathematical Functions as well as the publishing of the NIST Handbook of Mathematical Functions by Cambridge University Press, effective this date.

There appears to be a performance regression for Firefox versions 3.6.x when running under some versions of Windows, causing complex pages with large amounts of MathML — such as ours — to display very slowly. This problem is fixed in version 3.6.9 and later (See Mozilla Bug 564309).

Cambridge University Press has been selected as publisher for the handbook version of the NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions (DLMF). This selection was made by evaluating and ranking several proposals that responded to the publicly announced request for proposals and were received by the deadline.

Final preparation of the handbook and Web versions is in process. The approximately simultaneous publication of the handbook and release of the Web site will occur in late 2009 or early 2010.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) seeks proposals from publishers interested in licensing the rights to produce and market a printed version of the NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions (DLMF). For complete information see Public Announcement.

Clarifications:

For the 3D graphics in the book, do they require 3D glasses?

No. Although an interesting idea, there is no consideration of special viewing aids for the book version of the DLMF.

If all the material in the book will be on the web, do you really want to add the expense of a DVD to the book?

Please understand that the DVD (or other suitable media, such as CD) will contain only PDF files of the book version of the DLMF. There is no intention to reproduce the Web version for distribution with the book. The Web version will be accessible from the NIST DLMF website and, potentially, from NIST-authorized mirror sites.

What is the total number of figures and the total number of color figures? Ballpark figures are fine.

By a recent approximate count, there are 409 figures. Of these, 347 include color. The 3D surfaces with continuous color account for 140 of the color figures; 2D line graphs and diagrams with solid-colored lines account for the remainder.

On page 5 of the Public Announcement, it’s stated, under Initial Production, that a proposal for a cover design is required and is to be based on the Sample Chapter Collection. The delivery date for the cover design is to be included in the Production Plan. Does this mean a draft design based on the Sample is required as part of the solicitation process?

No. The purpose of the itemized lists on pages 5 and 6 is to describe the essential elements of the license agreement that will be drawn up by NIST and the selected licensee. The proposal for cover design is required after a licensee has been selected as a result of the solicitation process. Only the delivery date of the cover design proposal is required now. This date can be indicated, for example, as “xxx days after notification of selection by NIST”.