# scipy.special.binom

scipy.special.binom(x, y, out=None) = <ufunc 'binom'>

  Binomial coefficient considered as a function of two real variables.

  For real arguments, the binomial coefficient is defined as

  \[\binom{x}{y} = \frac{\Gamma(x + 1)}{\Gamma(y + 1)\Gamma(x - y + 1)} = \frac{1}{(x + 1)\mathrm{B}(x - y + 1, y + 1)}\]

  Where \(\Gamma\) is the Gamma function (`gamma`) and \(\mathrm{B}\) is the Beta function (`beta`) [1].

  Parameters:
    x, y: array_like

      Real arguments to \(\binom{x}{y}\).

    out ndarray, optional

      Optional output array for the function values

  Returns:
    scalar or ndarray

      Value of binomial coefficient.

  See also

  `comb`

    The number of combinations of N things taken k at a time.

  Notes

  The Gamma function has poles at non-positive integers and tends to either positive or negative infinity depending on the direction on the real line from which a pole is approached. When considered as a function of two real variables, \(\binom{x}{y}\) is thus undefined when x is a negative integer. `binom` returns `nan` when `x` is a negative integer. This is the case even when `x` is a negative integer and `y` an integer, contrary to the usual convention for defining \(\binom{n}{k}\) when it is considered as a function of two integer variables.

  References

  [1]

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_coefficient

  Examples

  The following examples illustrate the ways in which `binom` differs from the function `comb`.

      >>> from scipy.special import binom, comb

  When `exact=False` and `x` and `y` are both positive, `comb` calls `binom` internally.

      >>> x, y = 3, 2
      >>> (binom(x, y), comb(x, y), comb(x, y, exact=True))
      (3.0, 3.0, 3)

  For larger values, `comb` with `exact=True` no longer agrees with `binom`.

      >>> x, y = 43, 23
      >>> (binom(x, y), comb(x, y), comb(x, y, exact=True))
      (960566918219.9999, 960566918219.9999, 960566918220)

  `binom` returns `nan` when `x` is a negative integer, but is otherwise defined for negative arguments. `comb` returns 0 whenever one of `x` or `y` is negative or `x` is less than `y`.

      >>> x, y = -3, 2
      >>> (binom(x, y), comb(x, y), comb(x, y, exact=True))
      (nan, 0.0, 0)

      >>> x, y = -3.1, 2.2
      >>> (binom(x, y), comb(x, y), comb(x, y, exact=True))
      (18.714147876804432, 0.0, 0)

      >>> x, y = 2.2, 3.1
      >>> (binom(x, y), comb(x, y), comb(x, y, exact=True))
      (0.037399983365134115, 0.0, 0)