Elliptic Integrals are said to be 'complete' when the amplitude and therefore . The
complete elliptic integral of the first kind may thus be defined as K(k) = \int_0^\tfrac{\pi}{2} \frac{d\theta}{\sqrt{1-k^2 \sin^2\theta}} = \int_0^1 \frac{dt}{\sqrt{\left(1-t^2\right)\left(1-k^2 t^2\right)}}, or more compactly in terms of the incomplete integral of the first kind as K(k) = F\left(\tfrac{\pi}{2},k\right) = F\left(\tfrac{\pi}{2} \,|\, k^2\right) = F(1;k). It can be expressed as a
power series K(k) = \frac{\pi}{2}\sum_{n=0}^\infty \left(\frac{(2n)!}{2^{2 n} (n!)^2}\right)^2 k^{2n} = \frac{\pi}{2} \sum_{n=0}^\infty \bigl(P_{2 n}(0)\bigr)^2 k^{2n}, where is the
Legendre polynomials, which is equivalent to K(k) = \frac{\pi}{2}\left(1+\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^2 k^2+\left(\frac{1\cdot 3}{2\cdot 4}\right)^2 k^4+\cdots+\left(\frac{\left(2n-1\right)!!}{\left(2n\right)!!}\right)^2 k^{2n}+\cdots\right), where denotes the
double factorial. In terms of the Gauss
hypergeometric function, the complete elliptic integral of the first kind can be expressed as K(k) = \tfrac{\pi}{2} \,{}_2F_1 \left(\tfrac{1}{2}, \tfrac{1}{2}; 1; k^2\right). The complete elliptic integral of the first kind is sometimes called the
quarter period. It can be computed very efficiently in terms of the
arithmetic–geometric mean: K(k) = \frac{\pi}{2\operatorname{agm}\left(1,\sqrt{1-k^2}\right)}. Therefore, the modulus can be transformed as: \begin{align} K(k) &= \frac{\pi}{2\operatorname{agm}\left(1,\sqrt{1-k^2}\right)} \\[4pt] & = \frac{\pi}{2\operatorname{agm}\left(\frac12+\frac\sqrt{1-k^2}{2},\sqrt[4]{1-k^2}\right)} \\[4pt] &= \frac{\pi}{\left(1+\sqrt{1-k^2}\right)\operatorname{agm}\left(1,\frac{2\sqrt[4]{1-k^2}}{\left(1+\sqrt{1-k^2}\right)}\right)} \\[4pt] & = \frac{2}{1+\sqrt{1-k^2}}K\left(\frac{1-\sqrt{1-k^2}}{1+\sqrt{1-k^2}}\right) \end{align} This expression is valid for all n \isin \mathbb{N} and : K(k) = n\left[\sum_{a = 1}^{n} \operatorname{dn}\left(\frac{2a}{n}K(k);k\right)\right]^{-1}K\left[k^n\prod_{a=1}^{n}\operatorname{sn}\left(\frac{2a-1}{n}K(k);k\right)^2\right]
Relation to the gamma function If and r \isin \mathbb{Q}^+ (where is the
modular lambda function), then is expressible in closed form in terms of the
gamma function. For example, , and give, respectively, K\left(\sqrt{2}-1\right)=\frac{\Gamma \left(\frac18\right)\Gamma \left(\frac38\right)\sqrt{\sqrt{2}+1}}{8\sqrt[4]{2}\sqrt{\pi}}, and K\left(\frac{\sqrt{3}-1}{2\sqrt{2}}\right)=\frac{1}{8\pi}\sqrt[4]{3}\,\sqrt[3]{4}\,\Gamma\biggl(\frac{1}{3}\biggr)^3 and K\left(\frac{3-\sqrt{7}}{4\sqrt{2}}\right)=\frac{\Gamma \left(\frac17\right)\Gamma \left(\frac27\right)\Gamma \left(\frac47\right)}{4\sqrt[4]{7}\pi}. More generally, the condition that \frac{iK'}{K}=\frac{iK\left(\sqrt{1-k^2}\right)}{K(k)} be in an
imaginary quadratic field is sufficient. For instance, if , then and K\left(e^{5\pi i/6}\right)=\frac{e^{-\pi i/12}\Gamma ^3\left(\frac13\right)\sqrt[4]{3}}{4\sqrt[3]{2}\pi}. The second formula above, written as \frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{3}\right)^3}{\pi} = 2^{7/3} \, 3^{-1/4} \, K\left( \tfrac{\sqrt{3}-1}{2\sqrt{2}} \right) , can be completed by 5 equations showing that \frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{k}\right)^{k/2}}{\sqrt{\pi}} is a
period for all even divisors k of 24: \frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{4}\right)^2}{\sqrt{\pi}} = 4 \, K\left( \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \right) \frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{6}\right)^{3}}{\sqrt{\pi}} = 2^{11/3} \cdot 3 \cdot K\left( \tfrac{\sqrt{3}-1}{2\sqrt{2}} \right)^2 \frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{8}\right)^4}{\sqrt{\pi}} = 2^{17/2} \, K\left( \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \right) \, K\left( \sqrt{2}-1 \right)^{2} \frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{12}\right)^{6}}{\sqrt{\pi}} = 2^{55/6} \, 3^{7/4} \, (\sqrt{3}+1)^3 \, K\left( \tfrac{\sqrt{3}-1}{2\sqrt{2}} \right)^2 \, K\left( \tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}} \right)^3 \frac{\Gamma\left(\frac{1}{24}\right)^{12}}{\sqrt{\pi}} = 2^{89/3} 3^{25/4} (\sqrt{2} + 1)^{6} (\sqrt{3} - 1)^{3} K\!\left(\tfrac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\right)^{3} K\!\left(\tfrac{\sqrt{3}-1}{2\sqrt{2}}\right)^{4} K\!\Bigl( (2 - \sqrt{3})(\sqrt{3} - \sqrt{2}) \Bigr)^{6}
Asymptotic expressions K\left(k\right)\approx\frac{\pi}{2}+\frac{\pi}{8}\frac{k^2}{1-k^2}-\frac{\pi}{16}\frac{k^4}{1-k^2} This approximation has a relative precision better than for . Keeping only the first two terms is correct to 0.01 precision for .
Differential equation The
differential equation for the elliptic integral of the first kind is \frac{d}{dk}\left(k\left(1-k^2\right)\frac{dK(k)}{dk}\right) = k \, K(k) A second solution to this equation is K\left(\sqrt{1-k^2}\right). This solution satisfies the relation \frac{d}{dk}K(k) = \frac{E(k)}{k\left(1-k^2\right)}-\frac{K(k)}{k}.
Continued fraction A
continued fraction expansion is: \frac{K(k)}{2\pi} = -\frac{1}{4} + \sum^{\infty}_{n=0} \frac{q^n}{1+q^{2n}} = -\frac{1}{4} + \cfrac{1}{1-q+ \cfrac{\left(1-q\right)^2}{1-q^3+ \cfrac{q\left(1-q^2\right)^2}{1-q^5+ \cfrac{q^2\left(1-q^3\right)^2}{1-q^7+\cfrac{q^3\left(1-q^4\right)^2}{1-q^9+\cdots}}}}}, where the
nome is q = q(k) = \exp[-\pi K'(k)/K(k)] in its definition.
Inverting the period ratio Here, we use the complete elliptic integral of the first kind with the
parameter m instead, because the squaring function introduces problems when inverting in the complex plane. So let :K[m]=\int_0^{\pi/2}\dfrac{d\theta}{\sqrt{1-m\sin^2\theta}} and let :\theta_2(\tau)=2e^{\pi i\tau/4}\sum_{n=0}^\infty q^{n(n+1)},\quad q=e^{\pi i\tau},\, \operatorname{Im}\tau >0, :\theta_3(\tau)=1+2\sum_{n=1}^\infty q^{n^2},\quad q=e^{\pi i\tau},\,\operatorname{Im}\tau >0 be the
theta functions. The equation :\tau=i\frac{K[1-m]}{K[m]} can then be solved (provided that a solution m exists) by :m=\frac{\theta_2(\tau)^4}{\theta_3(\tau)^4} which is in fact the
modular lambda function. For the purposes of computation, the error analysis is given by :\left|{e}^{-\pi i \tau / 4} \theta_{2}\!\left(\tau\right) - 2\sum_{n=0}^{N - 1} {q}^{n \left(n + 1\right)}\right| \le \begin{cases} \frac{2 {\left|q\right|}^{N \left(N + 1\right)}}{1 - \left|q\right|^{2N+1}}, & \left|q\right|^{2N+1} :\left|\theta_{3}\!\left(\tau\right) - \left(1+2\sum_{n=1}^{N - 1} {q}^{n^2}\right)\right| \le \begin{cases} \frac{2 {\left|q\right|}^{N^2}}{1 - \left|q\right|^{2N+1}}, & \left|q\right|^{2N+1} where N\in\mathbb{Z}_{\ge 1} and \operatorname{Im}\tau >0. Also :K[m]=\frac{\pi}{2}\theta_3(\tau )^2,\quad \tau=i\frac{K[1-m]}{K[m]} where m\in\mathbb{C}\setminus\{0,1\}. ==Complete elliptic integral of the second kind==