Q-exponential

The term q-exponential occurs in two contexts. The q-exponential distribution, based on the Tsallis q-exponential is discussed in elsewhere.

In combinatorial mathematics, a q-exponential is a q-analog of the exponential function, namely the eigenfunction of a q-derivative. There are many q-derivatives, for example, the classical q-derivative, the Askey–Wilson operator, etc. Therefore, unlike the classical exponentials, q-exponentials are not unique. For example, ${\displaystyle e_{q}(z)}$ is the q-exponential corresponding to the classical q-derivative while ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {E}}_{q}(z)}$ are eigenfunctions of the Askey–Wilson operators.

The q-exponential is also known as the quantum dilogarithm.