The exact formula for $\frac{\Gamma((x+1)/2)}{\Gamma(x/2)}$

gamma function

I am interested in knowing the value of the fraction $y = \frac{\Gamma(\frac{x+1}{2})}{\Gamma(\frac{x}{2})}$ for different non-negative values of $x$.

Plotting $y$ suggests that the value of the fraction follows a power function of the form $ax^p$.

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Using power regression in Excel, I find $a=0.6445$ and $p=0.5179$. Although, the $R^2$ value of $0.9987$ is quite high, I am wondering:

If it exists, what is the closed-form expression to describe the relationship between $y = \frac{\Gamma(\frac{x+1}{2})}{\Gamma(\frac{x}{2})}$ and $x$?

Although I am primarily interested in the particular fraction presented in this question, more general answers are also welcome.

Best Answer

There's no known closed form for this. Any alternative expression still involves two gammas; say, using the duplication formula, you can rewrite it in terms of $\Gamma(x)$ and $\Gamma(x/2)$, but it doesn't really help. The "power law" holds only in the asymptotic sense, because of $\lim\limits_{x\to+\infty}\Gamma(x+a)/[x^a\Gamma(x)]=1$ for any real $a$ (in our case $a=1/2$).

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