Is there an easily available implementation of erf() for Python?

Question

I can implement the error function, erf, myself, but I\'d prefer not to. Is there a python package with no external dependencies that contains an implementation of this func

Answer 1

To answer my own question, I have ended up using the following code, adapted from a Java version I found elsewhere on the web:

# from: http://www.cs.princeton.edu/introcs/21function/ErrorFunction.java.html
# Implements the Gauss error function.
#   erf(z) = 2 / sqrt(pi) * integral(exp(-t*t), t = 0..z)
#
# fractional error in math formula less than 1.2 * 10 ^ -7.
# although subject to catastrophic cancellation when z in very close to 0
# from Chebyshev fitting formula for erf(z) from Numerical Recipes, 6.2
def erf(z):
    t = 1.0 / (1.0 + 0.5 * abs(z))
        # use Horner's method
        ans = 1 - t * math.exp( -z*z -  1.26551223 +
                            t * ( 1.00002368 +
                            t * ( 0.37409196 + 
                            t * ( 0.09678418 + 
                            t * (-0.18628806 + 
                            t * ( 0.27886807 + 
                            t * (-1.13520398 + 
                            t * ( 1.48851587 + 
                            t * (-0.82215223 + 
                            t * ( 0.17087277))))))))))
        if z >= 0.0:
            return ans
        else:
            return -ans