TITLE: What does $x^\pi$ mean?
QUESTION [7 upvotes]: I was just wondering, what does $x^\pi$ or for that matter, $x$ raised to any irrational number mean? For example, I want to represent $x^2$ then that would mean $x * x$ or if I want to do $x^\frac{2}{3}$ then that would mean, I first square it then cube root it but what does that mean for irrantional numbers such as $\pi$?
Thanks!

REPLY [2 votes]: Ultimately, it's nothing near so nice as the rational case. If we're given an irrational number $\alpha$, then $$x^\alpha:=\underset{r\to\alpha}{\lim_{r\in\Bbb Q}}x^r,$$ so long as this limit is defined (for example, it doesn't work when $x$ is negative, and it doesn't work when $x=0$ and $\alpha$ is negative).
Alternately, it is at times more beneficial to define it as $$x^\alpha:=e^{\alpha\ln x}.$$ These are equivalent definitions for $x>0$. We can even do a bit better and define $$x^\alpha:=\lim_{t\to x^+}e^{\alpha\ln t}.$$ That definition works precisely when the original definition does--namely, whenever $x>0$, and whenever $x=0$ and $\alpha>0$. Of course, both of the latter two definitions do require some independent definition of $e^w$, such as $$e^w:=\lim_{n\to\infty}\left(1+\frac wn\right)^n.$$