This function is typically used inside a model formula
in order to specify the most general possible polynomial
of order n involving one numerical variable x
or two numerical variables x,y.
It is equivalent to poly(, raw=TRUE).
If only one numerical vector argument x is given,
the function computes the vectors x^k for
k = 1, 2, …, n. These vectors are combined into a matrix
with n columns.
If two numerical vector arguments x,y are given,
the function computes the vectors x^k * y^m for
k >= 0 and m >= 0 satisfying
0 < k + m <= n. These vectors are combined into a matrix
with one column for each homogeneous term.