The Frobenius Method

This method is used to obtain series solutions of differential equations of the

type f (x)y 00 + g(x)y 0 + h(x)y = 0.

∞
X
1. Assume a solution of the form y = an xn+c , a0 6= 0, where c is a constant
n=0
to be determined. This is called a Frobenius series.

2. Substitute this series in the differential equation.

3. Equate the coefficients of the lowest term (often xc ) to zero to get a quadratic
equation for c, called the indicial equation. Hence find two values for c: c1
and c2 .

4. Equate the coefficients of the next lowest term(s) to zero. This step may not
be necessary in certain cases, but may need to be repeated in other cases.

5. Equate the coefficients of the general term to zero to obtain a recurrence rela-
tion. Hence an expression y(x, c) for the solution of the differential equation
is obtained.

6. The following cases may arise:

(a) if c1 − c2 is not an integer, substitute c = c1 and c = c2 in y(x, c) to

obtain two linearly independent solutions;
∂
(b) if c1 = c2 , then substitute c = c1 in y(x, c) and in y(x, c) to obtain
∂c
two linearly independent solutions;
(c) if c1 − c2 is a non-zero integer, then
i. if indeterminate coefficients occur for one value of c, then substitute
this value in y(x, c) to obtain two linearly independent solutions;
ii. if infinite coefficients arise for c = c2 , substitute c = c1 in y(x, c)
∂
and c = c2 in [(c − c2 )y(x, c)] to obtain two linearly independent
∂c
solutions.

JLB MAT2003