APPENDIX

SOME PROPERTIES

OF BESSEL

FUNCTIONS

function of the first kind In(v) (in which v == kr and n is integral or zero)
is the coefficient of t in the power series expansion of the expression

THE BESSEL

(C.l)
and for this reason (C.1) is known as the generating function. This result 111ay be
appreciated by writing

vt 1 (vt)2
[.1+-+2
21 2

+-3!1 (vt)3
-2 + ... +-n!1 (vt)n
-2 + ... J

v I (V)2
X [1-2t+2!
2l -3!1 (V)3
2t + ...

(-l)n(v)n
2t + ... J

+~

from which it follows that the coefficient of tn is

(v/2)n
n!

(v/2)n+2
- l!(n

I)!

(v/2)n+4
2!(n

(v/2)n+2m
(-l)m m.'( n
m.

2)! -

+.

)'

which is identical with (3.72). Thus

(C.2)
n=

If in (C.2) one replaces

-00

by - - the result is

exp

[~ v ( - ~ + t)]

_I

n-

(-t)-".I,,(v)

-00

If the summation index -n is substituted for n, this becomes

cxp

[t v (t - D
J _I
=

n-

(-l)"t".L,,(v)

-00

Comparison of (C.3) and (C.2) reveals that

(C.4)

520

Some Properties of Bessel Functions

APPENDIX

The Bessel function of the second kind, for integral order, may be defined by the
relation
. cos VTrJ (v) - J (v)
(C.5)
Y n (V) == 1an
.
JI

-JI

SIll

v-~n

VTr

and application of L'Hospital's rule to (C.5) leads to the series (3.73). It therefore
follows, since Y n is definable in terms of Bessel functions of the first kind, which obey
(C.4), that
(C.6)
Because of the nature of the defini ng relations (3.76) and (3.77) the Hankel functions
also obey this law. However, the manner in which the modified Bessel functions are
defined leads to the result that
(C.7)

with w == fro These formulas are useful when working with the orthogonal representations (3.85) and (3.87).
When both sides of (C.2) are differentiated with respect to t, one obtains

If the expression on the right is arranged in powers of t and the coefficients of t n equated, it is evident that

are

(C.8)

If any two successive Bessel functions are known, the third in sequence can be deduced
from (C.8) and then this process may be repeated indefinitely.
Alternatively, if both sides of (C.2) are differentiated with respect to v, one obtains

Upon equating coefficients of in 011 the

J:(v) ==

t\VO

sides of this iden ti ty, one finds that

-klJ n-l(V)

- J n+l(V)]

(C.9)

Equations (C.8) and (C.9) are known as recurrence relations and arc also satisfied by
Bessel functions of the second and third kind. However, because of the nature of the
definitions (3.80) and (3.81), the modified Bessel functions satisfy

nI neW)

2 [In-l(w)

I:(w) = t[In-1(w)

- In+1(w)]

+ I n+

1(w)]

(C.lO)
(C.ll)

APPENDIX

C;

S01ne Properties of Bessel Functions

521

and

K:(w) ==
Upon eliminating either I

n- 1

2" [Kn-J(w) - Kn+1(w)]

-t[Kn-1(w) + Kn+1(w))

nKn(w) == -

(C.12)
(C.13)

or I n + 1 from (C.8) and (C.g) one obtains

+ nJ n(V) == vJ n-l(V)
vJ: (v) - nJ n(V) = -vJ n+l(V)

vJ~(v)

which are equivalent to

d
dv [VnJn(v)] == vnJn-l(V)
d
dv [V-nJn(v)] == -v-nJn+1(v)

(C.14)
(C.15)

These differentiation formulas are also obeyed by the Bessel functions of the second and
third kind. For n == 0 the result is simply
(C.16)
Because of the difference in the recurrence relations, the modified Bessel functions
satisfy
(C.17)

(C.18)
and
(C.19)

(C.20)
If v == kr is real, the J n(V) functions oscillate and each has a sequence of roots which
may be designated by l' nJ, I'nZ, . . . , I'nm, . . . ,such that J n( I'nm) = 0,
rn. == 1, 2, 3, . . .

A family of functions

(C.2!)
can be generated with the property that each of these functions has a null at v == Vo; for
the mth function there are m nulls in the interval 0 :s; v :s; vo. That the individual
members of the family (C.2!) are orthogonal to each other 111ay be seen by the following
argument:

522 S01ne Properties of Bessel Functions

APPENDIX

Let

~)

fm(V)

VV J

fp(v)

vi! J Ynp~)

n (

Ynm

n (

be any two members of the family. By direct substitution they are seen to satisfy the
differential equations

Multiplying the first of these by fp and the second by 1m and subtracting furnishes the
identity

'Ynm - 2 'Y

np

Vo

f mp
f =

f"f
- f"!
m

ppm

Integration of both sides of this identity from 0 to b yields

[f~fpl:

f f~f~dvJ b

[f~fml~

f f~f~dvJ
b

= rf~fp - f~fm]~

which can be written

_1';_m_-_
_1'--=-~p
2
Vo

f vJ

('Y

=
If m ~ p and

nm

!!-) J n (I'n p!!.-.) dv

Vo

~ [ YnpJ

n=

Vo,

Va

n (

Ynm

~) J: (Ynp~) - -:

n (

Ynp

~) .I: ( Ynm ~) ]

(C.22)

since J n(1'nm) = J n('Ynp) = 0, the above formula reduces to

v.In ('Ynm

~) J n('Ynp ~) dv =

Vo

Vo

(C.23)

and thus (C.21) is an orthogonal family of functions.

Upon differentiating (C.22) with respect to l' nm and then letting m = p and u =
one obtains

Vo

(C.24)

Sonic Properties of Bessel Functions

APPENDIX C~

523

In the development leading to (C.l2) it was shown that

J n(v) == - J n(V) - J n+l(V)

J: ('Ynm)

and thus

== - J n+l(l'nm)

(C.25)

Combining these last three results, one can express the orthogonality relation in the
form
(C.26)

in which Omp is the Kronecker delta and has the value unity if m == p, but is otherwise
zero.
Some of the roots l'nm for the lower-order Bessel functions are listed in Table C.l.
lIABLE C.l
THE ROOTS

~
1
2
3
4
5
6

l'nm

OF

In(v); ,]n('Ynm) = 0

2.4048
5.5201
8.6537
11.7915
14.9309
18.0711

3.8317
7.0156
10.1735
13.3237
16.4706
19.6159

5.1356
8.4172
11.6198
14.7960
17.9598
21.1170

6.3802
9.7610
13.0152
16.2235
19.4094
22.5827

7.5883
11.0647
14.3725
17.6160
20.8269
24.0190

8.7715
12.3386
15.7002
18.9801
22.2178
25.4303