Course code: MAT 208 Course Title: Engineering Mathematics II Target Groups: SoENG

Department: Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science Lecturer: Nixon Ronoh

Topic: 4 Title: Special Functions Date: 21/05/2025

4.1. Introduction

In this section we look at some functions that are of interest in Applied Mathematics and Engineering. We
shall limit ourselves to Bessel and Legendre functions.

4.2. Bessel Function

The Bessel equation, named after German mathematician and astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel finds
utility in many Engineering applications, especially those that involve cylindrical coordinates. The Bessel
equation is a linear second order ordinary differential equation of the form

x2 y 00 + xy 0 + (x2 ⌫ 2 )y = 0 (4.1)

The parameter ⌫ is the order of the Bessel equation. Friedrich, in 1824, showed that Equation (4.1) could be
solved through a special class of functions called cylinder or Bessel functions.
Example 4.2.1. The task is to find a power series solution to the Bessel equation of order 0. This is the
equation

x2 y 00 + xy 0 + x2 y = 0 (4.2)

As seen before in Section 3.1, we first assume that Equation (4.2) has a series solution of the form (3.1), and
that the first and the second derivatives y, y 0 and y 00 conform to the forms (3.3) and (3.4), namely

1
X
y= an x n (4.3)
n=0
X1
y0 = n · an x n 1
(4.4)
n=1
X1
y 00 = n · (n 1) · an xn 2
(4.5)
n=2

Substituting the power series expressions of y, y 0 and y 00 into Equation 4.2 leads to the following;

1
! 1
! 1
!
X X X
x2 n · (n 1) · an xn 2
+x n · an x n 1
+ x2 an x n =0 (4.6)
n=2 n=1 n=0

We next apply the left distributive law of multiplication to open the brackets;

15
 1
X 1
X 1
X
n · (n 1) · an xn + n · an x n + an xn+2 = 0 (4.7)
n=2 n=1 n=0

We now proceed to
P1 P1
• shift the second term by one term; n=1 n · an xn = a1 x + n=2 n · an xn
• re-index the third term so that the powers of x are similar in all terms. This is done through the replace-
ment n = n 2.

This leads to

1
X 1
X 1
X
n · (n n
1) · an x + a1 x + n
n · an x + an 2 x n = 0 (4.8)
n=2 n=2 n=2
1
" 1 1
#
X X X
a1 x + n · (n 1) · an xn + n · an x n + an 2 x n = 0 (4.9)
n=2 n=2 n=2
1
X
a1 x + [n · (n 1) · an + n · an + an 2 ] xn = 0 (4.10)
n=2
X1
⇥ ⇤
a1 x + (n2 n) · an + n · an + an 2 xn = 0 (4.11)
n=2
1
X ⇥ ⇤
a1 x + n 2 an + an 2 xn = 0 (4.12)
n=2

We now equate the coefficients of the powers of x to obtain

a1 = 0 for n = 1 (4.13)
and n an + an 2 = 0 for all n 2
2
(4.14)
1
or an = an 2 for all n 2 (4.15)
n2

Using Equation (4.15), we deduce that;

1 1
for n = 2; a2 = a0 = a0 (4.16)
4 22
1
for n = 3; a3 = a1 = 0 (4.17)
9
1 1 1 1
for n = 4; a4 = a2 = · a0 = 2 2 a0 (4.18)
16 16 ✓ 4 ◆ 4 · 2
1 1 1
for n = 5; a5 = a3 = · a1 = 0 (4.19)
25 25 9
1 1 1 1 1
for n = 6; a6 = a4 = ·( · a0 ) = a0 (4.20)
36 36 16 4 6 · 42 · 22
2

for n = 7; a7 = 0 =) for all odd n , an = 0 (4.21)

1 1 1 1 1 1
for n = 8; a8 = a6 = ·( · · a0 ) = 2 2 2 2 a0 (4.22)
64 64 36 16 4 8 ·6 ·4 ·2

16
Generally, for all odd n, the coefficients an = 0 since a1 = 0. Notice that for all even n,

( 1)k
a2k = a0 (4.23)
2(2k) (k!)2

The solution to Equation (4.2) is thus

1
X X1
( 1)k 2k
y= a2k x2k = a0 (2k) (k!)2
x (4.24)
n=0 n=0
2

Figure 4.1: Plot showing Bessel functions of orders 0,1 and 5

3 1 1
( )= ( )
2 2 2
5 3 3 3 1 1
( )= ( )= · ( )
2 2 2 2 2 2

17