HayAppBv2 Page 493 Thursday, January 22, 2004 8:55 PM

A P P E N D I X

Bessel Functions

B.1 BESSEL FUNCTIONS OF THE FIRST KIND

Bessel functions of the first kind of integer order are defined as the solution of the
integral equation
1
J ( z ) = --

0 cos ( z sin ) d

j
= ------

jz cos

0 e

(B.1)

cos ( ) d

where j is the square root of 1. The special case = 0 reduces to

1
J 0 ( z ) = --

0 cos ( z sin ) d

(B.2)

For a real argument z, the Bessel functions are real valued, continuously differentiable, and bounded in magnitude by unity. The even-numbered Bessel functions are
symmetric and the odd-numbered Bessel functions are antisymmetric.
The Bessel function J ( z ) may also be expressed as the infinite series

1
J ( z ) = --- z
2

k=0

k
1--- z 2
4
----------------------------------k! ( + k + 1 )

(B.3)

where ( k ) is the gamma function; for integer values, ( k + 1 ) = k! .

We plot J0(z) and J1(z) for real-valued z in Fig. B.1. The values of these functions
for a subset of z are given in Table B.1.
Problem B.1

Using the first line of Eq. (B.1), derive the second line of the equation.


493

HayAppBv2 Page 494 Thursday, January 22, 2004 8:55 PM

Appendix B

Bessel Functions

1.5

Bessel functions of first kind

494

1.0

J0(x)

0.5

J1(x)

0.0

0.5

1.0
10 8

10

x
FIGURE B.1

TABLE B.1
x
0.00
0.20
0.40
0.60
0.80
1.00
1.20
1.40
1.60
1.80
2.00
2.20
2.40
2.60
2.80
3.00
3.20
3.40
3.60
3.80
4.00

Plots of Bessel functions of the first kind, J0(x) and J1(x).

Values of Bessel Functions and Modified Bessel Functions of the First Kind.
J 0 (x)

J1 ( x )

I0 ( x )

I1 (x )

1.0000
0.9900
0.9604
0.9120
0.8463
0.7652
0.6711
0.5669
0.4554
0.3400
0.2239
0.1104
0.0025
0.0968
0.1850
0.2601
0.3202
0.3643
0.3918
0.4026
0.3971

0.0000
0.0995
0.1960
0.2867
0.3688
0.4401
0.4983
0.5419
0.5699
0.5815
0.5767
0.5560
0.5202
0.4708
0.4097
0.3391
0.2613
0.1792
0.0955
0.0128
0.0660

1.0000
1.0100
1.0404
1.0920
1.1665
1.2661
1.3937
1.5534
1.7500
1.9896
1.1796
2.6291
3.0493
3.5533
4.1573
4.8808
5.7472
6.7848
8.0277
9.5169
11.3019

0.0000
0.1005
0.2040
0.3137
0.4329
0.5652
0.7147
0.8861
1.0848
1.3172
1.5906
1.9141
2.2981
2.7554
3.3011
3.9534
4.7343
5.6701
6.7927
8.1404
9.7595

HayAppBv2 Page 495 Thursday, January 22, 2004 8:55 PM

Section B.2

Modified Bessel Functions of the First Kind

495

B.2 MODIFIED BESSEL FUNCTIONS OF THE FIRST KIND

Modified Bessel functions of the first kind of integer order are defined as the solution
of the integral equation
1
I ( z ) = --

z cos

0 e

cos ( ) d

(B.4)

For the special case = 0, Eq. (B.4) reduces to

1
I 0 ( z ) = --

z cos

0 e

(B.5)

For a real argument z, the modified Bessel functions are real valued, continuously differentiable, and grow exponentially as |z| increases. The even-numbered modified
Bessel functions are symmetric and the odd-numbered ones are antisymmetric.
The modified Bessel function may also be expressed as the infinite series
k

1
I ( z ) = --- z
2

k=0

1--- z 2
4
----------------------------------k! ( + k + 1 )

(B.6)

We plot I0(z) and I1(z) for real-valued z in Fig. B.2. The values of these functions for a
subset of z are given in Table B.1.

Modified Bessel Functions of first kind

10
8
6
4

I0(x)

2
I1(x)
0
2
4
6
8
10
4

x
FIGURE B.2

Plots of modified Bessel functions of the first kind, I0(z) and I1(z).