Kelvin Functions1

The solution to the Bessel equation x 2 w + xw ix 2 w = 0 , where i = 1 , may be written

in terms of modified Bessel functions as

w ( x ) = c1I 0 ( x i ) + c 2K 0 ( x i )
The Kelvin functions, ber( x ) , bei( x ) , ker( x ) and kei( x ) , may be defined by their relations to
the modified Bessel functions I 0 ( x ) and K 0 ( x ) as given by

I 0 ( x i ) = ber ( x ) + ibei( x ) and K 0 ( x i ) = ker ( x ) + ikei( x )

Thus it follows that w ( x ) may be written as
w ( x ) = c1[ber ( x ) + ibei( x )] + c 2 [ker ( x ) + ikei( x )]
where the four Kelvin functions are real functions. These Kelvin functions may be evaluated
from the following infinite series:

(1) n x 4 n
ber( x ) = 4n 2
(1)
n = 0 2 [(2 n )!]

(1) n x 4 n + 2
bei( x ) = 4 n + 2[(2n + 1)!]2 (2)
n=0 2

x (1) n x 4 n 2 n 1
ker( x ) = bei( x ) + ln ber ( x ) + 4 n 2 m
(3)
4 2 n = 1 2 [(2 n )!] m = 1

x (1) n x 4 n 2 2 n 1 1
kei( x ) = ber ( x ) + ln bei( x ) 4 n 2 (4)
4 2 n =1 2 [(2 n 1)!]2 m = 1 m
where is Eulers constant given by Abramowitz and Stegun2 as
1 1 1 1
= lim 1 + + + + K + ln( m) = 0.577215664901532860606512
m 2 3 4 m
Abramowitz and Stegun tabulate the above four Kelvin functions for 0 x 5 . These Kelvin
functions have the following characteristics:
ber( x ) : ber(0) = 1 and oscillates with increasing amplitude as x increases
bei( x ) : bei(0) = 0 and oscillates with increasing amplitude as x increases
ker( x ) : ker(0) = and oscillates with decreasing amplitude as x increases
kei( x ) : kei(0) = / 4 and oscillates with decreasing amplitude as x increases

1
This documentation of Kelvin functions and KelvinFunctions.LIB were provided by G. E. Myers, Department
of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2003.
2
Abramowitz, M. and I. A. Stegun (eds.): Handbook of Mathematical Functions, Applied Mathematics Series
55, National Bureau of Standards, 1964. [Dover, 1965].
Kelvin functions 2

The first derivatives of ber( x ) , bei( x ) , ker( x ) and kei( x ) are called ber( x ) , bei ( x ) ,
ker ( x ) and kei( x ) , respectively. These functions, found by differentiating (1) through (4),
are given by

(1) n x 4 n 1
ber ( x ) = 4 n 1(2n 1)!(2n)! (5)
n =1 2

(1) n x 4 n +1
bei ( x ) = 4 n +1(2n)!(2n + 1)! (6)
n=0 2

x 1 (1) n x 4 n 1 2n
1
ker ( x ) = bei ( x ) + ln ber ( x ) ber ( x ) + 4 n 1 (7)
4 2 x n =1 2 (2 n 1)!(2 n )! m = 1 m
2n 1
x 1 (1) n x 4 n 3 1
kei ( x ) = ber ( x ) + ln bei ( x ) bei( x ) 4 n 3 (8)
4 2 x n =1 2 (2 n 2)!(2 n 1)! m = 1 m

Rather than tabulating these four derivatives, Abramowitz and Stegun tabulate ber1 ( x ) ,
bei1 ( x ) , ker1 ( x ) and kei1 ( x ) which are related to ber( x ) , bei ( x ) , ker ( x ) and kei( x ) as
follows:

2ber1 ( x ) = ber ( x ) bei ( x ) 2bei1 ( x ) = ber ( x ) + bei ( x )

2ker1 ( x ) = ker ( x ) kei ( x ) 2kei1 ( x ) = ker ( x ) + kei ( x )
The EES user library contains KelvinFunctions.LIB. The suite of eight functions in
KelvinFunctions.LIB are used to calculate values of ber( x ) , bei( x ) , ker( x ) , kei( x ) , ber( x ) ,
bei ( x ) , ker ( x ) and kei( x ) . These values are calculated from (1) through (8), respectively.
The following EES program will evaluate ker( x ) and ker ( x ) for x = 2:
x = 2
a = Kelvin_ker(x)
b = Kelvin_ker`(x)
The solution is given as
a = 0.04166 b = 0.1066 x = 2.0