Bernoulli polynomials

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In mathematics, the Bernoulli polynomials, named after Jacob Bernoulli, occur in the study of many special
functions and in particular the Riemann zeta function and the Hurwitz zeta function. This is in large part because they
are an Appell sequence, i.e. a Sheffer sequence for the ordinary derivative operator. Unlike orthogonal polynomials,
the Bernoulli polynomials are remarkable in that the number of crossings of the x-axis in the unit interval does not go
up as the degree of the polynomials goes up. In the limit of large degree, the Bernoulli polynomials, appropriately
scaled, approach the sine and cosine functions.

Contents
1 Representations
1.1 Explicit formula
1.2 Generating functions
1.3 Representation by a differential operator
1.4 Representation by an integral operator
2 Another explicit formula
3 Sums of pth powers
Bernoulli polynomials
4 The Bernoulli and Euler numbers
5 Explicit expressions for low degrees
6 Maximum and minimum
7 Differences and derivatives
7.1 Translations
7.2 Symmetries
8 Fourier series
9 Inversion
10 Relation to falling factorial
11 Multiplication theorems
12 Integrals
13 Periodic Bernoulli polynomials
14 See also
15 References

Representations
The Bernoulli polynomials Bn admit a variety of different representations. Which among them should be taken to be
the definition may depend on one's purposes.

Explicit formula

for n ≥ 0, where bk are the Bernoulli numbers.

Generating functions

The generating function for the Bernoulli polynomials is

The generating function for the Euler polynomials is

Representation by a differ ential operator

The Bernoulli polynomials are also given by

where D = d/dx is differentiation with respect to x and the fraction is expanded as a formal power series. It follows
that

cf. integrals below.

Representation by an integral op erator

The Bernoulli polynomials are the unique polynomials determined by

The integral transform

on polynomials f, simply amounts to

This can be used to produce the inversion formulae below.

Another explicit formula

An explicit formula for the Bernoulli polynomials is given by

Note the remarkable similarity to the globally convergent series expression for the Hurwitz zeta function. Indeed, one
has

where ζ(s, q) is the Hurwitz zeta; thus, in a certain sense, the Hurwitz zeta generalizes the Bernoulli polynomials to
non-integer values of n.
The inner sum may be understood to be the nth forward difference of xm; that is,
The inner sum may be understood to be the nth forward difference of xm; that is,

where Δ is the forward difference operator. Thus, one may write

This formula may be derived from an identity appearing above as follows. Since the forward difference operator Δ
equals

where D is differentiation with respect to x, we have, from the Mercator series

As long as this operates on an mth-degree polynomial such as xm, one may let n go from 0 only up to m.

An integral representation for the Bernoulli polynomials is given by the Nörlund–Rice integral, which follows from
the expression as a finite difference.

An explicit formula for the Euler polynomials is given by

This may also be written in terms of the Euler numbers Ek as

Sums of pth powers

We have

(assuming 00 = 1). See Faulhaber's formula for more on this.

The Bernoulli and Euler numbers

The Bernoulli numbers are given by

This definition gives for .

An alternate convention defines the Bernoulli numbers as

The two conventions differ only for since .

The Euler numbers are given by

The Euler numbers are given by

Explicit expressions for low degrees

The first few Bernoulli polynomials are:

The first few Euler polynomials are:

Maximum and minimum

At higher n, the amount of variation in Bn(x) between x = 0 and x = 1 gets large. For instance,

which shows that the value at x = 0 (and at x = 1) is −3617/510 ≈ −7.09, while at x = 1/2, the value is
118518239/3342336 ≈ +7.09. D.H. Lehmer[1] showed that the maximum value of Bn(x) between 0 and 1 obeys
unless n is 2 modulo 4, in which case

(where is the Riemann zeta function), while the minimum obeys

unless n is 0 modulo 4, in which case

These limits are quite close to the actual maximum and minimum, and Lehmer gives more accurate limits as well.

Differences and derivatives

The Bernoulli and Euler polynomials obey many relations from umbral calculus:

(Δ is the forward difference operator).

These polynomial sequences are Appell sequences:

Translations

These identities are also equivalent to saying that these polynomial sequences are Appell sequences. (Hermite
polynomials are another example.)

Symmetries
Zhi-Wei Sun and Hao Pan [2] established the following surprising symmetry relation: If r + s + t = n and
x + y + z = 1, then

where

Fourier series
The Fourier series of the Bernoulli polynomials is also a Dirichlet series, given by the expansion

Note the simple large n limit to suitably scaled trigonometric functions.

This is a special case of the analogous form for the Hurwitz zeta function

This expansion is valid only for 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 when n ≥ 2 and is valid for 0 < x < 1 when n = 1.

The Fourier series of the Euler polynomials may also be calculated. Defining the functions

and

for , the Euler polynomial has the Fourier series

and

Note that the and are odd and even, respectively:

and
They are related to the Legendre chi function as

and

Inversion
The Bernoulli and Euler polynomials may be inverted to express the monomial in terms of the polynomials.

Specifically, evidently from the above section on #Representation by an integral operator, it follows that

and

Relation to falling factorial

The Bernoulli polynomials may be expanded in terms of the falling factorial as

where and

denotes the Stirling number of the second kind. The above may be inverted to express the falling factorial in terms of
the Bernoulli polynomials:

where

denotes the Stirling number of the first kind.

Multiplication theorems
The multiplication theorems were given by Joseph Ludwig Raabe in 1851:

For a natural number m≥1,

Integrals
Indefinite integrals

Definite integrals

Periodic Bernoulli polynomials

A periodic Bernoulli polynomial Pn(x) is a Bernoulli polynomial evaluated at the fractional part of the argument x.
These functions are used to provide the remainder term in the Euler–Maclaurin formula relating sums to integrals.
The first polynomial is a sawtooth function.

Strictly these functions are not polynomials at all and more properly should be termed the periodic Bernoulli
functions.

The following properties are of interest, valid for all :

See also
Bernoulli numbers
Stirling polynomial

References
1. D.H. Lehmer, "On the Maxima and Minima of Bernoulli Polynomials", American Mathematical Monthly,
volume 47, pages 533–538 (1940)
 2. Zhi-Wei Sun; Hao Pan (2006). "Identities concerning Bernoulli and Euler polynomials". Acta Arithmetica. 125:
21–39. arXiv:math/0409035 (https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0409035) . doi:10.4064/aa125-1-3 (https://doi.org/10.
4064%2Faa125-1-3).

Milton Abramowitz and Irene A. Stegun, eds. Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs,
and Mathematical Tables, (1972) Dover, New York. (See Chapter 23)
Apostol, Tom M. (1976), Introduction to analytic number theory, Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics, New
York-Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-0-387-90163-3, MR 0434929, Zbl 0335.10001 (See chapter
12.11)
Dilcher, K. (2010), "Bernoulli and Euler Polynomials", in Olver, Frank W. J.; Lozier, Daniel M.; Boisvert,
Ronald F.; Clark, Charles W., NIST Handbook of Mathematical Functions, Cambridge University Press,
ISBN 978-0521192255, MR 2723248
Cvijović, Djurdje; Klinowski, Jacek (1995). "New formulae for the Bernoulli and Euler polynomials at rational
arguments". Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society. 123: 1527–1535. doi:10.2307/2161144.
Guillera, Jesus; Sondow, Jonathan (2008). "Double integrals and infinite products for some classical constants
via analytic continuations of Lerch's transcendent". The Ramanujan Journal. 16 (3): 247–270.
arXiv:math.NT/0506319 . doi:10.1007/s11139-007-9102-0. (Reviews relationship to the Hurwitz zeta function
and Lerch transcendent.)
Hugh L. Montgomery; Robert C. Vaughan (2007). Multiplicative number theory I. Classical theory.
Cambridge tracts in advanced mathematics. 97. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 495–519. ISBN 0-521-
84903-9.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bernoulli_polynomials&oldid=790732535"

This page was last edited on 15 July 2017, at 18:57.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By
using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.