Department of Mathematics, IIT Madras

MA 2020 - Differential Equations, Instructor: Prof. A. K. B. Chand

2022-2023 : First Semester - BATCH-1
Problem Sheet- 6 : Legendre Polynomials and Functions

1. Show that Legendre polynomial Pn of degree n satisfies the following relations:

(a) Pn (−x) = (−1)n Pn (x), (b) Pn (−1) = (−1)n , (c) Pn′ (−x) = (−1)n+1 Pn′ (x),
n(n+1)
(d) Pn′ (1) = 2
and Pn′ (−1) = (−1)n−1 n(n+1)
2
,
′
(e) P2n ′
(0) = 0 and P2n+1 (0) = (−1)n 2(2n+1)!
2n (n!)2 .

2. Show that if f (x) is a polynomial with double roots at a and b, then f ′′ (x) vanishes at least twice in
(a, b). This result can be generalized to Pn by using Rodrigues’ formula, i.e. prove that Pn (x) has n
distinct roots in (−1, 1).

3. Find the first

(three terms of the Legendre series of(the following functions:
−x, −1 < x < 0, 0, −1 ≤ x < 0,
(a) f (x) = (b) f (x) =
x, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1; 1, 0 ≤ x ≤ 1;
x
(c) f (x) = e , −1 ≤ x ≤ 1; (d) f (x) = 1 − |x|, −1 ≤ x ≤ 1;
(e) f (x) = cos πx, −1 ≤ x ≤ 1; (f) f (x) = 7x4 − 3x + 1, −1 ≤ x ≤ 1.

4. Prove the following:

(a) (1 − x2 )Pn′ (x) = n[Pn−1 (x) − xPn (x)],
(b) (1 − x2 )Pn′ (x) = (n + 1)[xPn (x) − Pn+1 (x)],
(c) (2n + 1)(1 − x2 )Pn′ (x) = n(n + 1)[Pn+1 (x) − Pn−1 (x)],
(d) P7′ (x) = 13P6 (x) + 9P4 (x) + 5P2 (x) + P0 (x),
(e) P6′ (x) = 11P5 (x) + 7P3 (x) + 3P1 (x).

5. Express the following in terms of Legendre Polynomials:

(a) f (x) = x2 − 5; (b) x3 + x + 1; (c) x3 + 2x2 − x − 3.
n
6. Prove that there exist constants a0 , a1 , ..., an such that xn =
P
am Pm (x), and verify that an =
m=0
2n (n!)2
(2n)!
.

7. Let Pn (x) be the Legendre polynomial of degree n. Show that

(
R1 m 0, m<n
(a) x Pn (x)dx = 2n+1 (n!)2
−1 (2n+1)!
,m = n
R1 2n(n+1)
(b) (1 − x2 )Pn′ (x)Pn′ (x)dx = 2n+1
−1
 R1 2n
(c) xPn (x)Pn−1 (x) = 4n2 −1
−1

R1 2n(n+1)
(d) (x2 − 1)Pn−1 (x)Pn′ (x) = (2n+1)(2n+3)
[ Hint: Use Legendre Diff. Eq. ]
−1
R1 (n+2k)!Γ(k+1/2)
(e) −1
xn+2k Pn (x)dx = 2n (2k)!Γ(n+k+3/2)
,k = 0, 1, 2, · · ·
R1 ′
(f) −1
Pn (x)Pn+1 (x)dx = 2, n = 0, 1, 2, · · ·
R1 2 2n−1 1
R
(g) −1
P n (x)dx = P 2 (x)dx [Hint: Use triple recurrence formula]
2n+1 −1 n−1
R 1 Pn (x)dx √
2 2
(h) −1
√
1−x
= 2n+1
[Hint: Use generating function for Pn (x).]
R1
(i) −1
xPn′ (x)Pn (x)dx = 2n+1
2n

R1 ′
(j) −1 m
P (x)Pn′ (x)dx = m(m + 1) if n − m ≥ 0 and n − m is even.
R1 m ′
(k) −1
x Pn (x)dx = 2 if n − m > 0 and n − m is odd.
R1 ′
(l) [P (x)]2 dx = n(n + 1)
−1 n

8. Prove that ∞
1 − t2 X
= (2n + 1)Pn (x)tn .
(1 − 2tx + t2 )3/2 n=0
Rπ dϕ
√
9. (SS*) Using the value of 0 a±b cos ϕ
for a2 > b2 with a = 1 − hx and b = h x2 − 1, prove Laplace’s
first integral for Pn (x) as
1
Z π √
Pn (x) = [x ± x2 − 1 cos ϕ]n dϕ, n ∈ N.
π 0

10. (SS*)Taking a = hx − 1 in the above problem, prove Laplace’s second integral for Pn (x) as
1 π
Z
dϕ
Pn (x) = √ , n ∈ N.
π 0 [x ± x − 1 cos ϕ]n+1
2

11. (SS*) Consider the associated Legendre equation

m2
(1 − x2 )y ′′ − 2xy ′ + [n(n + 1) − ]y = 0, (1)
1 − x2
m
which occurs in quantum physics. Substituting y(x) = (1 − x2 ) 2 v(x), prove that v satisfies

(1 − x2 )v ′′ − 2(m + 1)xv ′ + [n(n + 1) − m(m + 1)]v = 0. (2)

dm Pn (x) m dm Pn (x)
Prove that v(x) = dxm
satisfies Eq. (2). In this case, y(x) = (1 − x2 ) 2 dxm
is the bounded
solution of Eq. (1), and is called an associated Legendre function.