Date of Graduation

Spring 2010

Degree

Master of Science in Mathematics

Department

Mathematics

Committee Chair

Kanghui Guo

Abstract

It is the aim of this paper to discover the roles played by Bessel functions in a variety of mathematical fields. It was found that Bessel functions attribute to the theories of spherical harmonics, transformations, as well as partial differential equations in relation to quantum mechanics, electrostatics, and classical mechanics in cylindrical and spherical coordinates. In particular, this paper uses Sturm's theorems to prove that Bessel functions have an infinite number of zeros, which has important applications in the study of Laplace's equation.

Keywords

bessel equation, bessel function, bessel coefficient, modified bessel, besselpredatory, sequence asymptotic, bessel applications, spherical harmonics

Subject Categories

Mathematics

Copyright

© Drew DeJarnette

Campus Only

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