Ma 530 Method of Frobenius - Some Examples

Example 1
Use the method of series solution near a regular singular point to find a Frobenius solution to
x 2 y xy x 2 4 y 0

and show that it can be written as

1 n x 2n2
y1 2n1 n 2!n!
n0 2
Solution:
x2 4
y 1x y y0
x2
Obviously x 0 is a singular point, since
Px 1x
2
Qx x 2 4
x
xPx 1
x 2 Qx x 2 4
so we have a regular singular point at x 0
p 0 lim xPx 1
x0

q 0 lim x 2 Qx 4
x0
Thus the indicial equation is

m2 4 0

So the larger root is m 2, and the series is y x 2 n0 anxn

y x2 an xn a n x n2
n0 n0

y a n 2 nx n1
n0

y a n 2 nn 1x n
n0

1

x 2 a n 2 nn 1x n x a n 2 nx n1 x 2 4 a n x n2 0
n0 n0 n0

a n 2 nn 1x n2 a n 2 nx n2 a n x n4 4 a n x n2 0
n0 n0 n0 n0

a n 2 nn 1x n2 a n 2 nx n2 a n2 x n2 4 a n x n2 0
n0 n0 n2 n0

5a 1 x 3 a n 2 nn 1 a n 2 n a n2 4a n x 2n 0
n2

5a 1 x 3 4a n n a n n 2 a n2 x 2n 0
n2

Thus
a1 0
and the recurrence relation is
a n nn 4 a n2 0 n 2, 3,

or
a n2
an n 2, 3,
nn 4
a0 a
a 2 a 21 1 0
26 2 3!
a3 0
a2 a0 a0 a
a 4 a 22 4 3 0
48 2468 2 234 2 2!4!
a5 0
a a0 a
a 6 a 23 4 2 3
5 0
610 2 35 2 2!4! 2 3!5!

Therefore a 2m1 0, n 0, 1, 2, and

1 m a 0
a 2m
2 2m1 m!m 2!
and this is the result.
Example 2
Find a series solution about the regular singular point x 0 of
x 2 y xy 1 xy 0
We rewrite the equation as
y 1x y 1 2 x y 0
x
Then

2
 p 0 lim xPx lim x 1x 1
x0 x0

q 0 lim x 2 Qx lim x 2 1 2 x 1
x0 x0 x
The indicial equation is
r 2 p 0 1r q 0 r 2 1 1r 1 r 2 2r 1 r 1 2 0
Thus r 1 r 2 1 and

y1 a n x n1
n0
The DE implies

a n n 1nx n1 a n n 1x n1 a n x n1 a n x n2 0
n0 n0 n0 n0
Shifting the last sum above by letting k 1 n 2, or n k 1, we have

a n nn 1 n 1 1x n1 a k1 x k1 0
n0 k1
Simplifying the first sum we have

m 2 a m a m1 x m1 0
m1
Thus
am 1 a m1
m1
m2
For m 1, 2, and 3 we have
a1 a0
a 2 12 a 1 1 a0
2 2 1 2
a 3 12 a 2 1 a0
3 3 2 1 2
In general
am 1 a
0
m! 2
and

y1 a n x n1 a 0 1 x m1
2
n0 m0 m!

Example 3
Now find the first few terms of the second series solution about the regular singular point x 0 of
x 2 y xy 1 xy 0
Since we have equal roots of the indicial equation

3

y 2 y 1 ln x b n x n1
n0
Thus

y 2 y 1 ln x x 1 y 1 b n n 1x n
0

y 2 y 1 ln x x 2 y 1 2x 1 y 1 b n n 1nx n1
1
Substituting into the DE and collecting terms we have
x 2 y 1 xy 1 1 xy 1 ln x 2y 1 2xy 1

b n n 1nx n1 b n n 1x n1 b n x n1 b n x n2
n1 n0 n0 n0
0
Since y 1 is a solution of the DE, the terms times ln x above equal 0, and we have

2xy 1 2y 1 b n n 1nx n1 b n n 1x n1 b n x n1 b n x n2 0
n1 n0 n0 n0
Combining the first 3 sums and shifting the last one by letting n k 1, leads to

2xy 1 2y 1 b n n 2 x n1 b k1 x k1 0
1 k2

2xy 1 2y 1 b 1 x 2 m 2 b m b m1 x m1 0
m2

n 1 n
y 1 2
x
n0 n!
Thus substituting y 1 and y 1 into the above we have

2n 1 2 n1
2
x b 1 x 2 m 2 b m b m1 x m1 0
n0 n! m2
or

2 b 1 x 2 2m m 2 b m b m1 0
m1 x
m2 m! 2
We now set the coefficients of the powers of x equal to 0.
b 1 2
2m m 2 b m b
m1 0, m 2
m! 2
or

bm 1 b m1 2m m2
m2 m! 2

4
For m 2 and 3 we get
b 2 12 b 1 1 3
2 4
b 3 12 3 6 11
3 4 36 108
Thus

y 2 y 1 ln x b n x n1 y 2 y 1 ln x 2x 2 3 x 3 11 x 4
4 108
n1