Hill’s equation with three terms
| 28.31.1 | |||
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and constant values of , and , is called the Equation of Whittaker–Hill. It has been discussed in detail by Arscott (1967) for , and by Urwin and Arscott (1970) for .
When , we substitute
| 28.31.2 | ||||
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in (28.31.1). The result is the Equation of Ince:
| 28.31.3 | |||
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Formal -periodic solutions can be constructed as Fourier series; compare §28.4:
| 28.31.4 | ||||
| , | ||||
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| 28.31.5 | ||||
| , | ||||
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where the coefficients satisfy
| 28.31.6 | ||||
| , | ||||
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| 28.31.7 | ||||
| , | ||||
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| 28.31.8 | ||||
| , | ||||
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| 28.31.9 | ||||
| . | ||||
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When is a nonnegative integer, the parameter can be chosen so that solutions of (28.31.3) are trigonometric polynomials, called Ince polynomials. They are denoted by
| 28.31.10 | |||
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| 28.31.11 | |||
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and in all cases.
The values of corresponding to , are denoted by , , respectively. They are real and distinct, and can be ordered so that and have precisely zeros, all simple, in . The normalization is given by
| 28.31.12 | |||
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ambiguities in sign being resolved by requiring and to be continuous functions of and positive when .
For , with fixed,
| 28.31.13 | ||||
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If and in such a way that , then in the notation of §§28.2(v) and 28.2(vi)
| 28.31.14 | ||||
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| 28.31.15 | ||||
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With (28.31.10) and (28.31.11),
| 28.31.16 | |||
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| 28.31.17 | |||
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are called paraboloidal wave functions. They satisfy the differential equation
| 28.31.18 | |||
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with , , respectively.
For change of sign of ,
| 28.31.19 | ||||
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and
| 28.31.20 | ||||
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For ,
| 28.31.21 | |||
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More important are the double orthogonality relations for or or both, given by
| 28.31.22 | |||
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and
| 28.31.23 | |||
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and also for all , given by
| 28.31.24 | |||
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where when , and when .
For , the functions , behave asymptotically as multiples of as . All other periodic solutions behave as multiples of .
For , the functions , behave asymptotically as multiples of as . All other periodic solutions behave as multiples of .