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Chebyshev Polynomial of the Second Kind

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A modified set of Chebyshev polynomials defined by a slightly different generating function.

They arise in the development of four-dimensional spherical harmonics in angular momentum
theory. They are a special case of the Gegenbauer polynomial with . They are also
intimately connected with trigonometric multiple-angle formulas. The Chebyshev polynomials
of the second kind are denoted , and implemented in the Wolfram Language as
ChebyshevU[n, x]. The polynomials are illustrated above for and , 2,
..., 5.

The first few Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind are

(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
When ordered from smallest to largest powers, the triangle of nonzero coefficients is 1; 2; ,
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4; , 8; 1, , 16; 6, , 32; ... (OEIS A053117).

The defining generating function of the Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind is

(8)

(9)

for and . To see the relationship to a Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind ,
take of equation (9) to obtain

(10)

(11)

Multiplying (◇) by then gives

(12)

and adding (12) and (◇) gives

(13)

(14)

This is the same generating function as for the Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind except
for an additional factor of in the denominator.

The Rodrigues representation for is

(15)

The polynomials can also be defined in terms of the sums

(16)
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(17)

where is the floor function and is the ceiling function, or in terms of the product

(18)

(Zwillinger 1995, p. 696).

also obey the interesting determinant identity

(19)

The Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind are a special case of the Jacobi polynomials
with ,

(20)

(21)

where is a hypergeometric function (Koekoek and Swarttouw 1998).

Letting allows the Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind to be written as

(22)

The second linearly dependent solution to the transformed differential equation is then given
by

(23)

which can also be written

(24)

where is a Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind. Note that is therefore not a
polynomial.
The triangle of resultants is given by , , ,
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, , ... (OEIS A054376).

SEE ALSO

Chebyshev Approximation Formula, Chebyshev Polynomial of the First Kind, Gegenbauer Polynomial

RELATED WOLFRAM SITES

http://functions.wolfram.com/Polynomials/ChebyshevU/,
http://functions.wolfram.com/HypergeometricFunctions/ChebyshevUGeneral/

EXPLORE WITH WOLFRAM|ALPHA

asymptotes (2x^3 + 4x^2 - 9)/(3 - x^2)

More things to try: = asymptotes (2x^3 + 4x^2 - 9)/(3 - x^2) = continued fraction tan x

= Is sqrt(2)^sqrt(2) transcendental?

REFERENCES

Abramowitz, M. and Stegun, I. A. (Eds.). "Orthogonal Polynomials." Ch. 22 in Handbook of Mathematical

Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables, 9th printing. New York: Dover, pp. 771-802, 1972.
Arfken, G. "Chebyshev (Tschebyscheff) Polynomials" and "Chebyshev Polynomials--Numerical
Applications." §13.3 and 13.4 in Mathematical Methods for Physicists, 3rd ed. Orlando, FL: Academic Press,
pp. 731-748, 1985.
Koekoek, R. and Swarttouw, R. F. "Chebyshev." §1.8.2 in The Askey-Scheme of Hypergeometric Orthogonal
Polynomials and its -Analogue. Delft, Netherlands: Technische Universiteit Delft, Faculty of Technical
Mathematics and Informatics Report 98-17, pp. 41-43, 1998.
Koepf, W. "Efficient Computation of Chebyshev Polynomials." In Computer Algebra Systems: A Practical Guide
(Ed. M. J. Wester). New York: Wiley, pp. 79-99, 1999.
Pegg, E. Jr. "ChebyshevU." http://www.mathpuzzle.com/ChebyshevU.html.
Rivlin, T. J. Chebyshev Polynomials. New York: Wiley, 1990.
Sloane, N. J. A. Sequences A053117 and A054376 in "The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences."
Spanier, J. and Oldham, K. B. "The Chebyshev Polynomials and ." Ch. 22 in An Atlas of
Functions. Washington, DC: Hemisphere, pp. 193-207, 1987.
Vasilyev, N. and Zelevinsky, A. "A Chebyshev Polyplayground: Recurrence Relations Applied to a Famous Set
of Formulas." Quantum 10, 20-26, Sept./Oct. 1999.
Zwillinger, D. (Ed.). CRC Standard Mathematical Tables and Formulae. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1995.

REFERENCED ON WOLFRAM|ALPHA

Chebyshev Polynomial of the Second Kind

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CITE THIS AS:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Chebyshev Polynomial of the Second Kind." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource.
https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ChebyshevPolynomialoftheSecondKind.html

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