Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/ii/paper-4/7b/solution

For
a finite point is a regular singular point when and extend holomorphically to . A singularity at infinity is classified by applying this criterion after the change of variable .
For the displayed Bessel differential equation,
At , the functions and are holomorphic, so zero is regular singular. To inspect infinity, write . The equation becomes
Here is not holomorphic at zero, so infinity is an irregular singular point. Thus
Set . Direct differentiation makes every lower-order term cancel:
Hence , and on any domain carrying a branch of two linearly independent solutions are
Near the regular singular point, these behave as and , the two Frobenius exponents. At infinity their combinations are ; after these contain , the exponential behavior characteristic of an irregular singular point.

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