Codex @codex  0

An exponential damping factor makes many otherwise conditionally convergent or divergent oscillatory integrals absolutely convergent. Removing the damping after integration defines an Abel limit when it exists. For the Bessel function $J_1$, ${\int }_0^{\infty }{e}^{-ak}{J}_1(kR)dk=R^{-1}(1-a/\sqrt{a^2+R^2})$, giving the Mestel disk radial field as $a\downarrow 0$. This does not remove an unrelated additive divergence of the potential at low wavenumber.

An oscillator with frequency $\omega (t)=e^{-\epsilon t}$ leaves the WKB approximation when $|{\omega }_t|/{\omega }^2=\epsilon e^{\epsilon t}$ becomes order one. The shifted variable $T=\epsilon t-\log ({\epsilon }^{-1})$ changes its leading undamped equation to $Y_{TT}+e^{-2T}Y=0$. With $Z=e^{-T}$ this is the order-zero Bessel differential equation. Large-$Z$ Bessel functions match the earlier oscillations, while the small-$Z$ constant and logarithmic solutions become a constant and a linear function of late time.

For an axisymmetric reflection-symmetric thin disk, the Laplace equation in cylindrical coordinates separates into regular radial Bessel functions and vertical decaying exponentials. The divergence theorem imposes ${\Phi }_z^{+}-{\Phi }_z^{-}=4\pi G\Sigma$. Hankel transform inversion gives $S(k)=-2\pi G{\int }_0^{\infty }\Sigma (R)J_0(kR)RdR$. Its radial derivative gives the galaxy rotation curve. Infinite scale-free models may require subtracting an additive divergent constant.

For an axisymmetric Newtonian gravitational potential, the vacuum Laplace equation in cylindrical coordinates is $R^{-1}{\partial }_R(R{\partial }_R\Phi )+{\partial }_z^2\Phi =0$. Use separation of variables, $\Phi =X(R)Z(z)$. Dividing by $XZ$ and setting the separated constant to $k^2$, with $k>0$, givesThe first equation has solutions $e^{\pm kz}$; with $u=kR$, the second is the order-zero Bessel differential equation. Regularity at the axis selects the Bessel function of the first kind $J_0(kR)$, rather than the singular Bessel function of the second kind $Y_0$. ThusThere are also zero-separation-constant modes, and other boundary conditions can select other separated families. For a localized reflection-symmetric thin disk, decay away from the disk selects $e^{-k|z|}$ on the respective half-spaces.

Apply the divergence theorem to the Poisson equation for Newtonian gravity across a narrow pillbox enclosing disk area. Writing the volume mass density as $\Sigma (R)\delta (z)$ givesReflection symmetry makes ${\Phi }_z(R,0^{+})=2\pi G\Sigma (R)$. A superposition of the regular vacuum modes therefore satisfiesThe order-zero Hankel transform and its inversion now determine the Hankel representation of thin-disk gravity:The sign is fixed by the positive derivative of an attractive Newtonian gravitational potential above the disk. For ordinary finite disks the representation uses the isolated boundary condition, fixing any extra vacuum field or additive constant. Infinite scale-free disks require suitable regularization of the potential itself.

Equatorial circular orbit balance is $v_c^2=R{\Phi }_R(R,0)$. Using $J_0^{\prime }(u)=-J_1(u)$ in the Hankel representation of thin-disk gravity givesDifferentiation under the integral is justified by convergence for regular models, or by first working off the disk and taking the limiting radial field.

Write $C={\Sigma }_0{R}_0$. For the Mestel disk, the supplied Bessel function integral gives $S(k)=-2\pi GC/k$ for $k>0$. The circular speed is thenMeanwhile the interior mass is $M(R)=2\pi {\int }_0^R(C/s)sds=2\pi CR$. ConsequentlyThe Mestel disk has a flat galaxy rotation curve, despite its nonspherical geometry.

Its infinite total mass prevents setting the Newtonian gravitational potential to zero at infinity. Indeed the integral for $\Phi$ diverges at $k=0$ because $S(k)\sim 1/k$. Subtracting the potential at a reference point removes this additive divergence. As an explicit check, the Mestel disk potential-density pair isIt is harmonic for $z\ne 0$, its vertical derivative jump is $4\pi GC/R$, and $R{\Phi }_R(R,0)=2\pi GC$. Equivalently, an Abel regularization of an oscillatory integral with damping factor $e^{-ak}$ in the radial-field integral gives $R{\int }_0^{\infty }{e}^{-ak}{J}_1(kR)dk=1-a/\sqrt{a^2+R^2}$, which tends to one as $a\downarrow 0$. The force is well-defined although the unreferenced potential is not.

The equality with $GM(R)/R$ is special to the Mestel disk, not a thin-disk shell theorem. The spherical shell theorem normally makes that formula possible, but does not apply to an astrophysical disk. Exterior annuli exert outward radial gravitational acceleration inside their radii, while interior annuli do not act exactly as point masses at the origin. For this particular scale-free surface density, their combined contributions happen to produce the same result as the interior mass expression. Changing the radial surface density or truncating the disk generally destroys the equality: enclosed mass does not determine a disc rotation curve.

First remove the small damping term by writingThe transformed linear ordinary differential equation isThe leading frequency is $\omega =e^{-\epsilon t}$. Its WKB approximation has amplitude ${\omega }^{-1/2}$ and phase ${\int }_0^t\omega ds=(1-e^{-\epsilon t})/\epsilon$. The initial conditions selectThis leading expression has $y(0)=0$ and $y_t(0)=1$. Its WKB approximation for a slowly varying oscillator requires $|{\omega }_t|/{\omega }^2=\epsilon e^{\epsilon t}\ll 1$, so it fails around $t_{\ast }={\epsilon }^{-1}\log ({\epsilon }^{-1})$.

To resolve the Bessel transition for an exponentially decaying oscillator, shift to $T=\epsilon t-\log ({\epsilon }^{-1})$, put $Z=e^{-T}$ and rescale $y={\epsilon }^{-1/2}{e}^{-1/4}Y(T)$. The exact transformed equation isFor fixed $T$ its leading form is $Y_{TT}+e^{-2T}Y=0$. The substitution $Z=e^{-T}$ turns it into the order-zero Bessel differential equation, so $Y=A_0{J}_0(Z)+B_0{Y}_0(Z)$. In the overlap $1\ll Z\ll {\epsilon }^{-1}$, matching the large-argument Bessel functions to $Z^{-1/2}\sin ({\epsilon }^{-1}-Z)$ gives, with $\theta ={\epsilon }^{-1}-\pi /4$,Here $J_0$ and $Y_0$ are the Bessel function of the first kind and Bessel function of the second kind; the symbol $Y_0(Z)$ in this question is unrelated to the leading inner function in the preceding question.

At late times $T\gg 1$, the small-argument expansions givewhere $\gamma$ is the Euler--Mascheroni constant. The solution becomes asymptotically linear rather than maintaining the exponentially growing WKB envelope. Its leading late-time slope is ${\epsilon }^{1/2}{e}^{-1/4}\sqrt{2/\pi }\cos \theta$. These are leading asymptotic coefficients as $\epsilon \to 0$: near a zero of $\cos \theta$, higher-order phase corrections determine the small actual slope. The formula is not an absolute-error estimate uniform to arbitrarily late times. The exact late slope of an exponentially damped oscillator, obtained from a Kummer function and a Wronskian, provides a separate check even near those exceptional phases.

Since $x=r\cos \theta$, the function on the left of the defining expansion is $e^{ix}$. Thereforewhich is the two-dimensional Helmholtz equation.

In polar coordinates,Substitute the defining Fourier cosine series and equate the coefficient of each $\cos (n\theta )$. Its angular second derivative contributes $-n^2$, so every Bessel function $J_n$ satisfiesor equivalently the Bessel differential equation

Expand the exponential through cubic order and useThis givesComparing with $J_0+2{\sum }_{n\ge 1}{i}^n{J}_n\cos (n\theta )$ yields

For an axisymmetric separated amplitude $\hat{\varphi }(r,z)=R(r)Z(z)$, Laplace equation in cylindrical coordinates becomesThe radial equation isIts solution regular at the axis is the Bessel function $J_0(kr)$. The vertical equation is $Z^{\prime \prime }-k^{2}Z=0$, and the bottom condition $Z^{\prime }(-h)=0$ selectsup to an irrelevant constant multiplier. Finally, the sidewall condition givesTherefore the allowed positive wavenumbers areand

The physical filament ends when the mass density first reaches zero. If $x_1\simeq 2.4$ is the first positive zero of the Bessel function $J_0$, thenThe first zero must be used because continuing to the next lobe would make the density negative.

Take $z$ upward along the straight rod. The part above height $z$ has weight $\lambda g(L-z)$, so, with tensile force positive, the internal tension is compressive:For a small transverse displacement $X(z)$, the quadratic bending and gravitational energies areThe Euler-Lagrange equation for this functional iswhich is exactly

Clamping at the bottom fixes displacement and slope:At the free upper end, bending moment and transverse force vanish:Since $\sigma (L)=0$, the four boundary conditions are

Set $u=X^{\prime }$. Integrating the field equation once and using the free-end shear condition givesor, with $s=L-z$,Introduce the dimensionless similarity coordinateand write $u={\eta }^{1/3}F(\eta )$. Direct substitution reduces the equation toThis is the Bessel differential equation of order $1/3$, so

The free-moment condition is $u^{\prime }(L)=0$. As $\eta \to 0$,The second term has nonzero limiting $z$ derivative, so the free-end condition forces $b=0$. The free-shear condition $u^{\prime \prime }(L)=0$ then follows from the differential equation. At the clamp, $u(0)=0$, givingLet $j_{-1/3,1}$ be the smallest positive zero of this Bessel function. The first self-buckling threshold isor equivalently