Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / iii / Paper 74 / 1 / b / i

Apply the stationary phase method to the real part of the exponential integral for the Bessel function of the first kind. With $n$ fixed, use oscillatory phase $\sin \vartheta$ and oscillatory integral amplitude $e^{-in\vartheta }$. The unique stationary point is ${\vartheta }_0=\pi /2$, with second derivative $-1$. Its contribution isThe leading endpoint terms of the exponential integral are imaginary and do not contribute to its real part. Hence the large-argument asymptotic expansion of the Bessel function of the first kind isThis is an additive asymptotic formula: a relative ratio is inappropriate at zeros of the leading cosine. The envelope decreases like $x^{-1/2}$ while the oscillation frequency approaches one.