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

Initially suppose $0<\alpha <\pi /2$, the usual oscillatory range. The oscillatory phase is $n\Phi (\vartheta )$ with $\Phi =\sec \alpha \sin \vartheta -\vartheta$. Its stationary point is $\vartheta =\alpha$, since $\sec \alpha \cos \vartheta =1$. At that pointThe stationary phase method therefore gives the Debye Bessel asymptoticThe error is additive for fixed positive $\alpha$ bounded away from $\pi /2$; this formula is not uniform as $\alpha \to 0$, when the stationary point joins the endpoint and its curvature vanishes.

The printed condition $\alpha >0$ alone includes other trigonometric branches. All defined fixed real cases can be covered as follows. If $0<|\cos \alpha |<1$, put $\beta =\arccos |\cos \alpha |\in (0,\pi /2)$. Use the displayed formula with $\beta$ instead of $\alpha$, and multiply it by $1$ if $\sec \alpha >0$, or by $(-1{)}^n$ if $\sec \alpha <0$. This follows from the integer-order parity $J_n(-x)=(-1{)}^n{J}_n(x)$, which is also obtained from the defining integral by $\vartheta \mapsto \pi -\vartheta$. If $|\cos \alpha |=1$, the argument is $\pm n$ and the turning-point answer below applies, with the same parity factor. If $\cos \alpha =0$, the stated argument is undefined.