In
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, the Bernoulli polynomials, named after
Jacob Bernoulli
Jacob Bernoulli (also known as James or Jacques; – 16 August 1705) was one of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. He was an early proponent of Leibnizian calculus and sided with Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz during the Le ...
, combine the
Bernoulli number
In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions, ...
s and
binomial coefficient
In mathematics, the binomial coefficients are the positive integers that occur as coefficients in the binomial theorem. Commonly, a binomial coefficient is indexed by a pair of integers and is written \tbinom. It is the coefficient of the t ...
s. They are used for
series expansion
In mathematics, a series expansion is an expansion of a function into a series, or infinite sum. It is a method for calculating a function that cannot be expressed by just elementary operators (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division) ...
of
functions, and with the
Euler–MacLaurin formula
In mathematics, the Euler–Maclaurin formula is a formula for the difference between an integral and a closely related sum. It can be used to approximate integrals by finite sums, or conversely to evaluate finite sums and infinite series using ...
.
These
polynomial
In mathematics, a polynomial is an expression consisting of indeterminates (also called variables) and coefficients, that involves only the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and positive-integer powers of variables. An exa ...
s occur in the study of many
special functions
Special functions are particular mathematical functions that have more or less established names and notations due to their importance in mathematical analysis, functional analysis, geometry, physics, or other applications.
The term is defined by ...
and, in particular, the
Riemann zeta function
The Riemann zeta function or Euler–Riemann zeta function, denoted by the Greek letter (zeta), is a mathematical function of a complex variable defined as \zeta(s) = \sum_^\infty \frac = \frac + \frac + \frac + \cdots for \operatorname(s) > ...
and the
Hurwitz zeta function
In mathematics, the Hurwitz zeta function is one of the many zeta functions. It is formally defined for complex variables with and by
:\zeta(s,a) = \sum_^\infty \frac.
This series is absolutely convergent for the given values of and and can ...
. They are an
Appell sequence
In mathematics, an Appell sequence, named after Paul Émile Appell, is any polynomial sequence \_ satisfying the identity
:\frac p_n(x) = np_(x),
and in which p_0(x) is a non-zero constant.
Among the most notable Appell sequences besides the ...
(i.e. a
Sheffer sequence
In mathematics, a Sheffer sequence or poweroid is a polynomial sequence, i.e., a sequence of polynomials in which the index of each polynomial equals its degree, satisfying conditions related to the umbral calculus in combinatorics. They are ...
for the ordinary
derivative
In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. F ...
operator). For the Bernoulli polynomials, the number of crossings of the ''x''-axis in the
unit interval
In mathematics, the unit interval is the closed interval , that is, the set of all real numbers that are greater than or equal to 0 and less than or equal to 1. It is often denoted ' (capital letter ). In addition to its role in real analysis, ...
does not go up with the
degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics
...
. In the limit of large degree, they approach, when appropriately scaled, the
sine and cosine functions.
A similar set of polynomials, based on a generating function, is the family of Euler polynomials.
Representations
The Bernoulli polynomials ''B''
''n'' can be defined by a
generating function
In mathematics, a generating function is a way of encoding an infinite sequence of numbers () by treating them as the coefficients of a formal power series. This series is called the generating function of the sequence. Unlike an ordinary seri ...
. They also admit a variety of derived representations.
Generating functions
The generating function for the Bernoulli polynomials is
:
The generating function for the Euler polynomials is
:
Explicit formula
:
:
for ''n'' ≥ 0, where ''B''
''k'' are the
Bernoulli number
In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions, ...
s, and ''E''
''k'' are the
Euler numbers
In mathematics, the Euler numbers are a sequence ''En'' of integers defined by the Taylor series expansion
:\frac = \frac = \sum_^\infty \frac \cdot t^n,
where \cosh (t) is the hyperbolic cosine function. The Euler numbers are related to a ...
.
Representation by a differential operator
The Bernoulli polynomials are also given by
:
where ''D'' = ''d''/''dx'' is differentiation with respect to ''x'' and the fraction is expanded as a
formal power series
In mathematics, a formal series is an infinite sum that is considered independently from any notion of convergence, and can be manipulated with the usual algebraic operations on series (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, partial sum ...
. It follows that
:
cf.
integrals below. By the same token, the Euler polynomials are given by
:
Representation by an integral operator
The Bernoulli polynomials are also the unique polynomials determined by
:
The
integral transform
In mathematics, an integral transform maps a function from its original function space into another function space via integration, where some of the properties of the original function might be more easily characterized and manipulated than in ...
:
on polynomials ''f'', simply amounts to
:
This can be used to produce the
inversion formulae below.
Another explicit formula
An explicit formula for the Bernoulli polynomials is given by
:
That is similar to the series expression for the
Hurwitz zeta function
In mathematics, the Hurwitz zeta function is one of the many zeta functions. It is formally defined for complex variables with and by
:\zeta(s,a) = \sum_^\infty \frac.
This series is absolutely convergent for the given values of and and can ...
in the complex plane. Indeed, there is the relationship
:
where ''ζ''(''s'', ''q'') is the Hurwitz zeta function. The latter generalizes the Bernoulli polynomials, allowing for non-integer values of ''n''.
The inner sum may be understood to be the ''n''th
forward difference
A finite difference is a mathematical expression of the form . If a finite difference is divided by , one gets a difference quotient. The approximation of derivatives by finite differences plays a central role in finite difference methods for the ...
of ''x''
''m''; that is,
:
where Δ is the
forward difference operator
A finite difference is a mathematical expression of the form . If a finite difference is divided by , one gets a difference quotient. The approximation of derivatives by finite differences plays a central role in finite difference methods for the ...
. Thus, one may write
:
This formula may be derived from an identity appearing above as follows. Since the forward difference operator Δ equals
:
where ''D'' is differentiation with respect to ''x'', we have, from the
Mercator series
In mathematics, the Mercator series or Newton–Mercator series is the Taylor series for the natural logarithm:
:\ln(1+x)=x-\frac+\frac-\frac+\cdots
In summation notation,
:\ln(1+x)=\sum_^\infty \frac x^n.
The series converges to the natural ...
,
:
As long as this operates on an ''m''th-degree polynomial such as ''x''
''m'', one may let ''n'' go from 0 only up to ''m''.
An integral representation for the Bernoulli polynomials is given by the
Nörlund–Rice integral, which follows from the expression as a finite difference.
An explicit formula for the Euler polynomials is given by
:
The above follows analogously, using the fact that
:
Sums of ''p''th powers
Using either the above
integral representation of
or the
identity
Identity may refer to:
* Identity document
* Identity (philosophy)
* Identity (social science)
* Identity (mathematics)
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film
* ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...
, we have
:
(assuming 0
0 = 1).
The Bernoulli and Euler numbers
The
Bernoulli number
In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions, ...
s are given by
This definition gives
for
.
An alternate convention defines the Bernoulli numbers as
The two conventions differ only for
since
.
The
Euler number
In mathematics, the Euler numbers are a sequence ''En'' of integers defined by the Taylor series expansion
:\frac = \frac = \sum_^\infty \frac \cdot t^n,
where \cosh (t) is the hyperbolic cosine function. The Euler numbers are related to a ...
s are given by
Explicit expressions for low degrees
The first few Bernoulli polynomials are:
:
The first few Euler polynomials are:
:
Maximum and minimum
At higher ''n'', the amount of variation in ''B''
''n''(''x'') between ''x'' = 0 and ''x'' = 1 gets large. For instance,
:
which shows that the value at ''x'' = 0 (and at ''x'' = 1) is −3617/510 ≈ −7.09, while at ''x'' = 1/2, the value is 118518239/3342336 ≈ +7.09.
D.H. Lehmer showed that the maximum value of ''B''
''n''(''x'') between 0 and 1 obeys
:
unless ''n'' is 2 modulo 4, in which case
:
(where
is the
Riemann zeta function
The Riemann zeta function or Euler–Riemann zeta function, denoted by the Greek letter (zeta), is a mathematical function of a complex variable defined as \zeta(s) = \sum_^\infty \frac = \frac + \frac + \frac + \cdots for \operatorname(s) > ...
), while the minimum obeys
:
unless ''n'' is 0 modulo 4, in which case
:
These limits are quite close to the actual maximum and minimum, and Lehmer gives more accurate limits as well.
Differences and derivatives
The Bernoulli and Euler polynomials obey many relations from
umbral calculus
In mathematics before the 1970s, the term umbral calculus referred to the surprising similarity between seemingly unrelated polynomial equations and certain "shadowy" techniques used to "prove" them. These techniques were introduced by John Blis ...
:
:
:
(Δ is the
forward difference operator
A finite difference is a mathematical expression of the form . If a finite difference is divided by , one gets a difference quotient. The approximation of derivatives by finite differences plays a central role in finite difference methods for the ...
). Also,
:
These
polynomial sequence
In mathematics, a polynomial sequence is a sequence of polynomials indexed by the nonnegative integers 0, 1, 2, 3, ..., in which each index is equal to the degree of the corresponding polynomial. Polynomial sequences are a topic of interest in en ...
s are
Appell sequence
In mathematics, an Appell sequence, named after Paul Émile Appell, is any polynomial sequence \_ satisfying the identity
:\frac p_n(x) = np_(x),
and in which p_0(x) is a non-zero constant.
Among the most notable Appell sequences besides the ...
s:
:
:
Translations
:
:
These identities are also equivalent to saying that these polynomial sequences are
Appell sequence
In mathematics, an Appell sequence, named after Paul Émile Appell, is any polynomial sequence \_ satisfying the identity
:\frac p_n(x) = np_(x),
and in which p_0(x) is a non-zero constant.
Among the most notable Appell sequences besides the ...
s. (
Hermite polynomials
In mathematics, the Hermite polynomials are a classical orthogonal polynomial sequence.
The polynomials arise in:
* signal processing as Hermitian wavelets for wavelet transform analysis
* probability, such as the Edgeworth series, as well a ...
are another example.)
Symmetries
:
:
:
:
:
Zhi-Wei Sun
Sun Zhiwei (, born October 16, 1965) is a Chinese mathematician, working primarily in number theory, combinatorics, and group theory. He is a professor at Nanjing University.
Biography
Sun Zhiwei was born in Huai'an, Jiangsu. Sun and his twi ...
and Hao Pan established the following surprising symmetry relation: If and , then
:
where
:
Fourier series
The
Fourier series
A Fourier series () is a summation of harmonically related sinusoidal functions, also known as components or harmonics. The result of the summation is a periodic function whose functional form is determined by the choices of cycle length (or ''p ...
of the Bernoulli polynomials is also a
Dirichlet series
In mathematics, a Dirichlet series is any series of the form
\sum_^\infty \frac,
where ''s'' is complex, and a_n is a complex sequence. It is a special case of general Dirichlet series.
Dirichlet series play a variety of important roles in analyti ...
, given by the expansion
:
Note the simple large ''n'' limit to suitably scaled trigonometric functions.
This is a special case of the analogous form for the
Hurwitz zeta function
In mathematics, the Hurwitz zeta function is one of the many zeta functions. It is formally defined for complex variables with and by
:\zeta(s,a) = \sum_^\infty \frac.
This series is absolutely convergent for the given values of and and can ...
:
This expansion is valid only for 0 ≤ ''x'' ≤ 1 when ''n'' ≥ 2 and is valid for 0 < ''x'' < 1 when ''n'' = 1.
The Fourier series of the Euler polynomials may also be calculated. Defining the functions
:
and
:
for
, the Euler polynomial has the Fourier series
:
and
:
Note that the
and
are odd and even, respectively:
:
and
:
They are related to the
Legendre chi function
In mathematics, the Legendre chi function is a special function whose Taylor series is also a Dirichlet series, given by
\chi_\nu(z) = \sum_^\infty \frac.
As such, it resembles the Dirichlet series for the polylogarithm, and, indeed, is triviall ...
as
:
and
:
Inversion
The Bernoulli and Euler polynomials may be inverted to express the
monomial
In mathematics, a monomial is, roughly speaking, a polynomial which has only one term. Two definitions of a monomial may be encountered:
# A monomial, also called power product, is a product of powers of variables with nonnegative integer exponent ...
in terms of the polynomials.
Specifically, evidently from the above section on
integral operators
In mathematics, an integral transform maps a function from its original function space into another function space via integration, where some of the properties of the original function might be more easily characterized and manipulated than i ...
, it follows that
:
and
:
Relation to falling factorial
The Bernoulli polynomials may be expanded in terms of the
falling factorial
In mathematics, the falling factorial (sometimes called the descending factorial, falling sequential product, or lower factorial) is defined as the polynomial
:\begin
(x)_n = x^\underline &= \overbrace^ \\
&= \prod_^n(x-k+1) = \prod_^(x-k) \,.
\e ...
as
:
where
and
:
denotes the
Stirling number of the second kind
In mathematics, particularly in combinatorics, a Stirling number of the second kind (or Stirling partition number) is the number of ways to partition a set of ''n'' objects into ''k'' non-empty subsets and is denoted by S(n,k) or \textstyle \lef ...
. The above may be inverted to express the falling factorial in terms of the Bernoulli polynomials:
:
where
:
denotes the
Stirling number of the first kind
In mathematics, especially in combinatorics, Stirling numbers of the first kind arise in the study of permutations. In particular, the Stirling numbers of the first kind count permutations according to their number of cycles (counting fixed poin ...
.
Multiplication theorems
The
multiplication theorem
Multiplication (often denoted by the cross symbol , by the mid-line dot operator , by juxtaposition, or, on computers, by an asterisk ) is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being additio ...
s were given by
Joseph Ludwig Raabe
Joseph Ludwig Raabe (15 May 1801 in Brody, Galicia – 22 January 1859 in Zürich, Switzerland) was a Swiss mathematician.
Life
As his parents were quite poor, Raabe was forced to earn his living from a very early age by giving private lesson ...
in 1851:
For a natural number ,
:
:
:
Integrals
Two definite integrals relating the Bernoulli and Euler polynomials to the Bernoulli and Euler numbers are:
*
*
Another integral formula states
*
with the special case for
*
*
*
*
Periodic Bernoulli polynomials
A periodic Bernoulli polynomial is a Bernoulli polynomial evaluated at the
fractional part
The fractional part or decimal part of a non‐negative real number x is the excess beyond that number's integer part. If the latter is defined as the largest integer not greater than , called floor of or \lfloor x\rfloor, its fractional part can ...
of the argument . These functions are used to provide the
remainder term
In mathematics, a series is, roughly speaking, a description of the operation of adding infinitely many quantities, one after the other, to a given starting quantity. The study of series is a major part of calculus and its generalization, math ...
in the
Euler–Maclaurin formula
In mathematics, the Euler–Maclaurin formula is a formula for the difference between an integral and a closely related sum. It can be used to approximate integrals by finite sums, or conversely to evaluate finite sums and infinite series using ...
relating sums to integrals. The first polynomial is a
sawtooth function
The sawtooth wave (or saw wave) is a kind of non-sinusoidal waveform. It is so named based on its resemblance to the teeth of a plain-toothed saw with a zero rake angle. A single sawtooth, or an intermittently triggered sawtooth, is called a ...
.
Strictly these functions are not polynomials at all and more properly should be termed the periodic Bernoulli functions, and is not even a function, being the derivative of a sawtooth and so a
Dirac comb
In mathematics, a Dirac comb (also known as shah function, impulse train or sampling function) is a periodic function with the formula
\operatorname_(t) \ := \sum_^ \delta(t - k T)
for some given period T. Here ''t'' is a real variable and the ...
.
The following properties are of interest, valid for all
:
:
See also
*
Bernoulli numbers
In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions, ...
*
Bernoulli polynomials of the second kind
The Bernoulli polynomials of the second kind , also known as the Fontana-Bessel polynomials, are the polynomials defined by the following generating function:
:
\frac= \sum_^\infty z^n \psi_n(x) ,\qquad , z, -1
and
:\gamma=\sum_^\infty\frac\B ...
*
Stirling polynomial
In mathematics, the Stirling polynomials are a family of polynomials that generalize important sequences of numbers appearing in combinatorics and analysis, which are closely related to the Stirling numbers, the Bernoulli numbers, and the generali ...
*
References
* Milton Abramowitz and Irene A. Stegun, eds. ''
Handbook of Mathematical Functions with Formulas, Graphs, and Mathematical Tables'', (1972) Dover, New York. ''(See Chapter 23)''
* ''(See chapter 12.11)''
*
*
* ''(Reviews relationship to the Hurwitz zeta function and Lerch transcendent.)''
*
External links
A list of integral identities involving Bernoulli polynomialsfrom
NIST
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...
{{authority control
Special functions
Number theory
Polynomials