Paper 3, Section II, B

Asymptotic Methods
Part II, 2018

(a) Find the curves of steepest descent emanating from t=0t=0 for the integral

Jx(x)=12πiCex(sinhtt)dtJ_{x}(x)=\frac{1}{2 \pi i} \int_{C} e^{x(\sinh t-t)} d t

for x>0x>0 and determine the angles at which they meet at t=0t=0, and their asymptotes at infinity.

(b) An integral representation for the Bessel function Kν(x)K_{\nu}(x) for real x>0x>0 is

Kν(x)=12+eνh(t)dt,h(t)=t(xν)coshtK_{\nu}(x)=\frac{1}{2} \int_{-\infty}^{+\infty} e^{\nu h(t)} d t \quad, \quad h(t)=t-\left(\frac{x}{\nu}\right) \cosh t

Show that, as ν+\nu \rightarrow+\infty, with xx fixed,

Kν(x)(π2ν)12(2νex)νK_{\nu}(x) \sim\left(\frac{\pi}{2 \nu}\right)^{\frac{1}{2}}\left(\frac{2 \nu}{e x}\right)^{\nu}