The Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind are orthogonal polynomials denoted for nonnegative integers
, with the generating
function defined below. These polynomials arise
in the development of four-dimensional spherical
harmonics in angular momentum theory. They are a special case of the Gegenbauer
polynomial with
.
They are also intimately connected with trigonometric multiple-angle
formulas. They are implemented in the Wolfram
Language as ChebyshevU[n,
x]. The polynomials
are illustrated above for
and
,
2, ..., 5.
The first few Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind are
|
(1)
| |||
|
(2)
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|
(3)
| |||
|
(4)
| |||
|
(5)
| |||
|
(6)
| |||
|
(7)
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When the coefficients are ordered from smallest to largest powers, their nonzero entries are 1; 2; , 4;
,
8; 1,
, 16; 6,
,
32; ... (OEIS A053117). The cited sequence
includes the zero coefficients.
The defining generating function of the Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind is
|
(8)
| |||
|
(9)
|
for real with
and
.
To see the relationship to a Chebyshev
polynomial of the first kind
,
take
of equation (9) to obtain
|
(10)
| |||
|
(11)
|
Multiplying (11) by then gives
|
(12)
|
|
(13)
| |||
|
(14)
|
This is the same generating function as for the Chebyshev polynomial of the
first kind except for an additional factor of
in the denominator.
For , the Rodrigues
representation for
is
|
(15)
|
The polynomials can also be defined in terms of the sums
|
(16)
| |||
|
(17)
|
where is the floor function
and
is a binomial coefficient, or in terms of
the product
|
(18)
|
(Zwillinger 1995, p. 696).
For ,
also obeys the determinant
identity for the
matrix
|
(19)
|
The Chebyshev polynomials of the second kind are a special case of the Jacobi polynomials with
,
|
(20)
| |||
|
(21)
|
where is a hypergeometric
function (Koekoek and Swarttouw 1998).
Letting with
allows the Chebyshev polynomials of the second
kind to be written as
|
(22)
|
The composition identity
|
(23)
|
holds for positive integers and
,
where
is the Chebyshev
polynomial of the first kind (Benjamin and Walton 2010). It follows from the
multiple-angle formulas above and extends
to all complex numbers
by equality of polynomials.
On , a second linearly
independent solution to the differential
equation
is given by
|
(24)
|
which can also be written
|
(25)
|
where is a Chebyshev
polynomial of the first kind. Note that
is therefore not a polynomial.
The number triangle whose th row consists of the resultants
for
, 2, ...,
,
starting at
, is given by
,
,
,
,
,
... (OEIS A054376).