ParabolicCylinderD[ν,z]
gives the parabolic cylinder function
.
ParabolicCylinderD
ParabolicCylinderD[ν,z]
gives the parabolic cylinder function
.
Details
- Mathematical function, suitable for both symbolic and numerical manipulation.
satisfies the Weber differential equation
. - For certain special arguments, ParabolicCylinderD automatically evaluates to exact values.
- ParabolicCylinderD can be evaluated to arbitrary numerical precision.
- ParabolicCylinderD automatically threads over lists.
- ParabolicCylinderD[ν,z] is an entire function of z with no branch cut discontinuities.
- ParabolicCylinderD can be used with Interval and CenteredInterval objects. »
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (5)
ParabolicCylinderD[0, 1.5]Plot
over a subset of the reals:
Plot[ParabolicCylinderD[5, x], {x, -10, 10}]Plot over a subset of the complexes:
ComplexPlot3D[ParabolicCylinderD[5, z], {z, -2 - 2I, 2 + 2I}, PlotLegends -> Automatic]Series expansion at the origin:
Series[ParabolicCylinderD[5, x], {x, 0, 10}]Series expansion at Infinity:
Series[ParabolicCylinderD[5, x], {x, ∞, 5}]//NormalScope (36)
Numerical Evaluation (7)
ParabolicCylinderD[7., 5]ParabolicCylinderD[.51, .87]//ChopN[ParabolicCylinderD[1 / 3, 8 / 7], 50]//ChopThe precision of the output tracks the precision of the input:
ParabolicCylinderD[5.30000000000000000000000000, 8]//ChopParabolicCylinderD[1.3 + I, .8 + I]Evaluate efficiently at high precision:
ParabolicCylinderD[34 / 3, 8 / 7`100]//Timing//ChopParabolicCylinderD[11 / 3, 1 / 7`1000];//TimingParabolicCylinderD can be used with Interval and CenteredInterval objects:
ParabolicCylinderD[1, Interval[{2.1, 2.2}]]ParabolicCylinderD[1, CenteredInterval[2 / 3, 1 / 100]]Compute average-case statistical intervals using Around:
ParabolicCylinderD[ 1, Around[2, 0.01]]Compute the elementwise values of an array:
ParabolicCylinderD[{{1 / 2, -1}, {0, 1 / 2}}, 0]Or compute the matrix ParabolicCylinderD function using MatrixFunction:
MatrixFunction[ParabolicCylinderD[#, 0]&, {{1 / 2, -1}, {0, 1 / 2}}]//FullSimplifySpecific Values (5)
ParabolicCylinderD for symbolic parameters:
ParabolicCylinderD[2, x]//FunctionExpandParabolicCylinderD[n, 0]ParabolicCylinderD[-1, x]//FunctionExpandParabolicCylinderD[0, 0]Limit[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x -> Infinity]Find the first positive maximum of ParabolicCylinderD:
xmax = x /. FindRoot[D[ParabolicCylinderD[3, x ], x] == 0, {x, 3}]//ChopPlot[ParabolicCylinderD[3, x ], {x, -2, 10}, Epilog -> Style[Point[{xmax, ParabolicCylinderD[3, xmax ]}], PointSize[Large], Red]]Evaluate for half-integer parameters:
ParabolicCylinderD[1 / 2, x]//FunctionExpandVisualization (4)
Plot the ParabolicCylinderD function for integer (
) and half-integer (
) orders:
Plot[{ParabolicCylinderD[1, x], ParabolicCylinderD[2, x], ParabolicCylinderD[3, x], ParabolicCylinderD[1 / 2, x]}, {x, -2, 4}]ComplexContourPlot[Re[ParabolicCylinderD[10, z]], {z, -1 - I, 1 + I}, Contours -> 24]ComplexContourPlot[Im[ParabolicCylinderD[10, z]], {z, -1 - I, 1 + I}, Contours -> 24]Plot as real parts of two parameters vary:
Plot3D[Re[ParabolicCylinderD[k, z]], {k, 0, 3}, {z, 0, 2}]Types 2 and 3 of ParabolicCylinderD function have different branch cut structures:
Plot3D[Im[ParabolicCylinderD[2, x + I y]], {x, -2, 2}, {y, -2, 2}, Exclusions -> {{y == 0, Abs[x] > 1}}, PlotRange -> All]Plot3D[Im[ParabolicCylinderD[3, x + I y]], {x, -2, 2}, {y, -2, 2}, Exclusions -> {{y == 0, -1 < x < 1}}, PlotRange -> All]Function Properties (10)
ParabolicCylinderD is defined for all real and complex values:
FunctionDomain[ParabolicCylinderD[ν, z], z]FunctionDomain[ParabolicCylinderD[ν, z], z, Complexes]ParabolicCylinderD threads elementwise over lists:
ParabolicCylinderD[{1, 2, 3}, 2.5]FunctionAnalytic[ParabolicCylinderD[ν, x], x, Assumptions -> ν∈ℝ]
is neither non-decreasing nor non-increasing for
:
Table[FunctionMonotonicity[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x], {n, -3, 3}]Table[FunctionInjective[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x], {n, -3, 3}]Plot[{ParabolicCylinderD[1, x], ParabolicCylinderD[2, x], .6}, {x, -5, 5}]ParabolicCylinderD is not surjective:
Table[FunctionSurjective[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x], {n, -3, 3}]Plot[{ParabolicCylinderD[3, x], ParabolicCylinderD[4, x], -5}, {x, -5, 5}]
is neither non-negative nor non-positive for
:
Table[FunctionSign[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x], {n, -3, 3}]ParabolicCylinderD has no singularities or discontinuities:
Table[FunctionSingularities[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x], {n, 4}]Table[FunctionDiscontinuities[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x], {n, 4}]
is neither convex nor concave for
:
Table[FunctionConvexity[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x], {n, 5}]Table[FunctionConvexity[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x], {n, -3, 3}]TraditionalForm formatting:
ParabolicCylinderD[ν, x]//TraditionalFormDifferentiation (3)
First derivative with respect to z:
D[ParabolicCylinderD[``ν, z``], z]Higher derivatives with respect to z
Table[D[ParabolicCylinderD[``ν, z``], {z, k}], {k, 1, 4}]//FullSimplifyPlot the higher derivatives with respect to z when ν=2:
Plot[Evaluate[% /. ν -> 2], {z, -5, 5}, PlotLegends -> {"First Derivative", "Second Derivative", "Third Derivative", "Fourth Derivative"}]Formula for the ![]()
derivative with respect to z:
D[ParabolicCylinderD[``ν, z``], {z, k}]// FullSimplifySeries Expansions (5)
Find the Taylor expansion using Series:
Series[ParabolicCylinderD[y, x], {x, 0, 3}]//Normal//FullSimplifyPlots of the first three approximations around
:
terms = Normal@Table[Series[ParabolicCylinderD[2, x], {x, 0, m}], {m, 1, 5, 2}];
Plot[{ParabolicCylinderD[2, x], terms}, {x, -5, 5}]General term in the series expansion using SeriesCoefficient:
SeriesCoefficient[ParabolicCylinderD[y, x], {x, 1, m}]Find the series expansion at Infinity:
Series[ParabolicCylinderD[y, x], {x, Infinity, 1}]//NormalFind series expansion for an arbitrary symbolic direction
:
Series[ParabolicCylinderD[y, x], {x, DirectedInfinity[z], 1}, Assumptions -> x > 0]//Normal// FullSimplifyTaylor expansion at a generic point:
Series[ParabolicCylinderD[y, x], {x, x0, 2}]// Normal//FullSimplifyFunction Identities and Simplifications (2)
ParabolicCylinderD[n, x] == Power[2, -n / 2] Exp[-x ^ 2 / 4] HermiteH[n, x / Sqrt[2]]//FullSimplifyParabolicCylinderD[n, x] == (1/n + 1)(x ParabolicCylinderD[n + 1, x] - ParabolicCylinderD[n + 2, x])//FullSimplifyParabolicCylinderD[n, x] == (1/x)(n ParabolicCylinderD[n - 1, x] + ParabolicCylinderD[n + 1, x])//FullSimplifyGeneralizations & Extensions (2)
Applications (2)
Find the solution of the Schrödinger equation for a quadratic oscillator for arbitrary energies:
DSolve[-y''[x] + (1/4) x ^ 2 y[x] == ℰ y[x], y[x], x]ParabolicCylinderD solves the Weber equation:
DSolve[-y''[x] + (1/4) x ^ 2 y[x] + 1 / 2 y[x] == 0, y[x], x]Properties & Relations (5)
Use FunctionExpand to expand ParabolicCylinderD into other functions:
FunctionExpand[ParabolicCylinderD[2, x]]FunctionExpand[ParabolicCylinderD[-2, x]]//SimplifyIntegrate expressions involving ParabolicCylinderD:
Table[Integrate[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x] ^ 2, {x, -Infinity, Infinity}], {n, 5}]FindSequenceFunction[%, n]ParabolicCylinderD can be represented as a DifferentialRoot:
DifferentialRootReduce[ParabolicCylinderD[n, x], x]ParabolicCylinderD can be represented as a DifferenceRoot:
DifferenceRootReduce[ParabolicCylinderD[k, z], k]The exponential generating function for ParabolicCylinderD:
ExponentialGeneratingFunction[ParabolicCylinderD[n, k], n, x]See Also
WhittakerW HypergeometricU Hypergeometric1F1 HermiteH
Function Repository: ParabolicCylinderU ParabolicCylinderV
Tech Notes
Related Guides
Related Links
History
Text
Wolfram Research (2007), ParabolicCylinderD, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ParabolicCylinderD.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2007. "ParabolicCylinderD." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ParabolicCylinderD.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2007). ParabolicCylinderD. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ParabolicCylinderD.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_paraboliccylinderd, author="Wolfram Research", title="{ParabolicCylinderD}", year="2007", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ParabolicCylinderD.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2026_paraboliccylinderd, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={ParabolicCylinderD}, year={2007}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ParabolicCylinderD.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}