SphericalBesselJ[n,z]
gives the spherical Bessel function of the first kind
.
SphericalBesselJ
SphericalBesselJ[n,z]
gives the spherical Bessel function of the first kind
.
Details
- Mathematical function, suitable for both symbolic and numerical manipulation.
- SphericalBesselJ is given in terms of ordinary Bessel functions by
. - SphericalBesselJ[n,z] has a branch cut discontinuity for non‐integer
in the complex
plane running from
to
. - Explicit symbolic forms for integer n can be obtained using FunctionExpand.
- For certain special arguments, SphericalBesselJ automatically evaluates to exact values.
- SphericalBesselJ can be evaluated to arbitrary numerical precision.
- SphericalBesselJ automatically threads over lists.
- SphericalBesselJ can be used with Interval and CenteredInterval objects. »
Examples
open all close allBasic Examples (5)
SphericalBesselJ[1, 5.2]Plot
over a subset of the reals:
Plot[SphericalBesselJ[1, x], {x, 0, 20}]Plot over a subset of the complexes:
ComplexPlot3D[SphericalBesselJ[1 / 2, z], {z, -2 - 2I, 2 + 2I}, PlotLegends -> Automatic]Series expansion at the origin:
SphericalBesselJ[1 / 2, x] + O[x] ^ 3Series expansion at Infinity:
Series[SphericalBesselJ[1 / 2, x], {x, ∞, 3}]//Normal//SimplifyScope (39)
Numerical Evaluation (6)
N[SphericalBesselJ[2, -5]]N[SphericalBesselJ[-0.5, 1]]N[SphericalBesselJ[1, 10], 50]The precision of the output tracks the precision of the input:
SphericalBesselJ[1, 2.0004444000000045000]N[SphericalBesselJ[2 + I, 5 + I]]Evaluate efficiently at high precision:
N[SphericalBesselJ[10, 7 / 2`100]]//TimingN[SphericalBesselJ[0, 28`10000]];//TimingCompute worst-case guaranteed intervals using Interval and CenteredInterval objects:
SphericalBesselJ[0.4, Interval[{0.5, 0.6}]]SphericalBesselJ[1 / 4, CenteredInterval[2, 1 / 100]]Or compute average-case statistical intervals using Around:
SphericalBesselJ[2, Around[2, 0.01]]Compute the elementwise values of an array:
SphericalBesselJ[0.5, {{1, 2}, {3, 4}}]Or compute the matrix SphericalBesselJ function using MatrixFunction:
MatrixFunction[SphericalBesselJ[0.5, #]&, {{1, 2}, {3, 4}}]Specific Values (4)
Limit[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], x -> Infinity]SphericalBesselJ for symbolic n:
SphericalBesselJ[n, 1]//FunctionExpandFind the first positive zero of SphericalBesselJ:
xzero = x /. FindRoot[SphericalBesselJ[0, x] == 0, {x, 1}]Plot[SphericalBesselJ[0, x], {x, -1, 8}, Epilog -> Style[Point[{xzero, SphericalBesselJ[0, xzero]}], PointSize[Large], Red]]Different SphericalBesselJ types give different symbolic forms:
Table[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], {n, 0, 2, 1 / 2}]//FunctionExpandVisualization (3)
Plot the SphericalBesselJ function for integer (
) and half-integer (
) orders:
Plot[{SphericalBesselJ[0, x], SphericalBesselJ[1, x], SphericalBesselJ[-1 / 2, x]}, {x, -10, 10}]ComplexContourPlot[Re[SphericalBesselJ[0, z]], {z, -3 - 6I, 3 + 6I}, IconizedObject[«PlotOptions»]]ComplexContourPlot[Im[SphericalBesselJ[0, z]], {z, -3 - 6I, 3 + 6I}, IconizedObject[«PlotOptions»]]ComplexContourPlot[Re[SphericalBesselJ[-1 / 4, z]], {z, -3 - 6I, 3 + 6I}, IconizedObject[«PlotOptions»]]ComplexContourPlot[Im[SphericalBesselJ[-1 / 4, z]], {z, -3 - 6I, 3 + 6I}, IconizedObject[«PlotOptions»]]Function Properties (12)
is defined for all real and complex values:
FunctionDomain[SphericalBesselJ[0, x], x]FunctionDomain[SphericalBesselJ[0, z], z, Complexes]
is defined for all real values greater than 0:
FunctionDomain[SphericalBesselJ[-1 / 2, x], x]Complex domain is the whole plane except
:
FunctionDomain[SphericalBesselJ[-1 / 2, z], z, Complexes]Approximate function range of
:
FunctionRange[SphericalBesselJ[0, x], x, y]//QuietFor integer
,
is an even or odd function in
depending on whether
is even or odd:
SphericalBesselJ[0, -z]SphericalBesselJ[1, -z]FullSimplify[SphericalBesselJ[n, z] == (-1)^n SphericalBesselJ[n, -z], n∈ℤ]SphericalBesselJ threads elementwise over lists:
SphericalBesselJ[{1, 2, 3}, 4.5]
is not an analytic function of
for noninteger and negative values of
:
Table[FunctionAnalytic[SphericalBesselJ[n, z], z], {n, {-2, -1 / 2, Sqrt[2], π}}]SphericalBesselJ is neither non-decreasing nor non-increasing:
Table[FunctionMonotonicity[{SphericalBesselJ[n, z], z > 0}, z], {n, 5}]Table[FunctionMonotonicity[{SphericalBesselJ[1 / n, z], z > 0}, z], {n, 5}]SphericalBesselJ is not injective:
Table[FunctionInjective[{SphericalBesselJ[n, z], z > 0}, z], {n, 5}]Table[FunctionInjective[{SphericalBesselJ[1 / n, z], z > 0}, z], {n, 5}]Plot[{SphericalBesselJ[1, x], SphericalBesselJ[2, x], SphericalBesselJ[1 / 3, x], .1}, {x, 0, 10}]SphericalBesselJ is neither non-negative nor non-positive:
Table[FunctionSign[SphericalBesselJ[a, x], x], {a, 4}]
is singular for
, possibly including
, when
is noninteger:
FunctionSingularities[SphericalBesselJ[a, x], x]FunctionDiscontinuities[SphericalBesselJ[a, x], x]SphericalBesselJ is neither convex nor concave:
Table[FunctionConvexity[SphericalBesselJ[a, x], x], {a, 5}]TraditionalForm formatting:
SphericalBesselJ[n, r]//TraditionalFormDifferentiation (3)
First derivative with respect to z:
D[SphericalBesselJ[n, z], z]Higher derivatives with respect to z
Table[D[SphericalBesselJ[n, z], {z, k}], {k, 1, 4}]//FullSimplifyPlot the higher derivatives with respect to z:
Plot[Evaluate[% /. n -> 2], {z, -5, 5}, PlotLegends -> {"First Derivative", "Second Derivative", "Third Derivative", "Fourth Derivative"}]Formula for the ![]()
derivative with respect to z:
D[SphericalBesselJ[n, z], {z, k}]// FullSimplifyIntegration (3)
Compute the indefinite integral using Integrate:
Integrate[SphericalBesselJ[n, z], z]FullSimplify[D[%, z]]Integrate[SphericalBesselJ[1 / 2, z], {z, 0, 5}]Integrate[SphericalBesselJ[1 / 2, z]SphericalBesselY[1 / 2, z], z]//FullSimplifyIntegrate[SphericalBesselJ[3 / 2, z^2], {z, 0, 5}]Series Expansions (6)
Find the Taylor expansion using Series:
Series[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], {x, 0, 5}]Plots of the first three approximations around
:
terms = Normal@Table[Series[SphericalBesselJ[1 / 2, x], {x, 0, m}], {m, 1, 5, 2}];
Plot[{SphericalBesselJ[1 / 2, x], terms}, {x, 0, 10}, PlotRange -> {-1.5, 1.5}]General term in the series expansion using SeriesCoefficient:
SeriesCoefficient[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], {x, 1, m}]FourierSeries[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], x, 1]// FullSimplifyFind the series expansion at Infinity:
Series[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], {x, Infinity, 1}]Find series expansion for an arbitrary symbolic direction
:
Series[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], {x, DirectedInfinity[z], 1}, Assumptions -> x > 0]//FullSimplifyTaylor expansion at a generic point:
Series[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], {x, x0, 2}]//FullSimplifyFunction Identities and Simplifications (2)
Use FullSimplify to simplify spherical Bessel functions of the first kind:
FullSimplify[x SphericalBesselJ[2, x] + x SphericalBesselJ[0, x]]SphericalBesselJ[n, z] == (2n + 3/z)SphericalBesselJ[n + 1, z] - SphericalBesselJ[n + 2, z]//FullSimplifyApplications (1)
Properties & Relations (2)
Compute an integral in closed form:
Integrate[SphericalBesselJ[1, r]^2, {r, 0, ∞}]SphericalBesselJ can be represented as a DifferentialRoot:
DifferentialRootReduce[SphericalBesselJ[n, x], x]Tech Notes
Related Links
History
Text
Wolfram Research (2007), SphericalBesselJ, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SphericalBesselJ.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2007. "SphericalBesselJ." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SphericalBesselJ.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2007). SphericalBesselJ. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SphericalBesselJ.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_sphericalbesselj, author="Wolfram Research", title="{SphericalBesselJ}", year="2007", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SphericalBesselJ.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2026_sphericalbesselj, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={SphericalBesselJ}, year={2007}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/SphericalBesselJ.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}