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Y = bessely(nu,Z)
Y = bessely(nu,Z,1)
[Y,ierr] = bessely(nu,Z)
The differential equation

where
is a real constant,
is called Bessel's equation, and its solutions are known
as Bessel functions.
A solution
of the second kind can
be expressed as
![]()
where
and
form a fundamental set of solutions of
Bessel's equation for noninteger
![]()

and
is the gamma function.
is linearly independent of
.
can be computed using besselj.
Y = bessely(nu,Z) computes Bessel
functions of the second kind,
, for each element of
the array Z. The order nu need not be
an integer, but must be real. The argument Z can be complex.
The result is real where Z is positive.
If nu and Z are arrays of the same size, the result is also that size. If either input is a scalar, it is expanded to the other input's size. If one input is a row vector and the other is a column vector, the result is a two-dimensional table of function values.
Y = bessely(nu,Z,1) computes bessely(nu,Z).*exp(-abs(imag(Z))).
[Y,ierr] = bessely(nu,Z) also returns completion flags in an array the same size as Y.
ierr | Description |
|---|---|
bessely successfully computed the Bessel function for this element. | |
Illegal arguments. | |
Overflow. Returns Inf. | |
Some loss of accuracy in argument reduction. | |
Unacceptable loss of accuracy, Z or nu too large. | |
No convergence. Returns NaN. |
The Bessel functions are related to the Hankel functions, also called Bessel functions of the third kind,

where
is besselh,
is besselj, and
is bessely. The Hankel
functions also form a fundamental set of solutions to Bessel's equation (see besselh).
format long
z = (0:0.2:1)';
bessely(1,z)
ans =
-Inf
-3.32382498811185
-1.78087204427005
-1.26039134717739
-0.97814417668336
-0.78121282130029bessely(3:9,(0:.2:10)') generates the entire table on page 399 of [1] Abramowitz and Stegun, Handbook of Mathematical Functions.
The bessely function uses a Fortran MEX-file to call a library developed by D. E Amos [3] [4].
[1] Abramowitz, M., and I.A. Stegun, Handbook of Mathematical Functions, National Bureau of Standards, Applied Math. Series #55, Dover Publications, 1965, sections 9.1.1, 9.1.89, and 9.12, formulas 9.1.10 and 9.2.5.
[2] Carrier, Krook, and Pearson, Functions of a Complex Variable: Theory and Technique, Hod Books, 1983, section 5.5.
[3] Amos, D.E., "A Subroutine Package for Bessel Functions of a Complex Argument and Nonnegative Order," Sandia National Laboratory Report, SAND85-1018, May, 1985.
[4] Amos, D.E., "A Portable Package for Bessel Functions of a Complex Argument and Nonnegative Order," Trans. Math. Software, 1986.
besselh, besseli, besselj, besselk
![]() | besselk | beta | ![]() |

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