Zeros of Bessel function derivatives

Abstract:

We prove that for $\nu >n-1$ all zeros of the $n$th derivative of the Bessel function of the first kind $J_{\nu }$ are real. Moreover, we show that the positive zeros of the $n$th and $(n+1)$th derivative of the Bessel function of the first kind $J_{\nu }$ are interlacing when $\nu \geq n$ and $n$ is a natural number or zero. Our methods include the Weierstrassian representation of the $n$th derivative, properties of the Laguerre-Pólya class of entire functions, and the Laguerre inequalities. Some similar results for the zeros of the first and second derivatives of the Struve function of the first kind $\mathbf {H}_{\nu }$ are also proved. The main results obtained in this paper generalize and complement some classical results on the zeros of Bessel and Struve functions of the first kind. Some open problems related to Hurwitz’s theorem on the zeros of Bessel functions are also proposed.