2.31.6 Problem 154

Internal problem ID [13815]
Book : Handbook of exact solutions for ordinary differential equations. By Polyanin and Zaitsev. Second edition
Section : Chapter 2, Second-Order Differential Equations. section 2.1.2-5
Problem number : 154
Date solved : Friday, December 19, 2025 at 01:12:45 PM
CAS classification : [_Gegenbauer]

\begin{align*} \left (-x^{2}+1\right ) y^{\prime \prime }-2 y^{\prime } x +\nu \left (\nu +1\right ) y&=0 \\ \end{align*}

2.31.6.1 ✓ Maple. Time used: 0.008 (sec). Leaf size: 15

ode:=(-x^2+1)*diff(diff(y(x),x),x)-2*x*diff(y(x),x)+nu*(nu+1)*y(x) = 0; 
dsolve(ode,y(x), singsol=all);
 

\[ y = c_1 \operatorname {LegendreP}\left (\nu , x\right )+c_2 \operatorname {LegendreQ}\left (\nu , x\right ) \]

Maple trace

Methods for second order ODEs: 
--- Trying classification methods --- 
trying a quadrature 
checking if the LODE has constant coefficients 
checking if the LODE is of Euler type 
trying a symmetry of the form [xi=0, eta=F(x)] 
checking if the LODE is missing y 
-> Trying a Liouvillian solution using Kovacics algorithm 
<- No Liouvillian solutions exists 
-> Trying a solution in terms of special functions: 
   -> Bessel 
   -> elliptic 
   -> Legendre 
   <- Legendre successful 
<- special function solution successful
 

Maple step by step

\[ \begin {array}{lll} & {} & \textrm {Let's solve}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & \left (-x^{2}+1\right ) \left (\frac {d^{2}}{d x^{2}}y \left (x \right )\right )-2 x \left (\frac {d}{d x}y \left (x \right )\right )+\nu \left (\nu +1\right ) y \left (x \right )=0 \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Highest derivative means the order of the ODE is}\hspace {3pt} 2 \\ {} & {} & \frac {d^{2}}{d x^{2}}y \left (x \right ) \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Isolate 2nd derivative}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & \frac {d^{2}}{d x^{2}}y \left (x \right )=\frac {\nu \left (\nu +1\right ) y \left (x \right )}{x^{2}-1}-\frac {2 x \left (\frac {d}{d x}y \left (x \right )\right )}{x^{2}-1} \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Group terms with}\hspace {3pt} y \left (x \right )\hspace {3pt}\textrm {on the lhs of the ODE and the rest on the rhs of the ODE; ODE is linear}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & \frac {d^{2}}{d x^{2}}y \left (x \right )+\frac {2 x \left (\frac {d}{d x}y \left (x \right )\right )}{x^{2}-1}-\frac {\nu \left (\nu +1\right ) y \left (x \right )}{x^{2}-1}=0 \\ \square & {} & \textrm {Check to see if}\hspace {3pt} x_{0}\hspace {3pt}\textrm {is a regular singular point}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & \circ & \textrm {Define functions}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & \left [P_{2}\left (x \right )=\frac {2 x}{x^{2}-1}, P_{3}\left (x \right )=-\frac {\nu \left (\nu +1\right )}{x^{2}-1}\right ] \\ {} & \circ & \left (x +1\right )\cdot P_{2}\left (x \right )\textrm {is analytic at}\hspace {3pt} x =-1 \\ {} & {} & \left (\left (x +1\right )\cdot P_{2}\left (x \right )\right )\bigg | {\mstack {}{_{x \hiderel {=}-1}}}=1 \\ {} & \circ & \left (x +1\right )^{2}\cdot P_{3}\left (x \right )\textrm {is analytic at}\hspace {3pt} x =-1 \\ {} & {} & \left (\left (x +1\right )^{2}\cdot P_{3}\left (x \right )\right )\bigg | {\mstack {}{_{x \hiderel {=}-1}}}=0 \\ {} & \circ & x =-1\textrm {is a regular singular point}\hspace {3pt} \\ & {} & \textrm {Check to see if}\hspace {3pt} x_{0}\hspace {3pt}\textrm {is a regular singular point}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & x_{0}=-1 \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Multiply by denominators}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & \left (x^{2}-1\right ) \left (\frac {d^{2}}{d x^{2}}y \left (x \right )\right )+2 x \left (\frac {d}{d x}y \left (x \right )\right )-\nu \left (\nu +1\right ) y \left (x \right )=0 \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Change variables using}\hspace {3pt} x =u -1\hspace {3pt}\textrm {so that the regular singular point is at}\hspace {3pt} u =0 \\ {} & {} & \left (u^{2}-2 u \right ) \left (\frac {d^{2}}{d u^{2}}y \left (u \right )\right )+\left (2 u -2\right ) \left (\frac {d}{d u}y \left (u \right )\right )+\left (-\nu ^{2}-\nu \right ) y \left (u \right )=0 \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Assume series solution for}\hspace {3pt} y \left (u \right ) \\ {} & {} & y \left (u \right )=\moverset {\infty }{\munderset {k =0}{\sum }}a_{k} u^{k +r} \\ \square & {} & \textrm {Rewrite ODE with series expansions}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & \circ & \textrm {Convert}\hspace {3pt} u^{m}\cdot \left (\frac {d}{d u}y \left (u \right )\right )\hspace {3pt}\textrm {to series expansion for}\hspace {3pt} m =0..1 \\ {} & {} & u^{m}\cdot \left (\frac {d}{d u}y \left (u \right )\right )=\moverset {\infty }{\munderset {k =0}{\sum }}a_{k} \left (k +r \right ) u^{k +r -1+m} \\ {} & \circ & \textrm {Shift index using}\hspace {3pt} k \mathrm {->}k +1-m \\ {} & {} & u^{m}\cdot \left (\frac {d}{d u}y \left (u \right )\right )=\moverset {\infty }{\munderset {k =-1+m}{\sum }}a_{k +1-m} \left (k +1-m +r \right ) u^{k +r} \\ {} & \circ & \textrm {Convert}\hspace {3pt} u^{m}\cdot \left (\frac {d^{2}}{d u^{2}}y \left (u \right )\right )\hspace {3pt}\textrm {to series expansion for}\hspace {3pt} m =1..2 \\ {} & {} & u^{m}\cdot \left (\frac {d^{2}}{d u^{2}}y \left (u \right )\right )=\moverset {\infty }{\munderset {k =0}{\sum }}a_{k} \left (k +r \right ) \left (k +r -1\right ) u^{k +r -2+m} \\ {} & \circ & \textrm {Shift index using}\hspace {3pt} k \mathrm {->}k +2-m \\ {} & {} & u^{m}\cdot \left (\frac {d^{2}}{d u^{2}}y \left (u \right )\right )=\moverset {\infty }{\munderset {k =-2+m}{\sum }}a_{k +2-m} \left (k +2-m +r \right ) \left (k +1-m +r \right ) u^{k +r} \\ & {} & \textrm {Rewrite ODE with series expansions}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & -2 a_{0} r^{2} u^{-1+r}+\left (\moverset {\infty }{\munderset {k =0}{\sum }}\left (-2 a_{k +1} \left (k +1+r \right )^{2}+a_{k} \left (r +1+\nu +k \right ) \left (r -\nu +k \right )\right ) u^{k +r}\right )=0 \\ \bullet & {} & a_{0}\textrm {cannot be 0 by assumption, giving the indicial equation}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & -2 r^{2}=0 \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Values of r that satisfy the indicial equation}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & r =0 \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Each term in the series must be 0, giving the recursion relation}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & -2 a_{k +1} \left (k +1\right )^{2}+a_{k} \left (1+\nu +k \right ) \left (-\nu +k \right )=0 \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Recursion relation that defines series solution to ODE}\hspace {3pt} \\ {} & {} & a_{k +1}=\frac {a_{k} \left (1+\nu +k \right ) \left (-\nu +k \right )}{2 \left (k +1\right )^{2}} \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Recursion relation for}\hspace {3pt} r =0 \\ {} & {} & a_{k +1}=\frac {a_{k} \left (1+\nu +k \right ) \left (-\nu +k \right )}{2 \left (k +1\right )^{2}} \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Solution for}\hspace {3pt} r =0 \\ {} & {} & \left [y \left (u \right )=\moverset {\infty }{\munderset {k =0}{\sum }}a_{k} u^{k}, a_{k +1}=\frac {a_{k} \left (1+\nu +k \right ) \left (-\nu +k \right )}{2 \left (k +1\right )^{2}}\right ] \\ \bullet & {} & \textrm {Revert the change of variables}\hspace {3pt} u =x +1 \\ {} & {} & \left [y \left (x \right )=\moverset {\infty }{\munderset {k =0}{\sum }}a_{k} \left (x +1\right )^{k}, a_{k +1}=\frac {a_{k} \left (1+\nu +k \right ) \left (-\nu +k \right )}{2 \left (k +1\right )^{2}}\right ] \end {array} \]

2.31.6.2 ✓ Mathematica. Time used: 0.018 (sec). Leaf size: 18

ode=(1-x^2)*D[y[x],{x,2}]-2*x*D[y[x],x]+\[Nu]*(\[Nu]+1)*y[x]==0; 
ic={}; 
DSolve[{ode,ic},y[x],x,IncludeSingularSolutions->True]
 

\begin{align*} y(x)&\to c_1 \operatorname {LegendreP}(\nu ,x)+c_2 \operatorname {LegendreQ}(\nu ,x) \end{align*}

2.31.6.3 ✗ Sympy

from sympy import * 
x = symbols("x") 
nu = symbols("nu") 
y = Function("y") 
ode = Eq(nu*(nu + 1)*y(x) - 2*x*Derivative(y(x), x) + (1 - x**2)*Derivative(y(x), (x, 2)),0) 
ics = {} 
dsolve(ode,func=y(x),ics=ics)
 

False