When the index is real, the functions
,
,
, and
each have an infinite number of real zeros, all of which are simple with the possible exception of
. For nonnegative
, the
th positive zeros of these functions are denoted
,
,
, and
, respectively, except that
is typically counted as the first zero of
(Abramowitz and Stegun 1972, p. 370).
The first few roots of the Bessel function
are given in the following table for small nonnegative integer values of
and
. They can be found in the Wolfram Language using the command BesselJZero[n, k].
| 1 | 2.4048 | 3.8317 | 5.1356 | 6.3802 | 7.5883 | 8.7715 |
| 2 | 5.5201 | 7.0156 | 8.4172 | 9.7610 | 11.0647 | 12.3386 |
| 3 | 8.6537 | 10.1735 | 11.6198 | 13.0152 | 14.3725 | 15.7002 |
| 4 | 11.7915 | 13.3237 | 14.7960 | 16.2235 | 17.6160 | 18.9801 |
| 5 | 14.9309 | 16.4706 | 17.9598 | 19.4094 | 20.8269 | 22.2178 |
The first few roots of the derivative of the Bessel function
are given in the following table for small nonnegative integer values of
and
. Versions of the Wolfram Language prior to 6 implemented these zeros as BesselJPrimeZeros[n, k] in the BesselZeros package which is now available for separate download (Wolfram Research). Note that contrary to Abramowitz and Stegun (1972, p. 370), the Wolfram Language defines the first zero of
to be approximately 3.8317 rather than zero.
| 1 | 3.8317 | 1.8412 | 3.0542 | 4.2012 | 5.3175 | 6.4156 |
| 2 | 7.0156 | 5.3314 | 6.7061 | 8.0152 | 9.2824 | 10.5199 |
| 3 | 10.1735 | 8.5363 | 9.9695 | 11.3459 | 12.6819 | 13.9872 |
| 4 | 13.3237 | 11.7060 | 13.1704 | 14.5858 | 15.9641 | 17.3128 |
| 5 | 16.4706 | 14.8636 | 16.3475 | 17.7887 | 19.1960 | 20.5755 |