A221210 Decimal expansion of the abscissa of the half width of the Airy function.

1, 6, 1, 6, 3, 3, 9, 9, 4, 8, 3, 1, 0, 7, 0, 3, 1, 7, 8, 1, 1, 9, 1, 3, 9, 7, 5, 3, 6, 8, 3, 8, 9, 6, 3, 0, 9, 7, 4, 3, 1, 2, 1, 0, 9, 7, 2, 1, 5, 4, 6, 1, 0, 2, 3, 5, 8, 1, 1, 4, 3, 6, 6, 2, 1, 7, 7, 2, 2, 6, 4, 3, 7, 0, 7, 7

Offset: 1

Author

R. J. Mathar, Feb 21 2013

Keywords

• nonn
• cons

Comments

In optics, the Airy function is the amplitude pattern of light shining through a circular hole, which gives (in the Fraunhofer limit of diffraction theory) an amplitude proportional to J_1(z)/z, where J_1 is the Bessel function of order 1, and where z is the radial coordinate. The Airy disk is the intensity, the square of the amplitude, proportional to I=(J_1(z)/z)^2, with the first zero at A115369. The peak is at I(0)=1/4, so the half width is defined by I(zhalf)=1/8, which gives zhalf = 1.6163399483.., defining the sequence of digits.

Links

• Wikipedia, Airy disk

Crossrefs

Cf. A245461.

Programs

Mathematica

z /. FindRoot[ BesselJ[1, z]^2/z^2 == 1/8 , {z, 1}, WorkingPrecision -> 76] // RealDigits // First (* Jean-François Alcover, Feb 21 2013 *)

PARI

solve(x=1,2,8*besselj(1,x)^2-x^2) \\ Charles R Greathouse IV, Feb 19 2014