AIRY FUNCTIONS AND APPLICATIONS TO PHYSICS

The use of special functions, and in particular Airy functions, is rather common in physics. The reason may be found in the need, and even in the necessity, to express a physical phenomenon in terms of an effective and comprehensive analytical form for the whole scientific community. However, for the past twenty years, many physical problems have been resolved by computers. This trend is now becoming the norm as the importance of computers continues to grow. As a last resort, the special functions employed in physics will have to be calculated numerically, even if the analytic formulation of physics is of primary importance.
Airy functions have periodically been the subject of many review articles, but no noteworthy compilation on this subject has been published since the 1950s. In this work, we provide an exhaustive compilation of the current knowledge on the analytical properties of Airy functions, developing with care the calculus implying the Airy functions.

Addressed mainly to physicist and chemical physicist, this textbook is the result of a broad compilation of current knowledge on analytical properties of Airy functions. In particular, the calculus implying the Airy functions is developed with care. In the latter chapters, examples are given to succinctly illustrate the use of Airy functions in classical and quantum physics. With it, the physicist for instance, in fluid mechanics, can find what he is looking for, in the references for works of molecular physics or in physics of surfaces, and vice versa.The knowledge on Airy functions is frequently reviewed. The reason may be found in the need to express a physical phenomenon in terms of an effective and comprehensive analytical form for the whole scientific community.