Exercise 5.6.24 from Arfken - Calculate y'_0

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on Exercise 5.6.24 from Arfken's "Essential Mathematical Methods for Physicists," which involves calculating the derivative \( y'_0 \) using a specific linear combination of function values. The formula provided, \( \frac{1}{12h}\left\{ -y_2+8y_1-8y_{-1}+y_{-2} \right\} \), approximates \( y'_0 \) with an error term involving the fifth derivative, \( -\frac{h^4}{30}y^{(5)}_0 \). The solution requires expanding the terms within the parentheses and truncating the Taylor series expansion at the fifth order. The key takeaway is the importance of correctly applying Taylor expansions and understanding the relationship between function values and their derivatives.

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Homework Statement


Exercise 5.6.24 from Arfken's Essential Mathematical Methods for Physicists. You have a function tabulated at equally spaced values of the argument:
[tex]\left\{ \begin{array}{c}<br /> y_n=y(x_n)\\x_n = x+nh \end{array}\right.[/tex]
Show that the linear combination
[tex]\frac{1}{12h}\left\{ -y_2+8y_1-8y_{-1}+y_{-2} \right\}[/tex]
yields
[tex]y'_0-\frac{h^4}{30}y^{(5)}_0+\cdots .[/tex]

Homework Equations



I used:
[tex]\frac{d^ny_0}{dx^n}=\sum_{m=0}^n(-1)^n\left( \begin{array}{c}<br /> n\\ m \end{array} \right)y_{\frac{n}{2}-m}[/tex] for the derivatives of an even order and a geometric average between the backward and forward derivatives for the odd ones.
Keep in mind that [tex]y(x)=y_0[/tex], [tex]y(x+h)=y_1[/tex],...
Also used the Taylor expansion of y(x+h):
[tex]f(x+h)=\sum_{m=0}^\infty \frac{h^n}{n!}f^{(n)}(x)[/tex].

3. The Attempt at a Solution

I solved the Taylor expansion for [tex]y'_0[/tex] and tried to modify the result accordingly with the equation the author expressed. But there was no way to get it fit. I guess I didn't understand how the author calculates the derivative of the function.
Please, someone help. I am getting crazy with the exercises of this book.
 
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Well, I finally got the answer and it was very simple in fact!
It's only necessary to expand all the terms enclosed in the parenthesis and truncate the expansion in 5th order.
 

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