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Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center
ChebyshevT
  • See Also
    • ChebyshevU
    • BernsteinBasis
    • BSplineBasis
    • GegenbauerC
    • JacobiP
  • Related Guides
    • Special Functions
    • Mathematical Functions
  • Tech Notes
    • Orthogonal Polynomials
    • See Also
      • ChebyshevU
      • BernsteinBasis
      • BSplineBasis
      • GegenbauerC
      • JacobiP
    • Related Guides
      • Special Functions
      • Mathematical Functions
    • Tech Notes
      • Orthogonal Polynomials

ChebyshevT[n,x]

gives the Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind TemplateBox[{n, x}, ChebyshevT].

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Numerical Evaluation  
Specific Values  
Visualization  
Show More Show More
Function Properties  
Differentiation  
Integration  
Series Expansions  
Function Identities and Simplifications  
Generalizations & Extensions  
Applications  
Properties & Relations  
Possible Issues  
Neat Examples  
See Also
Tech Notes
Related Guides
Related Links
History
Cite this Page
BUILT-IN SYMBOL
  • See Also
    • ChebyshevU
    • BernsteinBasis
    • BSplineBasis
    • GegenbauerC
    • JacobiP
  • Related Guides
    • Special Functions
    • Mathematical Functions
  • Tech Notes
    • Orthogonal Polynomials
    • See Also
      • ChebyshevU
      • BernsteinBasis
      • BSplineBasis
      • GegenbauerC
      • JacobiP
    • Related Guides
      • Special Functions
      • Mathematical Functions
    • Tech Notes
      • Orthogonal Polynomials

ChebyshevT

ChebyshevT[n,x]

gives the Chebyshev polynomial of the first kind TemplateBox[{n, x}, ChebyshevT].

Details

  • Mathematical function, suitable for both symbolic and numerical manipulation.
  • Explicit polynomials are given for integer n.
  • TemplateBox[{n, {cos,  , theta}}, ChebyshevT]=cos(ntheta).
  • For certain special arguments, ChebyshevT automatically evaluates to exact values.
  • ChebyshevT can be evaluated to arbitrary numerical precision.
  • ChebyshevT automatically threads over lists.
  • ChebyshevT[n,z] has a branch cut discontinuity in the complex z plane running from to if n is not an integer.
  • ChebyshevT can be used with Interval and CenteredInterval objects. »

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (7)

Evaluate numerically:

Compute the 10^(th) Chebyshev polynomial:

Plot over a subset of the reals:

Plot over a subset of the complexes:

Series expansion at the origin:

Asymptotic expansion at Infinity:

Asymptotic expansion at a singular point:

Scope  (44)

Numerical Evaluation  (6)

Evaluate numerically:

Evaluate to high precision:

The precision of the output tracks the precision of the input:

Complex number input:

Evaluate efficiently at high precision:

Compute worst-case guaranteed intervals using Interval and CenteredInterval objects:

Or compute average-case statistical intervals using Around:

Compute the elementwise values of an array:

Or compute the matrix ChebyshevT function using MatrixFunction:

Specific Values  (7)

Values of ChebyshevT at fixed points:

ChebyshevT for symbolic n:

Values at zero:

Values at infinity:

Find the first positive maximum of ChebyshevT[5,x]:

Compute the associated ChebyshevT[7,x] polynomial:

Compute the associated ChebyshevT[1/2,x] polynomial for half-integer n:

Visualization  (3)

Plot the ChebyshevT function for various orders:

Plot the real part of TemplateBox[{3, z}, ChebyshevT]:

Plot the imaginary part of TemplateBox[{3, z}, ChebyshevT]:

Plot the Chebyshev polynomial as a function of two variables:

Function Properties  (14)

ChebyshevT is defined for all real values from the interval [-1,∞]:

ChebyshevT is defined for all complex values:

TemplateBox[{1, x}, ChebyshevT] achieves all real and complex values:

Real range of TemplateBox[{2, x}, ChebyshevT]:

It achieves all complex values:

Chebyshev polynomial of an odd order is odd:

Chebyshev polynomial of an even order is even:

ChebyshevT threads elementwise over lists:

Chebyshev polynomials are analytic:

In general, ChebyshevT is neither analytic nor meromorphic:

TemplateBox[{2, x}, ChebyshevT] is neither non-decreasing nor non-increasing:

TemplateBox[{2, x}, ChebyshevT] is not injective:

TemplateBox[{1, x}, ChebyshevT] is:

TemplateBox[{2, x}, ChebyshevT] is not surjective:

TemplateBox[{1, x}, ChebyshevT] is:

TemplateBox[{2, x}, ChebyshevT] is neither non-negative nor non-positive:

TemplateBox[{n, x}, ChebyshevT] has singularities and discontinuities for when is not an integer:

TemplateBox[{2, x}, ChebyshevT] is convex:

TraditionalForm formatting:

Differentiation  (3)

First derivative with respect to x:

Higher derivatives with respect to x:

Plot the higher derivatives with respect to x when n=5:

Formula for the ^(th) derivative with respect to x:

Integration  (4)

Compute the indefinite integral using Integrate:

Verify the anti-derivative:

Definite integral:

Definite integral of ChebyshevT over a period for odd integers is 0:

More integrals:

Series Expansions  (3)

Find the Taylor expansion using Series:

Plots of the first three approximations around :

General term in the series expansion using SeriesCoefficient:

Taylor expansion at a generic point:

Function Identities and Simplifications  (4)

ChebyshevT is defined through the identity:

The ordinary generating function of ChebyshevT:

The exponential generating function of ChebyshevT:

Recurrence relations:

Generalizations & Extensions  (2)

ChebyshevT can be applied to power series:

ChebyshevT can be applied to Interval:

Applications  (4)

Plot the first 10 Chebyshev polynomials:

Find a minimax approximation to the function Clip[4 x]:

Get an expansion for a function in the Chebyshev polynomials:

The values of the function at the Chebyshev nodes:

Find the Chebyshev coefficients:

Show the error:

Solve a differential equation with the ChebyshevT function as the inhomogeneous part:

Properties & Relations  (7)

Use FullSimplify with ChebyshevT:

Derivative of ChebyshevT is expressed in terms of ChebyshevU:

ChebyshevT can be represented as a DifferenceRoot:

General term in the series expansion of ChebyshevT:

The generating function for ChebyshevT:

The exponential generating function for ChebyshevT:

Possible Issues  (1)

Cancellations in the polynomial form may lead to inaccurate numerical results:

Evaluate the function directly:

Neat Examples  (1)

Plot the first few Banchoff–Chmutov surfaces:

See Also

ChebyshevU  BernsteinBasis  BSplineBasis  GegenbauerC  JacobiP

Function Repository: ZolotarevZ

Tech Notes

    ▪
  • Orthogonal Polynomials

Related Guides

    ▪
  • Special Functions
  • ▪
  • Mathematical Functions

Related Links

  • MathWorld
  • The Wolfram Functions Site
  • NKS|Online  (A New Kind of Science)

History

Introduced in 1988 (1.0) | Updated in 2021 (13.0) ▪ 2022 (13.1)

Wolfram Research (1988), ChebyshevT, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChebyshevT.html (updated 2022).

Text

Wolfram Research (1988), ChebyshevT, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChebyshevT.html (updated 2022).

CMS

Wolfram Language. 1988. "ChebyshevT." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. Last Modified 2022. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChebyshevT.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (1988). ChebyshevT. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChebyshevT.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_chebyshevt, author="Wolfram Research", title="{ChebyshevT}", year="2022", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChebyshevT.html}", note=[Accessed: 01-December-2025]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_chebyshevt, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={ChebyshevT}, year={2022}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChebyshevT.html}, note=[Accessed: 01-December-2025]}

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