Corrections and Minor Revisions of

Mathematical Methods in the

Physical Sciences,
third edition,
by Mary L. Boas (deceased)

Updated August 27, 2022 by Harold P. Boas

This list includes all errors known at the stated time of update. In addition to corrections, a few
minor revisions for clarity are included. This errata list can be found at

https://haroldpboas.gitlab.io/Boas_MathematicalMethods_errata.pdf.

Please send any additional corrections to boas@tamu.edu.

Page Location Correction

viii Line 20 For “futher” read “further”.
ix Line 15 The opening quotation marks around “To the Student” are reversed.
34 Last line 62 should be 26 .
41 Problem 22 For “𝑛 is an even integer” read “𝑠 is an even integer”.
43 Headline The page header should say “Section 15” instead of “Section 16”.
47 Section 2 In the second line, the symbol 𝑖 in the parenthetical comment should
be in italics.
51 Problem 20 The superscript in sin 110◦ should be a degree symbol, not the nu-
meral 0.
51 Figure 5.1 In the first label (1, 1) for the point, there is a missing opening paren-
thesis.
55 Problem 56 Insert parentheses to make the problem read “(angle of 𝑧) = 𝜋2 ”.

1
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Page Location Correction

57 Example 1 In the final line of the example, delete the spurious period at the
beginning of the line.
59 Problem 1 Insert a + sign preceding the ellipsis dots.
69 Problems 17, 18 An arbitrary real constant can be added to the right-hand side.
76 Problems In the instructions for the problems, for “compare” read “compare
with”.
79 Problem 12 Insert the missing left parenthesis before each summation sign.
86 Example 2 In the last matrix, element (3, 4) should be 10 instead of −20. In the
next line, similarly replace −20 by 10.
89 Line 5 Replace the reference to (6.24) by (6.13).
121 (6.17) In the second line, the second expression in parentheses should be
3 5
𝑘 − 𝑘3! + 𝑘5! + ⋯ with ellipsis dots.
124 Line −6 For “point to pint” read “point to point”.
127 Line 6 For “facts from Section 3” read “facts from Sections 3 and 6”.
136 Problem 21 In line 2, insert a missing “of” to read “in the form of a determinant.”
139 (9.10) In the displayed equation and the preceding line, notation of the
form 𝐴T𝑗𝑘 should be understood as shorthand for (AT )𝑗𝑘 .
140 Line 5 In the first line of the paragraph titled “Trace of a Matrix”, for “or
a square matrix” read “of a square matrix”.
153 (11.21) As mentioned on page 50, the notation 𝜆∗ is an alternative notation
for 𝜆̄ (the complex conjugate of 𝜆). √ √
167 (12.25) √ 𝜆 = √1: 𝐑 = (𝑋, 𝑌 ) = ( 2, 3 ); for 𝜆 = 6: 𝐑 =
For
(3 2, −2 3 ).
168 (12.31) On both sides of the(equation,)the variable 𝑦 should be 𝑧.
8 −6
169 (12.37) The equation V = should have the letter V in upright
−6 9
font, not slanted font.
208 Example 6 Two lines after (7.8), at the end of the sentence, insert the parenthe-
sis: (see page 189).
212 Last line The number 1 should be the letter 𝑙. Also replace the final period
by a comma and add: and 𝑉 = 𝑤2 𝑙 = 𝑙3 ∕2.
226 (10.3a) The equations should be 4𝑧 + 2𝑦 = 0 and 4𝑦 + 2𝑧 = 0.
235 Line −6 In the second integral, 𝑑𝑡 is missing.
239 Last line Replace (𝜆∕2) in the exponent by 𝜆.
261 Line −8 The expression 𝑟 sin 𝑑𝜃 𝑑𝜙 should be 𝑟 sin 𝜃 𝑑𝜙.
264 Example 3 The density should be stated to be constant. The same comment
applies to Example 4 on page 265, to Problem 1 on page 267, to
Problem 26 on page 270, to Problem 4 in the Miscellaneous Prob-
lems on page 273, and to Problem 17 on page 274.
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Page Location Correction

269 Problem 24 In the fourth line, italicize the first instance of 𝑑𝑀 to match the
second instance.
294 (6.8) Replace 𝑟 sin 𝜙 by 𝑟 sin 𝜃.
306 Example 6 For “two of the equations corresponding to (8.17) do not hold” read
“one of the equations corresponding to (8.17) does not hold”.
311 Line 2 For “w” read “we”.
311 Line 5 Reverse the opening quotation marks of “simply connected”.
312 (9.12) At the end of the line, 𝐣𝑥 should be 𝐣 𝑑𝑥.
313 Problem 1 The reference to Figure 9.2 should be to Figure 9.1.
329 Line −6 For “|𝐇| same at all points” read “|𝐇| is the same at all points”.
330 Line −17 For earths’ read earth’s.
336 Problem 17(g) The integrand of the first integral on the right-hand side should be
(𝐕 × 𝛁𝜙) ⋅ 𝐧 𝑑𝜎, not (𝛁 × 𝛁𝜙) ⋅ 𝐧 𝑑𝜎.
336 Problem 3 In the first displayed equation, the second term on the right-hand
side would be clearer with parentheses: (𝐯 ⋅ 𝛁)𝐀 instead of 𝐯 ⋅ 𝛁𝐀.
337 Problem 16(b) The 𝑊 at the end of the sentence is a scalar and so should not be
boldface.
354 Example 2 In the last line, sin(𝑥 + 3𝜋∕2) should be sin(3𝑥 + 3𝜋∕2).
|1
356 First display In the first displayed equation, the expression 2 ln 𝑥| should be
|0
|𝜋
2 ln 𝑥| (but the conclusion that the integral diverges to infinity is
|0
unchanged).
367 Line 4 After “cosine series” add the bracket [(9.5) and the comments fol-
lowing it].
371 Headline In the page header, read “Section 9” instead of “Section 10”.
374 Problem 5 The instructions imply that the period 2𝑙 is equal to 1∕60, so the
hint should say that the value of 𝑙 is 1∕120, not 1∕60.
380 (12.3) The exponent should be 𝑖𝛼𝑛 𝑥 with an 𝑖.
381 (12.13) Both integrals should be with respect to 𝑑𝛼.
381 (12.14) In the second equation, 𝑔𝑠 (𝑥) should be 𝑔𝑠 (𝛼).
382 (12.15) In the integrand of the first equation, 𝑔𝑐 (𝑥) should be 𝑔𝑐 (𝛼).
382 (12.17) In the first integral, 𝑑𝑥 should be 𝑑𝛼. In the second line, there is a
missing right-hand parenthesis in the numerator of the first integral.
383 Above (12.20) The cross reference “from (12.1)” should be “from (12.2)”.
385 Problem 22 The expression for 𝑗1 (𝛼) should be (−𝛼 cos 𝛼 + sin 𝛼)∕𝛼 2 .
387 Problem 4(a) In the differential equation, the lowercase 𝑐 should be a capital 𝐶.
414 Problem 11 A letter 𝑦 is missing. The equation should be 4𝑦′′ + 12𝑦′ + 9𝑦 = 0.
431 Line 8 For 𝑝 𝑑𝑦∕𝑑𝑥 read 𝑝 = 𝑑𝑦∕𝑑𝑥.
442 Line 13 The period at the beginning of the line belongs at the end of the
preceding equation.
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Page Location Correction

446 Example 2 In the first line of the three-line display, the second integral has un-
𝑡
balanced parentheses. It should be ∫0 (𝑒−𝜏 − 𝑒−2𝜏 )𝑒−(𝑡−𝜏) 𝑑𝜏.
457 Example 5 The third equation for 𝜌 should have 𝑟2 sin 𝜃 instead of 𝑟 sin 𝜃.
The notation in lines 1, 4, and 7 of the example can be clari-
√ putting a subscript on the variables: namely, (𝑥0 , 𝑦0 , 𝑧0 ) =
fied by
(−1,
√ 3, −2) and (𝑟0 , 𝜃0 , 𝑧0 ) = (2, 2𝜋∕3, −2) and (𝑟0 , 𝜃0 , 𝜙0 ) =
(2 2, 3𝜋∕4, 2𝜋∕3).
458 Line 15 Two lines after the third displayed equation on the page, delete the
closing parenthesis preceding the period. In other words, replace
the expression −𝐞𝑟 ∕𝑟2 ) by −𝐞𝑟 ∕𝑟2 without the trailing parenthesis.
488 Line 1 Insert a sentence-ending period after “equations”.
493 (7.1) The first equation should be parallel to the second one: 𝑌 (𝑥, 𝜖) =
𝑦(𝑥) + 𝜖𝜂(𝑥).
499 Line 5 For “nd” read “and”.
499 (2.7) Delete the 𝑧’s in column 3 of the matrix.
506 Example 1 In the second paragraph, the cross reference “(3.5) to (3.8)” should
be “(3.6) to (3.9)”.
510 Example 1 In line 9, the expression −𝛿𝑗𝑛 𝛿𝑘𝑛 should be −𝛿𝑗𝑛 𝛿𝑘𝑚 . (Change the
final subscript from 𝑛 to 𝑚.)
514 Example 1 Starting in the middle of line 7, revise as follows: “the 𝑧 components
of 𝐔 and 𝐕 change sign and the 𝑥 and 𝑦 components do not; these
are then requirements for all vectors. But the 𝑧 component of 𝐔 × 𝐕
does not change sign while the 𝑥 and 𝑦 components do (Problems 3
and 4).” Continue as in the text.
515 Polar and ⋯ Starting at the end of the third line, revise as follows: “If a vector
under rotations has the property that under reflections the signs of
its components are opposite to those of a displacement vector, then
it is called an axial vector.” Continue as in the text.
520 Problem 2 The unit vector 𝐞22 should be 𝐞2 .
525 Line −5 The parenthetical remark should say “from (8.15)” instead of “from
(8.11)”.
526 (9.7) On the right-hand side, after the equals sign, the unit vector 𝐞1
should be in boldface type.
535 Problem 18 The problem should read: Using (10.19), show that 𝐚𝑖 ⋅ 𝐚𝑗 = 𝛿𝑗𝑖 .
542 Problem 3 There is a missing left parenthesis in the binomial coefficient.
543 Problem 3 Both binomial coefficients are missing a left parenthesis.
549 Line −7 In the unnumbered three-line display between (10.3) and (10.4), the
integral on the right-hand side of the first line is missing the factor
1∕𝑡3 .
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Page Location Correction

567 Problem 1 𝑃𝑙 (𝑙) should be 𝑃𝑙 (1), that is, the argument should be “one” instead
of “ell”.
568 Problems 4,5 There is a missing left parenthesis in front of the differential opera-
tor in each case.
568 (4.1) In the denominator, 21 should be 2𝑙 , that is, the exponent should be
the letter “ell” instead of the number “one”.
569 Problem 2 In the second line, the exponent on (𝑥 − 1) should be the letter “ell”
instead of the number “one”.
582 Problem 16 The last equation should read as follows.
1
𝐼= 𝑓 2 (𝑥) 𝑑𝑥 + (𝑏0 − 𝑐0 )2 + (𝑏1 − 𝑐1 )2 + (𝑏2 − 𝑐2 )2 − 𝑐02 − 𝑐12 − 𝑐22
∫−1

583 Line above (10.6) Replace “are are" by “and are".

585 Example 1 In the table at the bottom of the page, the entry in the 4𝑥𝑦′ row and
the 𝑥𝑠+2 column should be 4(𝑠 + 2)𝑎2 with coefficient 4 instead of 2.
588 pp. 588–591 The discussion of solutions of Bessel’s equation has an implicit as-
sumption that 𝑝 ≥ 0, so −𝑝 ≤ 0.
592 Line −5 In the second displayed equation from the bottom of the page, the
expression 𝑥2𝑥+2𝑝−1 on the right-hand side should be 𝑥2𝑛+2𝑝−1 .
602 Last line In the integral on the left-hand side of the displayed equation at the
bottom of the page, the notation is confusing and technically wrong.
The notation 𝑑(𝑟∕𝑎) indicates that the integration variable is 𝑟∕𝑎
(equivalently 𝑥), so the limits of integration should be 0 and 1, not
0 and 𝑎. In the integral on the right-hand side of the equation, the
integration variable is explicitly 𝑟, so the limits of integration are
correctly 0 and 𝑎.
604 Problem 4 The problem should ask for lim 𝐽𝑝 (𝑥)𝑁𝑝 (𝑥) (the limit of the product)
𝑥→0
instead of lim 𝐽𝑝 (𝑥)∕𝑁𝑝 (𝑥) (the limit of the quotient).
𝑥→0
615 Problems 2 & 3 There is a missing left parenthesis in the binomial coefficient.
618 Problem 26 In the last sentence, the subscript on 𝑗 should be the letter “ell”
instead of the number “one”.
618 Problem 28 The reference to L24 should be L34. (The reference to L23 is cor-
rect.)
621 Problem 4 The letter 𝑇 , not explicitly defined, denotes temperature, the same
quantity denoted by the generic letter 𝑢 in equation (1.3) on
page 619.
621 Section 2 At the end of the first paragraph, there is a missing period at the end
of the parenthetical sentence.
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Page Location Correction

624 After (2.14) In the second line following equation (2.14), the expression that
arises when 𝑦 = 30 is actually 12 𝑒0 − 21 𝑒0 , not 𝑒0 − 𝑒0 , but is equal
to 0 as claimed.
634 After (4.4) In the line of text following equation (4.4), for “are are” read “are”.
∑∞
∑∞
635 (4.11) The first sum should say , not .
𝑛=1 𝑛1
638 Problem 12 In the second line, the reference to the nonexistent equation (2.25)
should be (2.15).
645 (6.6) For 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑘𝑣𝑡∕𝑎 read cos 𝑘𝑣𝑡∕𝑎 with “cos” in upright font.
647 Line 9 Replace 11 by 12 .
649 Line 4 Insert a space following the italicized word harmonics.
651 Problem 18 The delimiters are unmatched in the displayed equation: the expres-
sion [𝑉 (𝑟) − 𝐸) should be [𝑉 (𝑟) − 𝐸].
652 Problem 22 In the line following the displayed equation, the quantity 𝛼 2 should
be the reciprocal of what is indicated: namely, −ℏ2 ∕(2𝑀𝐸).
655 Figure 8.4 In the caption, “FIgure” should be “Figure” (lowercase i).
|𝑧 + Δ𝑧|2 − |𝑧|2
669 Example 2 Make the displayed formula read simply lim by
Δ𝑧→0 Δ𝑧
deleting the initial “ lim =”.
Δ𝑧→0
671 Last paragraph The equation in the second line has two errors. The symbol 𝑑 in
the first denominator should be 𝜕, and the expression should be set
equal to zero, thus: ∇2 𝜙 = 𝜕 2 𝜙∕𝜕𝑥2 + 𝜕 2 𝜙∕𝜕𝑦2 = 0.
677 Problem 5 The first integral needs a 𝑑𝑧.
677 Problem 9 In the denominator of the integrand, 𝑥 should be 𝑧.
677 Problem 14 Change the parenthetical comment to read as follows: “(Note that
although we take 𝑛 > 𝑚 to make 𝑧𝑛−𝑚−1 analytic at 𝑧 = 0, the change
of variable 𝑥 = −𝑡 completes the proof for all 𝑛 ≠ 𝑚.)”
696 Example 6 At the top of the page, Θ = 3𝜃 should say Θ ≅ 3𝜃. In the fourth line
(two lines after the displayed formula), the equation tan 𝜃 = −∞
should read tan Θ = −∞ with a capital Θ.
711 Example 1 Line 5 should read: “at any point of the plate [see equation
(13.3.7)].”
730 Last line For “apace” read “space”.
733 Line −13 In the displayed formula for 𝑃 (𝐴), the factor (0.095) should be in-
stead (0.95). The final answer 0.0755 is correct.
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Page Location Correction

753 Example 4 In the expression for Var(𝑦), the second integral should be
ℎ ( )2
1
𝑦 − 23 ℎ √ 𝑑𝑦.
∫0 2 ℎ(ℎ − 𝑦)

The final answer, 4ℎ2 ∕45, is correct.

( )
499 998
769 Example 2 In the displayed formula, the term should be instead
( )1498 500
499
with exponent 1498. The final answer, 0.2241, is cor-
500
rect.
Two lines after the display, delete the extraneous period after
the parenthetical remark. In the following line, the equation
𝜇 𝑥 𝑒−𝑥 ∕𝑥! = 32 𝑒−2 ∕2! should read 𝜇 𝑥 𝑒−𝜇 ∕𝑥! = 32 𝑒−3 ∕2!; the final
answer, 0.2240, is correct.
∑𝑛 ∑𝑛
775 Problem 2 For 𝑥 = 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 read 𝑥 = (1∕𝑛) 𝑖=1 𝑥𝑖 with a factor 1∕𝑛.
775 Problem 5 The reference to the nonexistent formula (10.14) should be to
(10.13).
781 6.5 For “b D” read “(b) D”; the answer is intended to be given for
part (b) of the problem.
783 5.46 The indicated solution should exclude the case that 𝑥 = 𝑦 = 0.
784 Section 14 The given answers are the solutions that a computer most likely
would produce. In some cases, there are additional possible an-
swers. For 14.2, 14.3, 14.5, and 14.6, one can add 2𝜋𝑖𝑛 to the
2 1
given answer. For 14.10, the general solution is 𝑒−𝜋 ( 4 +𝑛) . For 14.11
and 14.14, one can multiply the given solution by 𝑒−2𝜋𝑛 . For 14.15,
the general solution is 𝑒−(𝜋 sinh 1)(1+2𝑛) . For 14.23, there are two sets of
1
solutions: 𝑒 2 𝜋−2𝜋𝑛 and (0.4361 + 0.4533𝑖)𝑒−2𝜋𝑛 . The given solutions
to 14.8, 14.18, and 14.20 are complete.
2
785 17.6 The answer can be multiplied by 𝑒−2𝜋 𝑛 .
785 17.7 The answer can be multiplied by 𝑒−2𝜋𝑛 .
787 Problem 8.23 The 𝜆 = 8 solution √ should be 𝑦 = −2𝑥.
787 Problem 10.3 cos(𝐁, 𝐃) = 17∕ 345.
792 Problem 10.5 The answer should be 4𝜋 ⋅ 55 .
799 Problem 11.23 In both (a) and (c), the denominator of the third answer (spherical
coordinates) should be 𝑟2 sin 𝜃 instead of 𝑟 sin 𝜃.
800 Problem 5.6 In the answer to Problem 5.6 from Chapter 9, the term −𝑔 sin 𝜃
should be +𝑔 sin 𝜃. √
𝑑𝑟 𝑟 𝑟4 − 𝐾 2
800 Problem 8.4 The answer should be = .
𝑑𝜃 𝐾
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Page Location Correction

800 Problem 4.6 The answer to Problem 4.6 from Chapter 10 should be that

⎛ 9 −3 0⎞
I = ⎜−3 9 0⎟ ;
⎜ ⎟
⎝ 0 0 6⎠

the principal moments are (12, 6, 6); the principal axes are along the
vector (1, −1, 0) and any two orthogonal vectors in the plane 𝑥 = 𝑦,
say (1, 1, 0) and (0, 0, 1).
805 Problem 6.8 The Bessel function 𝐽𝑛 (𝑘𝑚𝑛 𝑟) should be 𝐽𝑛 (𝑘𝑚𝑛 𝑟∕𝑎). In the expres-
sion for 𝐸𝑚𝑛 , the letter 𝑚 is overloaded: in the numerator, the sub-
script 𝑚 is a positive integer, but in the denominator, the symbol 𝑚
denotes the mass of a particle.
807 Problem 4.8 The Laurent series valid when |𝑧| < 1 should be −5 + 256 𝑧 − 18536
𝑧2 +
⋯. The printed solution mistakenly has 175 instead of 185 in the
numerator of the coefficient of 𝑧2 .
809 Problem 9.5 The answer assumes a Poisson distribution. It is arguable whether
that probability model is appropriate in this problem.