In mathematics, Rodrigues' formula (formerly called the Ivory–Jacobi formula) generates the Legendre polynomials. It was independently introduced by Olinde Rodrigues (1816), Sir James Ivory (1824) and Carl Gustav Jacobi (1827). The name "Rodrigues formula" was introduced by Heine in 1878, after Hermite pointed out in 1865 that Rodrigues was the first to discover it. The term is also used to describe similar formulas for other orthogonal polynomials. Askey (2005) describes the history of the Rodrigues formula in detail.

Let ${\displaystyle (P_{n}(x))_{n=0}^{\infty }}$ be a sequence of orthogonal polynomials defined on the interval ${\displaystyle [a,b]}$ satisfying the orthogonality condition $${\displaystyle \int _{a}^{b}P_{m}(x)P_{n}(x)w(x)\,dx=K_{n}\delta _{m,n},}$$ where ${\displaystyle w(x)}$ is a suitable weight function, ${\displaystyle K_{n}}$ is a constant depending on ${\displaystyle n}$, and ${\displaystyle \delta _{m,n}}$ is the Kronecker delta. The weight function w(x)=W(x)/B(x) where the integration factor W(x) satisfies the equation $${\displaystyle {\frac {W'(x)}{W(x)}}={\frac {A(x)}{B(x)}},}$$ where ${\displaystyle A(x)}$ is a polynomial with degree at most 1 and ${\displaystyle B(x)}$ is a polynomial with degree at most 2. For instance, for the Legendre polynomials, B(x)=1-x*x and A(x)=-2x. This gives W(x)=1-x*x and w(x)=1. Further, the limits $${\displaystyle \lim _{x\to a}w(x)B(x)=0,\qquad \lim _{x\to b}w(x)B(x)=0.}$$ Then it can be shown that ${\displaystyle P_{n}(x)}$ satisfies a relation of the form, $${\displaystyle P_{n}(x)={\frac {c_{n}}{w(x)}}{\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}\!\left[B(x)^{n}w(x)\right],}$$ for some constants ${\displaystyle c_{n}}$. This relation is called Rodrigues' type formula, or just Rodrigues' formula.^[1]

Polynomials obtained from Rodrigues' formula obey the second order differential equation for the classical orthogonal polynomials

$B(x){\frac {d^{2}}{dx^{2}}}P_{n}(x)+A(x){\frac {d}{dx}}P_{n}(x)+\lambda _{n}P_{n}(x)=0$

$\lambda _{n}=-{\frac {1}{2}}n(n-1)B''-nA'$

The second derivative of B(x) and first derivative of A(x) are constants. Continuing the example of the Legendre polynomials,

$\lambda _{n}=n(n+1)$

The following proof shows that the polynomials obtained from the Rodrigues' formula obey the second order differential equation just given. This proof repeatedly uses the fact that the second derivative of B(x) and the first derivative of A(x) are constants. Using

${\frac {1}{w(x)}}=B(x)exp(-\int {{\frac {A(x)}{B(x)}}dx})$

the differential equation that we are to prove may be put in the form

$B(x){\frac {d^{2}}{dx^{2}}}I_{n}(x)+(2B'(x)-A(x)){\frac {d}{dx}}I_{n}(x)+(2B''-A'+\lambda _{n})I_{n}(x)=0$

$I_{n}(x)={\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}(B^{n}(x)w(x))$

This is equivalent to

${\frac {d^{2}}{dx^{2}}}(B(x)I_{n}(x))-{\frac {d}{dx}}(A(x)I_{n}(x))+\lambda _{n}I_{n}(x)=0$

This is the differential equation that we will prove to be true. We will do so using the following two identities that move B(x) and A(x) to the other side of the $n^{th}$ derivative

$B(x){\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}y={\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}(B(x)y)-n{\frac {d^{n-1}}{dx^{n-1}}}(B'(x)y)+{\frac {n(n-1)}{2}}{\frac {d^{n-2}}{dx^{n-2}}}(B''y)$

$A(x){\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}y={\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}(A(x)y)-n{\frac {d^{n-1}}{dx^{n-1}}}(A'y)$

$y=B^{n}(x)w(x)$

The second order, first order, and zero-th order derivatives have the respective forms ${\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}J(x)$, ${\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}K(x)$, ${\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}L(x)$.

$J(x)={\frac {d^{2}}{dx^{2}}}(B^{n+1}(x)w(x))-n{\frac {d}{dx}}(B'(x)B^{n}(x)w(x))+{\frac {n(n-1)}{2}}(B''B^{n}(x)w(x))$

$K(x)=-{\frac {d}{dx}}(A(x)B^{n}(x)w(x))+nA'B^{n}(x)w(x)$

$L(x)=\lambda _{n}B^{n}(x)w(x)$

$J(x)$ has three terms, call them in order $J_{1}(x)$, $J_{2}(x)$, and $J_{3}(x)$. $K(x)$ has two terms, call them in order $K_{1}(x)$ and $K_{2}(x)$. The sum $J_{1}(x)+J_{2}(x)+K_{1}(x)$ is zero. The sum $J_{3}(x)+K_{2}(x)+L(x)$ is zero provided that $\lambda _{n}$ is given by the equation given earlier. Done.

The most known applications of Rodrigues' type formulas are the formulas for Legendre, Laguerre and Hermite polynomials:

Rodrigues stated his formula for Legendre polynomials ${\displaystyle P_{n}}$: $${\displaystyle P_{n}(x)={\frac {1}{2^{n}n!}}{\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}\!\left[(x^{2}-1)^{n}\right]\!.}$$

Laguerre polynomials are usually denoted L₀, L₁, ..., and the Rodrigues formula can be written as $${\displaystyle L_{n}(x)={\frac {e^{x}}{n!}}{\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}\!\left[e^{-x}x^{n}\right]={\frac {1}{n!}}\left({\frac {d}{dx}}-1\right)^{n}x^{n},}$$

The Rodrigues formula for the Hermite polynomials can be written as $${\displaystyle H_{n}(x)=(-1)^{n}e^{x^{2}}{\frac {d^{n}}{dx^{n}}}\!\left[e^{-x^{2}}\right]=\left(2x-{\frac {d}{dx}}\right)^{n}\cdot 1.}$$

Similar formulae hold for many other sequences of orthogonal functions arising from Sturm–Liouville equations, and these are also called the Rodrigues formula (or Rodrigues' type formula) for that case, especially when the resulting sequence is polynomial.

• Askey, Richard (2005), "The 1839 paper on permutations: its relation to the Rodrigues formula and further developments", in Altmann, Simón L.; Ortiz, Eduardo L. (eds.), Mathematics and social utopias in France: Olinde Rodrigues and his times, History of mathematics, vol. 28, Providence, R.I.: American Mathematical Society, pp. 105–118, ISBN 978-0-8218-3860-0
• Ivory, James (1824), "On the Figure Requisite to Maintain the Equilibrium of a Homogeneous Fluid Mass That Revolves Upon an Axis", Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 114, The Royal Society: 85–150, doi:10.1098/rstl.1824.0008, JSTOR 107707
• Jacobi, C. G. J. (1827), "Ueber eine besondere Gattung algebraischer Functionen, die aus der Entwicklung der Function (1 − 2xz + z²)^1/2 entstehen.", Journal für die Reine und Angewandte Mathematik (in German), 2: 223–226, doi:10.1515/crll.1827.2.223, ISSN 0075-4102, S2CID 120291793
• O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Olinde Rodrigues", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews
• Rodrigues, Olinde (1816), "De l'attraction des sphéroïdes", Correspondence sur l'École Impériale Polytechnique, (Thesis for the Faculty of Science of the University of Paris), 3 (3): 361–385