Electrostatics Manual v1.

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Salvatore Cardamone 21/07/2012

1. The Laplace Equation

1.1 Introduction

Laplaces Equation is a second order partial differential equation [PDE] of the form

where is a function which is twice-differentiable. Solutions to Laplaces Equation are termed harmonic functions. In quantum mechanics [QM], is termed the wave function, and is a function of the positions of a quantum particle in a system. Such a term features prominently in the Schrodinger equation ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

Here, denotes all coordinates for which is defined by. In our case, it will prove beneficial to adopt spherical ( ). Note also that the above formulation of the Schrodinger equation is timepolar coordinates, i.e. independent. The true Schrodinger equation accounts for the fact that the wave function is also a function of time. However, the addition of this variable is of no use to us, and so we omit it. In Cartesian coordinates, Laplaces equation may be written

The conversion of this to spherical polar coordinates is long and laborious, and so the result is presented. The derivation requires simple trigonometry, and may be found in many introductory physics textbooks for the more pedantic student ( ) ( ) ( )

) ( ) ( ) ( ). Separating Considering how this is a PDE, we must look for solutions of the form ( the variables in such a manner, however, requires that our coordinate system be orthogonal, which places certain constraints upon our solutions, as we shall see later on. For now, we simply state that our coordinate system is orthogonal, which allows us to write ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ( )) ( ) ( ) ( ( )) ( ) ( ) ( )

We may simplify this by separating the variables, which means multiplying both sides by the reciprocal of ( ) ( ) ( ) , which leaves us with ( ( )) ( ( )) ( )

( )

( )

( )

Multiplying both sides by ( ( )) ( ( )) ( )

( )

( )

( )

The first term in the above expression contains both r and , meaning we have not fully separated the variables. However, the final term is a function of alone, meaning that for the equation to be true, this term must be equal to a constant, which we call m. Whether this constant is positive or negative is as of yet undetermined. We

may, however, impose a few constraints, in that the potential must be single-valued, i.e. the points ( ( ), so that ( ) ( ).

In other words, we require harmonic solutions, which impose a further constraint, in that m must be negative ( ) ( ) Note the similarity of this ordinary differential equation [ODE] to that of classical simple harmonic motion [SHM], whereby ( ) which has solutions ( ) Similarly ( ) ( ), which is true if and only if m is an integer. Additionally, we require periodicity, so that We shall say that the solution to this part of the Laplace Equation may be represented by . We now replace the term with m2, and divide both sides by ( ( )) ( leading to ( )) ( )

( )

( )

Now the first term is a function of only r whilst the other two terms are both functions of , so that to be true for all r and , the first term must be equal to a constant, B ( ( ) ) ( ( ) ) ( )

( )

Additionally, the sum of the other two terms must equal this same constant, thereby giving ( ( )) ( ( )) ( ) ( )

( )

We tackle the solutions to the radial and coltaitudal parts of Laplaces equation separately 1.2 Radial Solution

We have found that ( In order to solve this, we implement the product rule ( ) ( ( ) ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ) ( )

( )

( )

( )

A differential equation of this form represents an Euler-Cauchy Differential Equation, which is formally represented as ( ) We have here represented R(r) with y for simplicity in the following calculations. Now, remembering that if we may define , we say that

The second derivative then becomes ( ) [ ( )] * +

We may utilise these results in our Euler-Cauchy Equation ( ( ) ( )) ( ( ) ) ( )

( )

( )

( )

Which is a simple second order ODE, the characteristic equation for which is given in the expanded form

We assume 2 distinct roots to this equation,

and ( )

, the general solution of which is given by

Remembering that ( ) We shall return to the true identities of the part of Laplaces Equation. 1.3 Colatitudinal Solution and roots once we have discussed the solution to the coltaitudal

We have found that ( ( )) ( ) ( )

We may utilise the product rule once again to expand the term in brackets, and tidying up, we obtain ( ) ( ) ( )( )

( ), where | |, the above becomes the Whilst not entirely recognisable in this form, if we define Sturm-Liouville Equation. Setting m = 0 results in the Legendre Differential Equation. The solutions of this equation, ( ), are the Legendre Polynomials, . We now use the fact that ( ) to derive the values of given as the roots to the radial part of the Laplace Equation. Primarily, we return to , which reduces to ( ( As such, we state that and ( )( ) )

), giving us the solution ( )

( )

We now have solutions to each of the variables which make up product of all 3 solutions ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
(

(
)

), meaning we can write as a

It is possible to simplify this somewhat, by amalgamating the solutions for ( ) and ( ) into ( ) ( ) ( )

( ), are termed Spherical Harmonics of rank l and m, and are defined as the solution to These solutions, the angular portion of Laplaces Equation. We must, however, remember that the values of l and m are not fixed. The true solution to Laplaces Equation is in fact a superposition of all allowed values of l and m, i.e. ( )
( )

2. Legendre Polynomials
An extremely important factor which we must mention is the orthonormalisation of the Legendre Polynomials. We again state the function we used to generate a Sturm-Liouville equation ( ) Reformulating this somewhat * + ( ) ( ( )) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ( ))

It is clear to see in this form that the Sturm-Liouville equation is in fact an eigenvalue equation. This imposes certain constraints on available solutions. Most important of these is that the eigenfunctions form an orthonormal basis, which shall be expanded upon now. 2.1 Azimuthally Symmetric

If we take the general Legendre Differential Equation which is azimuthally symmetric, i.e. ignore the solution to the F() portion of Laplaces Equation

[( And multiply through by ( ) [(

( )]

) ( )

) ( )]

( )

) ( ) ( )

We subtract from this an equivalent expression, but with the roles of l and n reversed

[(

) ( )]

( )

[(

) ( )]

( )

[(

)]

( ) ( )

As opposed to integrating the entirety of this function, we integrate the first term by parts between x = -1 and x = +1. If this term can be substantially simplified, the second term is essentially equivalent and we may do the same to that [( ) ( )] ( ) [( ) ( [ ) ( ) ( ) ]

) term becomes zero, meaning that the entirety of the At the boundary conditions we impose, the ( integral is equal to zero. As such, we disregard the first two terms in the above expression, and are left with [( Unless l(l+1) = n(n+1), this means that ( ) ( ) ) ( )] ( ) ( )

Since l and m are non-negative integers, l(l+1) = n(n+1) can only be true if l = n. As such, we can state the orthogonality conditions of the Legendre Polynomials ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

We now need to solve for the constant terms, Cn, This may only be done once we have decided upon a normalisation condition for the Legendre Polynomials. By convention, the normalisation condition is ( ) In order to evaluate the above integral, we require an explicit way of expressing the Legendre Polynomials, which may be done by use of Rodrigues Formula ( ) We remind ourselves that we wish to calculate [ ( )] By use of Rodrigues Formula and large amounts of rearranging, we find that ( )

It is not the objective of this document to perform long and laborious derivations, particularly those which focus on extensive algebraic manipulations, but if you wish to see the full work through, the document entitled Methods of Theoretical Physics: I gives a full account of the problem, and is listed in the references. As such, we suffice in stating that the orthonormalisation condition of the Legendre Polynomials is given by [ ( )] We note that this is written in Cartesian coordinates when our formulation of Laplaces equation was given in spherical polar coordinates. Transformation between the two is simple, by use of the relationship x = cos . Additionally, our boundary conditions must be altered, which is done by multiplying the integrand by sin and changing the period over which we integrate to between 0 and 2.2 Associated Legendre Functions ( ) ( )

This class of functions requires no constraints placed upon the Legendre functions being azimuthally symmetric. As such, we state our Associated Legendre Equation [( ) ( )] *( ) + ( ) ( )

Where P(x) are the solutions to the Associated Legendre Equation. We begin by stating that and substitute this into the above [( ) ( ) ] *( ) +( )

After substantial levels of supposedly simple algebra [which I cannot seem to derive], we obtain the following relationship ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

( ) is a solution to the Associated Legendre Equation. Where ( ) is a Legendre Polynomial and Substituting this back into the Associated Legendre Equation *( ) ( ) + *( ) + ( )

It is clear that we must have otherwise the m-fold derivative of the lth Legendre Polynomial will give zero. Recall also Rodrigues Formula, which gives us an expression of Pl(x). Substituting this in ( ) ( ( ) ) ( ( ) ) ( ) ( ( ) )

Surprisingly enough, this formula now makes sense for negative values of m as well as positive ones, provided that | | , as the derivative will still yield a result other than zero. Thus, we have constructed Associated Legendre Functions for all integers m in the interval .

We also note that the equation itself is invariant under switching m to m, as the only term involving m is a squared term in the Associated Legendre Equation. This means that if we take a solution with a given m, then turning m into m gives another separate solution. Analysis of the formula for the Associated Legendre ( ) and ( ) are regular, and so must be linearly dependent upon one Functions shows us that both another, i.e. ( ) ( )

Use of the Associated Legendre Functions and the above relationship allows us to determine the value of k quite easily ( ) ( If we look only at the highest power of x ( ) ( ) ( ( ) ) ( ) ( ( ( ( ( ) ( ) ( ( ) ) ) ) ( ) ) ) ( ) ) ( ( ) ) ( ( ) )

( )

Using this result, we can quite easily determine the normalisation integral for the Associated Legendre Functions. The relevant integral which we need to evaluate is ( ) ( )

Using the same method which we already employed for the azimuthally symmetric case, it is easy to show that this integral is equal to zero, unless l=n. For this, we can make use of the above case ( ) ( )
( ( ) )

( )** [ ( )] ( ) ( ( ) ) ( ) ( )

We use Rodrigues Formula to evaluate the constants Clm ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

) ( (

) )

) terms as opposed to adding them. Note that by making use of **, we have managed to cancel the ( Integrating the above by parts l+m times, and noting that boundary terms give zero, we eventually obtain ( )( ) )

( In other words, we have shown that ( ) ( )

( (

) )

Which is the orthonormalisation condition of the Associated Legendre Polynomials.

3. The Spherical Harmonics

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