Legendre Polynomials - Applications of Legendre Polynomials in Physics

Applications of Legendre Polynomials in Physics

The Legendre polynomials were first introduced in 1782 by Adrien-Marie Legendre as the coefficients in the expansion of the Newtonian potential

\frac{1}{\left| \mathbf{x}-\mathbf{x}^\prime \right|} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{r^2+r^{\prime 2}-2rr'\cos\gamma}} = \sum_{\ell=0}^{\infty} \frac{r^{\prime \ell}}{r^{\ell+1}} P_{\ell}(\cos \gamma)

where and are the lengths of the vectors and respectively and is the angle between those two vectors. The series converges when . The expression gives the gravitational potential associated to a point mass or the Coulomb potential associated to a point charge. The expansion using Legendre polynomials might be useful, for instance, when integrating this expression over a continuous mass or charge distribution.

Legendre polynomials occur in the solution of Laplace equation of the potential, in a charge-free region of space, using the method of separation of variables, where the boundary conditions have axial symmetry (no dependence on an azimuthal angle). Where is the axis of symmetry and is the angle between the position of the observer and the axis (the zenith angle), the solution for the potential will be

\Phi(r,\theta)=\sum_{\ell=0}^{\infty} \left P_\ell(\cos\theta).

and are to be determined according to the boundary condition of each problem.

They also appear when solving Schrödinger equation in three dimensions for a central force.

Legendre polynomials in multipole expansions

Legendre polynomials are also useful in expanding functions of the form (this is the same as before, written a little differently):

\frac{1}{\sqrt{1 + \eta^{2} - 2\eta x}} = \sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \eta^{k} P_{k}(x)

which arise naturally in multipole expansions. The left-hand side of the equation is the generating function for the Legendre polynomials.

As an example, the electric potential (in spherical coordinates) due to a point charge located on the z-axis at (Figure 2) varies like

\Phi (r, \theta ) \propto \frac{1}{R} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{r^{2} + a^{2} - 2ar \cos\theta}}.

If the radius r of the observation point P is greater than a, the potential may be expanded in the Legendre polynomials

\Phi(r, \theta) \propto \frac{1}{r} \sum_{k=0}^{\infty} \left( \frac{a}{r} \right)^{k} P_{k}(\cos \theta)

where we have defined η = a/r < 1 and x = cos θ. This expansion is used to develop the normal multipole expansion.

Conversely, if the radius r of the observation point P is smaller than a, the potential may still be expanded in the Legendre polynomials as above, but with a and r exchanged. This expansion is the basis of interior multipole expansion.

Read more about this topic:  Legendre Polynomials

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