Reading Quiz for Orthonormal Functions Lecture, Due 9/17, E&M, Nathan Saunders

What situation in best for each method of calculating potential?

 Method of images: One or more point charges in the presence of boundary surfaces, like
conductors that are grounded or at fixed potentials
 Green’s function: Finite regions of space with or without charge and with known
boundary conditions
o Dirichlet: known potential on a closed surface like conductors held at different
potentials
o Neumann: known electric field everywhere on the surface and thus known surface
charge density
 Orthonormal functions: more complex problems where orthogonal and orthonormal
functions can describe the potential found in the problem

What does it mean that two functions are orthonormal?

 Orthogonal (inner product of the functions=0) + normal (unit vectors) = orthonormal

What is an orthonormal basis of an inner-product space?

 0

How can a random function be expanded with the basis?

 Can be expanded into the best choice of coefficients and of a series of orthonormal
functions

How can the coefficients in the expansion be determined?

 Minimizing the mean square error

Do we need to know all the coefficients or just some of them? Why?

 No, I think to save time we know that the sum of coefficients with their functions sums
up to the function it is trying to describe (converge into the mean, completeness/closure
relation) and we know that all orthonormal function sets that normally occur have already
been proven to be complete
Write down detailed expressions of the following functions and see if you can find visual
presentations of the them.

 Fourier series: Decomposition of any periodic function into the sum of a set of simple
oscillating functions, sines and cosines

https://www.dummies.com/education/science/synthesizing-signals-with-the-fourier-
series/
 Spherical harmonics: Can represent functions defined on the surface of a sphere (similar
to how Fourier can define functions on a circle w/ sines and cosines), ‘harmonic’ because
they satisfy Laplace’s equation. Used to represent multipole fields.
 Bessel functions: Appear in solution to Laplace’s equation in cylindrical coordinates,
cylindrical harmonics, electromagnetic waves in a cylindrical waveguide and static
potential, follows Bessel’s differential equation
Write down Laplace’s equation. Split it into a few differential equations following the separation
of variables procedure. Write down the final combined solution for potential.

𝑑2 𝑉 𝑑2 𝑉 𝑑2 𝑉
 Cartesian: ∇2 𝑉 = 𝑑𝑥 2 + 𝑑𝑦 2 + 𝑑𝑧 2 = 0, 𝑉(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑋(𝑥)𝑌(𝑦)𝑍(𝑧),

1 𝑑2𝑋 1 𝑑2𝑌 1 𝑑2 𝑍
0= + +
𝑋(𝑥) 𝑑𝑥 2 𝑌(𝑦) 𝑑𝑦 2 𝑍(𝑧) 𝑑𝑧 2
1 𝑑 𝑑𝑉 1 𝑑 𝑑𝑉 1 𝑑2 𝑉
 Spherical: ∇2 𝑉 = 𝑟 2 𝑑𝑟 (𝑟 2 𝑑𝑟 ) + 𝑟 2 sin(𝑡) 𝑑𝑡 (sin(𝑡) 𝑑𝑡 ) + 𝑟 2 sin2(𝑡) 𝑑𝑝2 = 0,
1 𝑑 𝑑𝑅 1 𝑑 𝑑𝑇 1 𝑑2 𝑃
𝑉(𝑟, 𝑡, 𝑝) = 𝑅(𝑟)𝑇(𝑡)𝑃(𝑝), 0 = 𝑟 2 𝑅 𝑑𝑟 (𝑟 2 𝑑𝑟 ) + 𝑇𝑟 2 sin(𝑡) 𝑑𝑡 (sin(𝑡) 𝑑𝑡 ) + 𝑃𝑟 2 sin2(𝑡) 𝑑𝑝2
1 𝑑 𝑑𝑉 1 𝑑2 𝑉 𝑑2 𝑉
 Cylindrical: ∇2 𝑉 = 𝑠 𝑑𝑠 (𝑠 𝑑𝑠 ) + 𝑠2 (𝑑𝑝2 ) + 𝑑𝑧 2 = 0, 𝑉(𝑠, 𝑝, 𝑧) = 𝑆(𝑠)𝑃(𝑝)𝑍(𝑧),

1 𝑑 𝑑𝑆 1 𝑑2𝑃 1 𝑑2𝑍
0= (𝑠 ) + 2 2 +
𝑠𝑆 𝑑𝑠 𝑑𝑠 𝑃𝑠 𝑑𝑝 𝑍 𝑑𝑧 2