Electricity and Magnetism - Homework Assignment 5

Alejandro Gomez Espinosa

November 16, 2012
Jackson, 4.1 Calculate the multipole moments q
lm
of the charge distributions shown as parts a and b.
Try to obtain results for the nonvanishing moments valid for all l, but in each case nd the rst two
sets of nonvanishing moments at the very least.
Figure 1: Sketch of Problem 3.7
(a) For the problem in the Figure 1 (a), we can write the charge density in spherical coordinates
as:
(r, , ) =
q
a
2
(r a)(cos )
_
()
_

3
2
_
( ) +
_


2
_
_
Then, the multipole moments are dene as:
q
lm
=
_
Y

lm
(

)r
l

(r

)dr

=
_
Y

lm
(

)r
l

_
q
a
2
(r

a)(cos

)
_
(

)
_

3
2
_

_
+
_

2
_
__
dr

= qa
l
_

0
_
2
0
Y

lm
(

)(cos

)
_
(

)
_

3
2
_

_
+
_

2
_
_
sin

= qa
l

2l + 1
4
(l m)!
(l + m)!
P
m
l
(0)
_
2
0
e
im

_
(

)
_

3
2
_

_
+
_

2
_
_
d

= qa
l

2l + 1
4
(l m)!
(l + m)!
P
m
l
(0) (1 i
m
(1)
m
(i)
m
)

gomez@physics.rutgers.edu
1
where we can see that when m is odd, the moment vanish. Therefore, changing m = 2k + 1,
we found:
q
l,2k+1
= 2qa
l
_
1 (i)
k
_

2l + 1
4
(l (2k + 1))!
(l + 2k + 1)!)
P
2k+l
l
(0)
= 2qa
l
_
1 (i)
k
_
Y
l,2k+1
_

2
, 0
_
Finally, the lowest non-trivial moments are:
q
1,1
= 2qa(1 i)
_
3
8
q
1,1
= 2qa(1 i)
_
3
8
q
3,3
= 2qa
3
(1 i)
1
4
_
35
4
q
3,1
= 2qa
3
(1 i)
1
4
_
21
4
q
3,1
= 2qa
3
(1 i)
1
4
_
21
4
q
3,3
= 2qa
3
(1 i)
1
4
_
35
4
(b) Using the same procedure as part (a). The charge density is given by:
(r, , ) =
q
2a
2
(r a) ( (cos 1) + (cos + 1))
2q
4r
2
(r)
where the multipole moments are:
q
lm
=
_
Y

lm
_

_
r

l
(r

)dr

=
_
Y

lm
_

_
r

l
_
q
2a
2
(r a) ( (cos 1) + (cos + 1))
2q
4r
2
(r)
_
dr

=
q
2
_

0
_
2
0
a
l
Y

lm
_

_
( (cos 1) + (cos + 1)) sin

dr

2q
4
_

0
_
2
0
_

0
Y

lm
_

_
r

l
(r

) sin

dr

= qa
l
(Y

lm
(0, 0) + Y

lm
(, 0))
where the last step was solved using Mathematica. In the case of azimuthal symmetry all
moments vanish except for the moments where m = 0 and l > 0, then:
q
l0
= qa
l
_
2l + 1
4
(P
l
(1) + P
l
(1))
= qa
l
_
1 + (1)
l
_
_
2l + 1
4
2
Finally, the lowest multipole moments are:
q
20
=
_
5

qa
2
q
40
=
_
9

qa
4
(c) For the charge distribution of the second set b write down the multipole expansion for the
potential. Keeping only the lowest-order term in the expansion, plot the potential in the x-y
plane as a function of distance from the origin for distances greater than a.
The potential in this case is written as:
=
1
4
0

lm
4
2l + 1
q
lm
r
l+1
Y
lm
(, )
=
1

l=even
q
2l + 1
a
l
r
l+1
_
2l + 1

Y
l0
(, )
=
q
2
0

l=even
a
l
r
l+1
P
l
(cos )
=
q
4
0
a
2
r
3
(3 cos
2
1) + ...
=
q
4
0
a
2
r
3
+ ... cos = 0 plane x y
where we kept only the lowest order term in the expansion.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
1/x^3
Figure 2: Sketch of the potential due to the lowest order term.
3
(d) Calculate directly from Coulombs law the exact potential for b in the x-y plane. Plot it as a
function of distance and compare with the result found in part c. Divide out the asymptotic
form in parts c and d to see the behavior at large distances more clearly.
We can sum the potential of three charges as:
=
q
4
0
_
1
|r
2
+ a z|
+
1
|r
2
a z|

2
|r|
_
=
2q
4
0
_
1

r
2
+ a
2

1
r
_
=
q
2
0
_
_
1
1
_
1 +
_
a
r
_
2
_
_
This potential is sketch in Figure 3 with the comparison with the results in (c).
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
Figure 3: Sketch of the potential using Coulombss law. Dashed line represents the potential from part
(c).
4
Jackson, 4.7 A localized distribution of charge has a charge density
(r) =
1
64
r
2
e
r
sin
2

(a) Make a multipole expansion of the potential due to this charge density and determine all the non-
vanishing multipole moments. Write down the potential at large distances as a nite expansion
in Legendre polynomials.
Lets calculate the multipole moments due to the charge density given:
q
lm
=
_
Y

lm
_

_
r

l
(r

)dr

=
_
Y

lm
_

_
r

l
_
1
64
r

2
e
r

sin
2

_
dr

=
1
64
_
_
2l + 1
4
P
l
(cos

)r

l+2
e
r

_
1 cos
2

_
dr

=
1
32
_
2l + 1
4
_

0
_
1
1
P
l
(cos

)r

l+2
e
r
2
3
(P
0
(cos ) P
2
(cos )) r

2
drd(cos )
=
1
48
_
2l + 1
4
_

0
_
1
1
P
l
(cos

)r

l+4
e
r

(P
0
(cos ) P
2
(cos )) drd(cos )
where due to orthogonality, all the terms must vanished except when l = 0 and l = 2. Then:
q
0
=
1
48
_
1
4
_

0
r

4
e
r

dr

=
1
2
_
1
4
q
2
=
1
120
_
5
4
_

0
r

6
e
r

dr

= 6
_
5
4
Finally, the multipole expansion for the potential is given by:
=
1
4
0

lm
4
2l + 1
q
lm
r
l+1
Y
lm
(, )
=
1
4
0

l
_
4
2l + 1
q
l0
r
l+1
P
l
(cos )
=
1
4
0
_
1
2r

6
r
3
P
2
(cos )
_
(b) Determine the potential explicitly at any point in space, and show that near the origin, correct
to r
2
inclusive,
(r)
1
4
0
_
1
4

r
2
120
P
2
(cos )
_
(1)
To determine the potential, we can use the Greens function with azimuthal symmetry with
m = 0 to work only with the rst terms of the expansion:
G(x, x

) =

l
r
l
<
r
l+1
>
P
l
(cos )P
l
(cos

)
5
Then, the potential can be written as:
=
1
4
0
_
(x

)G(x, x

)dr

=
1
4
0
_
1
64
r

2
e
r

sin
2

r
l
<
r
l+1
>
P
l
(cos )P
l
(cos

)dr

=
1
128
0
_

0
_
1
1
r

4
e
r
r
l
<
r
l+1
>
2
3
(P
0
(cos

) P
2
(cos

))P
l
(cos )P
l
(cos

)dr

d(cos

)
=
1
192
0
_
1
r
l+1
_
r
0
r

l+4
e
r
dr

+ r
l
_

r
e
r

r
l3
dr

_
_
1
1
(P
0
(cos

) P
2
(cos

))P
l
(cos )P
l
(cos

)d(cos

)
To simplify this expression, we can take only the terms which l = 0 and l = 2, therefore:
=
1
192
0
_
2
r
1
_
r
0
r

4
e
r
dr

+ 2
_

r
r

3
e
r

dr

2P
2
(cos )
5r
l+1
_
r
0
r

6
e
r
dr

2
5
r
2
_

r
r

e
r

dr

_
=
1
4
0
_
1
4

r
2
120
P
2
(cos ) + ...
_
where the last expression only shows the results of the two important results.
(c) If there exists at the origin a nucleus with a quadrupole moment Q = 10
28
m
2
, determine
the magnitude of the interaction energy, assuming that the unit of charge in (r) above is
the electronic charge and the unit of length is the hydrogen Bohr radius a
0
= 4
0

2
/me
2
=
0.529 10
10
m. Express your answer as a frequency by dividing by Plancks constant h.
The charge density in this problem is that for the m = 1 states of the 2p level in hydrogen,
while the quadrupole interaction is of the same order as found in molecules.
Using the results of part (b):
W =
_
(r)(r)dr
=
_
(r)
_
1
4
0
a
_
1
4

r
2
120a
2
P
2
(cos )
__
dr
=
1
16
0
a
_
(r)dr
1
480
0
a
3
_
r
2
P
2
(cos )(r)dr
=
e
2
Z
16
0
a

1
960
0
a
3
_
_
3r
2
cos
2
r
2
_
(r)dr
=
e
2
Z
16
0
a

1
960
0
a
3
_
_
3z
2
r
2
_
(r)dr
=
e
2
Z
16
0
a

e
2
Q
ii
960
0
a
3
where Q
ii
is the quadrupole moment tensor. Finally, dividing by and replacing with the
values mention in the problem, we found:
W

=
e
2
Z
16
0
a

e
2
Q
ii
960
0
a
3

10
6
s
1
6
Jackson, 4.9 A point charge q is located in free space a distance d from the center of a dielectric sphere
of radius a (a < d) and dielectric constant /
0
.
(a) Find the potential at all points in space as an expansion in spherical harmonics.
For convenience, we can place the sphere at the origin and the point charge on the z axis at
a distance d to have azymuthal symmetry and work only with Legendre polynomials. We can
also split our problem for inside the sphere r < a with and, outside the sphere r > a with
0
.
Lets solve the problem inside using the method of images, where the image charge is at z

=
a
2
d
:

out
=
1
4
0
_
q
|r d z
+
q

|r
a
2
d
z
_
=
_
_
_
1
4
0

l=0
P
l
(cos )
_
qd
l
r
l+1
+
q

a
2l
d
l
r
l+1
_
r > d
1
4
0

l=0
P
l
(cos )
_
qr
l
d
l+1
+
q

a
2l
d
l
r
l+1
_
r < d
In the case of the potential inside the sphere, we can simulate the dielectric putting an image
charge outside the sphere at a distance z = d with permitivity :

in
=
1
4
q

|r d z|
=
1
4

l=0
q

r
l
d
l+1
P
l
(cos )
The boundary conditions in this problem are:
(D
2
D
1
) n
12
= 0
(
0
E
out
E
in
) r = 0

out
r
=
0

out
r
ql +
q

d
a
(l 1) = q

l (2)
(E
2
E
1
) n
12
= 0

in

=

out

=
q

0
+
q

0
d
a
(3)
q

of (2) in (3) : q

=

0

d
0
(l+1)+l
qla
replacing q

in (3) : q

=
(2l+1)

0
(l+1)+l
q
Finally, the total potential is given by:

in
=
q
4d

l=0
2l + 1

(l + 1) + l
_
r
d
_
l
P
l
(cos ) (4)

out
=
q
4
0
d

l=0
P
l
(cos )
_
d
r
_
l+1
_
1 +
_

1
_
l

(l + 1) + l
_
a
d
_
2l+1
_
r > d (5)

out
=
q
4
0
d

l=0
P
l
(cos )
_
_
r
d
_
l
+
_

1
_
l

(l + 1) + l
_
a
d
_
l
_
a
r
_
l+1
_
r > d (6)
7
(b) Calculate the rectangular components of the electric eld near the center of the sphere.
Lets use the rst two terms of the expansion of (4) in the proximity of the center of the sphere,
i.e., r << d or equivalent
r
d
<< 1:

in
=
q
4
0
d
_
1 +
3r cos
_
1 +
2
0

_
d
_
=
q
4
0
d
_
1 +
3z
_
1 +
2
0

_
d
_
The electric eld is given by:
E = =
q
4
0
d
3z
_
1 +
2
0

_
d
z
(c) Verify that, in the limit /
0
, your result is the same as that for the conducting sphere.
Lets use the potential inside the sphere given by (4), taken out from the sum the term with
l = 0:

in
=
q
4d
_
1 +

l=1
2l + 1

(l + 1) + l
_
r
d
_
l
P
l
(cos )
_
In the limit, when /
0
, the second term vanishs and the potential inside is the same as
that for the conducting sphere.
Now, for the case outside the sphere, when r > d:

out
=
q
4
0
d
_
d
r
+

l=1
P
l
(cos )
_
d
r
_
l+1
_
1
_
a
d
_
2l+1
_
_
=
q
4
0
r
+
q
4
0

l=1
P
l
(cos )
_
d
r
_
l+1

q
4
0

l=1
P
l
(cos )
_
d
r
_
l+1 _
a
d
_
2l+1
=
qa
4
0
rd
+
q
4
0
|r d z|

qa
4
0
d|r (a
2
/d) z|
This expression, as we can expected, is the regular potential of a point charge near a conducting
sphere.
8