As I mentioned in my lecture, if you want to solve a partial differential equation (PDE) on the domain whose shape is a 2D disk, it is much more convenient
to represent the solution in terms of the polar coordinate system than in terms of
the usual Cartesian coordinate system. For example, the behavior of the drum
surface when you hit it by a stick would be best described by the solution of the
wave equation in the polar coordinate system. In this note, I would like to derive
Laplaces equation in the polar coordinate system in details.
Recall that Laplaces equation in R2 in terms of the usual (i.e., Cartesian)
(x, y) coordinate system is:
2 u 2 u
+
= u xx + u y y = 0.
x2 y 2
(1)
x = r cos ;
(2)
y = r sin .
= cos ,
r
y
= sin ,
r
x
= r sin ;
y
= r cos .
(3)
u x u y
+
x r y r
u
u
=
cos +
sin
x
y
u
u
= cos
+ sin .
x
y
=
using (3)
(4)
2 u
u
u
.
Noticing
that
both
and
are functions of (x, y)
r 2
x
y
u
u
+ sin
r x
r y
u x
u y
u x
u y
= cos
+
+ sin
+
x x r y x r
x y r y y r
= cos
2
2 u
2 u
2 u
= cos 2 + 2 cos sin
+ sin 2 .
x
xy
y
2
2 u
2
(5)
u
2 u
and 2 .
u x u y
+
x y
u
u
(r sin ) +
(r cos )
=
x
y
u
u
= r sin
+ r cos .
x
y
=
u
u
u
u
r sin
r sin
+ r cos
x
x
y
y
u x
u y
u x
u y
u
u
r sin
+
+ r cos
+
= r cos
r sin
x
x x y x
y
x y y y
2
u
u
2 u
= r cos
r sin
(r sin ) +
r cos
x
x2
xy
2
u
u
2 u
r sin
+ r cos
(r sin ) +
r cos
y
xy
y2
2
2
u
u
2 u
2
2 u
2 u
+ r sin 2 2 cos sin
= r cos
+ sin
+ cos 2
x
y
x
xy
y
= r cos
2
cos
sin
+
sin
+
cos
r 2 2
r r
x2
xy
y2
(6)
Finally, adding (5) and (6), using the obvious relation cos2 + sin2 = 1, we have
2 u 1 2 u
1 u 2 u 2 u
+
=
+
+
,
r 2 r 2 2
r r x 2 y 2
1
1
u t = k(u xx + u y y ) = k u r r + u r + 2 u ,
r
r
k > 0: diffusivity,
1
1
u t t = c (u xx + u y y ) = c u r r + u r + 2 u
r
r
2