Ph196c Homework 2 Solutions Apr 17, 2003

Å Problem 7 - Jackson 3ed, problem 4.4

a) Prove the following theorem. For an arbitrary charge distribution rHŗL the values of the H2 { + 1L moments of
the first nonvanishing multipole are independent of the origin of the coordinate axes, but the values of all
higher multipole moments are in general dependent on the choice of origin. (the different moments q{m for
fixed { depend, of course, on the orientation of the axes.)

b) A charge distribution has moments q, »p¸, Qi j , … with respect to one set of coordinate axes, and the
moments q ‡ , »p¸ , Qi‡j , …with respect to another set whose axes are parallel to the first, but whose origin is
‡

»¸
located at the point R = HX , Y , ZL relative to the first. Determine explicitly the connection between the mono-
pole, dipole, and quadrupole moments in the two coordinate frames.
»¸ »¸
c) If q ž 0, can R be found so that »p¸ ‡ = 0? If q ž 0, »p¸ ž 0 , or at least »p¸ ž 0, can R be found so that Qi‡j = 0?

Å Solution Problem 7.
SOLUTION TO PROB 4.4 JACKSON'S CLASS-Elec-Dyna 3e
a) Using the cartesian moments for the fields outside the charge distribution, we can take the {th moments to
be simply

Qi1 i2 …i -1 i = ¾ rHŗL ri1 ri2 …ri -1 ri Ç 3 r .

{ { { {

{
These moments must be contracted with the functions þþþþ
1
þ þþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþþ
{! ›ri ›ri … ›ri ›ri
›
þþþþþþþþþþþþ H þþþþ1r L to get the multipole potential, so
1 2 -1
{ {

that they need not be explicitly made traceless (the tracelessness of this multipole potential ensures that the
traces of the moments make no contribution, and so for simplicity we needn’t include them). Now make a
»¸
translation of the coordinates by R , and remember that the Jacobian of the is transformation is unity. Let
ri = ri‡ + Ri and r ‡ Hŗ ‡ L = rHŗL (note that I have used the mathematical convention of using different names for
functions with different functional forms although they have the same physical significance; the usual physicist
convention is to name by physical significance rather than functional form.)
‡
Q‡i1 i2 …i -1 i = ¾ r ‡ Hŗ L ri‡1 ri‡2 …ri‡-1 ri‡ Ç 3 r ‡ .
{ { { {

Thus Q‡i1 i2 …i -1 i = ¾ rHŗL Hri1 - Ri1 L Hri2 - Ri2 L … Hri -1 - Ri =1 L Hri - Ri L Ç 3 r.

{ { { { { {

Clearly this is simply a weighted sum of all the multipole moments in the unprimed coordinates from the
monopole term,

Ri1 Ri2 … Ri =1 Ri ¾ rHŗL Ç 3 r

{ {

p 1/2
2 hw2ph196c2003solution.nb

to the { th multipole term,

¾ rHŗL ri1 ri2 …ri -1 ri Ç r.

3
{ {

If all the multipole moments with order smaller than some { vanish but the { th does not vanish , then clearly all
the terms in the above sum vanish except the highest, that for {. This shows if all the moments of order smaller
than { vanish for some location for the origin, then they all vanish for any location of the origin, and if the
{th moment does not vanish, its value is independent of the location of the origin, Furthermore all higher order
multipole moments depend on the choice of the origin of the coordinate axes since the term in the { th order
multipole moments will not vanish in the above expansion for any order greater than {.
‡
b) Monopole: q = ¾ rHŗL Ç 3 r = ¾ r ‡ Hŗ L Ç 3 r ‡ = q ‡

so the monopole moment is invariant (as is physically obvious)

»¸ »¸
Dipole: »p¸ = ¾ ¸r rHŗL Ç 3 r = ¾ Iŗ ‡ + RM r ‡ Hŗ ‡ L Ç 3 r ‡ = »p¸ ‡ + q R

so the dipole moment is origin dependent unless q = 0.

Quadrupole: (Use the conventional definition of the quadrupole moments, i.e., traceless)
‡
Qi j = ¾ H3 ri r j - di j r2 L rHŗL Ç 3 r = ¾ H 3 Hri‡ + Ri L Hr j‡ + R j L - di j Hrk‡ + Rk L Hrk‡ + Rk L L r ‡ Hŗ L Ç 3 r ‡
‡ »¸
= Qi‡j + ¾ I3 Ri r j‡ + 3 R j ri‡ + 3 R j Ri - di j I2 ¸r ¼ R + R2 M M r ‡ Hŗ L Ç 3 r ‡
‡

»¸
= Q ‡ + 3 R p ‡ + 3 R p ‡ + 3 q R R - d I2 »p¸ ‡ ¼ R + q R2 M.
ij i j j i j i ij

Notice that the quadrupole moment in the primed system is traceless, as required by the usual convention.
»¸
c) If q ž 0, then by choosing R = þþþþ1q »p¸, we get »p¸ = 0. To arrange that Qi‡j = 0 we will need five quantities,
‡

since the quadrupole moments consist of five independent quantities. However, the displacement vector only
provides three.
p 2/2

Å Problem 8.

Prove the uniqueness theorem analogous to Jackson section 1.9 for electrostatics in a material with an electric
permittivity › H ¸r L > 0 which depends smoothly on position and is isotropic. Note that the case of discontinui-
ties in permittivity between different materials (the usual case that can be handled analytically by potential
theory methods) can be treated as a limiting case of a smoothly differentiable permittivity. If you feel up to it,
you might try to lift the assumption of isotropy and let the permittivity be a Cartesian tensor ›i j H ¸r L > 0.