Physics 210A Homework #4 Solutions

Problem 1. Jackson 2.23

(a) Make a Fourier expansion in √ the x, y plane. The Laplace equation demands eikx x+iky y be accompa-
2 2
nied by a linear combination of e± kx +ky z . Since the system is in a box we need only consider a discrete
set of modes kx = mπ/a, ky = nπ/a for m, n ∈ Z.
iπ π
√ π
√
m2 +n2 z m2 +n2 z
X
ϕ(x, y, z) = e a (mx+ny) (Amn e a + Bmn e− a ) (1)
m,n

Furthermore, because the system is even under reflection about x = a/2 or y = a/2 only odd m and n
will appear.
The boundary condition at x = 0 tells us the eimx s will organize into factors of sin πmx a and similarly
for y.
 π
√ √ 
m2 +n2 z −π m2 +n2 z
X πny

sin πmx


ϕ(x, y, z) = a sin a C mn e a + Dmn e a
(2)
m,n∈Zodd

for some coefficients Cmn , Dmn .

The boundary conditions at z = 0, z = a are
X
sin πmx sin πny



V = a a (Cmn + Dmn )
m,n∈Zodd
 √ √  (3)
m2 +n2 m2 +n2
X
πmx πny

Cmn eπ + Dmn e−π


V = sin a sin a
m,n∈Zodd
Ra Ra
To isolate Cmn act on both sides with 0 dx 0 dy sin(πmx/a) sin(πny/a). We get

4a2 V a2
= (Cmn + Dmn )
π 2 mn 4 (4)
4a2 V a2  √ √ 
π m2 +n2 −π m2 +n2
= C mn e + D mn e
π 2 mn 4
and the solution is
16V 16V
Cmn = √ , Dmn = √ . (5)
π 2 mn(1 + eπ m2 +n2 ) π 2 mn(1 + e−π m2 +n2 )

Thus
π
√ π
√ !
m2 +n2 z m2 +n2 z
16V X 1 πmx

πny
ea e− a
ϕ(x, y, z) = 2 sin a sin a
√ + √ (6)
π
m,n∈Zodd
mn 1+ eπ m2 +n2 1+ e−π m2 +n2

(b) The potential at the center of the cube is

 √ 
16V X 1 πm

πn

π m2 +n2
e2 √
ϕ(a/2, a/2, a/2) = 2 sin 2 sin 2 sech
π mn 1+eπ m2 +n2
m,n∈Zodd (7)
= (.3476 − .0075 − .0075 + .0002 + .0002 + ...) V

To get the answer to three significant figures we need only the first three terms. They sum to (.333)V .
(c) The surface charge density at z = a is σ = 0 ∂ϕ
∂z , i.e.
√ √
m2 +n2
√
m2 +n2
!
160 V X m 2 + n2 πmx

πny
eπ e−π
σ(x, y) = sin a sin a − √ √
πa
m,n∈Zodd
mn 1+ 1+ eπ m2 +n2 e−π m2 +n2
√ (8)
160 V X m 2 + n2 πny

 p 
sin πmx π


= sin tanh m 2 + n2
πa mn a a 2
m,n∈Zodd

Period of small oscillations. The electric field at the center of the cube is zero by symmetry, so near
the center it looks like Ei = −Kij rj where the tensor Kij is

Kij = ∇j ∇i ϕ (9)

evaluated at the center. The off-diagonal components of Kij are zero because the potential is separately
reflection symmetric in all three directions. To find the diagonal components I’ll evaluate numerically
(keeping the first eight terms in the sum):

(2.78)V (5.57)V
Kxx = Kyy = − , Kzz = (10)
a2 a2
It’s no surprise that Kxx + Kyy + Kzz = 0; that was required by the Laplace equation.
A small particle with positive charge q and mass m can oscillate in the z direction with period

2π (2.66)a
Tpos = p =p . (11)
qKzz /m qV /m

while motion in the x and y directions is unstable. Meanwhile a negatively-charged particle with charge
−q can oscillate in the xy plane with period

2π (3.77)a
Tneg = p =p . (12)
−qKxx /m qV /m

Problem 2. Jackson 3.10

(a) Perform a Fourier expansion in z and φ.

X ∞
X
nπz


ϕ(z, r, φ) = sin L cos (mφ) Rn,m (r) (13)
n=1,3,5,... m=0

for some functions Rn,m (r). We used the fact that V vanishes at z = 0, L and is symmetric about L/2
to constrain the modes of z to be odd multiples of π/L and the fact that the system is symmetric under
φ → −φ to justify dropping the sine modes in the angular direction. The Laplace equation ∇2 ϕ = 0
requires the functions Rn,m (r) satisfy
 2 2 2

n π 2 2 2 ∂ ∂
− 2 r −m +r +r Rn,m (r) = 0 . (14)
L ∂r2 ∂r

This equation is the modified Bessel equation. To see that, change variables to x = nπr/L:

∂2
 
2 2 1 ∂
−x − m + 2 + Rn,m (r) = 0 . (15)
∂x x ∂x
The solution regular at r = 0 is Rn,m (r) ∝ Im (nπr/L) so our potential looks like

X ∞
X
nπz


ϕ(z, r, φ) = An,m sin L cos (mφ) Im (nπr/L) (16)
n=1,3,5,... m=0

for some coefficients An,m . To fix the coefficients we match the boundary condition at r = b:

X ∞
X
nπz


V sgn(cos φ) = An,m sin L cos (mφ) Im (nπb/L) (17)
n=1,3,5... m=0

Integrate both sides against sin( nπz

L ) cos(mφ) to get

2L 4V sin( mπ
2 ) πL 16V sin( mπ
2 )
× = An,m Im (nπb/L) =⇒ An,m = 2 (18)
πn m 2 π nm Im (nπb/L)
and so
X X 16V (−1)(m−1)/2 nπz

Im (nπr/L)
ϕ(z, r, φ) = sin L cos (mφ) (19)
π 2 nm Im (nπb/L)
n=1,3,5... m=1,3,5,...

(b) The potential at z = L/2 is

X X 16V (−1)(m+n)/2 Im (nπr/L)
ϕ(r, φ) = − 2
cos (mφ) . (20)
π nm Im (nπb/L)
n=1,3,5... m=1,3,5,...

If we take L  b the arguments of the Bessel functions approach zero. The behavior of those functions
near zero is
1
Iα (x) = (x/2)α + ... (21)
Γ(α + 1)
so
X X 16V (−1)(m−1)/2 (−1)(n−1)/2
ϕ(r, φ) = cos (mφ) (r/b)m . (22)
π 2 nm
n=1,3,5... m=1,3,5,...

P (−1)(n−1)/2 π
We can now pull out the sum over n and it gives an overall factor of n=1,3,5,... n = 4. This
leaves
X 4V (−1)(m−1)/2
ϕ(r, φ) = cos (mφ) (r/b)m
πm
m=1,3,5,...
2V  
(23)
= arctan(re−iφ /b) + arctan(reiφ /b)
π  
2V 2rb cos φ
= arctan
π b2 − r2

Problem 3. Zangwill 7.8

Do a Fourier expansion in the x direction.
∞
X
nπx
e−nπz/a .


ϕ(x, z) = An sin a (24)
n=0
for some An . There’s no positive z exponential because the potential shouldn’t diverge as z → ∞.
Symmetry about x = a/2 requires An to be nonzero for odd n only. Matching the boundary condition
at z = 0 fixes An and we get
X 4ϕ0 nπx
e−nπz/a .


ϕ(x, z) = cos a (25)
nπ
n=1,3,5,...

When z  a the n = 1 term is much larger than the others and the potential looks like
4ϕ0 πx
e−πz/a .


ϕ(x, z) = cos a
(26)
π

Problem 4. Zangwill 7.12

From Zangwill’s solution manual:
Problem 5. Zangwill 7.14
From Zangwill’s solution manual:
Problem 6. Zangwill 7.22
From Zangwill’s solution manual:
Pressure on the bottom plate. The electric field at the location of the bottom plate, φ = −φ2 , is

E ~ = − 1 φ̂b0
~ = −∇ϕ (27)
r
The pressure on the plate is
1 ~
P = σ φ̂ · E (28)
2
~ ·D
where σ is the charge density on the conductor. This is free charge, so it can be found from ∇ ~ = ρf ,
~ So
from which it follows that σ = 0 κ2 φ̂ · E.
0 κ2 ~ 2
P = (φ̂ · E)
2
0 κ2 b0 2
= (29)
2r2
0 κ2 κ1 (V1 − V2 ) 2 1
 
=
2 κ2 φ1 − κ1 φ2 r2