Scribd
Upload
661 views16 pages

2 Legendre Equation PDF

The document discusses Legendre's differential equation, which is important in physics. It can be solved using a power series method to obtain Legendre polynomials. Legendre polynomials are solutions to Legendre's equation when the parameter n is an integer. The first few Legendre polynomials are given.

Uploaded by

we_spidus_2006
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
661 views16 pages

2 Legendre Equation PDF

The document discusses Legendre's differential equation, which is important in physics. It can be solved using a power series method to obtain Legendre polynomials. Legendre polynomials are solutions to Legendre's equation when the parameter n is an integer. The first few Legendre polynomials are given.

Uploaded by

we_spidus_2006
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 16

MATH115

ADVANCED ENGINEERING
MATHEMATICS
MATH115
LEGENDRE EQUATION
 At the end of the lecture, you should be
able to:
 Solve Legendre differential equation
using Power series method.
 Find Legendre polynomials.
 One of the most important ODEs in
Physics is Legendre’s equation given by

1  x y  2 xy  nn  1 y  0


2

 The parameter n is a given real number.


 Legendre’s equation arises in numerous
problems, particularly in boundary value
problems for spheres.
 Any solution of the equation is called a
Legendre function.
 Legendre equation has power series
solutions of the form. y   a x m
 m
m 0

 We substitute the series and its


derivative to the ODE. This gives
 The recursive equation is given by

 We have
 Thus, the solution to the Legendre’s
equation is

 where
 Example:
 Show that with n=0

 and
 Example:
 Show that with n=1

 and
 SUMMARY:
 If n is even y1 reduces to a polynomial of
degree n.
 If n is odd, the same is true for y2.
 These polynomials, multiplied by some
constants, are called Legendre
polynomials.
 ALTERNATIVELY:
 We can start with an as our first
constant.
 The standard choice of constant is done
as follows:

 Substitute it to
 We have the other constants:
 The resulting solution of Legendre’s
differential equation is called the
Legendre polynomial of degree n and is
given by

 where
n n1
M  or
2 2

 whichever is an integer.
 The first few of these functions

 In figure:
 Example:
 Verify that the polynomials satisfy
Legendre’s equations
 ALTERNATIVELY::

You might also like