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01lecture Notes Laplace's Equation - Introduction

This document introduces Laplace's equation, emphasizing its significance in electrostatics for charge-free regions. It discusses methods for finding electric fields and potentials, transitioning from integral forms to differential equations, specifically Poisson's equation and its special case, Laplace's equation. The document highlights the importance of Laplace's equation across various fields and outlines its properties and foundational role in solving electrostatic problems.

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Rizwan Ahmad
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20 views2 pages

01lecture Notes Laplace's Equation - Introduction

This document introduces Laplace's equation, emphasizing its significance in electrostatics for charge-free regions. It discusses methods for finding electric fields and potentials, transitioning from integral forms to differential equations, specifically Poisson's equation and its special case, Laplace's equation. The document highlights the importance of Laplace's equation across various fields and outlines its properties and foundational role in solving electrostatic problems.

Uploaded by

Rizwan Ahmad
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
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Lecture Notes: Laplace’s Equation – Introduction

(Start of Chapter 3: Potentials, Griffiths 4th Edition)

🔸 Objective
To introduce Laplace’s equation and understand its significance and origin in electrostatics, particularly for regions of space where there is no charge.

✅ 1. The Central Problem in Electrostatics


The main goal of electrostatics is:

Find the electric field E produced by a given stationary (i.e., time-independent) charge distribution ρ(r ).

🔹 Method 1: Coulomb’s Law (Integral Form)


From Eq. 2.8:

1 ρ(r′ )
E (r ) = ∫ r^ dτ ′ (3.1)
4πε0 ∣r − r ′ ∣2
​ ​

This gives the electric field directly.


Problem: This integral is hard to evaluate except for simple charge distributions.

🔹 Method 2: Use the Electric Potential


From Eq. 2.29:

1 ρ(r′ )
V (r ) = ∫ dτ ′ (3.2)
4πε0 ∣r − r ′ ∣
​ ​

The electric potential V is a scalar, making it easier to handle.


Once V is known, we get:

E = −∇V
But even this scalar potential integral can still be too complicated, especially when ρ(r ) is unknown (e.g., near conductors).

✅ 2. Switching to the Differential Form


To simplify further, we recast the problem using Poisson’s equation:
ρ
∇2 V = − (3.3)
ε0
​

This is a differential equation.


Solving this equation (with appropriate boundary conditions) gives V (r ), and thus E (r ).

🔹 Special Case: When ρ = 0


Often, we are interested in regions where no charge is present:
Not that there is no charge anywhere, but that we are studying a region where ρ =0
In such regions, Poisson’s equation becomes:

∇2 V = 0 (3.4)

This is called Laplace’s equation.

✅ 3. Laplace’s Equation in Cartesian Coordinates


In rectangular (Cartesian) coordinates, the Laplacian becomes:

∂2V ∂2V ∂2V


∇2 V = + + =0 (3.5)
∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2
​ ​ ​
✅ 4. Why is Laplace’s Equation So Important?
Foundational to electrostatics: Most problems reduce to solving Laplace’s equation in charge-free regions.
Appears in many other fields:
Gravitation
Magnetostatics
Fluid mechanics
Heat conduction
Soap bubble shapes
Complex function theory (in mathematics)

✅ 5. Properties of Laplace’s Equation


Solutions to Laplace’s equation are called harmonic functions.
These solutions are:
Smooth (infinitely differentiable)
Cannot have local maxima or minima inside the region (extrema occur on boundaries)
Completely determined by boundary conditions (e.g., potential on a surface)

🔜 Next Steps in the Chapter


To visualize and build intuition, we’ll first explore:
One-dimensional solutions
Two-dimensional solutions

These simpler cases illustrate all the important ideas that apply in 3D as well.

✅ Summary Box
Concept Equation Meaning

1 ρ
Electric field via Coulomb's Law E= 4πε0 ​
​ ∫ r2
r^ dτ​
Direct but hard to compute

1 ρ
Electric potential V = 4πε0 ​
​ ∫ r
​ dτ Easier to compute than E

Poisson’s Equation ∇2 V = − ερ0 ​


​
Differential form

Laplace’s Equation ∇2 V = 0 Valid where ρ =0

∂2 V ∂2 V ∂2 V
Cartesian form ∂x2
​ + ∂y 2
​ + ∂z 2
​ =0 For rectangular coordinates

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