Bispherical coordinates

Bispherical coordinates are a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system that results from rotating the two-dimensional bipolar coordinate system about the axis that connects the two foci. Thus, the two foci ${\displaystyle F_{1}}$ and ${\displaystyle F_{2}}$ in bipolar coordinates remain points (on the ${\displaystyle z}$-axis, the axis of rotation) in the bispherical coordinate system.

The most common definition of bispherical coordinates ${\displaystyle (\tau ,\sigma ,\phi )}$ is

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}x&=a\ {\frac {\sin \sigma }{\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma }}\cos \phi ,\\y&=a\ {\frac {\sin \sigma }{\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma }}\sin \phi ,\\z&=a\ {\frac {\sinh \tau }{\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma }},\end{aligned}}}$

where the ${\displaystyle \sigma }$ coordinate of a point ${\displaystyle P}$ equals the angle ${\displaystyle F_{1}PF_{2}}$ and the ${\displaystyle \tau }$ coordinate equals the natural logarithm of the ratio of the distances ${\displaystyle d_{1}}$ and ${\displaystyle d_{2}}$ to the foci

${\displaystyle \tau =\ln {\frac {d_{1}}{d_{2}}}}$

The coordinates ranges are −∞ < ${\displaystyle \tau }$ < ∞, 0 ≤ ${\displaystyle \sigma }$ ≤ ${\displaystyle \pi }$ and 0 ≤ ${\displaystyle \phi }$ ≤ 2${\displaystyle \pi }$.

Surfaces of constant ${\displaystyle \sigma }$ correspond to intersecting tori of different radii

${\displaystyle z^{2}+\left({\sqrt {x^{2}+y^{2}}}-a\cot \sigma \right)^{2}={\frac {a^{2}}{\sin ^{2}\sigma }}}$

that all pass through the foci but are not concentric. The surfaces of constant ${\displaystyle \tau }$ are non-intersecting spheres of different radii

${\displaystyle \left(x^{2}+y^{2}\right)+\left(z-a\coth \tau \right)^{2}={\frac {a^{2}}{\sinh ^{2}\tau }}}$

that surround the foci. The centers of the constant-${\displaystyle \tau }$ spheres lie along the ${\displaystyle z}$-axis, whereas the constant-${\displaystyle \sigma }$ tori are centered in the ${\displaystyle xy}$ plane.

The formulae for the inverse transformation are:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\sigma &=\arccos \left({\dfrac {R^{2}-a^{2}}{Q}}\right),\\\tau &=\operatorname {arsinh} \left({\dfrac {2az}{Q}}\right),\\\phi &=\arctan \left({\dfrac {y}{x}}\right),\end{aligned}}}$

where ${\textstyle R={\sqrt {x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}}}}$ and ${\textstyle Q={\sqrt {\left(R^{2}+a^{2}\right)^{2}-\left(2az\right)^{2}}}.}$

The scale factors for the bispherical coordinates ${\displaystyle \sigma }$ and ${\displaystyle \tau }$ are equal

${\displaystyle h_{\sigma }=h_{\tau }={\frac {a}{\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma }}}$

whereas the azimuthal scale factor equals

${\displaystyle h_{\phi }={\frac {a\sin \sigma }{\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma }}}$

Thus, the infinitesimal volume element equals

${\displaystyle dV={\frac {a^{3}\sin \sigma }{\left(\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma \right)^{3}}}\,d\sigma \,d\tau \,d\phi }$

and the Laplacian is given by

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\nabla ^{2}\Phi ={\frac {\left(\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma \right)^{3}}{a^{2}\sin \sigma }}&\left[{\frac {\partial }{\partial \sigma }}\left({\frac {\sin \sigma }{\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma }}{\frac {\partial \Phi }{\partial \sigma }}\right)\right.\\[8pt]&{}\quad +\left.\sin \sigma {\frac {\partial }{\partial \tau }}\left({\frac {1}{\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma }}{\frac {\partial \Phi }{\partial \tau }}\right)+{\frac {1}{\sin \sigma \left(\cosh \tau -\cos \sigma \right)}}{\frac {\partial ^{2}\Phi }{\partial \phi ^{2}}}\right]\end{aligned}}}$

Other differential operators such as ${\displaystyle \nabla \cdot \mathbf {F} }$ and ${\displaystyle \nabla \times \mathbf {F} }$ can be expressed in the coordinates ${\displaystyle (\sigma ,\tau )}$ by substituting the scale factors into the general formulae found in orthogonal coordinates.

The classic applications of bispherical coordinates are in solving partial differential equations, e.g., Laplace's equation, for which bispherical coordinates allow a separation of variables. However, the Helmholtz equation is not separable in bispherical coordinates. A typical example would be the electric field surrounding two conducting spheres of different radii.

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• Korn GA, Korn TM (1961). Mathematical Handbook for Scientists and Engineers. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 182. LCCN 59014456.
• Zwillinger D (1992). Handbook of Integration. Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett. p. 113. ISBN 0-86720-293-9.
• Moon PH, Spencer DE (1988). "Bispherical Coordinates (η, θ, ψ)". Field Theory Handbook, Including Coordinate Systems, Differential Equations, and Their Solutions (corrected 2nd ed., 3rd print ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 110–112 (Section IV, E4Rx). ISBN 0-387-02732-7.

• MathWorld description of bispherical coordinates