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Print/export Toroidal coordinates are a three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system that results from rotating the two-dimensional bipolar coordinate

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system about the axis that separates its two foci. Thus, the two foci and in bipolar coordinates become a ring of radius in the plane of
Printable version the toroidal coordinate system; the -axis is the axis of rotation. The focal ring is also known as the reference circle.

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 Contents [hide]
Languages
1 Definition
Português
Русский
1.1 Coordinate surfaces
中 1.2 Inverse transformation
Edit links 1.3 Scale factors
1.4 Differential Operators
2 Toroidal harmonics
2.1 Standard separation
2.2 An alternative separation
3 References
4 Bibliography
5 External links

Definition [ edit ]

The most common definition of toroidal coordinates is

Illustration of toroidal coordinates, which are obtained by

rotating a two-dimensional bipolar coordinate system about the
axis separating its two foci. The foci are located at a distance 1
from the vertical z-axis. The portion of the red sphere that lies
above the $xy$-plane is the σ = 30° isosurface, the blue torus
is the τ = 0.5 isosurface, and the yellow half-plane is the
φ = 60° isosurface. The green half-plane marks the x-z plane,
from which φ is measured. The black point is located at the
together with ). The coordinate of a point equals the angle intersection of the red, blue and yellow isosurfaces, at
and the coordinate equals the natural logarithm of the ratio of the Cartesian coordinates roughly (0.996, −1.725, 1.911).

distances and to opposite sides of the focal ring

The coordinate ranges are and and

Coordinate surfaces [ edit ]

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 Surfaces of constant correspond to spheres of different radii

that all pass through the focal ring but are not concentric. The surfaces of constant
are non-intersecting tori of different radii

that surround the focal ring. The centers of the constant- spheres lie along the -
axis, whereas the constant- tori are centered in the plane.

Inverse transformation [ edit ]

The coordinates may be calculated from the Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z)

as follows. The azimuthal angle is given by the formula

Rotating this two-dimensional bipolar coordinate system

about the vertical axis produces the three-dimensional toroidal
The cylindrical radius of the point P is given by coordinate system above. A circle on the vertical axis becomes
the red sphere, whereas a circle on the horizontal axis
becomes the blue torus.

and its distances to the foci in the plane defined by is given by

The coordinate equals the natural logarithm of the focal distances

whereas equals the angle between the rays to the foci, which may be determined from the law of cosines

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 Or explicitly, including the sign,

where .

The transformations between cylindrical and toroidal coordinates can be expressed in complex
notation as

Geometric interpretation of the

Scale factors [ edit ]
The scale factors for the toroidal coordinates
whereas the azimuthal scale factor equals
coordinates σ and τ of a point P. Observed
and are equal in the plane of constant azimuthal angle ,
toroidal coordinates are equivalent to
bipolar coordinates. The angle is formed
by the two foci in this plane and P, whereas
is the logarithm of the ratio of distances to
the foci. The corresponding circles of
constant and are shown in red and
blue, respectively, and meet at right angles
(magenta box); they are orthogonal.

Thus, the infinitesimal volume element equals

Differential Operators [ edit ]

The Laplacian is given by

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 For a vector field , the Vector Laplacian is given by

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 Other differential operators such as and can be expressed in the coordinates by substituting the scale factors into the
general formulae found in orthogonal coordinates.

Toroidal harmonics [ edit ]

Standard separation [ edit ]

The 3-variable Laplace equation

admits solution via separation of variables in toroidal coordinates. Making the substitution

A separable equation is then obtained. A particular solution obtained by separation of variables is:

where each function is a linear combination of:

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 Where P and Q are associated Legendre functions of the first and second kind. These Legendre functions are often referred to as toroidal
harmonics.

Toroidal harmonics have many interesting properties. If you make a variable substitution then, for instance, with vanishing order
(the convention is to not write the order when it vanishes) and

and

where and are the complete elliptic integrals of the first and second kind respectively. The rest of the toroidal harmonics can be obtained, for
instance, in terms of the complete elliptic integrals, by using recurrence relations for associated Legendre functions.

The classic applications of toroidal coordinates are in solving partial differential equations, e.g., Laplace's equation for which toroidal coordinates
allow a separation of variables or the Helmholtz equation, for which toroidal coordinates do not allow a separation of variables. Typical examples
would be the electric potential and electric field of a conducting torus, or in the degenerate case, an electric current-ring (Hulme 1982).

An alternative separation [ edit ]

Alternatively, a different substitution may be made (Andrews 2006)

where

Again, a separable equation is obtained. A particular solution obtained by separation of variables is then:

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 where each function is a linear combination of:

Note that although the toroidal harmonics are used again for the T function, the argument is rather than and the and indices
are exchanged. This method is useful for situations in which the boundary conditions are independent of the spherical angle , such as the
charged ring, an infinite half plane, or two parallel planes. For identities relating the toroidal harmonics with argument hyperbolic cosine with those
of argument hyperbolic cotangent, see the Whipple formulae.

References [ edit ]

Byerly, W E. (1893) An elementary treatise on Fourier's series and spherical, cylindrical, and ellipsoidal harmonics, with applications to
problems in mathematical physics Ginn & co. pp. 264–266
Arfken G (1970). Mathematical Methods for Physicists (2nd ed.). Orlando, FL: Academic Press. pp. 112–115.
Andrews, Mark (2006). "Alternative separation of Laplace's equation in toroidal coordinates and its application to electrostatics". Journal of
Electrostatics. 64 (10): 664–672. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.205.5658 . doi:10.1016/j.elstat.2005.11.005 .
Hulme, A. (1982). "A note on the magnetic scalar potential of an electric current-ring". Mathematical Proceedings of the Cambridge
Philosophical Society. 92 (1): 183–191. doi:10.1017/S0305004100059831 .

Bibliography [ edit ]

Morse P M, Feshbach H (1953). Methods of Theoretical Physics, Part I. New York: McGraw–Hill. p. 666.
Korn G A, Korn T M (1961). Mathematical Handbook for Scientists and Engineers. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 182. LCCN 59014456 .
Margenau H, Murphy G M (1956). The Mathematics of Physics and Chemistry . New York: D. van Nostrand. pp. 190 –192.
LCCN 55010911 .
Moon P H, Spencer D E (1988). "Toroidal Coordinates (η, θ, ψ)". Field Theory Handbook, Including Coordinate Systems, Differential Equations,
and Their Solutions (2nd ed., 3rd revised printing ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 112–115 (Section IV, E4Ry). ISBN 978-0-387-02732-6.

External links [ edit ]

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 MathWorld description of toroidal coordinates

V·T·E Orthogonal coordinate systems [hide]

Two dimensional Cartesian · Polar (Log-polar) · Parabolic · Bipolar · Elliptic

Cartesian · Cylindrical · Spherical · Parabolic · Paraboloidal · Oblate spheroidal · Prolate spheroidal · Ellipsoidal · Elliptic cylindrical ·
Three dimensional
Toroidal · Bispherical · Bipolar cylindrical · Conical · 6-sphere ·

Categories: Three-dimensional coordinate systems Orthogonal coordinate systems

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