PDE12
From Exampleproblems
Solve Dirichlet's problem for a circular annulus. The domain is the space between two concentric circles, C1 being the innermost circle with radius a, and C2 being the outermost circle with radius b. | |
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First transform the Laplacian operator to polar coordinates, as explained in this problem.
Now the DE is

The BC's are


An auxiliary condition required from the nature of the problem and coordinate system is

Separate variables and plug back into the original equation, separate variables and set each side equal to a negative (for convenience) constant lambda.




The first ODE is
with the auxiliary condition 
In order for
, the square root of lambda must be an integer value.

The second ODE is

If
so that
, the solution is:





If
, the solution is:


This ODE is in Cauchy-Euler form, so guess the solution
and plug it back in.



The solution is
![u(r,\theta) = \frac{1}{2}(A_0+B_0\log r) + \sum_{n=1}^\infty \left[ (A_n r^n + B_n r^{-n})\cos n\theta + (C_n r^n + D_n r^{-n})\sin n \theta\right]\,](/wiki/images/math/2/4/3/243f753515e413988b676b4cae2c2640.png)
The Fourier coefficients are given with the help of the boundary conditions.
![u(a,\theta) = \frac{1}{2}(A_0+B_0\log a) + \sum_{n=1}^\infty \left[ (A_n a^n + B_n a^{-n})\cos n\theta + (C_n a^n + D_n a^{-n})\sin n \theta\right] = g(\theta)\,](/wiki/images/math/c/c/9/cc935211768896fd89a38cc0c990625d.png)
![u(b,\theta) = \frac{1}{2}(A_0+B_0\log b) + \sum_{n=1}^\infty \left[ (A_n b^n + B_n b^{-n})\cos n\theta + (C_n b^n + D_n b^{-n})\sin n \theta\right] = f(\theta)\,](/wiki/images/math/9/2/8/928f1a353280c691b5fadbdd6acdf5d0.png)
Now you have this system of equations to solve to determine the coefficients:






is the space between two concentric circles,
in
on 
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