Categories: Mathematics, Physics.

Parabolic cylindrical coordinates

Parabolic cylindrical coordinates extend parabolic coordinates (σ,τ)(\sigma, \tau) to 3D, by describing a point in space using the variables (σ,τ,z)(\sigma, \tau, z). The zz-axis is the same as in the Cartesian system, (hence the name cylindrical), while the coordinate lines of σ\sigma and τ\tau are confocal parabolas.

Cartesian coordinates (x,y,z)(x, y, z) and this system (σ,τ,z)(\sigma, \tau, z) are related by:

x=12(τ2−σ2)y=στz=z\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} x &= \frac{1}{2} (\tau^2 - \sigma^2) \\ y &= \sigma \tau \\ z &= z \end{aligned} } \end{aligned}

Conversely, a point given in (x,y,z)(x, y, z) can be converted to (σ,τ,z)(\sigma, \tau, z) using these formulae:

σ=x2+y2−xτ=sgn(y)x2+y2+xz=z\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} \sigma &= \sqrt{\sqrt{x^2 + y^2} - x} \\ \tau &= \sgn(y) \sqrt{\sqrt{x^2 + y^2} + x} \\ z &= z \end{aligned} } \end{aligned}

Parabolic cylindrical coordinates form an orthogonal curvilinear system, whose scale factors hσh_\sigma, hτh_\tau and hzh_z we need. To get those, we calculate the unnormalized local basis:

hσe^σ=e^x∂x∂σ+e^y∂y∂σ+e^z∂z∂σ=−e^xσ+e^yτhτe^τ=e^x∂x∂τ+e^y∂y∂τ+e^z∂z∂τ=e^xτ+e^yσhσe^σ=e^x∂x∂z+e^y∂y∂z+e^z∂z∂z=e^z\begin{aligned} h_\sigma \vu{e}_\sigma &= \vu{e}_x \pdv{x}{\sigma} + \vu{e}_y \pdv{y}{\sigma} + \vu{e}_z \pdv{z}{\sigma} \\ &= - \vu{e}_x \sigma + \vu{e}_y \tau \\ h_\tau \vu{e}_\tau &= \vu{e}_x \pdv{x}{\tau} + \vu{e}_y \pdv{y}{\tau} + \vu{e}_z \pdv{z}{\tau} \\ &= \vu{e}_x \tau + \vu{e}_y \sigma \\ h_\sigma \vu{e}_\sigma &= \vu{e}_x \pdv{x}{z} + \vu{e}_y \pdv{y}{z} + \vu{e}_z \pdv{z}{z} \\ &= \vu{e}_z \end{aligned}

By normalizing the local basis vectors e^σ\vu{e}_\sigma, e^τ\vu{e}_\tau and e^z\vu{e}_z, we arrive at these expressions, where we have defined the abbreviation ρ\rho for convenience:

hσ=ρ≡σ2+τ2hτ=ρ≡σ2+τ2hz=1e^σ=−e^xσρ+e^yτρe^τ=e^xτρ+e^yσρe^z=e^z\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} h_\sigma &= \rho \equiv \sqrt{\sigma^2 + \tau^2} \\ h_\tau &= \rho \equiv \sqrt{\sigma^2 + \tau^2} \\ h_z &= 1 \end{aligned} } \qquad\qquad \boxed{ \begin{aligned} \vu{e}_\sigma &= - \vu{e}_x \frac{\sigma}{\rho} + \vu{e}_y \frac{\tau}{\rho} \\ \vu{e}_\tau &= \vu{e}_x \frac{\tau}{\rho} + \vu{e}_y \frac{\sigma}{\rho} \\ \vu{e}_z &= \vu{e}_z \end{aligned} } \end{aligned}

Thanks to these scale factors, we can easily convert calculus from the Cartesian system using the standard formulae for orthogonal curvilinear coordinates.

Differential elements

For line integrals, the tangent vector element dℓ\dd{\vb{\ell}} for a curve is as follows:

dℓ=e^σ ρdσ+ e^τ ρdτ+ e^zdz\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \dd{\vb{\ell}} = \vu{e}_\sigma \: \rho \dd{\sigma} + \: \vu{e}_\tau \: \rho \dd{\tau} + \: \vu{e}_z \dd{z} } \end{aligned}

For surface integrals, the normal vector element dS\dd{\vb{S}} for a surface is given by:

dS=e^σ ρdτdz+ e^τ ρdσdz+ e^z ρ2dσdτ\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \dd{\vb{S}} = \vu{e}_\sigma \: \rho \dd{\tau} \dd{z} + \: \vu{e}_\tau \: \rho \dd{\sigma} \dd{z} + \: \vu{e}_z \: \rho^2 \dd{\sigma} \dd{\tau} } \end{aligned}

And for volume integrals, the infinitesimal volume dV\dd{V} takes the following form:

dV=ρ2dσdτdz\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \dd{V} = \rho^2 \dd{\sigma} \dd{\tau} \dd{z} } \end{aligned}

Common operations

The basic vector operations (gradient, divergence, curl and Laplacian) are given by:

∇f=e^σ1ρ∂f∂σ+e^τ1ρ∂f∂τ+e^z∂f∂z\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \nabla f = \vu{e}_\sigma \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{f}{\sigma} + \vu{e}_\tau \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{f}{\tau} + \vu{e}_z \pdv{f}{z} } \end{aligned} ∇⋅V=1ρ∂Vσ∂σ+σVσρ3+1ρ∂Vτ∂τ+τVτρ3+∂Vz∂z\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \nabla \cdot \vb{V} = \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\sigma} + \frac{\sigma V_\sigma}{\rho^3} + \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_\tau}{\tau} + \frac{\tau V_\tau}{\rho^3} + \pdv{V_z}{z} } \end{aligned} ∇×V=e^σ(1ρ∂Vz∂τ−∂Vτ∂z) +e^τ(∂Vσ∂z−1ρ∂Vz∂σ) +e^z(1ρ∂Vτ∂σ+σVτρ3−1ρ∂Vσ∂τ−τVσρ3)\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} \nabla \times \vb{V} &= \quad \vu{e}_\sigma \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_z}{\tau} - \pdv{V_\tau}{z} \bigg) \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_\tau \bigg( \pdv{V_\sigma}{z} - \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_z}{\sigma} \bigg) \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_z \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_\tau}{\sigma} + \frac{\sigma V_\tau}{\rho^3} - \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\tau} - \frac{\tau V_\sigma}{\rho^3} \bigg) \end{aligned} } \end{aligned} ∇2f=1ρ2∂2f∂σ2+1ρ2∂2f∂τ2+∂2f∂z2\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \nabla^2 f = \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{f}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{f}{\tau} + \pdvn{2}{f}{z} } \end{aligned}

Uncommon operations

Uncommon operations include: the gradient of a divergence ∇(∇⋅V)\nabla (\nabla \cdot \vb{V}), the gradient of a vector ∇V\nabla \vb{V}, the advection of a vector (U⋅∇)V(\vb{U} \cdot \nabla) \vb{V} with respect to U\vb{U}, the Laplacian of a vector ∇2V\nabla^2 \vb{V}, and the divergence of a 2nd-order tensor ∇⋅T‾‾\nabla \cdot \overline{\overline{\vb{T}}}:

∇(∇⋅V)=e^σ(1ρ2∂2Vσ∂σ2+1ρ2∂2Vτ∂σ∂τ+1ρ∂2Vz∂σ∂z+τρ4∂Vτ∂σ−σρ4∂Vτ∂τ+ρ2−3σ2ρ6Vσ−3στVτρ6) +e^τ(1ρ2∂2Vσ∂τ∂σ+1ρ2∂2Vτ∂τ2+1ρ∂2Vz∂τ∂z−τρ4∂Vσ∂σ+σρ4∂Vσ∂τ−3στVσρ6+ρ2−3τ2ρ6Vτ) +e^z(1ρ∂2Vσ∂z∂σ+1ρ∂2Vτ∂z∂τ+∂2Vz∂z2+σρ3∂Vσ∂z+τρ3∂Vτ∂z)\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} \nabla (\nabla \cdot \vb{V}) &= \quad \vu{e}_\sigma \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{V_\sigma}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho^2} \mpdv{V_\tau}{\sigma}{\tau} + \frac{1}{\rho} \mpdv{V_z}{\sigma}{z} \\ &\qquad\qquad + \frac{\tau}{\rho^4} \pdv{V_\tau}{\sigma} - \frac{\sigma}{\rho^4} \pdv{V_\tau}{\tau} + \frac{\rho^2 - 3 \sigma^2}{\rho^6} V_\sigma - \frac{3 \sigma \tau V_\tau}{\rho^6} \bigg) \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_\tau \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho^2} \mpdv{V_\sigma}{\tau}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{V_\tau}{\tau} + \frac{1}{\rho} \mpdv{V_z}{\tau}{z} \\ &\qquad\qquad - \frac{\tau}{\rho^4} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\sigma} + \frac{\sigma}{\rho^4} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\tau} - \frac{3 \sigma \tau V_\sigma}{\rho^6} + \frac{\rho^2 - 3 \tau^2}{\rho^6} V_\tau \bigg) \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_z \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \mpdv{V_\sigma}{z}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho} \mpdv{V_\tau}{z}{\tau} + \pdvn{2}{V_z}{z} + \frac{\sigma}{\rho^3} \pdv{V_\sigma}{z} + \frac{\tau}{\rho^3} \pdv{V_\tau}{z} \bigg) \end{aligned} } \end{aligned} ∇V=e^σe^σ(1ρ∂Vσ∂σ+τVτρ3)+e^σe^τ(1ρ∂Vτ∂σ−τVσρ3)+e^σe^z1ρ∂Vz∂σ +e^τe^σ(1ρ∂Vσ∂τ−σVτρ3)+e^τe^τ(1ρ∂Vτ∂τ+σVσρ3)+e^τe^z1ρ∂Vz∂τ +e^ze^σ∂Vσ∂z+e^ze^τ∂Vτ∂z+e^ze^z∂Vz∂z\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} \nabla \vb{V} &= \quad \vu{e}_\sigma \vu{e}_\sigma \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\sigma} + \frac{\tau V_\tau}{\rho^3} \bigg) + \vu{e}_\sigma \vu{e}_\tau \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_\tau}{\sigma} - \frac{\tau V_\sigma}{\rho^3} \bigg) + \vu{e}_\sigma \vu{e}_z \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_z}{\sigma} \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_\tau \vu{e}_\sigma \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\tau} - \frac{\sigma V_\tau}{\rho^3} \bigg) + \vu{e}_\tau \vu{e}_\tau \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_\tau}{\tau} + \frac{\sigma V_\sigma}{\rho^3} \bigg) + \vu{e}_\tau \vu{e}_z \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{V_z}{\tau} \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_z \vu{e}_\sigma \pdv{V_\sigma}{z} + \vu{e}_z \vu{e}_\tau \pdv{V_\tau}{z} + \vu{e}_z \vu{e}_z \pdv{V_z}{z} \end{aligned} } \end{aligned} (U⋅∇)V=e^σ(Uσρ∂Vσ∂σ+Uτρ∂Vσ∂τ+Uz∂Vσ∂z+τρ3UσVτ−σρ3UτVτ) +e^τ(Uσρ∂Vτ∂σ+Uτρ∂Vτ∂τ+Uz∂Vτ∂z+σρ3UτVσ−τρ3UσVσ) +e^z(Uσρ∂Vz∂σ+Uτρ∂Vz∂τ+Uz∂Vz∂z)\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} (\vb{U} \cdot \nabla) \vb{V} &= \quad \vu{e}_\sigma \bigg( \frac{U_\sigma}{\rho} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\sigma} + \frac{U_\tau}{\rho} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\tau} + U_z \pdv{V_\sigma}{z} + \frac{\tau}{\rho^3} U_\sigma V_\tau - \frac{\sigma}{\rho^3} U_\tau V_\tau \bigg) \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_\tau \bigg( \frac{U_\sigma}{\rho} \pdv{V_\tau}{\sigma} + \frac{U_\tau}{\rho} \pdv{V_\tau}{\tau} + U_z \pdv{V_\tau}{z} + \frac{\sigma}{\rho^3} U_\tau V_\sigma - \frac{\tau}{\rho^3} U_\sigma V_\sigma \bigg) \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_z \bigg( \frac{U_\sigma}{\rho} \pdv{V_z}{\sigma} + \frac{U_\tau}{\rho} \pdv{V_z}{\tau} + U_z \pdv{V_z}{z} \bigg) \end{aligned} } \end{aligned} ∇2V=e^σ(1ρ2∂2Vσ∂σ2+1ρ2∂2Vσ∂τ2+∂2Vσ∂z2+2τρ4∂Vτ∂σ−2σρ4∂Vτ∂τ−Vσρ4) +e^τ(1ρ2∂2Vτ∂σ2+1ρ2∂2Vτ∂τ2+∂2Vτ∂z2−2τρ4∂Vσ∂σ+2σρ4∂Vσ∂τ−Vτρ4) +e^z(1ρ2∂2Vz∂σ2+1ρ2∂2Vz∂τ2+∂2Vz∂z2)\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} \nabla^2 \vb{V} &= \quad \vu{e}_\sigma \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{V_\sigma}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{V_\sigma}{\tau} + \pdvn{2}{V_\sigma}{z} + \frac{2 \tau}{\rho^4} \pdv{V_\tau}{\sigma} - \frac{2 \sigma}{\rho^4} \pdv{V_\tau}{\tau} - \frac{V_\sigma}{\rho^4} \bigg) \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_\tau \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{V_\tau}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{V_\tau}{\tau} + \pdvn{2}{V_\tau}{z} - \frac{2 \tau}{\rho^4} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\sigma} + \frac{2 \sigma}{\rho^4} \pdv{V_\sigma}{\tau} - \frac{V_\tau}{\rho^4} \bigg) \\ &\quad\: + \vu{e}_z \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{V_z}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho^2} \pdvn{2}{V_z}{\tau} + \pdvn{2}{V_z}{z} \bigg) \end{aligned} } \end{aligned} ∇⋅T‾‾=e^σ(1ρ∂Tσσ∂σ+1ρ∂Tτσ∂τ+∂Tzσ∂z+σTσσρ3+τTστρ3+τTτσρ3−σTττρ3)+e^τ(1ρ∂Tστ∂σ+1ρ∂Tττ∂τ+∂Tkτ∂z−τTσσρ3+σTστρ3+σTτσρ3+τTττρ3)+e^z(1ρ∂Tσz∂σ+1ρ∂Tτz∂τ+∂Tzz∂z+σTσzρ3+τTτzρ3)\begin{aligned} \boxed{ \begin{aligned} \nabla \cdot \overline{\overline{\mathbf{T}}} &= \vu{e}_\sigma \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{T_{\sigma \sigma}}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{T_{\tau \sigma}}{\tau} + \pdv{T_{z \sigma}}{z} + \frac{\sigma T_{\sigma \sigma}}{\rho^3} + \frac{\tau T_{\sigma \tau}}{\rho^3} + \frac{\tau T_{\tau \sigma}}{\rho^3} - \frac{\sigma T_{\tau \tau}}{\rho^3} \bigg) \\ &+ \vu{e}_\tau \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{T_{\sigma \tau}}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{T_{\tau \tau}}{\tau} + \pdv{T_{k \tau}}{z} - \frac{\tau T_{\sigma \sigma}}{\rho^3} + \frac{\sigma T_{\sigma \tau}}{\rho^3} + \frac{\sigma T_{\tau \sigma}}{\rho^3} + \frac{\tau T_{\tau \tau}}{\rho^3} \bigg) \\ &+ \vu{e}_z \bigg( \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{T_{\sigma z}}{\sigma} + \frac{1}{\rho} \pdv{T_{\tau z}}{\tau} + \pdv{T_{zz}}{z} + \frac{\sigma T_{\sigma z}}{\rho^3} + \frac{\tau T_{\tau z}}{\rho^3} \bigg) \end{aligned} } \end{aligned}

References

  1. M.L. Boas, Mathematical methods in the physical sciences, 2nd edition, Wiley.