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Derivation of D-dimensional Laplacian in spherical coordinates


Why is a diffeomorphism an isometry if and only if it commutes with the Laplacian?Laplace-Beltrami operator on a circle - ExplanationLaplacian in Polar Coordinates - Understanding the derivationHow to remember laplacian in polar and (hyper)spherical coordinates$Delta mathbf n = -2 mathbf n$ on the Euclidean sphere






.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;








2












$begingroup$


I'm trying to derive the D-dimensional laplacian over Euclidean space for a function $f$ that is invariant under D-dimensional Euclidean rotations.



Specifically i'm trying to go from the equation



$$
Delta_D phi = U'(phi)
$$



to the equation



$$
fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr = U'(phi)
$$



where $r = (x_1^2+x_2^2+x_3^2+dots+x_D^2)^1/2$. I'm a physicist and currently I don't have much knowledge about differential geometry and operators over manifolds, but still i wanted to know how, in a rigorous manner, to derive that equation under that change of coordinates.



Searching on the internet i found that the general form for the laplacian is given by the Laplace-Beltrami operator



$$
Delta_D phi= frac1sqrtdet gpartial_ileft(sqrtdet gg^ijpartial_jphiright)
$$



but i don't know how the metric tensor is in the coordinates specified. I know that in Euclidian space is just a Kroneker delta, but what about spherical coordinates?
On the Wikipedia article gives the result right away without any explanation.



I'm really curious to see how to derive it. I didn't find any explanation with computation in my google search.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Have you seen this text : link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-4614-0706-5%2F1.pdf ? Besides, a little detail : Euclidian $to$ Euclidean
    $endgroup$
    – Jean Marie
    8 hours ago

















2












$begingroup$


I'm trying to derive the D-dimensional laplacian over Euclidean space for a function $f$ that is invariant under D-dimensional Euclidean rotations.



Specifically i'm trying to go from the equation



$$
Delta_D phi = U'(phi)
$$



to the equation



$$
fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr = U'(phi)
$$



where $r = (x_1^2+x_2^2+x_3^2+dots+x_D^2)^1/2$. I'm a physicist and currently I don't have much knowledge about differential geometry and operators over manifolds, but still i wanted to know how, in a rigorous manner, to derive that equation under that change of coordinates.



Searching on the internet i found that the general form for the laplacian is given by the Laplace-Beltrami operator



$$
Delta_D phi= frac1sqrtdet gpartial_ileft(sqrtdet gg^ijpartial_jphiright)
$$



but i don't know how the metric tensor is in the coordinates specified. I know that in Euclidian space is just a Kroneker delta, but what about spherical coordinates?
On the Wikipedia article gives the result right away without any explanation.



I'm really curious to see how to derive it. I didn't find any explanation with computation in my google search.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Have you seen this text : link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-4614-0706-5%2F1.pdf ? Besides, a little detail : Euclidian $to$ Euclidean
    $endgroup$
    – Jean Marie
    8 hours ago













2












2








2





$begingroup$


I'm trying to derive the D-dimensional laplacian over Euclidean space for a function $f$ that is invariant under D-dimensional Euclidean rotations.



Specifically i'm trying to go from the equation



$$
Delta_D phi = U'(phi)
$$



to the equation



$$
fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr = U'(phi)
$$



where $r = (x_1^2+x_2^2+x_3^2+dots+x_D^2)^1/2$. I'm a physicist and currently I don't have much knowledge about differential geometry and operators over manifolds, but still i wanted to know how, in a rigorous manner, to derive that equation under that change of coordinates.



Searching on the internet i found that the general form for the laplacian is given by the Laplace-Beltrami operator



$$
Delta_D phi= frac1sqrtdet gpartial_ileft(sqrtdet gg^ijpartial_jphiright)
$$



but i don't know how the metric tensor is in the coordinates specified. I know that in Euclidian space is just a Kroneker delta, but what about spherical coordinates?
On the Wikipedia article gives the result right away without any explanation.



I'm really curious to see how to derive it. I didn't find any explanation with computation in my google search.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




I'm trying to derive the D-dimensional laplacian over Euclidean space for a function $f$ that is invariant under D-dimensional Euclidean rotations.



Specifically i'm trying to go from the equation



$$
Delta_D phi = U'(phi)
$$



to the equation



$$
fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr = U'(phi)
$$



where $r = (x_1^2+x_2^2+x_3^2+dots+x_D^2)^1/2$. I'm a physicist and currently I don't have much knowledge about differential geometry and operators over manifolds, but still i wanted to know how, in a rigorous manner, to derive that equation under that change of coordinates.



Searching on the internet i found that the general form for the laplacian is given by the Laplace-Beltrami operator



$$
Delta_D phi= frac1sqrtdet gpartial_ileft(sqrtdet gg^ijpartial_jphiright)
$$



but i don't know how the metric tensor is in the coordinates specified. I know that in Euclidian space is just a Kroneker delta, but what about spherical coordinates?
On the Wikipedia article gives the result right away without any explanation.



I'm really curious to see how to derive it. I didn't find any explanation with computation in my google search.







differential-geometry physics laplacian






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited 8 hours ago









Jean Marie

34.6k4 gold badges26 silver badges60 bronze badges




34.6k4 gold badges26 silver badges60 bronze badges










asked 8 hours ago









Davide MorganteDavide Morgante

2,6381 gold badge8 silver badges26 bronze badges




2,6381 gold badge8 silver badges26 bronze badges














  • $begingroup$
    Have you seen this text : link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-4614-0706-5%2F1.pdf ? Besides, a little detail : Euclidian $to$ Euclidean
    $endgroup$
    – Jean Marie
    8 hours ago
















  • $begingroup$
    Have you seen this text : link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-4614-0706-5%2F1.pdf ? Besides, a little detail : Euclidian $to$ Euclidean
    $endgroup$
    – Jean Marie
    8 hours ago















$begingroup$
Have you seen this text : link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-4614-0706-5%2F1.pdf ? Besides, a little detail : Euclidian $to$ Euclidean
$endgroup$
– Jean Marie
8 hours ago




$begingroup$
Have you seen this text : link.springer.com/content/pdf/bbm%3A978-1-4614-0706-5%2F1.pdf ? Besides, a little detail : Euclidian $to$ Euclidean
$endgroup$
– Jean Marie
8 hours ago










2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















3












$begingroup$

Since you're a physicist, I thought a variational derivation might be appealing. Consider the functional $$F[phi]=int left[frac12(nabla phi)^2+U(phi)right] dV.$$ Then the functional derivative is $$fracdeltadelta phiF[rho]=fracpartial Upartial phi-nabla^2 phi =U'(phi)-Delta_D phi,$$ so your first equation is equivalent to $delta F[phi]/delta phi=0$. But $phi$ is a function of $r$ alone, so we can integrate out the irrelevant angular degrees of freedom to obtain $$F[phi]=C_Dint left[frac12(partial_r phi)^2+U(phi)right] r^D-1dr$$ where $C_D$ is some $D$-dependent multiplicative constant. We may then compute the functional derivative once again as
$$dfracdeltadelta phiF[phi]=C_n left[U'(phi)r^D-1-partial_r(r^D-1 partial_rphi)right]=C_n r^D-1left[U'(phi)-fracD-1rfracdphidr-fracd^2phidr^2 right].$$
For this variational derivative to vanish again, we must therefore have $$Delta_D phi = U'(phi) = fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr$$ which was the result to be derived.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$














  • $begingroup$
    I love this! Thank you so much. This way is much clearer to me. Maybe in the future i'll go in depth in the differential geometry way.
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    7 hours ago


















6












$begingroup$

Here is a longer derivation that requires mostly basic calculus.



The Laplacian is invariant under rotations. Specifically, if $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ and $nabla^2 f(x);=alpha$, then $nabla^2 g;
(R^-1 x)=alpha$
where $R$ is any rotation matrix ($R^TR=I$ and $det(R)=1$) and $g(x) := f(Rx)$.



Now suppose that $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ has the property that $f(x)= h(||x||)$ where $h:mathbb [0,infty) rightarrow mathbb R$, $h$ is twice differentiable, and $||x||=sqrtsum_i x_i^2.$



At $x$, we can form an orthonormal basis $x$. Now
$$
nabla^2 f(x) = sum_i=1^n fracpartial^2 fpartial x_i^2(x)
$$

and by invariance under rotation, we can use the basis $x$ to get
beginequation
(1)quadquadnabla^2 f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i
endequation

where $p_i:= k_i''(0)$ and $k_i(epsilon) := f(x+epsilon v_i)$.



The fact that $f$ only depends on the radius implies that all of the $k_i$ are the same and for $i=2, 3, ldots n$,
$$f(x+epsilon v_i) = k_i(epsilon) = k(epsilon) = f(x+ epsilon v_2)=h(sqrt).$$



Let $r=||x||$. Using calculus,
$$k'(epsilon) = h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2, quad mathrmand $$
$$k''(epsilon) = h''(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilon^2r^2+epsilon^2 + h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 -epsilon fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 r^2+epsilon^2.$$
Thus $p_i:= k''(0) = h''(r)cdot 0 + h'(r)fracrr^2=h'(r)/r$. Applying this to equation (1) gives
$$
nabla^2f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i = h''(r) + (n-1)frach'(r)r.
$$






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$














  • $begingroup$
    Yes, even this i can understand! Very straight forward, thanks
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    5 hours ago













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2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









3












$begingroup$

Since you're a physicist, I thought a variational derivation might be appealing. Consider the functional $$F[phi]=int left[frac12(nabla phi)^2+U(phi)right] dV.$$ Then the functional derivative is $$fracdeltadelta phiF[rho]=fracpartial Upartial phi-nabla^2 phi =U'(phi)-Delta_D phi,$$ so your first equation is equivalent to $delta F[phi]/delta phi=0$. But $phi$ is a function of $r$ alone, so we can integrate out the irrelevant angular degrees of freedom to obtain $$F[phi]=C_Dint left[frac12(partial_r phi)^2+U(phi)right] r^D-1dr$$ where $C_D$ is some $D$-dependent multiplicative constant. We may then compute the functional derivative once again as
$$dfracdeltadelta phiF[phi]=C_n left[U'(phi)r^D-1-partial_r(r^D-1 partial_rphi)right]=C_n r^D-1left[U'(phi)-fracD-1rfracdphidr-fracd^2phidr^2 right].$$
For this variational derivative to vanish again, we must therefore have $$Delta_D phi = U'(phi) = fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr$$ which was the result to be derived.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$














  • $begingroup$
    I love this! Thank you so much. This way is much clearer to me. Maybe in the future i'll go in depth in the differential geometry way.
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    7 hours ago















3












$begingroup$

Since you're a physicist, I thought a variational derivation might be appealing. Consider the functional $$F[phi]=int left[frac12(nabla phi)^2+U(phi)right] dV.$$ Then the functional derivative is $$fracdeltadelta phiF[rho]=fracpartial Upartial phi-nabla^2 phi =U'(phi)-Delta_D phi,$$ so your first equation is equivalent to $delta F[phi]/delta phi=0$. But $phi$ is a function of $r$ alone, so we can integrate out the irrelevant angular degrees of freedom to obtain $$F[phi]=C_Dint left[frac12(partial_r phi)^2+U(phi)right] r^D-1dr$$ where $C_D$ is some $D$-dependent multiplicative constant. We may then compute the functional derivative once again as
$$dfracdeltadelta phiF[phi]=C_n left[U'(phi)r^D-1-partial_r(r^D-1 partial_rphi)right]=C_n r^D-1left[U'(phi)-fracD-1rfracdphidr-fracd^2phidr^2 right].$$
For this variational derivative to vanish again, we must therefore have $$Delta_D phi = U'(phi) = fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr$$ which was the result to be derived.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$














  • $begingroup$
    I love this! Thank you so much. This way is much clearer to me. Maybe in the future i'll go in depth in the differential geometry way.
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    7 hours ago













3












3








3





$begingroup$

Since you're a physicist, I thought a variational derivation might be appealing. Consider the functional $$F[phi]=int left[frac12(nabla phi)^2+U(phi)right] dV.$$ Then the functional derivative is $$fracdeltadelta phiF[rho]=fracpartial Upartial phi-nabla^2 phi =U'(phi)-Delta_D phi,$$ so your first equation is equivalent to $delta F[phi]/delta phi=0$. But $phi$ is a function of $r$ alone, so we can integrate out the irrelevant angular degrees of freedom to obtain $$F[phi]=C_Dint left[frac12(partial_r phi)^2+U(phi)right] r^D-1dr$$ where $C_D$ is some $D$-dependent multiplicative constant. We may then compute the functional derivative once again as
$$dfracdeltadelta phiF[phi]=C_n left[U'(phi)r^D-1-partial_r(r^D-1 partial_rphi)right]=C_n r^D-1left[U'(phi)-fracD-1rfracdphidr-fracd^2phidr^2 right].$$
For this variational derivative to vanish again, we must therefore have $$Delta_D phi = U'(phi) = fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr$$ which was the result to be derived.






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$



Since you're a physicist, I thought a variational derivation might be appealing. Consider the functional $$F[phi]=int left[frac12(nabla phi)^2+U(phi)right] dV.$$ Then the functional derivative is $$fracdeltadelta phiF[rho]=fracpartial Upartial phi-nabla^2 phi =U'(phi)-Delta_D phi,$$ so your first equation is equivalent to $delta F[phi]/delta phi=0$. But $phi$ is a function of $r$ alone, so we can integrate out the irrelevant angular degrees of freedom to obtain $$F[phi]=C_Dint left[frac12(partial_r phi)^2+U(phi)right] r^D-1dr$$ where $C_D$ is some $D$-dependent multiplicative constant. We may then compute the functional derivative once again as
$$dfracdeltadelta phiF[phi]=C_n left[U'(phi)r^D-1-partial_r(r^D-1 partial_rphi)right]=C_n r^D-1left[U'(phi)-fracD-1rfracdphidr-fracd^2phidr^2 right].$$
For this variational derivative to vanish again, we must therefore have $$Delta_D phi = U'(phi) = fracd^2phidr^2+fracD-1rfracdphidr$$ which was the result to be derived.







share|cite|improve this answer












share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer










answered 7 hours ago









SemiclassicalSemiclassical

11.2k3 gold badges26 silver badges70 bronze badges




11.2k3 gold badges26 silver badges70 bronze badges














  • $begingroup$
    I love this! Thank you so much. This way is much clearer to me. Maybe in the future i'll go in depth in the differential geometry way.
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    7 hours ago
















  • $begingroup$
    I love this! Thank you so much. This way is much clearer to me. Maybe in the future i'll go in depth in the differential geometry way.
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    7 hours ago















$begingroup$
I love this! Thank you so much. This way is much clearer to me. Maybe in the future i'll go in depth in the differential geometry way.
$endgroup$
– Davide Morgante
7 hours ago




$begingroup$
I love this! Thank you so much. This way is much clearer to me. Maybe in the future i'll go in depth in the differential geometry way.
$endgroup$
– Davide Morgante
7 hours ago













6












$begingroup$

Here is a longer derivation that requires mostly basic calculus.



The Laplacian is invariant under rotations. Specifically, if $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ and $nabla^2 f(x);=alpha$, then $nabla^2 g;
(R^-1 x)=alpha$
where $R$ is any rotation matrix ($R^TR=I$ and $det(R)=1$) and $g(x) := f(Rx)$.



Now suppose that $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ has the property that $f(x)= h(||x||)$ where $h:mathbb [0,infty) rightarrow mathbb R$, $h$ is twice differentiable, and $||x||=sqrtsum_i x_i^2.$



At $x$, we can form an orthonormal basis $x$. Now
$$
nabla^2 f(x) = sum_i=1^n fracpartial^2 fpartial x_i^2(x)
$$

and by invariance under rotation, we can use the basis $x$ to get
beginequation
(1)quadquadnabla^2 f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i
endequation

where $p_i:= k_i''(0)$ and $k_i(epsilon) := f(x+epsilon v_i)$.



The fact that $f$ only depends on the radius implies that all of the $k_i$ are the same and for $i=2, 3, ldots n$,
$$f(x+epsilon v_i) = k_i(epsilon) = k(epsilon) = f(x+ epsilon v_2)=h(sqrt).$$



Let $r=||x||$. Using calculus,
$$k'(epsilon) = h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2, quad mathrmand $$
$$k''(epsilon) = h''(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilon^2r^2+epsilon^2 + h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 -epsilon fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 r^2+epsilon^2.$$
Thus $p_i:= k''(0) = h''(r)cdot 0 + h'(r)fracrr^2=h'(r)/r$. Applying this to equation (1) gives
$$
nabla^2f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i = h''(r) + (n-1)frach'(r)r.
$$






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$














  • $begingroup$
    Yes, even this i can understand! Very straight forward, thanks
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    5 hours ago















6












$begingroup$

Here is a longer derivation that requires mostly basic calculus.



The Laplacian is invariant under rotations. Specifically, if $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ and $nabla^2 f(x);=alpha$, then $nabla^2 g;
(R^-1 x)=alpha$
where $R$ is any rotation matrix ($R^TR=I$ and $det(R)=1$) and $g(x) := f(Rx)$.



Now suppose that $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ has the property that $f(x)= h(||x||)$ where $h:mathbb [0,infty) rightarrow mathbb R$, $h$ is twice differentiable, and $||x||=sqrtsum_i x_i^2.$



At $x$, we can form an orthonormal basis $x$. Now
$$
nabla^2 f(x) = sum_i=1^n fracpartial^2 fpartial x_i^2(x)
$$

and by invariance under rotation, we can use the basis $x$ to get
beginequation
(1)quadquadnabla^2 f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i
endequation

where $p_i:= k_i''(0)$ and $k_i(epsilon) := f(x+epsilon v_i)$.



The fact that $f$ only depends on the radius implies that all of the $k_i$ are the same and for $i=2, 3, ldots n$,
$$f(x+epsilon v_i) = k_i(epsilon) = k(epsilon) = f(x+ epsilon v_2)=h(sqrt).$$



Let $r=||x||$. Using calculus,
$$k'(epsilon) = h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2, quad mathrmand $$
$$k''(epsilon) = h''(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilon^2r^2+epsilon^2 + h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 -epsilon fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 r^2+epsilon^2.$$
Thus $p_i:= k''(0) = h''(r)cdot 0 + h'(r)fracrr^2=h'(r)/r$. Applying this to equation (1) gives
$$
nabla^2f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i = h''(r) + (n-1)frach'(r)r.
$$






share|cite|improve this answer









$endgroup$














  • $begingroup$
    Yes, even this i can understand! Very straight forward, thanks
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    5 hours ago













6












6








6





$begingroup$

Here is a longer derivation that requires mostly basic calculus.



The Laplacian is invariant under rotations. Specifically, if $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ and $nabla^2 f(x);=alpha$, then $nabla^2 g;
(R^-1 x)=alpha$
where $R$ is any rotation matrix ($R^TR=I$ and $det(R)=1$) and $g(x) := f(Rx)$.



Now suppose that $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ has the property that $f(x)= h(||x||)$ where $h:mathbb [0,infty) rightarrow mathbb R$, $h$ is twice differentiable, and $||x||=sqrtsum_i x_i^2.$



At $x$, we can form an orthonormal basis $x$. Now
$$
nabla^2 f(x) = sum_i=1^n fracpartial^2 fpartial x_i^2(x)
$$

and by invariance under rotation, we can use the basis $x$ to get
beginequation
(1)quadquadnabla^2 f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i
endequation

where $p_i:= k_i''(0)$ and $k_i(epsilon) := f(x+epsilon v_i)$.



The fact that $f$ only depends on the radius implies that all of the $k_i$ are the same and for $i=2, 3, ldots n$,
$$f(x+epsilon v_i) = k_i(epsilon) = k(epsilon) = f(x+ epsilon v_2)=h(sqrt).$$



Let $r=||x||$. Using calculus,
$$k'(epsilon) = h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2, quad mathrmand $$
$$k''(epsilon) = h''(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilon^2r^2+epsilon^2 + h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 -epsilon fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 r^2+epsilon^2.$$
Thus $p_i:= k''(0) = h''(r)cdot 0 + h'(r)fracrr^2=h'(r)/r$. Applying this to equation (1) gives
$$
nabla^2f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i = h''(r) + (n-1)frach'(r)r.
$$






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$endgroup$



Here is a longer derivation that requires mostly basic calculus.



The Laplacian is invariant under rotations. Specifically, if $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ and $nabla^2 f(x);=alpha$, then $nabla^2 g;
(R^-1 x)=alpha$
where $R$ is any rotation matrix ($R^TR=I$ and $det(R)=1$) and $g(x) := f(Rx)$.



Now suppose that $f:mathbb R^nrightarrow mathbb R^n$ has the property that $f(x)= h(||x||)$ where $h:mathbb [0,infty) rightarrow mathbb R$, $h$ is twice differentiable, and $||x||=sqrtsum_i x_i^2.$



At $x$, we can form an orthonormal basis $x$. Now
$$
nabla^2 f(x) = sum_i=1^n fracpartial^2 fpartial x_i^2(x)
$$

and by invariance under rotation, we can use the basis $x$ to get
beginequation
(1)quadquadnabla^2 f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i
endequation

where $p_i:= k_i''(0)$ and $k_i(epsilon) := f(x+epsilon v_i)$.



The fact that $f$ only depends on the radius implies that all of the $k_i$ are the same and for $i=2, 3, ldots n$,
$$f(x+epsilon v_i) = k_i(epsilon) = k(epsilon) = f(x+ epsilon v_2)=h(sqrt).$$



Let $r=||x||$. Using calculus,
$$k'(epsilon) = h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2, quad mathrmand $$
$$k''(epsilon) = h''(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracepsilon^2r^2+epsilon^2 + h'(sqrtr^2+epsilon^2)fracsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 -epsilon fracepsilonsqrtr^2+epsilon^2 r^2+epsilon^2.$$
Thus $p_i:= k''(0) = h''(r)cdot 0 + h'(r)fracrr^2=h'(r)/r$. Applying this to equation (1) gives
$$
nabla^2f(x)= h''(||x||) + sum_i=2^n p_i = h''(r) + (n-1)frach'(r)r.
$$







share|cite|improve this answer












share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer










answered 6 hours ago









irchansirchans

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  • $begingroup$
    Yes, even this i can understand! Very straight forward, thanks
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    5 hours ago
















  • $begingroup$
    Yes, even this i can understand! Very straight forward, thanks
    $endgroup$
    – Davide Morgante
    5 hours ago















$begingroup$
Yes, even this i can understand! Very straight forward, thanks
$endgroup$
– Davide Morgante
5 hours ago




$begingroup$
Yes, even this i can understand! Very straight forward, thanks
$endgroup$
– Davide Morgante
5 hours ago

















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