kugel: Orthogonality using Sturm-Liouville

1 files changed, 82 insertions, 10 deletions

diff --git a/buch/papers/kugel/spherical-harmonics.tex b/buch/papers/kugel/spherical-harmonics.tex
index 5d394a9..5a17b99 100644
--- a/buch/papers/kugel/spherical-harmonics.tex
+++ b/buch/papers/kugel/spherical-harmonics.tex
@@ -506,6 +506,7 @@ show that spherical harmonics are also orthogonal under the following inner
 product:
 
 \begin{definition}[Inner product in $S^2$]
+  \label{kugel:def:inner-product-s2}
   For 2 complex valued functions $f(\vartheta, \varphi)$ and $g(\vartheta,
   \varphi)$ on the surface of the sphere the inner product is defined to be
   \begin{equation*}
@@ -573,8 +574,51 @@ product:
   the proof is complete.
 \end{proof}
 
-\kugeltodo{Briefly mention that we could have skipped the tedious proofs by
-showing that the (associated) Legendre equation is a Sturm Liouville problem.}
+These proofs for the various orthogonality relations were quite long and
+algebraically tedious, mainly because they are ``low level'', by which we mean
+that they (arguably) do not rely on very abstract theory. However, if we allow
+ourselves to use the more abstract Sturm Liouville theory discussed in chapters
+\ref{buch:integrale:subsection:sturm-liouville-problem} and \kugeltodo{reference
+to chapter 17 of haddouche and Löffler} the proofs can become ridiculously
+short. Let's do for example lemma \ref{kugel:thm:associated-legendre-ortho}.
+
+\begin{proof}[
+    Shorter proof of lemma \ref{kugel:thm:associated-legendre-ortho}
+  ]
+  The associated Legendre polynomials, of which we would like to prove an
+  orthogonality relation, are the solution to the associated Legendre equation,
+  which we can write as $LZ(z) = 0$, where
+  \begin{equation*}
+    L = \frac{d}{dz} (1 - z^2) \frac{d}{dz}
+      + n(n+1) - \frac{m^2}{1 - z^2}.
+  \end{equation*}
+  Notice that $L$ is in fact a Sturm-Liouville operator of the form
+  \begin{equation*}
+    L = \frac{1}{w(z)} \left[
+        \frac{d}{dz} p(z) \frac{d}{dz} - \lambda + q(z)
+      \right],
+  \end{equation*}
+  if we let $w(z) = 1$, $p(z) = (1 - z^2 )$, $q(z) = -m^2 / (1 - z^2)$, and
+  $\lambda = -n(n+1)$. By the theory of Sturm-Liouville operators, we know that
+  the each solution of the problem $LZ(z) = 0$, namely $P^m_n(z)$, is orthogonal
+  to every other solution that has a different $\lambda$. In our case $\lambda$
+  varies with $n$, so $P^m_n(z)$ with different $n$'s are orthogonal to each
+  other.
+\end{proof}
+
+But that was still rather informative and had a bit of explanation, which is
+terrible. Real snobs, such as Wikipedia contributors, some authors and sometimes
+regrettably even ourselves, would write instead:
+
+\begin{proof}[
+    Pretentiously short proof of lemma \ref{kugel:thm:associated-legendre-ortho}
+  ]
+  The associated Legendre polynomials are solutions of the associated Legendre
+  equation which is a Sturm-Liouville problem and are thus orthogonal to each
+  other. The factor in front Kronecker delta is left as an exercise to the
+  reader.
+\end{proof}
+
 
 \if 0
 As explained in the chapter \ref{}, the concept of orthogonality is very important and at the practical level it is very useful, because it allows us to develop very powerful techniques at the mathematical level.\newline 
@@ -640,13 +684,13 @@ quasi-normalization).
 \end{definition}
 
 Additionally, there is another quirk in the literature that should be mentioned.
-In some other branches of physics such as seismology there is a so called
-Condon-Shortley phase factor $(-1)^m$ in front of the square root in the
-definition of the normalized spherical harmonics. It is yet another
-normalization that is added for reasons that are not very relevant to our
-discussion, but we are mentioning its existence since many numerical packages
-(such as \texttt{SHTOOLS} \kugeltodo{Reference}) offer an option to add or
-remove it from the computation.
+In some other branches of physics such as seismology and quantum mechanics there
+is a so called Condon-Shortley phase factor $(-1)^m$ in front of the square root
+in the definition of the normalized spherical harmonics. It is yet another
+normalization that is added for physical reasons that are not very relevant to
+our discussion, but mention its existence this potential source of confusion
+since many numerical packages (such as \texttt{SHTOOLS} \kugeltodo{Reference})
+offer an option to add or remove it from the computation.
 
 Though, for our purposes we will mostly only need the orthonormal spherical
 harmonics, so from now on, unless specified otherwise when we say spherical
@@ -655,8 +699,36 @@ definition \ref{kugel:def:spherical-harmonics-orthonormal}.
 
 \subsection{Recurrence Relations}
 
-\section{Series Expansions in $C(S^2)$}
+\section{Series Expansions in $L^2(S^2)$}
+
+We have now reached a point were we have all of the tools that are necessary to
+build something truly amazing: a general series expansion formula for functions
+on the surface of the sphere. Using the jargon: we will now see that the
+spherical harmonics together with the inner product of definition
+\ref{kugel:def:inner-product-s2}
+\begin{equation*}
+  \langle f, g \rangle
+  = \int_{0}^\pi \int_0^{2\pi}
+    f(\vartheta, \varphi) \overline{g(\vartheta, \varphi)}
+    \sin \vartheta \, d\varphi \, d\vartheta
+\end{equation*}
+form a Hilbert space over the space of complex valued $L^2$ functions $S^2 \to
+\mathbb{C}$. We will see later that this fact is very consequential and is
+extremely useful for many types of applications. If the jargon was too much, no
+need to worry, we will now go back to normal words and explain it again in more
+detail.
 
 \subsection{Spherical Harmonics Series}
 
+To talk about a \emph{series expansion} we first need a series, so we shall
+build one using the spherical harmonics.
+
+\begin{definition}[Spherical harmonic series]
+  \begin{equation*}
+    \hat{f}(\vartheta, \varphi) 
+    = \sum_{n \in \mathbb{Z}} \sum_{m \in \mathbb{Z}}
+      c_{m,n} Y^m_n(\vartheta, \varphi)
+  \end{equation*}
+\end{definition}
+
 \subsection{Fourier on $S^2$}