Elliptic Cylindrical Coordinates - Scale Factors

Scale Factors

The scale factors for the elliptic cylindrical coordinates and are equal

h_{\mu} = h_{\nu} = a\sqrt{\sinh^{2}\mu + \sin^{2}\nu}

whereas the remaining scale factor . Consequently, an infinitesimal volume element equals

dV = a^{2} \left( \sinh^{2}\mu + \sin^{2}\nu \right) d\mu d\nu dz

and the Laplacian equals

\nabla^{2} \Phi = \frac{1}{a^{2} \left( \sinh^{2}\mu + \sin^{2}\nu \right)} \left( \frac{\partial^{2} \Phi}{\partial \mu^{2}} + \frac{\partial^{2} \Phi}{\partial \nu^{2}} \right) + \frac{\partial^{2} \Phi}{\partial z^{2}}

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.

Read more about this topic:  Elliptic Cylindrical Coordinates

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