Physics Cup P1

Trocin Ruslan
October 2024

Contents
1 Introduction 1

2 Part 1 1

3 Part 2 4

4 Appendix 4

1 Introduction
In this section I will state the initial conditions of the problem and my assump-
tions according to which I will try to obtain an adequate solution . First of
all I consider any magnetic field created via rotation negligible enough to not
include it into
q the calculation of the force. As stated in the problem the skin
2ρ
depth δ = µω >> R. Also I change from x to z the direction of the angular
velocity vector and also the magnetic field , but it doesn’t affect the final result
.

2 Part 1
In this section I will perform the calculation of field intensity generated by the
charge distribution of the first sphere which is rotating as a result of Lorentz
force .In the reference frame stationary relative to a sphere it is generated a
static electric field , to compensate the Lorentz force . The resulting electric
field is equal to :
⃗ = −⃗v × B⃗0 , ⃗v = ω
E ⃗ × ⃗r (1)
, now ω ⃗ = ωẑ , ẑ = r̂cosθ − sinθθ̂ , substituting it the following is obtained
E⃗ = −ωB0 r[(ẑ × r̂) × ẑ], using the triple product rule ,E ⃗ = ωB0 r[r̂ − ẑ(ẑ ·
r̂)] , it is obvious that ẑ · r̂ = cosθ, the following result is obtained denoting
r⃗⊥ = rsinθ(r̂sinθ + θ̂cosθ) E ⃗ = −ωB0 r⃗⊥ , this static electric field inside of

1
the conducting sphere produces volume charge density which can be calculated
using Gauss law in differential form . The volume charge density is equal to :

⃗ = ϵ0 [ 1 ∂ (r2 Er ) + 1 ∂ (sinθEθ )]
ρ = ϵ0 ∇ · E (2)
r2 ∂r sinθ ∂θ
, the components of the electric field are Er = −ωB0 rsin2 θ , Eθ = −ωB0 rcosθsinθ,
calculating the derivatives yields ρ = −2ϵ0 ωB0 , the total charge inside the
3
sphere is equal to Q = − 8πR 3ϵ0 ωB0 , knowing that the electric field in func-
⃗ = −∇ϕ ,inside (r < R) is defined in case of azimuthal
tion of the potential E
symmetry as
E⃗ = −r̂ ∂ϕ − θ̂ 1 ∂ϕ (3)
∂r r ∂θ
, using the knowledge that we have on the components of the field we obtain
the following equation , which if integrated gives the potential :
∂ϕ
= ωB0 rsin2 θ (4)
∂r
2 2
, integrating it is obvious that the potential inside (r ≤ R), ϕ(r, θ) = ωB0 r 2sin θ +
ϕ0 , where ϕ0 is constant which shall be determined , this the potential inside
of the sphere , outside of the sphere (r > R)its useful to apply the Laplace
equation ∇2 ϕ = 0 ,because first of all charge density outside is zero, because
relative to the non-rotating frame of reference its zero , so the solution for the
P∞
potential outside : ϕ(r, θ) = l=0 Cl Prll+1
(cosθ)
,now using the fact that the poten-
tial is continuous at r = R, or ϕ(r = R− , θ) = ϕ(r = R+ , θ), the following is
obtained from the continuity of the potential of electric field :
∞
X Cl Pl (cosθ) ωB0 R2 sin2 θ
= + ϕ0 (5)
Rl+1 2
l=0

, Pl (cosθ) are Legendre polynomials , now of course the next step is finding the
coefficients from the sum Cl using Fourier transform of the Legendre polynomial
which are orthonormal , it is known that Legendre polynomial of order l = 0
2 2
P0 (cosθ) = 1 , and of order l = 2 is P2 (cosθ) = 3cos2 θ−1 = 2−3sin
2
θ
,sin2 θ =
2
3 [P0 (cosθ) − P2 (cosθ)] now the following is obtained after using the Fourier
transform :
ωB0 R5 ωB0 R3
C2 = − , C0 = ϕ0 R + (6)
3 3
, so using this terms in the Legendre polynomial expansion of the potential , the
following potential is obtained for the outside region (R ≥ r) of the conducting
sphere :

R ωB0 R2 R R3 3cos2 θ − 1
ϕ(r, θ) = ϕ0 + [ − 3( )] (7)
r 3 r r 2

2
, now the electric field components on r and θ outside of the conducting sphere
obtained using eq. (3) are equal to the following expressions:
∂ϕ R ωR2 B0 R 3R3 3cos2 θ − 1
Er = − = ϕ0 2 + [ 2− 4 ( )] (8)
∂r r 3 r r 2
, and the θ component of the field :
1 ∂ϕ ωR5 B0 sinθcosθ
Eθ = − =− (9)
r ∂θ r4
, now the information about the radial component of the electric field can be used
to calculate the unknown constant potential ϕ0 , this will allow me to find the
distribution generated by the quadropole + monopole field of the rotating sphere
on the static conductive sphere , which is the fun part of the problem . First of
all the the charge will be also distributed on the surface of the sphere making an
interesting σθ distribution , which can be calculated using the following known
(n) (n) (n)
fact that for a Gaussian pillbox the following is know σ = ϵ0 (Eout −Ein ) , Eout ,
(n)
Ein are the components of the electric field normal to the surface of the pillbox
outside and respectively inside , using the expressions for radial (because radial
is normal to the surface) of the electric field , outside and inside respectively
the following expression for the surface charge density of the conductive sphere
is obtained :
ϵ0 ωRB0 ϕ0 ϵ0
σ(θ) = (11 − 15cos2 θ) + (10)
6 R
, the total charge which initially has been calculated Q ,is known , so i can
proceed to integrate the surface charge density σ(θ) over area , then equalling
it to the total charge i can obtain the unknown Rpotential ϕ0 and proceed to the
second part of the problem . The integral Q = σ(θ) 2πR2 sinθdθ is equal to :
Z π
2 ϵ0 ωRB0 ϕ 0 ϵ0
Q = 2πR [ (11 − 15cos2 θ) + ]sinθ dθ (11)
0 6 R
, the integral will be reduced to the following expression :
Q = 4πϵ0 ωB0 R3 + 4πϵ0 ϕ0 R (12)
, now due to the fact that the net charge on the sphere should be equal to zero
3
,the following equality holds 4πϵ0 ωB0 R3 + 4πϵ0 ϕ0 R = 8πR 3ϵ0 ωB0 , which yields
:
ωB0 R2
ϕ0 = − (13)
3
, now substituting this in the expression for the radial electric field , the following
is obtained :
ωR2 B0 3R3 3cos2 θ − 1
Er = − ( ) (14)
3 r4 2
,as it can be observed the monopole terms cancel out and the rotating conductive
sphere has a quadropole field, now i proceed to the second part of the problem
,which is concerned with calculating the distribution of charge on the surface of
the non-rotating conductive sphere.

3
3 Part 2
Now the second part of the problem consists of determining the interaction force
between the rotating sphere and non-rotating one .First of all it is known that
a conductive metal sphere in an uniform external electric field behaves like a
dipole with dipole moment p = ϵ0 Eext 4πR3 , in our case of the field is of a
quadrupole but at large distance L >> R , the field is essentially uniform . The
external field :
ωR2 B0 3R3 3cos2 θ − 1 ωR5 B0 sinθcosθ
E⃗ext = − ( )r̂ − θ̂ (15)
3 r4 2 r4
, oriented in the z axis the angle θ = 0 , so the external field at distance z from
center reduces to :
ωR5 B0
Eext = − (16)
z4
, the force exerted by an external field on a dipole is equal to F⃗ = (⃗ p · ∇)E⃗ ,
now for the situation described in the problem the force is equal to :

ωR5 B0 d ωR5 B0 16ϵ0 πω 2 R13 B02

Fz = 4πR3 ϵ0 ( ) = − (17)
z 4 dz z4 L9
0 16ϵ πω 2 R13 B 2
,so the magnitude of the force is F = L9
0
, this is the force of interaction
between the stationary conducting sphere and the rotating one in the magnetic
field .

4 Appendix
The orthogonality relationship between the Legendre polynomials of order l :
Z π
2δlm
Pl (cosθ)Pm (cosθ)sinθ dθ = (18)
0 2l +1

, the Kronecker delta : 

 1, l = m
δlm = (19)
0, l ̸= m


, the Laplace equation in spherical coordinates with azimuthal symmetry :

1 ∂ 2 ∂ϕ 1 ∂ ∂ϕ
∇2 ϕ = (r )+ 2 (sinθ ) = 0 (20)
r2 ∂r ∂r r sinθ ∂θ ∂θ
, general solution to the Laplace equation as a generating series of Legendre
polynomials is :
∞ ∞
X X Pl (cosθ)
ϕ(r, θ) = Al Pl (cosθ)rl + Bl (21)
rl+1
l=0 l=0

4
, the proof of the fact that the dipole moment of a conductive metallic sphere in
an external uniform field is p = ϵ0 Eext 4πR3 . It arises as a result of continuous
polarization of the sphere via the external electric field , i will consider that the
sphere has a dielectric therefore i can show how it arises from the general case
of arbitrary electric susceptibility χe , in the case of conductive sphere it will
be 0 . The polarization due to the external electric field is :

P = ϵ0 χe Eext (22)

, the electric field inside a uniformly polarized sphere is determined from the
gauss law and the superposition of two oppositely charged distributions forming
a dipole . The field inside of a solid uniformly charged sphere is :

⃗ = − ρ⃗r
E (23)
3ϵ0
, resulting field due to the distributions is :

⃗ = E⃗+ + E⃗− = − ρr⃗+ + ρr⃗−

E (24)
3ϵ0 3ϵ0

, the length of this dipole formed is d⃗ = r⃗+ − r⃗+ , the polarization is defined
as P = dV dp
, so P⃗ = ρd⃗ , p⃗ = Qd⃗ , now using the fact that E⃗ = − P⃗ .The
3ϵ0
⃗
electric field induced by the external field is E⃗1 = − χe E3ext , 2nd one E⃗2 =
( −χ e 2 ⃗
3 ) E , and so on . The total field inside of the dielectric sphere is then
Pext
∞ P∞
Etot = k=0 Ek = k=0 ( −χ e k
3 ) Eext , this geometric sum gives :

Eext
Etot = (25)
1 + χ3e

E⃗
, now the polarization is equal to P⃗ = 3ϵ0 1+ χe , which gives the dipole moment
ext
3
⃗
Eext 4πR3
: p⃗ = 3ϵ0 1+ χe
3 , taking limit χe → 0 , it gives p = ϵ0 Eext 4πR3
3