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Derivation of geometrical buckling for spherical geometry

Consider the Helmhotz equation as follow:

v v
∇ 2φ (r ) + B 2φ (r ) = 0 (0)

The above equation is actually about the Eigen value problem.

For spherical geometry, the Laplacian takes the form:

∂2 2 ∂ 1 ∂2 cos φ ∂ 1 ∂2
∇2 = + + + + (0)
∂r 2 r ∂r r 2 sin 2 φ ∂θ 2 r 2 sin φ ∂φ r 2 ∂φ 2

And by assuming that the system under consideration only depends on radial coordinate, and
does not depend on any angular coordinates, the Laplacian simplifies as follow:

∂2 2 ∂
∇2 = + (0)
∂r 2 r ∂r

And now substitute eq. (0) to eq. (0):

 ∂2 2 ∂ 
 2+  φ (r ) + B φ (r ) = 0
2
(0)
 ∂r r ∂r 

Eq. (0) has the boundary condition of:

° )=0
φ (r = R
(0)
° = R + 0.71/ Σ
R tr

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The general solution of eq. (0) is as follow:

sin Br cos Br
φ (r ) = C1 + C2 (0)
r r

Where C1 and C2 are constants, the second term of the above equation becomes infinity as r
approaches zero, therefore, C2 should be zero, then:
sin Br
φ (r ) = C1 (0)
r

Applying the boundary condition, eq. (0):

°
° ) = C sin BR = 0
φ (r = R (0)
1 °
R

Therefore, B should be:

nπ
B=
°
R (0)
n = 1,3, 5,...

Therefore, the solutions of this Eigen value problem are as follow:

sin Br
φ (r ) = C1 ⇐ The Eigen Function (0)
r
nπ
B= ⇐ The Eigen Value
°
R (0)
n = 1,3, 5,...

The geometrical buckling is then defined as the fundamental Eigen value of the Laplace
operator, which is when n = 1:
2
π 
B = 
2
⇐ Geometrical Buckling for Spherical Geometry (0)
° 
R

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