Zero-potential of two coulomb potentials

Markus Himmelstrand

Introduction
As we know problems of the form V = 3 (r r ), r, r R3 (1)

arise naturally in physics, the most notable example being that for the potential of the of a single charged particle and the solution is given by the generic Coulomb potential V (r) = 1 1 +C 4 |r r | (2)

where C is generally chosen to be 0. As 1 is a linear problem solutions for varying magnitude and locations for the the dirac-pulse may be super imposed and we shall be particularly interested in the potential which solves the twopulse-problem: V = q1 3 (r r1 ) + q2 3 (r r2 ), r1 , r2 R3 (3)

One physical interpretation would be that this corresponds two the shape of eld generated by two charges, possibly of dierent magnitude, and what we will be particularly interested in is the equipotential surface of corresponding to V = 0, that is what r satisfy V (r) = 0 and as we will see this surface is either a sphere or a plane.

A treatment though vector algebra

Given q1 , q2 , r1 and r2 we wish to solve V1 (r) + V2 (r) = 0 (4)

For convenience we dene the constant k = q2 /q1 and choose C = 0 whereupon the problem is expressed as 1 k + =0 |r r2 | |r r2 | Case 1: k > 0 1 (5)

This problem has no solution as both terms would always be positive and thus have a non-zero sum. Case 2: k = 1 If the two charges are of equal magnitude but dierent sign the potentials will intuitively cancel completely at the points that are of equal distance from either charge. This corresponds to a plane. Complete this with the mathematical argument Case 3.0: k < 0 For this case 5 is best rearranged and squared leaving k2 = (r r2 )2 |r r2 |2 = |r r1 |2 (r r1 )2

We return the expression to a common denominator, expand the squares, and continue to rearrange the expression k 2 (r2 2r r1 + r2 ) = r2 2r r2 + r2 1 2 (k 2 1)r2 2r (k 2 r1 r2 ) + k 2 r2 r2 = 0 1 2 k 2 r1 r2 r k2 1 by k 2 r1 r2 r0 = k2 1 R2 = (6)
2

(k 2 r1 r2 )2 r2 k 2 r2 1 + 22 21 k k 1

The 0-potential surface is thus a sphere with centre r0 and radius R given

r2 k 2 r2 |k 2 r1 r2 |2 1 + 22 (7) 21 k k 1 These expressions are however quite dicult to handle so we shall for purposes of intuition consider a very practical special case where the centre of the sphere r0 is set to be the origin of the coordinate system. Case 3.1: k < 0 and r0 = 0 Equation (6) now reduces to a very convenient relation between the positionvectors of the two charges. k 2 r1 r2 = 0 Futhermore we choose the coordinate system so that r1 and r2 are parallel. Whereupon we get the rather pretty expression k2 = and R2 i likewise reduced to q2 q1
2

|r2 | r2 = |r1 | r1

(8)

R2 =

2 r2 r1 r2 r2 k 2 r1 = 2 r1 r2 = r1 r2 21 k r1

(9)

For the case where the spheres radius may be known but not the magnitude or position of the charge we may reinsert (9) into (8) giving us the nal collection of expressions R2 = r1 r2 , q1 = R R q2 , q2 = q1 r2 r1

Applications and mirroring

The most obvious applications of the results derived in the previous sections come from solving a modication of the original problem (1) where we have a boundary condition of V = 0 over some boundary which is either a plane of a sphere.

The 2D problem
So in 2D we have the similar problem V = 2 (r r1 ) + k 2 (r r2 ), r, r1 , r2 R2 which has the solution 1 (ln |r r1 | + k ln |r r2 | C) 2 (note that unlike the 3D case there is no obvious reason to choose C = 0 and here it actually turns out to be an essential We assume that we know the position of the unit charge to be r1 and seek to determine the magnitude k and position r2 of another charge such that their potentials result in a 0-potential the form of a sphere with radius R and centre at 0. We look at the problem: V (r) = ln |r r1 | + k ln |r r2 | = C a rearrangement gives |r r1 |2 = e2C |r r2 |2k It does not strike me as possible to rearrange this further into the equation of a circle unless k = 1, as both sides of the equations need to be quadratic so well use this assumption and see how it works out. r2 2r r1 + r2 = e2C r2 2r r2 + r2 1 2 (10)

r1 e2C r2 r 1 e2C

e2C r2 r2 (r1 e2C r2 )2 2 1 1 e2C 1 e2C

So now we initiate the condition that the centre of the sphere is 0 and r1 ||r2 getting: e2C = r1 r2

Thereafter considering the radius gives us R =

2 r1 2 r2 r2 2 r1 r1 r2

= r1 r2

This is the same radial condition as for three dimensions and is the mirror point condition!!! Either way, knowing r1 and R we now embark on the mystical journey to determining C... 2C = ln Thus: V (r) = where r2 = R2 1 r r1 1 r1 ln |r r1 | + ln |r r2 | ln 2 R r1 r1 r2 = ln( 1 ) = 2 ln r2 R2 R

W =

1 2

V d2 S =
S

1 V 2

d2 S =
S

1 1 Q Q Q2 V S = QV = = 2 2 2 4R 8R