In mathematics, Legendre functions are solutions to Legendre's differential equation:

${\displaystyle {\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))\left(\left(1-x^{2}\right){\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))P_{n}(x)\right)+n(n+1)P_{n}(x)=0\,.}$

(1)

They are named after Adrien-Marie Legendre. This ordinary differential equation is frequently encountered in physics and other technical fields. In particular, it occurs when solving Laplace's equation (and related partial differential equations) in spherical coordinates.

The Legendre differential equation may be solved using the standard power series method. The equation has regular singular points at x = ±1 so, in general, a series solution about the origin will only converge for |x| < 1. When n is an integer, the solution P_n(x) that is regular at x = 1 is also regular at x = −1, and the series for this solution terminates (i.e. it is a polynomial).

These solutions for n = 0, 1, 2, ... (with the normalization P_n(1) = 1) form a polynomial sequence of orthogonal polynomials called the Legendre polynomials. Each Legendre polynomial P_n(x) is an nth-degree polynomial. It may be expressed using Rodrigues' formula:

${\displaystyle P_{n}(x)={\frac {1}{2^{n}n!)){\frac {\mathrm {d} ^{n)){\mathrm {d} x^{n))}\left(x^{2}-1\right)^{n}\,.}$

That these polynomials satisfy the Legendre differential equation (Eq. 1) follows by differentiating n + 1 times both sides of the identity

${\displaystyle \left(x^{2}-1\right){\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))\left(x^{2}-1\right)^{n}=2nx\left(x^{2}-1\right)^{n))$

and employing the general Leibniz rule for repeated differentiation.^[1] P_n can also be defined as the coefficients in a Taylor series expansion:^[2]

${\displaystyle {\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-2xt+t^{2))))=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }P_{n}(x)t^{n}\,.}$

(2)

In physics, this ordinary generating function is the basis for multipole expansions.

Expanding the Taylor series in Eq. 2 for the first two terms gives

${\displaystyle P_{0}(x)=1\,,\quad P_{1}(x)=x}$

for the first two Legendre polynomials. To obtain further terms without resorting to direct expansion of the Taylor series, Eq. 2 is differentiated with respect to t on both sides and rearranged to obtain

${\displaystyle {\frac {x-t}{\sqrt {1-2xt+t^{2))))=\left(1-2xt+t^{2}\right)\sum _{n=1}^{\infty }nP_{n}(x)t^{n-1}\,.}$

Replacing the quotient of the square root with its definition in Eq. 2, and equating the coefficients of powers of t in the resulting expansion gives Bonnet’s recursion formula

${\displaystyle (n+1)P_{n+1}(x)=(2n+1)xP_{n}(x)-nP_{n-1}(x)\,.}$

This relation, along with the first two polynomials P₀ and P₁, allows the Legendre polynomials to be generated recursively.

Explicit representations include

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}P_{n}(x)&={\frac {1}{2^{n))}\sum _{k=0}^{n}{\binom {n}{k))^{2}(x-1)^{n-k}(x+1)^{k}\\&=\sum _{k=0}^{n}{\binom {n}{k)){\binom {n+k}{k))\left({\frac {x-1}{2))\right)^{k}\\&=2^{n}\sum _{k=0}^{n}x^{k}{\binom {n}{k)){\binom {\frac {n+k-1}{2)){n))\,,\end{aligned))}$

where the latter, which is immediate from the recursion formula, expresses the Legendre polynomials by simple monomials and involves the multiplicative formula of the binomial coefficient.

The first few Legendre polynomials are:

${\displaystyle {\begin{array}{r|r}n&P_{n}(x)\\\hline 0&1\\1&x\\2&{\tfrac {1}{2))\left(3x^{2}-1\right)\\3&{\tfrac {1}{2))\left(5x^{3}-3x\right)\\4&{\tfrac {1}{8))\left(35x^{4}-30x^{2}+3\right)\\5&{\tfrac {1}{8))\left(63x^{5}-70x^{3}+15x\right)\\6&{\tfrac {1}{16))\left(231x^{6}-315x^{4}+105x^{2}-5\right)\\7&{\tfrac {1}{16))\left(429x^{7}-693x^{5}+315x^{3}-35x\right)\\8&{\tfrac {1}{128))\left(6435x^{8}-12012x^{6}+6930x^{4}-1260x^{2}+35\right)\\9&{\tfrac {1}{128))\left(12155x^{9}-25740x^{7}+18018x^{5}-4620x^{3}+315x\right)\\10&{\tfrac {1}{256))\left(46189x^{10}-109395x^{8}+90090x^{6}-30030x^{4}+3465x^{2}-63\right)\\\hline \end{array))}$

The graphs of these polynomials (up to n = 5) are shown below:

An important property of the Legendre polynomials is that they are orthogonal with respect to the L² norm on the interval −1 ≤ x ≤ 1:

${\displaystyle \int _{-1}^{1}P_{m}(x)P_{n}(x)\,\mathrm {d} x={\frac {2}{2n+1))\delta _{mn))$

(where δ_mn denotes the Kronecker delta, equal to 1 if m = n and to 0 otherwise).

In fact, an alternative derivation of the Legendre polynomials is by carrying out the Gram–Schmidt process on the polynomials {1, x, x², ...} with respect to this inner product. The reason for this orthogonality property is that the Legendre differential equation can be viewed as a Sturm–Liouville problem, where the Legendre polynomials are eigenfunctions of a Hermitian differential operator:

${\displaystyle {\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))\left(\left(1-x^{2}\right){\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))P(x)\right)=-\lambda P(x)\,,}$

where the eigenvalue λ corresponds to n(n + 1).

The Legendre polynomials were first introduced in 1782 by Adrien-Marie Legendre^[3] as the coefficients in the expansion of the Newtonian potential

${\displaystyle {\frac {1}{\left|\mathbf {x} -\mathbf {x} '\right|))={\frac {1}{\sqrt {r^{2}+{r'}^{2}-2r{r'}\cos \gamma ))}=\sum _{l=0}^{\infty }{\frac ((r'}^{l)){r^{l+1))}P_{l}(\cos \gamma )}$

where r and r′ are the lengths of the vectors x and x′ respectively and γ is the angle between those two vectors. The series converges when r > r′. The expression gives the gravitational potential associated to a point mass or the Coulomb potential associated to a point charge. The expansion using Legendre polynomials might be useful, for instance, when integrating this expression over a continuous mass or charge distribution.

Legendre polynomials occur in the solution of Laplace's equation of the static potential, ∇² Φ(x) = 0, in a charge-free region of space, using the method of separation of variables, where the boundary conditions have axial symmetry (no dependence on an azimuthal angle). Where ẑ is the axis of symmetry and θ is the angle between the position of the observer and the ẑ axis (the zenith angle), the solution for the potential will be

${\displaystyle \Phi (r,\theta )=\sum _{l=0}^{\infty }\left(A_{l}r^{l}+B_{l}r^{-(l+1)}\right)P_{l}(\cos \theta )\,.}$

A_l and B_l are to be determined according to the boundary condition of each problem.^[4]

They also appear when solving the Schrödinger equation in three dimensions for a central force.

Legendre polynomials are also useful in expanding functions of the form (this is the same as before, written a little differently):

${\displaystyle {\frac {1}{\sqrt {1+\eta ^{2}-2\eta x))}=\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\eta ^{k}P_{k}(x)}$

which arise naturally in multipole expansions. The left-hand side of the equation is the generating function for the Legendre polynomials.

As an example, the electric potential Φ(r,θ) (in spherical coordinates) due to a point charge located on the z-axis at z = a (see diagram right) varies as

${\displaystyle \Phi (r,\theta )\propto {\frac {1}{R))={\frac {1}{\sqrt {r^{2}+a^{2}-2ar\cos \theta ))))$

If the radius r of the observation point P is greater than a, the potential may be expanded in the Legendre polynomials

${\displaystyle \Phi (r,\theta )\propto {\frac {1}{r))\sum _{k=0}^{\infty }\left({\frac {a}{r))\right)^{k}P_{k}(\cos \theta )}$

where we have defined η = ⁠a/r⁠ < 1 and x = cos θ. This expansion is used to develop the normal multipole expansion.

Conversely, if the radius r of the observation point P is smaller than a, the potential may still be expanded in the Legendre polynomials as above, but with a and r exchanged. This expansion is the basis of interior multipole expansion.

The trigonometric functions cos nθ, also denoted as the Chebyshev polynomials T_n(cos θ) ≡ cos nθ, can also be multipole expanded by the Legendre polynomials P_n(cos θ). The first several orders are as follows:

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}T_{0}(\cos \theta )&=&1&=&P_{0}(\cos \theta )\\T_{1}(\cos \theta )&=&\cos \theta &=&P_{1}(\cos \theta )\\T_{2}(\cos \theta )&=&\cos 2\theta &=&{\tfrac {1}{3)){\bigl (}4P_{2}(\cos \theta )-P_{0}(\cos \theta ){\bigr )}\\T_{3}(\cos \theta )&=&\cos 3\theta &=&{\tfrac {1}{5)){\bigl (}8P_{3}(\cos \theta )-3P_{1}(\cos \theta ){\bigr )}\\T_{4}(\cos \theta )&=&\cos 4\theta &=&{\tfrac {1}{105)){\bigl (}192P_{4}(\cos \theta )-80P_{2}(\cos \theta )-7P_{0}(\cos \theta ){\bigr )}\\T_{5}(\cos \theta )&=&\cos 5\theta &=&{\tfrac {1}{63)){\bigl (}128P_{5}(\cos \theta )-56P_{3}(\cos \theta )-9P_{1}(\cos \theta ){\bigr )}\\T_{6}(\cos \theta )&=&\cos 6\theta &=&{\tfrac {1}{1155)){\bigl (}2560P_{6}(\cos \theta )-1152P_{4}(\cos \theta )-220P_{2}(\cos \theta )-33P_{0}(\cos \theta ){\bigr )}\end{aligned))}$

Another property is the expression for sin (n + 1)θ, which is

${\displaystyle {\frac {\sin(n+1)\theta }{\sin \theta ))=\sum _{l=0}^{n}P_{l}(\cos \theta )P_{n-l}(\cos \theta )}$

Legendre polynomials are symmetric or antisymmetric, that is^[5]

${\displaystyle P_{n}(-x)=\left(-1\right)^{n}P_{n}(x)\,.}$

Since the differential equation and the orthogonality property are independent of scaling, the Legendre polynomials' definitions are "standardized" (sometimes called "normalization", but note that the actual norm is not 1) by being scaled so that

${\displaystyle P_{n}(1)=1\,.}$

The derivative at the end point is given by

${\displaystyle P_{n}'(1)={\frac {n(n+1)}{2))\,.}$

As discussed above, the Legendre polynomials obey the three term recurrence relation known as Bonnet’s recursion formula

${\displaystyle (n+1)P_{n+1}(x)=(2n+1)xP_{n}(x)-nP_{n-1}(x)}$

and

${\displaystyle {\frac {x^{2}-1}{n)){\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))P_{n}(x)=xP_{n}(x)-P_{n-1}(x)\,.}$

Useful for the integration of Legendre polynomials is

${\displaystyle (2n+1)P_{n}(x)={\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x)){\bigl (}P_{n+1}(x)-P_{n-1}(x){\bigr )}\,.}$

From the above one can see also that

${\displaystyle {\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))P_{n+1}(x)=(2n+1)P_{n}(x)+{\bigl (}2(n-2)+1{\bigr )}P_{n-2}(x)+{\bigl (}2(n-4)+1{\bigr )}P_{n-4}(x)+\cdots }$

or equivalently

${\displaystyle {\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))P_{n+1}(x)={\frac {2P_{n}(x)}{\left\|P_{n}\right\|^{2))}+{\frac {2P_{n-2}(x)}{\left\|P_{n-2}\right\|^{2))}+\cdots }$

where ‖P_n‖ is the norm over the interval −1 ≤ x ≤ 1

${\displaystyle \|P_{n}\|={\sqrt {\int _{-1}^{1}{\bigl (}P_{n}(x){\bigr )}^{2}\,\mathrm {d} x))={\sqrt {\frac {2}{2n+1))}\,.}$

From Bonnet’s recursion formula one obtains by induction the explicit representation

${\displaystyle P_{n}(x)=\sum _{k=0}^{n}(-1)^{k}{\binom {n}{k))^{2}\left({\frac {1+x}{2))\right)^{n-k}\left({\frac {1-x}{2))\right)^{k}\,.}$

The Askey–Gasper inequality for Legendre polynomials reads

${\displaystyle \sum _{j=0}^{n}P_{j}(x)\geq 0\,\quad {\text{for ))x\geq -1\,.}$

A sum of Legendre polynomials is related to the Dirac delta function for −1 ≤ y ≤ 1 and −1 ≤ x ≤ 1

${\displaystyle \delta (y-x)={\frac {1}{2))\sum _{l=0}^{\infty }(2l+1)P_{l}(y)P_{l}(x)\,.}$

The Legendre polynomials of a scalar product of unit vectors can be expanded with spherical harmonics using

${\displaystyle P_{l}\left(r\cdot r'\right)={\frac {4\pi }{2l+1))\sum _{m=-l}^{l}Y_{lm}(\theta ,\phi )Y_{lm}^{*}(\theta ',\phi ')\,,}$

where the unit vectors r and r′ have spherical coordinates (θ,φ) and (θ′,φ′), respectively.

Asymptotically for l → ∞ for arguments less than 1

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}P_{l}(\cos \theta )&=J_{0}(l\theta )+{\mathcal {O))\left(l^{-1}\right)\\&={\frac {2}{\sqrt {2\pi l\sin \theta ))}\cos \left(\left(l+{\tfrac {1}{2))\right)\theta -{\frac {\pi }{4))\right)+{\mathcal {O))\left(l^{-1}\right)\end{aligned))}$

and for arguments greater than 1

${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}P_{l}\left({\frac {1}{\sqrt {1-e^{2))))\right)&=I_{0}(le)+{\mathcal {O))\left(l^{-1}\right)\\&={\frac {1}{\sqrt {2\pi le))}{\frac {(1+e)^{\frac {l+1}{2))}{(1-e)^{\frac {l}{2))))+{\mathcal {O))\left(l^{-1}\right)\,,\end{aligned))}$

where J₀ and I₀ are Bessel functions.

The shifted Legendre polynomials are defined as

${\displaystyle {\tilde {P))_{n}(x)=P_{n}(2x-1)\,.}$.

Here the "shifting" function x ↦ 2x − 1 (in fact, it is an affine transformation) is chosen such that it bijectively maps the interval [0,1] to the interval [−1,1], implying that the polynomials P̃_n(x) are orthogonal on [0,1]:

${\displaystyle \int _{0}^{1}{\tilde {P))_{m}(x){\tilde {P))_{n}(x)\,\mathrm {d} x={\frac {1}{2n+1))\delta _{mn}\,.}$

An explicit expression for the shifted Legendre polynomials is given by

${\displaystyle {\tilde {P))_{n}(x)=(-1)^{n}\sum _{k=0}^{n}{\binom {n}{k)){\binom {n+k}{k))(-x)^{k}\,.}$

The analogue of Rodrigues' formula for the shifted Legendre polynomials is

${\displaystyle {\tilde {P))_{n}(x)={\frac {1}{n!)){\frac {\mathrm {d} ^{n)){\mathrm {d} x^{n))}\left(x^{2}-x\right)^{n}\,.}$

The first few shifted Legendre polynomials are:

${\displaystyle {\begin{array}{r|r}n&{\tilde {P))_{n}(x)\\\hline 0&1\\1&2x-1\\2&6x^{2}-6x+1\\3&20x^{3}-30x^{2}+12x-1\\4&70x^{4}-140x^{3}+90x^{2}-20x+1\\5&252x^{5}-630x^{4}+560x^{3}-210x^{2}+30x-1\end{array))}$

As well as polynomial solutions, the Legendre equation has non-polynomial solutions represented by infinite series. These are the Legendre functions of the second kind, denoted by Q_n(x).

${\displaystyle Q_{n}(x)={\frac {n!}{1\cdot 3\cdots (2n+1)))\left(x^{-(n+1)}+{\frac {(n+1)(n+2)}{2(2n+3)))x^{-(n+3)}+{\frac {(n+1)(n+2)(n+3)(n+4)}{2\cdot 4(2n+3)(2n+5)))x^{-(n+5)}+\cdots \right)}$

The differential equation

${\displaystyle {\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))\left(\left(1-x^{2}\right){\frac {\mathrm {d} }{\mathrm {d} x))f(x)\right)+n(n+1)f(x)=0}$

has the general solution

${\displaystyle f(x)=AP_{n}(x)+BQ_{n}(x)}$,

where A and B are constants.

Legendre functions of fractional degree exist and follow from insertion of fractional derivatives as defined by fractional calculus and non-integer factorials (defined by the gamma function) into Rodrigues' formula. The resulting functions continue to satisfy the Legendre differential equation throughout (−1,1), but are no longer regular at the endpoints. The fractional degree Legendre function P_n agrees with the associated Legendre polynomial P⁰
_n.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Legendre polynomials.

• A quick informal derivation of the Legendre polynomial in the context of the quantum mechanics of hydrogen
• "Legendre polynomials", Encyclopedia of Mathematics, EMS Press, 2001 [1994]
• Wolfram MathWorld entry on Legendre polynomials
• Dr James B. Calvert's article on Legendre polynomials from his personal collection of mathematics
• The Legendre Polynomials by Carlyle E. Moore
• Legendre Polynomials from Hyperphysics

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