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<div class="titlepage"><div><div><h4 class="title">
<a name="math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm"></a><a class="link" href="sph_harm.html" title="Spherical Harmonics"> Spherical Harmonics</a>
</h4></div></div></div>
<a name="math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.synopsis"></a><h5>
<a name="id1124887"></a>
<a class="link" href="sph_harm.html#math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.synopsis">Synopsis</a>
</h5>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="preprocessor">#include</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">math</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">special_functions</span><span class="special">/</span><span class="identifier">spheric_harmonic</span><span class="special">.</span><span class="identifier">hpp</span><span class="special">></span>
</pre>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">namespace</span> <span class="identifier">boost</span><span class="special">{</span> <span class="keyword">namespace</span> <span class="identifier">math</span><span class="special">{</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">></span>
<span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">complex</span><span class="special"><</span><a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">);</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">></span>
<span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">complex</span><span class="special"><</span><a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">&);</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">></span>
<a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic_r</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">);</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">></span>
<a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic_r</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">&);</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">></span>
<a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic_i</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">);</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">></span>
<a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic_i</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">&);</span>
<span class="special">}}</span> <span class="comment">// namespaces
</span></pre>
<a name="math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.description"></a><h5>
<a name="id1125712"></a>
<a class="link" href="sph_harm.html#math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.description">Description</a>
</h5>
<p>
The return type of these functions is computed using the <a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>result
type calculation rules</em></span></a> when T1 and T2 are different types.
</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
The final <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a> argument
is optional and can be used to control the behaviour of the function:
how it handles errors, what level of precision to use etc. Refer to the
<a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">policy documentation for more details</a>.
</p>
<p>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">></span>
<span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">complex</span><span class="special"><</span><a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">);</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">></span>
<span class="identifier">std</span><span class="special">::</span><span class="identifier">complex</span><span class="special"><</span><a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a><span class="special">></span> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">&);</span>
</pre>
<p>
Returns the value of the Spherical Harmonic Y<sub>n</sub><sup>m</sup>(theta, phi):
</p>
<p>
<span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../../../../equations/spherical_0.png"></span>
</p>
<p>
The spherical harmonics Y<sub>n</sub><sup>m</sup>(theta, phi) are the angular portion of the
solution to Laplace's equation in spherical coordinates where azimuthal
symmetry is not present.
</p>
<div class="caution"><table border="0" summary="Caution">
<tr>
<td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Caution]" src="../../../../../../../../doc/src/images/caution.png"></td>
<th align="left">Caution</th>
</tr>
<tr><td align="left" valign="top">
<p>
Care must be taken in correctly identifying the arguments to this function:
θ is taken as the polar (colatitudinal) coordinate with θ in [0, π], and φ as
the azimuthal (longitudinal) coordinate with φ in [0,2π). This is the convention
used in Physics, and matches the definition used by <a href="http://documents.wolfram.com/mathematica/functions/SphericalHarmonicY" target="_top">Mathematica
in the function SpericalHarmonicY</a>, but is opposite to the usual
mathematical conventions.
</p>
<p>
Some other sources include an additional Condon-Shortley phase term of
(-1)<sup>m</sup> in the definition of this function: note however that our definition
of the associated Legendre polynomial already includes this term.
</p>
<p>
This implementation returns zero for m > n
</p>
<p>
For θ outside [0, π] and φ outside [0, 2π] this implementation follows the
convention used by Mathematica: the function is periodic with period
π in θ and 2π in φ. Please note that this is not the behaviour one would get
from a casual application of the function's definition. Cautious users
should keep θ and φ to the range [0, π] and [0, 2π] respectively.
</p>
<p>
See: <a href="http://mathworld.wolfram.com/SphericalHarmonic.html" target="_top">Weisstein,
Eric W. "Spherical Harmonic." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web
Resource</a>.
</p>
</td></tr>
</table></div>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">></span>
<a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic_r</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">);</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">></span>
<a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic_r</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">&);</span>
</pre>
<p>
Returns the real part of Y<sub>n</sub><sup>m</sup>(theta, phi):
</p>
<p>
<span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../../../../equations/spherical_1.png"></span>
</p>
<pre class="programlisting"><span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">></span>
<a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic_i</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">);</span>
<span class="keyword">template</span> <span class="special"><</span><span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">class</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">></span>
<a class="link" href="../../main_overview/result_type.html" title="Calculation of the Type of the Result"><span class="emphasis"><em>calculated-result-type</em></span></a> <span class="identifier">spherical_harmonic_i</span><span class="special">(</span><span class="keyword">unsigned</span> <span class="identifier">n</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">int</span> <span class="identifier">m</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T1</span> <span class="identifier">theta</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="identifier">T2</span> <span class="identifier">phi</span><span class="special">,</span> <span class="keyword">const</span> <a class="link" href="../../policy.html" title="Policies">Policy</a><span class="special">&);</span>
</pre>
<p>
Returns the imaginary part of Y<sub>n</sub><sup>m</sup>(theta, phi):
</p>
<p>
<span class="inlinemediaobject"><img src="../../../../equations/spherical_2.png"></span>
</p>
<a name="math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.accuracy"></a><h5>
<a name="id1127871"></a>
<a class="link" href="sph_harm.html#math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.accuracy">Accuracy</a>
</h5>
<p>
The following table shows peak errors for various domains of input arguments.
Note that only results for the widest floating point type on the system
are given as narrower types have <a class="link" href="../../backgrounders/relative_error.html#zero_error">effectively
zero error</a>. Peak errors are the same for both the real and imaginary
parts, as the error is dominated by calculation of the associated Legendre
polynomials: especially near the roots of the associated Legendre function.
</p>
<p>
All values are in units of epsilon.
</p>
<div class="table">
<a name="id1127892"></a><p class="title"><b>Table 35. Peak Errors In the Sperical Harmonic Functions</b></p>
<div class="table-contents"><table class="table" summary="Peak Errors In the Sperical Harmonic Functions">
<colgroup>
<col>
<col>
<col>
</colgroup>
<thead><tr>
<th>
<p>
Significand Size
</p>
</th>
<th>
<p>
Platform and Compiler
</p>
</th>
<th>
<p>
Errors in range
</p>
<p>
0 < l < 20
</p>
</th>
</tr></thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p>
53
</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>
Win32, Visual C++ 8
</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>
Peak=2x10<sup>4</sup> Mean=700
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>
64
</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>
SUSE Linux IA32, g++ 4.1
</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>
Peak=2900 Mean=100
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>
64
</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>
Red Hat Linux IA64, g++ 3.4.4
</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>
Peak=2900 Mean=100
</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>
113
</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>
HPUX IA64, aCC A.06.06
</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>
Peak=6700 Mean=230
</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
</div>
<br class="table-break"><p>
Note that the worst errors occur when the degree increases, values greater
than ~120 are very unlikely to produce sensible results, especially when
the order is also large. Further the relative errors are likely to grow
arbitrarily large when the function is very close to a root.
</p>
<a name="math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.testing"></a><h5>
<a name="id1128061"></a>
<a class="link" href="sph_harm.html#math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.testing">Testing</a>
</h5>
<p>
A mixture of spot tests of values calculated using functions.wolfram.com,
and randomly generated test data are used: the test data was computed using
<a href="http://shoup.net/ntl/doc/RR.txt" target="_top">NTL::RR</a> at 1000-bit
precision.
</p>
<a name="math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.implementation"></a><h5>
<a name="id1128083"></a>
<a class="link" href="sph_harm.html#math_toolkit.special.sf_poly.sph_harm.implementation">Implementation</a>
</h5>
<p>
These functions are implemented fairly naively using the formulae given
above. Some extra care is taken to prevent roundoff error when converting
from polar coordinates (so for example the <span class="emphasis"><em>1-x<sup>2</sup></em></span> term
used by the associated Legendre functions is calculated without roundoff
error using <span class="emphasis"><em>x = cos(theta)</em></span>, and <span class="emphasis"><em>1-x<sup>2</sup> = sin<sup>2</sup>(theta)</em></span>).
The limiting factor in the error rates for these functions is the need
to calculate values near the roots of the associated Legendre functions.
</p>
</div>
<table xmlns:rev="http://www.cs.rpi.edu/~gregod/boost/tools/doc/revision" width="100%"><tr>
<td align="left"></td>
<td align="right"><div class="copyright-footer">Copyright © 2006 , 2007, 2008, 2009 John Maddock, Paul A. Bristow,
Hubert Holin, Xiaogang Zhang, Bruno Lalande, Johan Råde, Gautam Sewani
and Thijs van den Berg<p>
Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at <a href="http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt" target="_top">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)
</p>
</div></td>
</tr></table>
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