An applied math question

[spaghetti3451]

Hi,

Can anyone please help me understand what spherical harmonics are and their applicability?

 

[mathman]

There is no quick answer. Try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_harmonics

 

[AlephZero]

You might want to take a step backwards from your question, and first ask "what are orthogonal functions and why are they useful in applied math and physics". Google will find you lots of web pages.

Spherical harmonics are one of may different sets of orthogonal functions, and they are useful when the boundary conditions are defined on spherical surfaces (hence the name).