Geophysical intensity problems: the axisymmetric case

TL;DR

This paper proves the existence of infinitely many axisymmetric harmonic vector fields outside a sphere with prescribed surface intensity, addressing a nonlinear boundary value problem relevant to geophysical and celestial magnetic and gravitational fields.

Contribution

It establishes the existence of multiple solutions to the nonlinear intensity problem for axisymmetric harmonic fields with specific boundary and decay conditions.

Findings

Infinitely many solutions exist for the axisymmetric intensity problem.

Solutions are characterized by prescribed decay order and vanish at specified points.

New solution techniques are developed for nonlinear elliptic equations with singular coefficients.

Abstract

Considering the earth or any other celestial body the main sources of the gravitational as well as of the magnetic field lie inside the body. Above the surface both fields are in good approximation harmonic vector fields determined by their values at the body's surface or any other surface enclosing the body. The intensity problem seeks to determine harmonic vector fields vanishing at infinity and with prescribed intensity of the field at the surface. This problem constitutes a nonlinear boundary value problem, whose general solvability is not yet established. In this paper {\em axisymmetric} harmonic fields ${\bf H}$ outside the unit sphere $S^2$ are studied and, given an axisymmetric H\"older continuous intensity function $I\neq 0$ on $S^2$, the existence of infinitely many solutions of the intensity problem is proved. These solutions can more precisely be characterized as follows: fix a number $\de \in \nat\setminus \{1 \}$ and a meridional plane $M$ through the symmetry axis $S\!A$, and in $M$ a unit circle $S^1$ (symmetric with respect to $S\!A$) and, furthermore, $2\, N$, $N \in \nat_0$, points $z_n \in M$ (symmetric with respect to $S\!A$, avoiding $S\!A$, and outside $S^1$), then the existence of an (up to a sign) unique harmonic field ${\bf H}$ is established that vanishes at (the axisymmetric circles piercing $M$ at) $z_n$ and nowhere else, that has intensity $I$ at $S^2$ and (exact) decay order $\de$ at infinity. The proof is based on the solution of a nonlinear elliptic equation with discontinuous coefficients, which are, moreover, singular at the symmetry axis. Its combination with fixed boundary conditions was the basis of a recent treatment of the ``geomagnetic direction problem'' \cite{KR22}. Here we have instead natural boundary conditions, which provide less information, and which require, therefore, in part new solution techniques and sharper estimates.