Abstract:
A numerical method for computing the attractive force of an ellipsoid is proposed that does not involve separating subdomains with singularities. The sought function is represented as a triple integral such as the inner integral of the kernel can be evaluated analytically with the kernel treated as a weight function. The inner integral is approximated by a quadrature for the product of functions, of which one has an integrable singularity. As a result, the integrand obtained before the second integration has only a weak logarithmic singularity. The subsequent change of variables yields an integrand without singularities. Based on this approach, at each stage of integral evaluation with respect to a single variable, quadrature formulas are derived that do not have singularities at integration nodes and do not take large values at these nodes. For numerical experiments, a rather complicated test function is constructed that is the exact attractive force of an ellipsoid of revolution with an elliptic density distribution.
Key words:attractive force, method for evaluation of triple integrals, quadrature rules, potential of an ellipsoid.