Re: [Phys-L] field of an ellipsoidal distribution

[David Bowman <David_Bowman@georgetowncollege.edu>]

Regarding JD's takeaway lesson from the Somigliana equation discussion:

> ....
>
> The big lesson here is that if you are trying to cook
> up a fitted function, you will get better results if
> you use something with more-or-less the right functional
> form.
>
> For example, as the saying goes:
>  No polynomial ever had an asymptote, horizontal or vertical.
> Therefore sometimes you are better off fitting to a 
> rational function rather than a polynomial.
>
> Obviously if the physics is periodic, you are better
> off fitting a Fourier series rather than a plain old
> polynomial.
>
> If the physics tells you it's an odd function, you are
> better off keeping only the odd-degree terms in the 
> polynomial, or only the "sine" terms in the Fourier 
> series.
>
> And so on.
>
> So, even if the Somigliana equation doesn't capture
> all of the physics, it captures some ... and that
> works to your advantage

Hear, Hear.

David Bowman