Geometric multipole expansion and its application to semi-neutral inclusions of general shape

Abstract

We consider the conductivity problem with a simply connected or multi-coated inclusion in two dimensions. The potential perturbation due to an inclusion admits a classical multipole expansion whose coefficients are the so-called generalized polarization tensors (GPTs). The GPTs have been fundamental building blocks in conductivity inclusion problems. In this paper, we present a new concept of geometric multipole expansion and its expansion coefficients, named the Faber polynomial polarization tensors (FPTs), using the conformal mapping and the Faber polynomials associated with the inclusion. The proposed expansion leads us to a series solution method for a simply connected or multi-coated inclusion of general shape, while the classical expansion leads us to a series solution only for a single- or multilayer circular inclusion. We also provide matrix expressions for the FPTs using the Grunsky matrix of the inclusion. In particular, for the simply connected inclusion with extreme conductivity, the FPTs admit simple formulas in terms of the conformal mapping associated with the inclusion. As an application of the concept of the FPTs, we construct semi-neutral inclusions of general shape that show relatively negligible field perturbations for low-order polynomial loadings. These inclusions are of the multilayer structure whose material parameters are determined such that some coefficients of geometric multipole expansion vanish.