An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A solution of some mathematical equations when → spherical polar coordinates are used in investigating physical problems in three dimensions. For example, solutions of → Laplace's equation treated in spherical polar coordinates. Spherical harmonics are ubiquitous in atomic and molecular physics and appear in quantum mechanics as → eigenfunctions of → orbital angular momentum. They are also important in the representation of the gravitational and magnetic fields of planetary bodies, the characterization of the → cosmic microwave background anisotropy, the description of electrical potentials due to charge distributions, and in certain types of fluid motion.

The term spherical harmonics was first used by William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) and Peter Guthrie Tait in their 1867 Treatise on Natural Philosophy; → spherical; → harmonic.