Supersymmetry, shape invariance and the Legendre equations

In three space dimensions, when a physical system possesses spherical symmetry, the dynamical equations automatically lead to the Legendre and the associated Legendre equations, with the respective orthogonal polynomials as their standard solutions. This is a very general and important result and appears in many problems in physics (for example, the multipole expansion. etc.). We study these equations from an operator point of view, much like the harmonic oscillator, and show that there is an underlying shape invariance symmetry in these systems responsible for their solubility. We bring out various interesting features resulting from this analysis from the shape invariance point of view. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.