Solution (source code)

= Solution

Insert the <photon temperature multipole> expansion into the Fourier-space transport equation. The <Legendre polynomial recurrence relation> turns multiplication by $\mu$ into nearest-neighbour multipole couplings, while <Orthogonality of Legendre polynomials> projects onto a fixed $\ell$. The monopole projection has no collision term because Thomson scattering conserves photon number:
$$
\boxed{\Theta_0'+k\Theta_1=\Phi'}.
$$
The dipole projection receives the electron-velocity source,
$$
\boxed{3\Theta_1'+k(\Theta_2-\Theta_0)
=k\Psi-\Gamma(3\Theta_1+v_e)}.
$$
For every $\ell\geq2$, the collision term damps the anisotropic multipole and the <photon Boltzmann hierarchy> is
$$
\boxed{
\Theta_\ell'+\frac{k}{2\ell+1}
\left[(\ell+1)\Theta_{\ell+1}-\ell\Theta_{\ell-1}\right]
=-\Gamma\Theta_\ell}.
$$
Thus the <Free-streaming photon Boltzmann equation> moves angular structure between neighbouring multipoles, whereas <Thomson scattering> suppresses all multipoles above the dipole in the <tight-coupling approximation>.