Elliptic coordinate system

In geometry, the elliptic coordinate system is a two-dimensional orthogonal coordinate system in which the coordinate lines are confocal ellipses and hyperbolae. The two foci F 1 {\displaystyle F_{1}} and F 2 {\displaystyle F_{2}} are generally taken to be fixed at − a {\displaystyle -a} and + a {\displaystyle +a} , respectively, on the x {\displaystyle x} -axis of the Cartesian coordinate system.