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Solutions of the Laplace equation, i.e. functions whose Laplacian is identically zero, thus represent possible equilibrium densities under diffusion. The Laplace operator itself has a physical interpretation for non-equilibrium diffusion as the extent to which a point represents a source or sink of chemical concentration, in a sense made ...
In mathematics and physics, Laplace's equation is a second-order partial differential equation named after Pierre-Simon Laplace, who first studied its properties.This is often written as = or =, where = = is the Laplace operator, [note 1] is the divergence operator (also symbolized "div"), is the gradient operator (also symbolized "grad"), and (,,) is a twice-differentiable real-valued function.
This process relies upon the linearity of the operator L. In other words, the solution of equation 2, u(x), can be determined by the integration given in equation 3. Although f(x) is known, this integration cannot be performed unless G is also known. The problem now lies in finding the Green's function G that satisfies equation 1.
Using the Green's function for the three-variable Laplace operator, one can integrate the Poisson equation in order to determine the potential function. Green's functions can be expanded in terms of the basis elements (harmonic functions) which are determined using the separable coordinate systems for the linear partial differential equation .
Once the fundamental solution is found, it is straightforward to find a solution of the original equation, through convolution of the fundamental solution and the desired right hand side. Fundamental solutions also play an important role in the numerical solution of partial differential equations by the boundary element method.
These equations describe boundary-value problems, in which the solution-function's values are specified on boundary of a domain; the problem is to compute a solution also on its interior. Relaxation methods are used to solve the linear equations resulting from a discretization of the differential equation, for example by finite differences.
A solution to Laplace's equation defined on an annulus.The Laplace operator is the most famous example of an elliptic operator.. In the theory of partial differential equations, elliptic operators are differential operators that generalize the Laplace operator.
In the mathematical study of heat conduction and diffusion, a heat kernel is the fundamental solution to the heat equation on a specified domain with appropriate boundary conditions. It is also one of the main tools in the study of the spectrum of the Laplace operator, and is thus of some auxiliary importance throughout mathematical physics.