Английская Википедия:Harmonic function

A harmonic function defined on an annulus.

In mathematics, mathematical physics and the theory of stochastic processes, a harmonic function is a twice continuously differentiable function <math>f\colon U \to \mathbb R,</math> where Шаблон:Mvar is an open subset of Шаблон:Tmath that satisfies Laplace's equation, that is,

<math> \frac{\partial^2f}{\partial x_1^2} + \frac{\partial^2f}{\partial x_2^2} + \cdots + \frac{\partial^2f}{\partial x_n^2} = 0</math>

everywhere on Шаблон:Mvar. This is usually written as

<math> \nabla^2 f = 0 </math>

or

<math>\Delta f = 0</math>

Etymology of the term "harmonic"

The descriptor "harmonic" in the name harmonic function originates from a point on a taut string which is undergoing harmonic motion. The solution to the differential equation for this type of motion can be written in terms of sines and cosines, functions which are thus referred to as harmonics. Fourier analysis involves expanding functions on the unit circle in terms of a series of these harmonics. Considering higher dimensional analogues of the harmonics on the unit n-sphere, one arrives at the spherical harmonics. These functions satisfy Laplace's equation and over time "harmonic" was used to refer to all functions satisfying Laplace's equation.^[1]

Examples

Examples of harmonic functions of two variables are:

The real or imaginary part of any holomorphic function.
The function <math>\,\! f(x, y) = e^{x} \sin y;</math> this is a special case of the example above, as <math>f(x, y) = \operatorname{Im}\left(e^{x+iy}\right) ,</math> and <math>e^{x+iy}</math> is a holomorphic function. The second derivative with respect to x is <math>\,\! e^{x} \sin y,</math> while the second derivative with respect to y is <math>\,\! -e^{x} \sin y.</math>
The function <math>\,\! f(x, y) = \ln \left(x^2 + y^2\right)</math> defined on <math>\mathbb{R}^2 \setminus \lbrace 0 \rbrace .</math> This can describe the electric potential due to a line charge or the gravity potential due to a long cylindrical mass.

Examples of harmonic functions of three variables are given in the table below with <math>r^2=x^2+y^2+z^2:</math>

Function	Singularity
<math>\frac{1}{r}</math>	Unit point charge at origin
<math>\frac{x}{r^3}</math>	x-directed dipole at origin
<math>-\ln\left(r^2 - z^2\right)\,</math>	Line of unit charge density on entire z-axis
<math>-\ln(r + z)\,</math>	Line of unit charge density on negative z-axis
<math>\frac{x}{r^2 - z^2}\,</math>	Line of x-directed dipoles on entire z axis
<math>\frac{x}{r(r + z)}\,</math>	Line of x-directed dipoles on negative z axis

Harmonic functions that arise in physics are determined by their singularities and boundary conditions (such as Dirichlet boundary conditions or Neumann boundary conditions). On regions without boundaries, adding the real or imaginary part of any entire function will produce a harmonic function with the same singularity, so in this case the harmonic function is not determined by its singularities; however, we can make the solution unique in physical situations by requiring that the solution approaches 0 as r approaches infinity. In this case, uniqueness follows by Liouville's theorem.

The singular points of the harmonic functions above are expressed as "charges" and "charge densities" using the terminology of electrostatics, and so the corresponding harmonic function will be proportional to the electrostatic potential due to these charge distributions. Each function above will yield another harmonic function when multiplied by a constant, rotated, and/or has a constant added. The inversion of each function will yield another harmonic function which has singularities which are the images of the original singularities in a spherical "mirror". Also, the sum of any two harmonic functions will yield another harmonic function.

Finally, examples of harmonic functions of Шаблон:Mvar variables are:

The constant, linear and affine functions on all of Шаблон:Tmath (for example, the electric potential between the plates of a capacitor, and the gravity potential of a slab)
The function <math>\,\! f(x_1, \dots, x_n) = \left({x_1}^2 + \cdots + {x_n}^2\right)^{1-n/2}</math> on <math>\mathbb{R}^n \setminus \lbrace 0 \rbrace</math> for Шаблон:Math.

Properties

The set of harmonic functions on a given open set Шаблон:Mvar can be seen as the kernel of the Laplace operator Шаблон:Math and is therefore a vector space over Шаблон:Tmath linear combinations of harmonic functions are again harmonic.

If Шаблон:Mvar is a harmonic function on Шаблон:Mvar, then all partial derivatives of Шаблон:Mvar are also harmonic functions on Шаблон:Mvar. The Laplace operator Шаблон:Math and the partial derivative operator will commute on this class of functions.

In several ways, the harmonic functions are real analogues to holomorphic functions. All harmonic functions are analytic, that is, they can be locally expressed as power series. This is a general fact about elliptic operators, of which the Laplacian is a major example.

The uniform limit of a convergent sequence of harmonic functions is still harmonic. This is true because every continuous function satisfying the mean value property is harmonic. Consider the sequence on Шаблон:Tmath defined by <math display="inline">f_n(x,y) = \frac 1 n \exp(nx)\cos(ny);</math> this sequence is harmonic and converges uniformly to the zero function; however note that the partial derivatives are not uniformly convergent to the zero function (the derivative of the zero function). This example shows the importance of relying on the mean value property and continuity to argue that the limit is harmonic.

Connections with complex function theory

The real and imaginary part of any holomorphic function yield harmonic functions on Шаблон:Tmath (these are said to be a pair of harmonic conjugate functions). Conversely, any harmonic function Шаблон:Mvar on an open subset Шаблон:Math of Шаблон:Tmath is locally the real part of a holomorphic function. This is immediately seen observing that, writing <math>z = x + iy,</math> the complex function <math>g(z) := u_x - i u_y</math> is holomorphic in Шаблон:Math because it satisfies the Cauchy–Riemann equations. Therefore, Шаблон:Mvar locally has a primitive Шаблон:Mvar, and Шаблон:Mvar is the real part of Шаблон:Mvar up to a constant, as Шаблон:Mvar is the real part of <math>f' = g.</math>

Although the above correspondence with holomorphic functions only holds for functions of two real variables, harmonic functions in Шаблон:Mvar variables still enjoy a number of properties typical of holomorphic functions. They are (real) analytic; they have a maximum principle and a mean-value principle; a theorem of removal of singularities as well as a Liouville theorem holds for them in analogy to the corresponding theorems in complex functions theory.

Properties of harmonic functions

Some important properties of harmonic functions can be deduced from Laplace's equation.

Regularity theorem for harmonic functions

Harmonic functions are infinitely differentiable in open sets. In fact, harmonic functions are real analytic.

Maximum principle

Harmonic functions satisfy the following maximum principle: if Шаблон:Mvar is a nonempty compact subset of Шаблон:Mvar, then Шаблон:Mvar restricted to Шаблон:Mvar attains its maximum and minimum on the boundary of Шаблон:Mvar. If Шаблон:Mvar is connected, this means that Шаблон:Mvar cannot have local maxima or minima, other than the exceptional case where Шаблон:Mvar is constant. Similar properties can be shown for subharmonic functions.

The mean value property

If Шаблон:Math is a ball with center Шаблон:Mvar and radius Шаблон:Mvar which is completely contained in the open set <math>\Omega \subset \R^n,</math> then the value Шаблон:Math of a harmonic function <math>u: \Omega \to \R</math> at the center of the ball is given by the average value of Шаблон:Mvar on the surface of the ball; this average value is also equal to the average value of Шаблон:Mvar in the interior of the ball. In other words,

<math>u(x) = \frac{1}{n\omega_n r^{n-1}}\int_{\partial B(x,r)} u\, d\sigma = \frac{1}{\omega_n r^n}\int_{B(x,r)} u\, dV</math>

where Шаблон:Mvar is the volume of the unit ball in Шаблон:Mvar dimensions and Шаблон:Mvar is the Шаблон:Math-dimensional surface measure.

Conversely, all locally integrable functions satisfying the (volume) mean-value property are both infinitely differentiable and harmonic.

In terms of convolutions, if

<math>\chi_r := \frac{1}{|B(0, r)|}\chi_{B(0, r)} = \frac{n}{\omega_n r^n}\chi_{B(0, r)}</math>

denotes the characteristic function of the ball with radius Шаблон:Mvar about the origin, normalized so that <math display="inline">\int_{\R^n}\chi_r\, dx = 1,</math> the function Шаблон:Mvar is harmonic on Шаблон:Math if and only if

as soon as <math>B(x,r) \subset \Omega.</math>

Sketch of the proof. The proof of the mean-value property of the harmonic functions and its converse follows immediately observing that the non-homogeneous equation, for any Шаблон:Math

<math>\Delta w = \chi_r - \chi_s\;</math>

admits an easy explicit solution Шаблон:Mvar of class Шаблон:Math with compact support in Шаблон:Math. Thus, if Шаблон:Mvar is harmonic in Шаблон:Math

<math>0=\Delta u * w_{r,s} = u*\Delta w_{r,s}= u*\chi_r - u*\chi_s\;</math>

holds in the set Шаблон:Math of all points Шаблон:Mvar in Шаблон:Math with <math>\operatorname{dist}(x,\partial\Omega) > r.</math>

Since Шаблон:Mvar is continuous in Шаблон:Math, <math>u * \chi_s</math> converges to Шаблон:Mvar as Шаблон:Math showing the mean value property for Шаблон:Mvar in Шаблон:Math. Conversely, if Шаблон:Mvar is any <math>L^1_{\mathrm{loc}}\;</math> function satisfying the mean-value property in Шаблон:Math, that is,

holds in Шаблон:Math for all Шаблон:Math then, iterating Шаблон:Mvar times the convolution with Шаблон:Math one has:

<math>u = u*\chi_r = u*\chi_r*\cdots*\chi_r\,,\qquad x\in\Omega_{mr},</math>

so that Шаблон:Mvar is <math>C^{m-1}(\Omega_{mr})\;</math> because the Шаблон:Mvar-fold iterated convolution of Шаблон:Math is of class <math>C^{m-1}\;</math> with support Шаблон:Math. Since Шаблон:Mvar and Шаблон:Mvar are arbitrary, Шаблон:Mvar is <math>C^{\infty}(\Omega)\;</math> too. Moreover,

<math>\Delta u * w_{r,s} = u*\Delta w_{r,s} = u*\chi_r - u*\chi_s = 0\;</math>

for all Шаблон:Math so that Шаблон:Math in Шаблон:Math by the fundamental theorem of the calculus of variations, proving the equivalence between harmonicity and mean-value property.

This statement of the mean value property can be generalized as follows: If Шаблон:Mvar is any spherically symmetric function supported in Шаблон:Math such that <math display="inline">\int h = 1,</math> then <math>u(x) = h * u(x).</math> In other words, we can take the weighted average of Шаблон:Mvar about a point and recover Шаблон:Math. In particular, by taking Шаблон:Mvar to be a Шаблон:Math function, we can recover the value of Шаблон:Mvar at any point even if we only know how Шаблон:Mvar acts as a distribution. See Weyl's lemma.

Harnack's inequality

Let

<math>V \subset \overline{V} \subset \Omega</math>

be a connected set in a bounded domain Шаблон:Math. Then for every non-negative harmonic function Шаблон:Mvar, Harnack's inequality

holds for some constant Шаблон:Mvar that depends only on Шаблон:Mvar and Шаблон:Math.

Removal of singularities

The following principle of removal of singularities holds for harmonic functions. If Шаблон:Mvar is a harmonic function defined on a dotted open subset <math>\Omega\,\setminus\,\{x_0\}</math> of Шаблон:Tmath, which is less singular at Шаблон:Math than the fundamental solution (for Шаблон:Math), that is

<math>f(x)=o\left( \vert x-x_0 \vert^{2-n}\right),\qquad\text{as }x\to x_0,</math>

then Шаблон:Mvar extends to a harmonic function on Шаблон:Math (compare Riemann's theorem for functions of a complex variable).

Liouville's theorem

Theorem: If Шаблон:Mvar is a harmonic function defined on all of Шаблон:Tmath which is bounded above or bounded below, then Шаблон:Mvar is constant.

(Compare Liouville's theorem for functions of a complex variable).

Edward Nelson gave a particularly short proof of this theorem for the case of bounded functions,^[2] using the mean value property mentioned above:

Given two points, choose two balls with the given points as centers and of equal radius. If the radius is large enough, the two balls will coincide except for an arbitrarily small proportion of their volume. Since Шаблон:Mvar is bounded, the averages of it over the two balls are arbitrarily close, and so Шаблон:Mvar assumes the same value at any two points.

The proof can be adapted to the case where the harmonic function Шаблон:Mvar is merely bounded above or below. By adding a constant and possibly multiplying by –1, we may assume that Шаблон:Mvar is non-negative. Then for any two points Шаблон:Mvar and Шаблон:Mvar, and any positive number Шаблон:Mvar, we let <math>r=R+d(x,y).</math> We then consider the balls Шаблон:Math and Шаблон:Math where by the triangle inequality, the first ball is contained in the second.

By the averaging property and the monotonicity of the integral, we have

<math>f(x)=\frac{1}{\operatorname{vol}(B_R)}\int_{B_R(x)}f(z)\, dz\leq \frac{1}{\operatorname{vol}(B_R)} \int_{B_r(y)}f(z)\, dz.</math>

(Note that since Шаблон:Math is independent of Шаблон:Mvar, we denote it merely as Шаблон:Math.) In the last expression, we may multiply and divide by Шаблон:Math and use the averaging property again, to obtain

<math>f(x)\leq \frac{\operatorname{vol}(B_r)}{\operatorname{vol}(B_R)}f(y).</math>

But as <math>R\rightarrow\infty ,</math> the quantity

<math>\frac{\operatorname{vol}(B_r)}{\operatorname{vol}(B_R)}=\frac{(R+d(x,y))^n}{R^n}</math>

tends to 1. Thus, <math>f(x)\leq f(y).</math> The same argument with the roles of Шаблон:Mvar and Шаблон:Mvar reversed shows that <math>f(y)\leq f(x)</math>, so that <math>f(x) = f(y).</math>

Another proof uses the fact that given a Brownian motion Шаблон:Mvar in Шаблон:Tmath such that <math>B_0 = x_0,</math> we have <math>E[f(B_t)] = f(x_0)</math> for all Шаблон:Math. In words, it says that a harmonic function defines a martingale for the Brownian motion. Then a probabilistic coupling argument finishes the proof.^[3]

Generalizations

Weakly harmonic function

A function (or, more generally, a distribution) is weakly harmonic if it satisfies Laplace's equation

<math>\Delta f = 0\,</math>

in a weak sense (or, equivalently, in the sense of distributions). A weakly harmonic function coincides almost everywhere with a strongly harmonic function, and is in particular smooth. A weakly harmonic distribution is precisely the distribution associated to a strongly harmonic function, and so also is smooth. This is Weyl's lemma.

There are other weak formulations of Laplace's equation that are often useful. One of which is Dirichlet's principle, representing harmonic functions in the Sobolev space Шаблон:Math as the minimizers of the Dirichlet energy integral

<math>J(u):=\int_\Omega |\nabla u|^2\, dx</math>

with respect to local variations, that is, all functions <math>u\in H^1(\Omega)</math> such that <math>J(u) \leq J(u+v)</math> holds for all <math>v\in C^\infty_c(\Omega),</math> or equivalently, for all <math>v\in H^1_0(\Omega).</math>

Harmonic functions on manifolds

Harmonic functions can be defined on an arbitrary Riemannian manifold, using the Laplace–Beltrami operator Шаблон:Math. In this context, a function is called harmonic if

<math>\ \Delta f = 0.</math>

Many of the properties of harmonic functions on domains in Euclidean space carry over to this more general setting, including the mean value theorem (over geodesic balls), the maximum principle, and the Harnack inequality. With the exception of the mean value theorem, these are easy consequences of the corresponding results for general linear elliptic partial differential equations of the second order.

Subharmonic functions

A Шаблон:Math function that satisfies Шаблон:Math is called subharmonic. This condition guarantees that the maximum principle will hold, although other properties of harmonic functions may fail. More generally, a function is subharmonic if and only if, in the interior of any ball in its domain, its graph lies below that of the harmonic function interpolating its boundary values on the ball.

Harmonic forms

One generalization of the study of harmonic functions is the study of harmonic forms on Riemannian manifolds, and it is related to the study of cohomology. Also, it is possible to define harmonic vector-valued functions, or harmonic maps of two Riemannian manifolds, which are critical points of a generalized Dirichlet energy functional (this includes harmonic functions as a special case, a result known as Dirichlet principle). This kind of harmonic map appears in the theory of minimal surfaces. For example, a curve, that is, a map from an interval in Шаблон:Tmath to a Riemannian manifold, is a harmonic map if and only if it is a geodesic.

Harmonic maps between manifolds

Шаблон:Main If Шаблон:Mvar and Шаблон:Mvar are two Riemannian manifolds, then a harmonic map <math>u: M \to N</math> is defined to be a critical point of the Dirichlet energy

<math>D[u] = \frac{1}{2}\int_M \|du\|^2\,d\operatorname{Vol}</math>

in which <math>du: TM \to TN </math> is the differential of Шаблон:Mvar, and the norm is that induced by the metric on Шаблон:Mvar and that on Шаблон:Mvar on the tensor product bundle <math>T^\ast M \otimes u^{-1} TN.</math>

Important special cases of harmonic maps between manifolds include minimal surfaces, which are precisely the harmonic immersions of a surface into three-dimensional Euclidean space. More generally, minimal submanifolds are harmonic immersions of one manifold in another. Harmonic coordinates are a harmonic diffeomorphism from a manifold to an open subset of a Euclidean space of the same dimension.

Notes

Шаблон:Reflist

References

External links

Шаблон:Authority control

[1] Шаблон:Cite book

[2] Шаблон:Cite journal

[3] Шаблон:Cite web

[1]

[2]

[3]

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