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Harmonic Functions

Harmonic functions are real-valued functions that satisfy Laplace's equation. The document shows that: 1) The solutions to Laplace's equation can be expressed as the real part of a complex function. 2) If a complex function f(z) is analytic, then its real and imaginary parts u(x,y) and v(x,y) are both harmonic functions. 3) The gradient of a harmonic function can be expressed as the real or imaginary part of the complex derivative of an analytic function.

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155 views

Harmonic Functions

Harmonic functions are real-valued functions that satisfy Laplace's equation. The document shows that: 1) The solutions to Laplace's equation can be expressed as the real part of a complex function. 2) If a complex function f(z) is analytic, then its real and imaginary parts u(x,y) and v(x,y) are both harmonic functions. 3) The gradient of a harmonic function can be expressed as the real or imaginary part of the complex derivative of an analytic function.

Uploaded by

acroxmass
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Harmonic Functions

If D is a region in the plane, a real valued function u ( x, y ) having continuous second partial derivatives is said to be harmonic on D if it satisfies Laplaces equation on D 2u = 2u 2u + = 0 x 2 y 2

2 2 2 and complex functions. The two-dimensional Laplace operator = x + y has essentially the 2 2 2 two complex factors. Like = x + y = ( x + i y )( x i y ) (*)

into a product of two complex first order differential operators. We expect that the solutions to the Laplace equation should be expressed in the form u ( x , y) = f ( x + iy) + g ( x iy) i.e., a linear combination of functions of the complex variable z = x + i y and its complex conjugate z = x iy . The functions f and g satisfy the first order complex partial

differential equations

f f =i , x y

g g =i x y

and hence u ( x, y ) does indeed define a

complex-valued solution to the Laplace equation. In most applications, we are searching for a real solution to the Laplace equation. As we know, a complex number z = x + i y is real if and only if it equals its own conjugate, z = z . Thus, the solution (*) will be real if and only if f ( x + iy) + g ( x iy) = u ( x , y) = u ( x, y) = f ( x + iy) + g ( x iy) Now, the complex conjugation operation switches x + iy and x iy , and so we expect the first term f ( x + iy) to be a function of x iy , while the second term g( x iy) will be a function of x + iy . Therefore to equate the two sides of this equation, we should require

f ( x + iy ) = g ( x iy )

and so, u ( x, y ) = f ( x + iy ) + f ( x + iy ) = Re f ( x + iy )

Dropping the inessential factor of 2, we conclude that a real solution to the two-dimensional Laplace equation can be written as the real part of a complex function Proposition.2.1.. If f(z) is a complex function, then its real part u(x, y) = Re f(x + i y) is a harmonic function. The imaginary part of a complex function is also harmonic. This is because Im f ( z) = Re(if ( z))

is the real part of the complex function. if ( z) = i[u ( x , y) + iv( x , y)] = v( x , y) iu ( x , y) Therefore, if f(z) is any complex function, we can write it as a complex combination f(z) = f(x + i y) = u(x, y) + i v(x, y) of two real harmonic functions u(x, y) = Re f(z) and v(x, y) = Im f(z). Theorem: If f(z) = u(x, y)+ i v(x, y) is any complex analytic function, then its real and imaginary parts, u(x,y), v(x, y), are both harmonic functions. Proof: Given a harmonic function u(x, y), does there exist a harmonic function v(x, y) such that f = u + i v is a complex analytic function? If so, the harmonic function v(x, y) is known as a harmonic conjugate to u. The harmonic conjugate is found by solving the Cauchy-Riemann equations u v = , x y u v = y x harmonic function, and find a

Example: Show that, u ( x , y) = x 3 3x 2 y 3xy 2 + y 3 is harmonic conjugate.

Example: Show that the function u(x,y) = x3 - 3xy2 is harmonic everywhere, and find an analytic function f so that Ref = u. . Example: Let f : C C be analytic, and let w ( x , y) = f ( x + iy)
4

.Assuming that the second

derivatives of Ref and Imf are continuous, show that

2w 2w 2 + = 16 f ( x + iy) f ( x + iy) 2 2 2 x y

Remark:

f ( z ) =

u v v u +i = i x x y y

Thus, the components of the gradients u and

v are normal and appear as the real and imaginary parts of the complex derivative f (z) .
u = v v u u i+ j i+ j and v = x y x y

u u v v u v u v u v = i + j i + j = + x x y y x x y y By using Cauchy Riemann equations u v = , x y u v = y x

Then

u v =

u u u u + =0 x y y x

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