Laplace's and Poisson's equations

  • The homework for this topic is slightly smaller in volume than the previous ones so that you can focus on completing the project.
  • There will be two lectures about distributions which are optional however, very important and interesting.
  • You can separate variables for Laplace's equation in simple domains. During the lecture I have shown you how to do it for a circle in polar coordinates. Prob. 3 concerns a square and that is simple. Just remember to correctly apply boundary conditions. That is, on the boundary for which a non-zero condition is given you do not impose any condition for the ODE problem. You do this at the end by using Fourier series.
  • A hint for Prob. 4: first find eigenfunctions of the Laplacian, i.e. $u_{xx}+u_{yy} = \lambda u$ and then expand $f$ in the resulting orthogonal series.
  • The problems on the circle are very similar. The thing that you should remember is to choose an appropriate special solution of Euler's equation - the one that is bounded in the given domain.
  • The reflection principle is very useful. It works by placing a negative charge, i.e. adding a opposite sign of the unit charge potential, at some point to cancel the potential on a specified boundary. This is very simple for a half-space.
  • To obtain a two-dimensional Green's function for the Laplacian you can follow the calculations from the lecture but in 2D. These are completely analogous. The answer contains a logarithm.
  • Remember that you can always contact me or refer to the literature.