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harmonic function (Definition)

A twice-differentiable real or complex-valued function $f\colon U\to\mathbb{R}$ or $f\colon U\to\mathbb{C}$ , where $U\subseteq\mathbb{R}^n$ is some domain, is called harmonic if its Laplacian vanishes on $U$ , i.e. if $$\Delta f\equiv 0.$$

Any harmonic function $f\colon\mathbb{R}^n\to\mathbb{R}$ or $f\colon\mathbb{R}^n\to\mathbb{C}$ satisfies Liouville's theorem. Indeed, a holomorphic function is harmonic, and a real harmonic function $f\colon U\to\mathbb{R}$ , where $U\subseteq\mathbb{R}^2$ , is locally the real part of a holomorphic function. In fact, it is enough that a harmonic function $f$ be bounded below (or above) to conclude that it is constant.




"harmonic function" is owned by mathcam. [ full author list (2) | owner history (1) ]
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See Also: Rado's theorem, subharmonic and superharmonic functions, Dirichlet problem, Neumann problem


Attachments:
examples of harmonic functions on $\mathbb{R}^n$ (Example) by mathwizard
harmonic conjugate function (Definition) by pahio
Harnack's principle (Theorem) by Mathprof
Gauss' mean value theorem for harmonic functions (Theorem) by PrimeFan
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Cross-references: real part, holomorphic function, Liouville's theorem, vanishes, Laplacian, harmonic, function, real
There are 18 references to this entry.

This is version 6 of harmonic function, born on 2002-06-04, modified 2005-03-25.
Object id is 3029, canonical name is HarmonicFunction.
Accessed 12402 times total.

Classification:
AMS MSC31A05 (Potential theory :: Two-dimensional theory :: Harmonic, subharmonic, superharmonic functions)
 31B05 (Potential theory :: Higher-dimensional theory :: Harmonic, subharmonic, superharmonic functions)
 31C05 (Potential theory :: Other generalizations :: Harmonic, subharmonic, superharmonic functions)
 30F15 (Functions of a complex variable :: Riemann surfaces :: Harmonic functions on Riemann surfaces)

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Is there a way to unattach? by mathcam on 2005-04-05 00:36:26
A couple of the entries attached to Harmonic Functions should be moved over to the separate entry on harmonic functions on graphs. Is this possible?

Cam
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