In mathematics, a fundamental solution for a linear partial differential operator is a formulation in the language of distribution theory of the older idea of a Green's function (although unlike Green's functions, fundamental solutions do not address boundary conditions).
In terms of the Dirac delta "function", a fundamental solution is a solution of the inhomogeneous equationHere is a priori only assumed to be a distribution.
This concept has long been utilized for the Laplacian in two and three dimensions. It was investigated for all dimensions for the Laplacian by Marcel Riesz.
The existence of a fundamental solution for any operator with constant coefficients — the most important case, directly linked to the possibility of using convolution to solve an arbitrary right hand side — was shown by Bernard Malgrange and Leon Ehrenpreis. In the context of functional analysis, fundamental solutions are usually developed via the Fredholm alternative and explored in Fredholm theory.
Consider the following differential equation with
The fundamental solutions can be obtained by solving, explicitly,
Since for the unit step function (also known as the Heaviside function) we havethere is a solutionHere is an arbitrary constant introduced by the integration. For convenience, set .
After integrating
dF | |
dx |
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.
Consider the operator and the differential equation mentioned in the example,
We can find the solution
f(x)
\sin(x)
This shows that some care must be taken when working with functions which do not have enough regularity (e.g. compact support, L1 integrability) since, we know that the desired solution is, while the above integral diverges for all . The two expressions for are, however, equal as distributions.
where is the characteristic (indicator) function of the unit interval . In that case, it can be verified that the convolution of with is which is a solution, i.e., has second derivative equal to .
Denote the convolution of functions and as . Say we are trying to find the solution of . We want to prove that is a solution of the previous equation, i.e. we want to prove that . When applying the differential operator,, to the convolution, it is known thatprovided has constant coefficients.
If is the fundamental solution, the right side of the equation reduces to
But since the delta function is an identity element for convolution, this is simply . Summing up,
Therefore, if is the fundamental solution, the convolution is one solution of . This does not mean that it is the only solution. Several solutions for different initial conditions can be found.
The following can be obtained by means of Fourier transform:
For the Laplace equation,the fundamental solutions in two and three dimensions, respectively, are
For the screened Poisson equation,the fundamental solutions arewhere
K0
In higher dimensions the fundamental solution of the screened Poisson equation is given by the Bessel potential.
For the Biharmonic equation,the biharmonic equation has the fundamental solutions
^2 |
See main article: Impulse response. In signal processing, the analog of the fundamental solution of a differential equation is called the impulse response of a filter.