Potential Theory (Universitext)

This book presents a clear path from calculus to classical potential theory and beyond with the aim of moving the reader into a fertile area of mathematical research as quickly as possible. The first half of the book develops the subject matter from first principles using only calculus. The second half comprises more advanced material for those with a senior undergraduate or beginning graduate course in real analysis. For specialized regions, solutions of Laplace’s equation are constructed having prescribed normal derivatives on the flat portion of the boundary and prescribed values on the remaining portion of the boundary. By means of transformations known as diffeomorphisms, these solutions are morphed into local solutions on regions with curved boundaries. The Perron-Weiner-Brelot method is then used to construct global solutions for elliptic PDEs involving a mixture of prescribed values of a boundary differential operator on part of the boundary and prescribed values on the remainder of the boundary.