Skip to main content

The Heat Equation

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 3065 Accesses

Part of the book series: International Series of Numerical Mathematics ((ISNM,volume 168))

Abstract

We have so far studied elliptic problems, i.e., stationary problems. We now turn to evolution problems, starting with the archetypal parabolic equation, namely the heat equation. In this chapter, we will present a brief and far from exhaustive theoretical study of the heat equation. We will mostly work in one dimension of space, some of the results having an immediate counterpart in higher dimensions, others not. The study of numerical approximations of the heat equation will be the subject of the next chapter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The fact that \(\frac{\partial u}{\partial x}(x_0,t_0)=0\) is not useful here.

  2. 2.

    Or more accurately a Dirac mass.

  3. 3.

    Which is reassuring.

  4. 4.

    Beware of the slightly ambiguous notation.

  5. 5.

    In the sense of space regularity.

  6. 6.

    Observe that the function \(u_k\) is continuous in t.

  7. 7.

    Or even more generally, Gårding’s inequality , which reads: for all \(v\in H^1_0(\varOmega )\), \(a(v,v)\ge \alpha |v|^2_{H^1_0(\varOmega )}-\beta \Vert v\Vert ^2_{L^2(\varOmega )}\) with \(\alpha >0\).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hervé Le Dret .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Le Dret, H., Lucquin, B. (2016). The Heat Equation. In: Partial Differential Equations: Modeling, Analysis and Numerical Approximation. International Series of Numerical Mathematics, vol 168. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27067-8_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics