Laplace operator

E139493

The Laplace operator is a second-order differential operator widely used in mathematics and physics to describe phenomena such as diffusion, heat flow, and wave propagation.

All labels observed (5)

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Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf differential operator
elliptic differential operator
second-order differential operator
actsOn scalar fields
vector fields
alsoKnownAs Laplacian
linked to: Laplace operator
appearsIn Schrödinger equation
heat equation ∂u/∂t = κΔu
wave equation
definitionInCartesianCoordinates sum of second partial derivatives with respect to spatial coordinates
definitionInRn Δf = ∑_{i=1}^n ∂²f/∂x_i²
discreteAnalogue discrete Laplacian
domain functions on Euclidean space
functions on Riemannian manifolds
equation Laplace equation Δu = 0
Poisson equation Δu = f
field mathematics
physics
generalization Hodge Laplacian
Laplace–Beltrami operator
linked to: Laplace operator
graphAnalogue graph Laplacian
historicalPeriod 18th century
invariance invariant under Euclidean isometries
rotation invariant in Euclidean space
linearity linear
namedAfter Pierre-Simon Laplace
order 2
property negative semi-definite on appropriate function spaces
self-adjoint under suitable boundary conditions
relatedConcept Dirichlet boundary condition
Green's function
Neumann boundary condition
harmonic function
relatedProcess Brownian motion
spectralTheory eigenvalues form the Laplacian spectrum
symbol Δ
∇²
type local operator
usedFor electrostatics
fluid dynamics
gravitation
modeling diffusion
modeling heat flow
modeling wave propagation
potential theory
quantum mechanics
usedIn Fourier analysis
partial differential equations
stochastic processes

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Referenced by (15)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Pierre-Simon Laplace developedConcept Laplace operator
Jean d’Alembert knownFor d’Alembert operator
linked to: Laplace operator
Laplace equation involvesOperator Laplacian
linked to: Laplace operator
Laplace operator alsoKnownAs Laplacian
linked to: Laplace operator
Laplace operator generalization Laplace–Beltrami operator
linked to: Laplace operator
Selberg trace formula coreConcept Laplace–Beltrami operator
linked to: Laplace operator
Laplacian spectrum hasOperator Laplacian
linked to: Laplace operator
dAlembert operator relatedTo Laplace operator
Helmholtz equation hasOperator Laplacian
linked to: Laplace operator
Poisson equation involvesOperator Laplacian
linked to: Laplace operator
Hodge Laplacian reducesTo Laplace–Beltrami operator on functions
linked to: Laplace operator
Hodge Laplacian generalizes Laplace–Beltrami operator
linked to: Laplace operator
Riesz transforms relatedTo Laplace operator
Clifford analysis usesOperator Laplacian
linked to: Laplace operator
Selberg zeta function associatedWith Laplace–Beltrami operator
linked to: Laplace operator