Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/paper-2/3/solution

Write . A radial function harmonic away from the source satisfies , hence . Decay at infinity forces . Integrating over a small sphere, the divergence theorem requires flux one:
Therefore the fundamental solution in this sign convention is
Adding point sources outside the domain changes only a harmonic function inside it. The method of images selects their positions and strengths to cancel boundary values. The sign reverses for the alternative convention .

New to topics? Read the docs here!