 Poisson kernel for the upper half-space

In three dimensions the Poisson kernel for the upper half-space isIt gives the harmonic function $\varphi (x,y,z)={\int }_{{\mathbb{R}}^2}{P}_z(x-\xi ,y-\eta )f(\xi ,\eta )d\xi d\eta$ for compatible boundary data. The method of images constructs the zero-boundary Dirichlet Green function by subtracting the reflected-source Green function of the Laplacian from the source kernel. On the boundary plane the outward unit normal is $-e_z$, and $-{\partial }_{n}G=P_z$, giving the integral formula through Green's second identity.

The kernel is positive and has integral one: in polar coordinates this is $z{\int }_0^{\infty }r(r^2+z^2{)}^{-3/2}dr=1$. Its mass outside any fixed disk tends to zero as $z\downarrow 0$. It is therefore an approximate identity, recovering bounded boundary data at continuity points. At a jump across a smooth curve, the vertical limit gives the average of the two adjacent values; assigning a different value only on that curve does not change the harmonic extension.