Gaussian heat kernel 2026-10-06
For standard Brownian motion in , is the transition density from to . It is the heat kernel for generator . For every unit vector , , which bounds the change in this density under a spatial translation and proves the Gaussian heat-kernel proof of the harmonic Liouville theorem.
For a harmonic function on , the Itô formula gives
Stop on leaving increasing discs and at increasing deterministic times. On each such interval the gradient is bounded, so the stochastic integral is a martingale. This proves that is a continuous local martingale.
If , this is a bounded local martingale and hence a true martingale. Start Brownian motion at an arbitrary . Its Gaussian heat kernel gives
For a unit vector , , so . Integrating the directional derivative along the segment from to yields
Letting gives the harmonic Liouville theorem:
This Gaussian heat-kernel proof of the harmonic Liouville theorem uses the bounded martingale identity established above.