Maximum principle

A maximum principle bounds a solution through its boundary or initial data, often forbidding nonconstant solutions from attaining an interior extremum. Weak and strong versions depend on the differential operator and hypotheses. The maximum principle for harmonic functions and its strong counterpart are examples.

If a harmonic function on a connected domain attains an interior maximum or minimum, it is constant. The mean value property forces equality throughout every sufficiently small ball around an interior extremum, and connectedness propagates the equality.

This is the strong harmonic instance of the maximum principle.

A continuous function harmonic on a bounded domain attains its maximum and minimum on the boundary. Apply the strictly subharmonic result to $u+ϵ|x{|}^2$ and let $ϵ\downarrow 0$, then apply the same argument to $-u$.