Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / ia / Paper 3 / 11A / i

Let ${\varphi }_1,{\varphi }_2$ be two solutions with the same Neumann boundary condition, and set $u={\varphi }_1-{\varphi }_2$. ThenMultiplying by $u$ and applying Green's first identity givesThe integrand is nonnegative. If $m>0$, both terms can vanish only when $u=0$, so the solution of the modified Helmholtz equation is unique.

If $m=0$, the identity only forces $\nabla u=0$. On a connected region, $u$ may be any constant. Thus solutions of the Laplace equation with prescribed normal derivative are unique only up to an additive constant, so