Past exam of the short options course of the University of Oxford / 2017 / 5 / b

For integrable functions $u,v$, the convolution theorem in the chosen convention isLet $F(s,y)$ be the Fourier transform of $f(\cdot ,y)$ in the horizontal coordinate. Transforming Laplace's equation givesFor $s\ne 0$, exclude the growing exponential and obtain $F(s,y)=2e^{-|s|y}/(1+s^2)$. At $s=0$, continuity in frequency gives $F(0,y)=2$; a constant zero-frequency transform is compatible with spatial decay of $f$.

By the transform pair in part (a), the inverse transform of $e^{-|s|y}$ is the Poisson kernel for the upper half-plane, $P_y(x)=y/[\pi (x^2+y^2)]$. ThusThe Poisson extension of exponential boundary data is harmonic, approaches the continuous boundary data and decays at spatial infinity. For uniqueness, apply the maximum principle for harmonic functions to the difference of two solutions on increasingly large half-discs: it is zero on the real boundary and uniformly small on the distant semicircle.