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An elliptic boundary value problem couples an elliptic differential equation in a domain to boundary conditions. Its weak formulation is often an equation for a bounded bilinear form on a Sobolev space.

Write $q_i=a^{ij}{D}_{j}u$. If $u$ is a classical solution, multiply $-{\partial }_i{q}_i=f$ by a smooth function $v$ and apply the divergence theorem. The Neumann boundary condition $q_i{N}_i=0$ removes the boundary term and givesThe density of smooth functions in a Sobolev space and boundedness of the coefficients extend this identity to every $v\in H^1(U)$, so $u$ is a weak solution.

Conversely, take $v$ to be a test function compactly supported in $U$. The weak formulation saysThe fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations gives the equation in $U$. Under the regularity implicit in the stated notion of a classical solution, it holds pointwise. Applying integration by parts again with arbitrary $v\in H^1(U)$ leaveswhere $T$ is the trace operator. Traces of smooth functions can be chosen arbitrarily on the boundary, so the boundary fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations gives $(a^{ij}{\partial }_{j}u)N_i=0$. Thus $u$ is a classical solution.

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Testing the weak formulation with the constant function $1$ proves the necessary compatibility conditionAssume first that $U$ is connected and this condition holds. On the mean-zero Sobolev spaceuse the norm $\Vert v{\Vert }_{†}=\Vert Dv{\Vert }_{L^2(U)}$. To prove the needed Poincare-Wirtinger inequality, suppose it failed. There would be $v_k\in H_{†}^1(U)$ with $\Vert v_k{\Vert }_2=1$ and $\Vert D{v}_k{\Vert }_2\to 0$. The Rellich-Kondrachov compactness theorem gives a subsequence converging strongly in $L^2$ and weakly in $H^1$ to a function $v$. Its weak derivative vanishes, so connectedness makes $v$ constant; its zero mean makes it zero. This contradicts $\Vert v{\Vert }_2=1$. Hence $\Vert Dv{\Vert }_2$ is an equivalent Hilbert space norm on $H_{†}^1(U)$.

DefineBoundedness of $a^{ij}$ makes $B$ a bounded bilinear form, while uniform ellipticity givesso it is a coercive bilinear form. The Cauchy-Schwarz inequality and the Poincare-Wirtinger inequality make $\ell$ a bounded linear functional. The Lax-Milgram theorem supplies a unique $u\in H_{†}^1(U)$ satisfying $B(u,v)=\ell (v)$ for every mean-zero $v$. For arbitrary $v\in H^1(U)$, subtract its mean; the omitted constant contributes zero on both sides because $D1=0$ and ${\int }_{U}f=0$. Thus $u$ solves the original problem.

If two solutions exist, their difference $w$ satisfies $B(w,w)=0$, so uniform ellipticity gives $Dw=0$. It is therefore constant on $U$. The solution is unique up to an additive constant, and its mean-zero representative is unique. If $U$ is disconnected, the precise condition is ${\int }_{U_j}f=0$ on every connected component $U_j$, and one independent additive constant remains on each component.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.

Suppose $u_1$ and $u_2$ are weak solutions with the same trace, and put $w=u_1-u_2\in H_0^1(\Omega )$. The weak formulation permits $w$ itself as a test function, givingThus $w$ is almost everywhere constant, and its zero trace makes that constant zero. This proves uniqueness.

The weak identity also says that $\Delta u=0$ in the sense of distributions. The Weyl lemma therefore gives $u\in C^{\infty }(\Omega )$ and $\Delta u=0$ pointwise. The assumed continuity on $\overline{\Omega }$ retains the prescribed boundary values, so the weak solution is the unique classical solution in $C^{\infty }(\Omega )\cap C^0(\overline{\Omega })$.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.

Multiply the Poisson equation by $v\in V$ and apply Green's first identity. The Dirichlet boundary condition makes the trace of $v$ vanish on ${\Gamma }_1$, while the Neumann boundary condition makes the boundary flux vanish on ${\Gamma }_2$. Thus the weak formulation is: find $u\in V$ such thatwhere

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First choose a test function $v\in C_c^{\infty }(U)$. The weak formulation and integration by parts giveThe fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations implies $-\Delta u=f$ pointwise because $u\in C^2(\overline{U})$ and $f$ is continuous. The Dirichlet boundary condition on ${\Gamma }_1$ already follows from $u\in V$ and continuity of $u$.

For arbitrary $v\in V$, Green's first identity and the interior equation now reduce the weak identity toThe traces of smooth members of $V$ can be chosen freely on compact subsets of ${\Gamma }_2$. Another application of the fundamental lemma of the calculus of variations, now on the boundary, gives ${\partial }_{\nu }u=0$ pointwise on ${\Gamma }_2$. Hence $u$ is a classical solution of the complete mixed boundary value problem.

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Solve the adjoint transport equationbackward with terminal value zero. Along the characteristic flow map $Z_{t,s}(x)=e^{s-t}x$, the required solution isDifferentiation under the integral verifies the equation. If $\psi$ has compact support in $[0,T]\times [-R,R]$, then $\phi$ vanishes for $t>T$ and for $|x|>R$, so $\phi \in C_c^1$ as required.

When the initial datum is zero, inserting this $\phi$ into the weak formulation givesfor every $\psi \in C_c^1$. Thus $u=0$ almost everywhere. The difference of two bounded weak solutions has zero initial datum, so this proves uniqueness.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.