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The
heat equation is an important partial differential equation which describes the variation of temperature in a given region over time.
General-audience description
Suppose one has a function
u which describes the temperature at a given location (
x,
y,
z). This function will change over time as heat spreads throughout space. The heat equation is used to determine the change in the function
u over time. The image below is animated and has a description of the way heat changes in time along a metal bar. One of the interesting properties of the heat equation is the
maximum principle which says that the maximum value of
u is either earlier in time than the region of concern or on the edge of the region of concern. This is essentially saying that temperature comes either from some source or from earlier in time because heat permeates but is not created from nothingness. This is a property of
parabolic partial differential equations and is not difficult to prove mathematically (see below).
Another interesting property is that even if
u has a discontinuity at an initial time
t =
t0, then the temperature becomes instantly smooth as soon as
t >
t0. For example, if a bar of metal has temperature 0 and another has temperature 100 and they are stuck together end to end, then instantaneously the temperature at the point of connection is 50 and the graph of the temperature is smoothly running from 0 to 100. This is not physically possible, since there would then be information propagation at infinite speed, which would violate
Causality (physics). Therefore this is a property of the mathematical equation rather than of heat conduction itself. However, for most practical purposes, the difference is negligible.
The heat equation is used in probability and describes
random walks. It is also applied in
financial mathematics for this reason.
It is also important in
Riemannian geometry and thus topology: it was adapted by
Richard Hamilton (professor) when he defined the Ricci flow that was later used to solve the topological Poincaré conjecture.
See also the
Dirac delta function.
The physical problem and the equation
)In the special case of heat propagation in an
isotropic and
wiktionary:Homogeneous medium in the 3-dimensional space, this equation is
{\partial u\over \partial t} =
k \left({\partial^2 u\over \partial x^2 } +{\partial^2 u\over \partial y^2 } +{\partial^2 u\over \partial z^2 }\right)= k ( u_{xx} + u_{yy} + u_{zz} ) \quad
where:
- u=u(t,x,y,z) \,\! is temperature as a function of time and space;
- \frac{\partial u}{\partial t} is the rate of change of temperature at a point over time;
- u_{xx}\,\!, u_{yy}\,\!, and u_{zz}\,\! are the second spatial derivatives (thermal conductions) of temperature in the x, y, and z directions, respectively
The heat equation is a consequence of Fourier's law of cooling (see heat conduction).
If the medium is not the whole space, in order to solve the heat equation uniquely we also need to specify
boundary conditions for
u. To determine uniqueness of solutions in the whole space it is necessary to assume an exponential bound on the growth of solutions, this assumption is consistent with observed experiments.
Solutions of the heat equation are characterized by a gradual smoothing of the initial temperature distribution by the flow of
heat from warmer to colder areas of an object. Generally, many different states and starting conditions will tend toward the same stable
thermodynamic equilibrium. As a consequence, to reverse the solution and conclude something about earlier times or initial conditions from the present heat distribution is very inaccurate except over the shortest of time periods.
The heat equation is the prototypical example of a parabolic partial differential equation.
Using the
Laplace operator, the heat equation can be simplified, and generalized to similar equations over spaces of arbitrary number of dimensions, as
u_t = k \nabla^2 u = k \Delta u, \quad \,\!
where the Laplace operator, Δ or \nabla^2, the divergence of the gradient, is taken in the spatial variables.
The heat equation governs heat diffusion, as well as other diffusive processes, such as particle diffusion or the propagation of
action potential in nerve cells. Although they are not diffusive in nature, some quantum mechanics problems are also governed by a mathematical analog of the heat equation (see below). It also can be used to model some phenomena arising in finance, like the
Black-Scholes or the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes. The equation, and various non-linear analogues, has also been used in image analysis.
The heat equation is, technically, in violation of special relativity, because its solutions involve instantaneous propagation of a disturbance. The part of the disturbance outside the forward light cone can usually be safely neglected, but if it is necessary to develop a reasonable speed for the transmission of heat, a hyperbolic problem should be considered instead -- like a partial differential equation involving a second-order time derivative.
Solving the heat equation using Fourier series
The following solution technique for the heat equation was proposed by Joseph Fourier in his treatise
Théorie analytique de la chaleur, published in
1822. Let us consider the heat equation for one space variable. This could be used to model heat conduction in a rod. The equation is
(1) \ u_t = k u_{xx} \quad
where
u =
u(
t,
x) is a function of two variables
t and
x. Here
- x is the space variable, so x ∈ , where L is the length of the rod.
- t is the time variable, so t ≥ 0.
We assume the initial condition
(2) \ u(0,x) = f(x) \quad \forall x \in \quad
where the function
f is given and the boundary conditions
(3) \ u(t,0) = 0 = u(t,L) \quad \forall t > 0 \quad .
Let us attempt to find a solution of (1) which is not identically zero satisfying the boundary conditions (3) but with the following property:
u is a product in which the dependence of
u on
x,
t is separated, that is:
(4) \ u(t,x) = X(x) T(t). \quad
This solution technique is called
separation of variables. Substituting
u back into equation (1),
\frac{T'(t)}{kT(t)} = \frac{X
(x)}{X(x)}. \quad
Since the right hand side depends only on
x and the left hand side only on
t, both sides are equal to some constant value − λ. Thus:
(5) \ T'(t) = - \lambda kT(t) \quad
and
(6) \ X
(x) = - \lambda X(x). \quad
We will now show that solutions for (6) for values of λ ≤ 0 cannot occur:
Suppose that λ < 0. Then there exist real numbers B, C such that
X(x) = B e^{\sqrt{-\lambda} \, x} + C e^{-\sqrt{-\lambda} \, x}.
From (3) we get
X(0) = 0 = X(L). \quad
and therefore B = 0 = C which implies u is identically 0.Suppose that λ = 0. Then there exist real numbers B, C such that
X(x) = Bx + C. \quad
From equation (3) we conclude in the same manner as in 1 that u is identically 0.Therefore, it must be the case that λ > 0. Then there exist real numbers A, B, C such that
T(t) = A e^{-\lambda k t} \quad
and
X(x) = B \sin(\sqrt{\lambda} \, x) + C \cos(\sqrt{\lambda} \, x).
From (3) we get C = 0 and that for some positive integer n,
\sqrt{\lambda} = n \frac{\pi}{L}.
This solves the heat equation in the special case that the dependence of
u has the special form (4).
In general, the sum of solutions to (1) which satisfy the boundary conditions (3) also satisfies (1) and (3). We can show that the solution to (1), (2) and (3) is given by
u(t,x) = \sum_{n = 1}^{+\infty} D_n \left(\sin \frac{n\pi x}{L}\right) e^{-\frac{n^2 \pi^2 kt}{L^2-->
where
D_n = \frac{2}{L} \int_0^L f(x) \sin \frac{n\pi x}{L} \, dx.
Generalizing the solution technique
The solution technique used above can be greatly extended to many other types of equations. The idea is that the operator
uxx with the zero boundary conditions can be represented in terms of its
eigenvectors. This leads naturally to one of the basic ideas of the
spectral theory of linear self-adjoint operators.
Consider the linear operator Δ
u =
ux x. The infinite sequence of functions
e_n(x) = \sqrt{\frac{2}{L-->\sin \frac{n\pi x}{L}
for
n ≥ 1 are eigenvectors of Δ. Indeed
\Delta e_n = -\frac{n^2 \pi^2}{L^2} e_n.
Moreover, any eigenvector
f of Δ with the boundary conditions
f(0)=
f(
L)=0 is of the form
en for some
n ≥ 1. The functions
en for
n ≥ 1 form an
orthonormal sequence with respect to a certain
inner product on the space of real-valued functions on
L. This means
\langle e_n, e_m \rangle = \int_0^L e_n(x) e_m(x) dx = \left\{ \begin{matrix} 0 & n \neq m \\ 1 & m = n\end{matrix}\right..
Finally, the sequence {
en}
n ∈
N spans a dense linear subspace of L2(0,
L). This shows that in effect we have
diagonal matrixd the operator Δ.
Heat conduction in non-homogeneous anisotropic media
In general, the study of heat conduction is based on several principles. Heat flow is a form of energy flow, and as such it is meaningful to speak of the time rate of flow of heat into a region of space.
- The time rate of heat flow into a region V is given by a time-dependent quantity qt(V). We assume q has a density, so that
: q_t(V) = \int_V Q(t,x)\,d x \quad
- Heat flow is a time-dependent vector function H(x) characterized as follows: the time rate of heat flowing through an infinitesimal surface element with area d S and with unit normal vector n is
: \mathbf{H}(x) \cdot \mathbf{n}(x) \, dS
Thus the rate of heat flow into
V is also given by the surface integral
q_t(V)= - \int_{\partial V} \mathbf{H}(x) \cdot \mathbf{n}(x) \, dS
where
n(x) is the outward pointing normal vector at
x.
- The law of heat conduction states that heat energy flow has the following linear dependence on the temperature gradient
: \mathbf{H}(x) = -\mathbf{A}(x) \cdot \nabla u (x)
where
A(
x) is a 3 × 3 real matrix (mathematics) that is symmetric and
positive-definite matrix.
By Green's theorem, the previous surface integral for heat flow into
V can be transformed into the volume integral
q_t(V) = - \int_{\partial V} \mathbf{H}(x) \cdot \mathbf{n}(x) \, dS
:: = \int_{\partial V} \mathbf{A}(x) \cdot \nabla u (x) \cdot \mathbf{n}(x) \, dS
:: = \int_V \sum_{i, j} \partial_{x_i} a_{i j}(x) \partial_{x_j} u (t,x)\,dx
- The time rate of temperature change at x is proportional to the heat flowing into an infinitesimal volume element, where the constant of proportionality is dependent on a constant κ
: \partial_t u(t,x) = \kappa(x) Q(t,x)\,
Putting these equations together gives the general equation of heat flow:
\partial_t u(t,x) = \kappa(x) \sum_{i, j} \partial_{x_i} a_{i j}(x) \partial_{x_j} u (t,x)
Remarks.
- The coefficient κ(x) is the inverse of specific heat of the substance at x × density of the substance at x.
- In the anisotropic case where the coefficient matrix A is not scalar (i.e., if it depends on x), then an explicit formula for the solution of the heat equation can seldom be written down. Though, it is usually possible to consider the associated abstract cauchy problem and show that it is a well-posed problem and/or to show some qualitative properties (like preservation of positive initial data, infinite speed of propagation, convergence toward an equilibrium, smoothing properties). This is usually done by one-parameter semigroups theory: for instance, if A is a symmetric matrix, then the elliptic operator defined by
:Au(x):=\sum_{i, j} \partial_{x_i} a_{i j}(x) \partial_{x_j} u (x)
is
self-adjoint and dissipative, thus by the
spectral theorem it generates a
one-parameter semigroup.
Particle diffusion
Particle diffusion equation
One can model particle
diffusion by an equation involving either:
- the volumetric concentration of particles, denoted c, in the case of collective diffusion of a large number of particles, or
- the probability density function associated with the position of a single particle, denoted P.
In either case, one uses the heat equation
c_t = D \Delta c, \quad
or
P_t = D \Delta P. \quad
Both
c and
P are functions of position and time.
D is the diffusion coefficient that controls the speed of the diffusive process, and is typically expressed in meters squared over second.
If the diffusion coefficient
D is not constant, but depends on the concentration
c (or
P in the second case), then one gets the diffusion equation.
The random trajectory of a single particle subject to the particle diffusion equation is a
brownian motion.
If a particle is placed in \vec R = \vec 0 at time t = 0, then the
probability density function associated to the vector \vec R will be the following:
P(\vec R,t) = G(\vec R,t) = \frac{1}{(4 \pi D t)^{3/2--> e^{-\frac {\vec R^2}{4 D t-->
It is related to the probability density functions associated to each of its components R_x, R_y and R_z in the following way:
P(\vec R,t) = \frac{1}{(4 \pi D t)^{3/2--> e^{-\frac {R_x^2+R_y^2+R_z^2}{4 D t--> = P(R_x,t)P(R_y,t)P(R_z,t)
The random variables R_x, R_y and R_z are distributed according to a
normal distribution of mean
0 and of variance 2\,D\,t. In 3D, the random vector \vec R is distributed according to a normal distribution of mean \vec 0 and of variance 6\, D\,t.
At
t=0, the expression of P(\vec R,t) above is singular. The probability density function corresponding to the initial condition of a particle located in a known position \vec R = \vec 0 is the
Dirac delta function, noted \delta (\vec R) (the generalisation to 3D of the
Dirac delta function is simply \delta (\vec R) = \delta (R_x) \delta (R_y) \delta (R_z)). The solution of the diffusion equation associated to this initial condition is also called a
Green function.
Historical origin of the diffusion equation
The
Fick's_law_of_diffusion was originally derived by Adolf Fick in 1855.
Solving the diffusion equation through Green functions
Green functions are the solutions of the diffusion equation corresponding to the initial condition of a particle of known position. For another initial condition, the solution to the diffusion equation can be expressed as a decomposition on a set of Green Functions.
Say, for example, that at
t=0 we have not only a particle located in a known position \vec R = \vec 0, but instead a large number of particles, distributed according to a spatial concentration profile c(\vec R, t=0). Solving the diffusion equation will tell us how this profile will evolve with time.
As any function, the initial concentration profile can be decomposed as an integral sum on
Dirac delta functions:
c(\vec R, t=0) = \int c(\vec R^0,t=0) \delta(\vec R - \vec R^0) dR_x^0\,dR_y^0\,dR_z^0
At subsequent instants, given the
linearity of the diffusion equation, the concentration profile becomes:
c(\vec R, t) = \int c(\vec R^0,t=0) G(\vec R - \vec R^0,t) dR_x^0\,dR_y^0\,dR_z^0, where G(\vec R - \vec R^0,t) is the Green function defined above.
Although it is more easily understood in the case of particle diffusion , where an initial condition corresponding to a Dirac delta function can be intuitively described as a particle being located in a known position, such a decomposition of a solution into Green functions can be generalized to the case of any diffusive process, like heat transfer, or momentum diffusion, which is the phenomenon at the origin of viscosity in liquids.
List of Green function solutions in 1D
\begin{cases} u_{t}=ku_{xx} & -\infty
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