Ebook: Partial Differential Equations I: Basic Theory

The first of three volumes on partial differential equations, this one introduces basic examples arising in continuum mechanics, electromagnetism, complex analysis and other areas, and develops a number of tools for their solution, in particular Fourier analysis, distribution theory, and Sobolev spaces. These tools are then applied to the treatment of basic problems in linear PDE, including the Laplace equation, heat equation, and wave equation, as well as more general elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic equations. The book is targeted at graduate students in mathematics and at professional mathematicians with an interest in partial differential equations, mathematical physics, differential geometry, harmonic analysis, and complex analysis.

In this second edition, there are seven new sections including Sobolev spaces on rough domains, boundary layer phenomena for the heat equation, the space of pseudodifferential operators of harmonic oscillator type, and an index formula for elliptic systems of such operators. In addition, several other sections have been substantially rewritten, and numerous others polished to reflect insights obtained through the use of these books over time.

Michael E. Taylor is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

Review of first edition: “These volumes will be read by several generations of readers eager to learn the modern theory of partial differential equations of mathematical physics and the analysis in which this theory is rooted.”

(SIAM Review, June 1998)

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This is the first of three volumes on partial differential equations. It introduces basic examples of partial differential equations, arising in continuum mechanics, electromagnetism, complex analysis and other areas, and develops a number of tools for their solution, including particularly Fourier analysis, distribution theory, and Sobolev spaces. These tools are applied to the treatment of basic problems in linear PDE, including the Laplace equation, heat equation, and wave equation, as well as more general elliptic, parabolic, and hyperbolic equations. Volume I prepares the way for studies of more advanced topics in linear PDE, in Volume 2, and for studies of nonlinear PDE, in Volume 3. The book is addressed to graduate students in mathematics and to professional mathematicians, with an interest in partial differential equations, mathematical physics, differential geometry, harmonic analysis, and complex analysis.