Dirichlet boundary condition

In mathematics, the Dirichlet (or first-type) boundary
condition is a type of boundary condition, named af-
ter Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet (1805–1859).[1] When
imposed on an ordinary or a partial differential equation,
it specifies the values that a solution needs to take on along
the boundary of the domain.
• In mechanical engineering and civil engineering
(beam theory), where one end of a beam is held at a
fixed position in space.
• In thermodynamics, where a surface is held at a fixed
temperature.

The question of finding solutions to such equations is • In electrostatics, where a node of a circuit is held at
known as the Dirichlet problem. In applied sciences, a a fixed voltage.
Dirichlet boundary condition may also be referred to as a
fixed boundary condition. • In fluid dynamics, the no-slip condition for viscous
fluids states that at a solid boundary, the fluid will
have zero velocity relative to the boundary.
1 Examples
2 Other boundary conditions
1.1 ODE
Many other boundary conditions are possible, including
For an ordinary differential equation, for instance,
the Cauchy boundary condition and the mixed boundary
condition. The latter is a combination of the Dirichlet and
Neumann conditions.
y ′′ + y = 0
the Dirichlet boundary conditions on the interval [a, b]
take the form 3 See also
• Neumann boundary condition
y(a) = α, y(b) = β,
• Mixed boundary condition
where α and β are given numbers.
• Robin boundary condition

1.2 PDE • Cauchy boundary condition

• Different types of boundary conditions in fluid dy-

For a partial differential equation, for example, namics

∇2 y + y = 0,
4 References
where ∇ denotes the Laplace operator, the Dirichlet
2

boundary conditions on a domain Ω ⊂ Rn take the form [1] Cheng, A. and D. T. Cheng (2005). Heritage and early
history of the boundary element method, Engineering
Analysis with Boundary Elements, 29, 268–302.
y(x) = f (x) ∀x ∈ ∂Ω,

where f is a known function defined on the boundary ∂Ω

.

1.3 Applications
For example, the following would be considered Dirichlet
boundary conditions:

1
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