The Dirichlet Problem for Harmonic Functions on Compact Sets

Tony Perkins

Published 2010-04-30, updated 2011-01-21Version 2

For any compact set $K\subset \mathbb{R}^n$ we develop the theory of Jensen measures and subharmonic peak points, which form the set $\mathcal{O}_K$, to study the Dirichlet problem on $K$. Initially we consider the space $h(K)$ of functions on $K$ which can be uniformly approximated by functions harmonic in a neighborhood of $K$ as possible solutions. As in the classical theory, our Theorem 8.1 shows $C(\mathcal{O}_K)\cong h(K)$ for compact sets with $\mathcal{O}_K$ closed. However, in general a continuous solution cannot be expected even for continuous data on $\rO_K$ as illustrated by Theorem 8.1. Consequently, we show that the solution can be found in a class of finely harmonic functions. Moreover by Theorem 8.7, in complete analogy with the classical situation, this class is isometrically isomorphic to $C_b(\mathcal{O}_K)$ for all compact sets $K$.