Second kind integral equations for the classical potential theory on open surfaces I: Analytical apparatus. (Q1413120)

The authors develop a stable second kind integral equation formulation of the Dirichlet problem for the Laplace equation in two dimensions with boundary conditions specified on a collection of open curves. The performance of the method proposed is illustrated with several numerical examples from elecrostatics. Only the Dirichlet problem for the Laplace equation is considered but the extensions to other types of boundary conditions, such as Neumann conditions or Robin conditions are fairly straightforward. Moreover, the method can be extended to other elliptic equations such as the Helmholtz equation, the Yukawa equation, etc.