A functional-differential equation in a class of analytic functions and its application (Q2373346)

Let \(a_{1}\) and \(a_{2}\) be two distinct points in the complex plane, let \(D_{k} = \{z: | z - a_{k}| < r_{k}\}, \;k = 1, 2\), be discs, and let \(\Gamma_{k} = \partial D_{k}\), where \(\Gamma_{1} \cap \Gamma_{2} = \emptyset\). Let \(D\) be the interior of the complement of \(D_{1} \cup D_{2}\) in the extended complex plane (and thus \(\infty\) is a point in \(D\)). Let \(u(z)\) be a function harmonic in \(D_{1} \cup D_{2} \cup D \setminus \{\infty\}\) and continuously differentiable on the complex plane, and for \(k = 1\) or \(2\), and a point \(z\) on \(\Gamma_{k}\), let \[ \frac {\partial u^{-}} {\partial n} (z) \;\;\text{ and } \;\;\frac {\partial u^{+}} {\partial n} (z) \] denote the normal derivatives from the inside and the outside, respectively, relative to the curve \(\Gamma_{k}\). The basic problem considered by the author is to find a harmonic function \(u\) which satisfies the boundary conditions \[ \frac {\partial u^{-}} {\partial n} (t) = \lambda_{k} \frac {\partial u^{+}} {\partial n} (t) \quad \text{and} \quad \lambda_{k} \frac {\partial u^{+}} {\partial n} (t) + \gamma_{k}\big(u^{+}(t) - u^{-}(t)\big) = 0 \] for \(t \in \Gamma_{k}, \;k = 1, 2 \;,\) where \(\lambda_{1}, \lambda_{2}, \gamma_{1}\), and \(\gamma_{2}\) are given real numbers, and \(u(z) - \Re(p(z))\) is bounded in a neighborhood of \(\infty\), where \(p(z)\) is a given polynomial. The author deals with the case where \(\lambda_{1}, \lambda_{2}, \gamma_{1}\), and \(\gamma_{2}\) are all positive real numbers. First, the author considers an analytic function \(\phi(z)\) such that \(\Re(\phi(z)) = u(z)\) and, by a process of inversion in the circles \(\Gamma_{k}\), converts the original boundary conditions into the equations \[ \phi_{1}(z) + \mu_{1}(z - a)\phi'_{1}(z) = - \rho_{2} \overline{\phi_{2}(z_{2}^{*})} + \mu_{2} \frac {r_{2}^{2}} {z - a_{2}} \overline{\phi_{2}'(z_{2}^{*})} + g(z) \] for \(| z - a_{1}| \leq r_{1}\), and \[ \phi_{2}(z) + \mu_{2}(z - a_{2}) \phi'_{2}(z) = - \rho_{1}\overline{\phi_{1}(z_{1}^{*}))} + \mu_{1} \frac {r_{1}^{2}} {z - a_{1}} \overline{\phi'_{1}(z_{1}^{*})} + g( z) \] for \(| z - a_{2}| \leq r_{2}\), where \(\phi_{k}\) is the restriction of the function \(\phi\) to the closed disc \(D_{k} \cup \Gamma_{k}, \;k = 1, 2\), \ \(\rho_{1}, \rho_{2}, \mu_{1}\), and \(\mu_{2}\) are constants, \(z_{1}^{*}\) is the reflection of the point \(z\) in the circle \(\Gamma_{1}\), \(z_{2}^{*}\) is the reflection of the point \(z\) in the circle \(\Gamma_{2}\), and \(g(z) = p(z) + c\), where \(c\) is an arbitrary constant. The author applies a method of successive approximation to these equations to solve the problem. It is proved that the method of successive approximation does lead to a convergent sequence of functions for the cases considered. This work is related to work of \textit{L. C. Goncalves} and \textit{J. A. Kolodziej} [Int. Commun. Heat Mass Transfer 20, 111--121 (1993)] and \textit{V. V. Mityushev} and \textit{S. V. Rogosin} [Constructive methods for linear and nonlinear boundary value problems for analytic functions: theory and applications, Boca Raton, FL: Chapman \& Hall/CRC (2000; Zbl 0957.30002)].