Conjugate harmonic functions in Euclidean space: a spherical approach (Q2497133)

If a couple \((u,v)\) of real-valued functions of a complex variable is such that \(f=u+iv\) is holomorphic, then \(u\) and \(v\) are called conjugate harmonic functions. Since Clifford analysis is a deep structural analogue of holomorphic function theory, it is concerned with an appropriate generalization of this notion. The cartesian approach can be found in [\textit{F.~Brackx} and \textit{R.~Delanghe}, Z.~Anal.\ Anwend.\ 22, No.~2, 261--273 (2003; Zbl 1051.30047)] and [\textit{F.~Brackx}, \textit{R.~Delanghe} and \textit{F.~C.\ Sommen}, Math.\ Methods Appl.\ Sci.\ 25, No.~16--18, 1553--1562 (2002; Zbl 1056.30049)], and it appears that it has led to some geometric constraints on the domain \(\Omega\) so that some well-known examples are not covered. This observation has been the starting point for an alternative approach in spherical coordinates developed in the paper under review. Here, the basic notions of Clifford analysis are reviewed in Section 2, after which a factorization of the Laplace operator in terms of the Euler operator and the spherical Dirac operator is obtained in Section 3, proving to be crucial for the construction of conjugate harmonic functions in spherical setting. Section 4 recalls the notion of harmonic conjugates in the cartesian setting and gives briefly the main results obtained. Section 5 deals with the spherical approach already. Given a scalar-valued harmonic function \(u\), an explicit function \(w\) of the form \(e_{r}v\) with \(v \in \text{span} (e_{\theta_1},\dots,e_{\theta_{m-1}})\) is constructed such that \(u + w\) is monogenic (= hyperholomorphic, = regular); a fine point here is that \(e_r\) along the preference direction is a function as opposed to the fixed \(e_1\)-vector in the cartesian approach. This alternative approach results in alternative conditions on the shape of \(\Omega\), eventually leading to an enlargement of the set of admissible domains. Several important examples are considered is Section 6, among them the spherical conjugate of the Poisson kernel in the unit ball of \(\mathbb R^m\). Finally, in Section 7 one can see what all that means in the case of holomorphic functions of one variable.