On non-local reflection for elliptic equations of the second order in R^2 (the Dirichlet condition)

Abstract

Point-to-point reflection holding for harmonic functions subject to the Dirichlet or Neumann conditions on an analytic curve in the plane almost always fails for solutions to more general elliptic equations. We develop a non-local, point-to-compact set, formula for reflecting a solution of an analytic elliptic partial differential equation across a real-analytic curve on which it satisfies the Dirichlet conditions. We also discuss the special cases when the formula reduces to the point-to-point forms.