Poisson's equation is the partial differential equation:

Or alternately:

or

i.e., it sets the Laplacian equal to f. The equation is named after the French mathematician, geometer and physicist Siméon-Denis Poisson.

Finding φ for some given f is an important practical problem, since this is the usual way to find the electric potential for a given charge distribution.

There are various methods for numerical solution. The relaxation method, an iterative algorithm, is one example.

See also: Screened Poisson equation

External link

• Poisson Equation at EqWorld: The World of Mathematical Equations.