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Heat equation

Animated plot of the evolution of the temperature in a square metal plate as predicted by the heat equation. The height and redness indicate the temperature at each point. The initial state has a uniformly hot hoof-shaped region (red) surrounded by uniformly cold region (yellow). As time passes the heat diffuses into the cold region.

In mathematics and physics, the heat equation is a certain partial differential equation. Solutions of the heat equation are sometimes known as caloric functions. The theory of the heat equation was first developed by Joseph Fourier in 1822 for the purpose of modeling how a quantity such as heat diffuses through a given region. Since then, the heat equation and its variants have been found to be fundamental in many parts of both pure and applied mathematics.


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