Domain (mathematical analysis)


In mathematical analysis, a domain is any connected open subset of a finite-dimensional vector space. This is a different concept than the domain of a function, though it is often used for that purpose, for example in partial differential equations and Sobolev spaces.
Various degrees of smoothness of the boundary of the domain are required for various properties of functions defined on the domain to hold, such as integral theorems, properties of Sobolev spaces, and to define measures on the boundary and spaces of traces. Commonly considered types of domains are domains with continuous boundary, Lipschitz boundary, C1 boundary, and so forth.
A bounded domain is a domain which is a bounded set, while an exterior or external domain is the interior of the complement of a bounded domain.
In complex analysis, a complex domain is any connected open subset of the complex plane ℂ. For example, the entire complex plane is a domain, as is the open unit disk, the open upper half-plane, and so forth. Often, a complex domain serves as the domain of definition for a holomorphic function. In the study of several complex variables, the definition of a domain is extended to include any connected open subset of ℂn.

Historical notes

According to Hans Hahn, the concept of a domain as an open connected set was introduced by Constantin Carathéodory in his famous book. Hahn also remarks that the word "Gebiet" was occasionally previously used as a synonym of open set.
However, the term "domain" was occasionally used to identify closely related but slightly different concepts. For example, in his influential monographs on elliptic partial differential equations, Carlo Miranda uses the term "region" to identify an open connected set, and reserves the term "domain" to identify an internally connected, perfect set, each point of which is an accumulation point of interior points, following his former master Mauro Picone: according to this convention, if a set is a region then its closure is a domain.