NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal
✖
NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal
represents an outward-pointing unit normal vector at the point on the boundary of a filled region.
Details


- NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal can be used to construct partial differential equation boundary conditions that depend on the unit normal vector
of the boundary.
- NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal can be used with NeumannValue, DirichletCondition and NIntegrate with the finite element method.
- NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal is used when non-normal flux values can be specified, like in AcousticRadiationValue or in ElectricCurrentDensityValue.
- NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal is generated by nonconservative boundary conditions for mass transport, like MassOutflowValue.
- For finite element approximations, the PDE is multiplied with a test function
and integrated over
. Integration by parts gives
. The integrand
in the boundary integral is replaced with the NeumannValue
.
- NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal can be used to model a boundary integration term of the form
by specifying the NeumannValue as
.
- Conversely, when a PDE specifies a Neumann value as
, NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal can be used to model a boundary integration term of the form
instead by specifying the NeumannValue as
.
- NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal will evaluate to a vector of length of the embedding dimension of the region
when the boundary condition is discretized.
- NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal can be used to derive the tangent line (2D) and tangent plane (3D).
- Components of the boundary unit normal
can be accessed with Indexed.
- At internal boundaries of a region, the boundary unit normal is not uniquely defined.
- The value of the boundary unit normal
will be computed by solving
with a Dirichlet condition of
on all boundaries including internal boundaries over the entire region
. The boundary unit normal is then the gradient of
normalized with
.

Examples
open allclose allBasic Examples (2)Summary of the most common use cases
Set up a symbolic electric current density boundary condition with a non-surface normal current density:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-vw7olo

Specify a differential equation operator :

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-72b1ry


https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-lhb3x6

On the left, a NeumannValue is set up. The default Neumann boundary integrand for this equation is . To model a boundary integrand of the form
, a NeumannValue
is set up:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-s6o7xq


https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-btsp

Scope (5)Survey of the scope of standard use cases
For nonconservative mass transport, boundary conditions like MassImpermeableBoundaryValue can produce NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal. Set up an impermeable boundary condition for a nonconservative model:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-gikt47

NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal can be used in NIntegrate to compute the flux through a boundary. Solve a Poisson equation on a unit Disk:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-yks3yb


https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-fdx0b0

Compute the total flux through the boundary of the region through the boundary region:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-zi06e7

Compute the total flux through the boundary of a subregion:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-ohbdqg

Specify a time-dependent differential equation operator :

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-0605j

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-gyyhbp
On the left, a NeumannValue is set up. The default Neumann boundary integrand for this equation is . To model a boundary integrand of the form
, a NeumannValue
is set up:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-ffp99r

Use a Neumann 0 boundary condition and solve the equation again:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-gsronc

Inspect how the solutions start to differ over time:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-8wla0j

Create a tangential for a NeumannValue:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-vugv3d

Make use of an Indexed component, the component, of a NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal to compute a NeumannValue:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-e5szlb

Applications (1)Sample problems that can be solved with this function
The AcousticRadiationValue makes use of a NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal to automatically compute the sound direction vector. Define model variables vars for a frequency domain acoustic pressure field with model parameters pars:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-dcdeb2
Set up the equation with a radiation boundary at the left end and an acoustic absorbing boundary at the right end:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-tgzhoh


https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-xht1ym
Convert the solution to the time domain and visualize the solution in the frequency domain at various frequencies :

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-k3bcpi

Properties & Relations (1)Properties of the function, and connections to other functions
The boundary unit normal is computed by solving a Poisson equation over the region and specifying 0 Dirichlet conditions. Compute a Poisson equation over a unit Disk:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-tzjb00
Compute the normalized gradient of the potential:

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-zz9sy1

https://wolfram.com/xid/0itb2um6h1yvh2d7rj93q-9k549a

Wolfram Research (2025), NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html.
Text
Wolfram Research (2025), NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html.
Wolfram Research (2025), NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html.
CMS
Wolfram Language. 2025. "NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html.
Wolfram Language. 2025. "NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html.
APA
Wolfram Language. (2025). NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html
Wolfram Language. (2025). NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html
BibTeX
@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_neumannboundaryunitnormal, author="Wolfram Research", title="{NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal}", year="2025", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-April-2025
]}
BibLaTeX
@online{reference.wolfram_2025_neumannboundaryunitnormal, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal}, year={2025}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/NeumannBoundaryUnitNormal.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-April-2025
]}