Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 February 2019
Let $E$ and
$D$ be open subsets of
$\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ such that
$\overline{D}$ is a compact subset of
$E$, and let
$v$ be a supertemperature on
$E$. We call a temperature
$u$ on
$D$extendable by
$v$ if there is a supertemperature
$w$ on
$E$ such that
$w=u$ on
$D$ and
$w=v$ on
$E\backslash \overline{D}$. Such a temperature need not be a thermic minorant of
$v$ on
$D$. We show that either there is a unique temperature extendable by
$v$, or there are infinitely many. Examples of temperatures extendable by
$v$ include the greatest thermic minorant
$GM_{v}^{D}$ of
$v$ on
$D$, and the Perron–Wiener–Brelot solution of the Dirichlet problem
$S\!_{v}^{D}$ on
$D$ with boundary values the restriction of
$v$ to
$\unicode[STIX]{x2202}D$. In the case where these two examples are distinct, we give a formula for producing infinitely many more. Clearly
$GM_{v}^{D}$ is the greatest extendable thermic minorant, but we also prove that there is a least one, which is not necessarily equal to
$S\!_{v}^{D}$.