Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 March 2015
Let $u$ be a supertemperature on an open set
$E$, and let
$v$ be a related temperature on an open subset
$D$ of
$E$. For example,
$v$ could be the greatest thermic minorant of
$u$ on
$D$, if it exists. Putting
$w=u$ on
$E\setminus D$ and
$w=v$ on
$D$, we investigate whether
$w$, or its lower semicontinuous smoothing, is a supertemperature on
$E$. We also give a representation of the greatest thermic minorant on
$E$, if it exists, in terms of PWB solutions on an expanding sequence of open subsets of
$E$ with union
$E$. In addition, in the case of a nonnegative supertemperature, we prove inequalities that relate reductions to Dirichlet solutions. We also prove that the value of any reduction at a given time depends only on earlier times.