Compactness and Dirichlet's Principle

Abstract

ABSTRACT. In this paper we explore the emergence of the notion of compactness within its historical beginning through rigor versus intuition modes in the treatment of Dirichlet's principle. We emphasize on the intuition in Riemann's statement on the principle criticized by Weierstrass'requirement of rigor followed by Hilbert's restatement again criticized by Hadamard, which pushed the ascension of the notion of compactness in the analysis of PDEs. A brief overview of some techniques and problems involving compactness is presented illustrating the importance of this notion.Compactness is discussed here to raise educational issues regarding rigor vs intuition in mathematical studies. The concept of compactness advanced rapidly after Weierstrass's famous criticism of Riemann's use of the Dirichlet principle. The rigor of Weierstrass contributed to establishment of the concept of compactness, but such a focus on rigor blinded mathematicians to big pictures. Fortunately, Poincaré and Hilbert defended Riemann's use of the Dirichlet principle and found a balance between rigor and intuition. There is no theorem without rigor, but we should not be a slave of rigor. Rigor (highly detailed examination with toy models) and intuition (broader view with real models) are essentially complementary to each other.