The Laplace operator is named after the French mathematician Pierre-Simon de Laplace ( 1749 -- 1827 ) , who first applied the operator to the study of celestial mechanics , where the operator gives a constant multiple of the mass density when it is applied to a given gravitational potential .
The Laplace operator is named after the French mathematician Pierre-Simon de Laplace ( 1749 -- 1827 ) , who first applied the operator to the study of celestial mechanics . In this case , the operator gives a constant multiple of the mass density when it is applied to a given gravitational potential .