TITLE: Mean value proof in Evans PDE
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: Here is the proof


I don't really understand about the part beginning using Green's formula. How can $Du(y)$ become $du/dv$. Is it using the directional derivative formula? Also, how can you get/pull out the $r/n$? It seems to me he is using divergent theorem here.

REPLY [10 votes]: A key point here, which might be causing some confusion, is that the dash through the integral sign indicates that we are computing a mean value.  It's different than just a regular integral sign.
$B(x,r)$ is the ball of radius $r$ centered at $x$.  If $y \in \partial B(x,r)$, then 
$n = \frac{y - x}{r}$ is the outward pointing unit normal vector to $\partial B(x,r)$ at $y$.
The directional derivative of $u$ at $y$ in the direction $n$ is equal to $\nabla u(y) \cdot n$.
From the divergence theorem,
\begin{align}
\int_{\partial B(x,r)} \nabla u(y) \cdot n \, dS(y)
&= \int_{B(x,r)} \text{div } \nabla u(y) \, dy \\
&= \int_{B(x,r)} \Delta u(y) \, dy.
\end{align} 
Let $c$ be the measure of the unit ball in $\mathbb R^n$.  The measure
of $B(x,r)$ is $c r^n$.  The "surface area" of $\partial B(x,r)$ is $c n r^{n-1}$.
(For example, the volume of a ball in $R^3$ is $(4/3) \pi r^3$, and the surface area of a sphere is $4 \pi r^2$.)
From the above equation, it follows that
\begin{equation}
\frac{1}{cn r^{n-1}}\int_{\partial B(x,r)} \nabla u(y) \cdot n \, dS(y)
= \frac{r}{n} \frac{1}{cr^n} \int_{B(x,r)} \Delta u(y) \, dy.
\end{equation}
This is the equation at issue in your question. You can see now where the factor of $\frac{r}{n}$ comes from.