We evaluate uxx+uyy with u(x,y)=v(ax+by,cx+dy).
Since, by the chain rule,
u(x,y)ux(x,y)uy(x,y)uxx(x,y)uyy(x,y)=v(ax+by,cx+dy)=avx(ax+by,cx+dy)+cvy(ax+by,cx+dy)=bvx(ax+by,cx+dy)+dvy(ax+by,cx+dy)=a2vxx(ax+by,cx+dy)+acvxy(ax+by,cx+dy)+cavyx(ax+by,cx+dy)+c2vyy(ax+by,cx+dy)=b2vxx(ax+by,cx+dy)+bdvxy(ax+by,cx+dy)+dbvyx(ax+by,cx+dy)+d2vyy(ax+by,cx+dy)
we have
uxx+uyy=(a2+b2)vxx(ax+by,cx+dy)+(c2+d2)vyy(ax+by,cx+dy)+2(ac+bd)vxy(ax+by,cx+dy)
- If a2+b2=c2+d2, i.e. if ⟨a,b⟩ and ⟨c,d⟩ have the same length, then the first line of the right hand side is zero,
since vxx+vyy=0.
- If ⟨a,b⟩⋅⟨c,d⟩=ac+bd=0,
i.e. if ⟨a,b⟩ and ⟨c,d⟩ are mutally perpendicular, then the
second line of the right hand side is zero.
So if ⟨a,b⟩ and ⟨c,d⟩ have the same length and are mutally perpendicular, then uxx+uyy=0. The missing word is “perpendicular”.