Global LpL^{p} estimates for degenerate Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operators with variable coefficients

We consider a class of degenerate Ornstein-Uhlenbeck operators in $\mathbb{R}^{N}$, of the kind [\mathcal{A}\equiv\sum_{i,j=1}^{p_{0}}a_{ij}(x) \partial_{x_{i}x_{j}}^{2}+\sum_{i,j=1}^{N}b_{ij}x_{i}\partial_{x_{j}}%] where $(a_{ij})$ is symmetric uniformly positive definite on $\mathbb{R}^{p_{0}}$ ($p_{0}\leq N$), with uniformly continuous and bounded entries, and $(b_{ij})$ is a constant matrix such that the frozen operator $\mathcal{A}_{x_{0}}$ corresponding to $a_{ij}(x_{0})$ is hypoelliptic. For this class of operators we prove global $L^{p}$ estimates ($1<p<\infty$) of the kind:% [|\partial_{x_{i}x_{j}}^{2}u|_{L^{p}(\mathbb{R}% ^{N})}\leq c{|\mathcal{A}u|_{L^{p}(\mathbb{R}^{N})}+|u|_{L^{p}(\mathbb{R}% ^{N})}} for i,j=1,2,...,p_{0}.] We obtain the previous estimates as a byproduct of the following one, which is of interest in its own:% [|\partial_{x_{i}x_{j}}^{2}u|_{L^{p}(S_{T})}\leq c{|Lu|_{L^{p}(S_{T})}+|u|_{L^{p}(S_{T})}}] for any $u\in C_{0}^{\infty}(S_{T}),$ where $S_{T}$ is the strip $\mathbb{R}^{N}\times[-T,T]$, $T$ small, and $L$ is the Kolmogorov-Fokker-Planck operator% [L\equiv\sum_{i,j=1}^{p_{0}}a_{ij}(x,t) \partial_{x_{i}x_{j}}% ^{2}+\sum_{i,j=1}^{N}b_{ij}x_{i}\partial_{x_{j}}-\partial_{t}%] with uniformly continuous and bounded $a_{ij}$'s

Interior HW^{1,p} estimates for divergence degenerate elliptic systems in Carnot groups

Let X_1,...,X_q be the basis of the space of horizontal vector fields on a homogeneous Carnot group in R^n (q<n). We consider a degenerate elliptic system of N equations, in divergence form, structured on these vector fields, where the coefficients a_{ab}^{ij} (i,j=1,2,...,q, a,b=1,2,...,N) are real valued bounded measurable functions defined in a bounded domain A of R^n, satisfying the strong Legendre condition and belonging to the space VMO_{loc}(A) (defined by the Carnot-Caratheodory distance induced by the X_i's). We prove interior HW^{1,p} estimates (2<p<\infty) for weak solutions to the system

On the lifting and approximation theorem for nonsmooth vector fields

We prove a version of Rothschild-Stein's theorem of lifting and approximation and some related results in the context of nonsmooth Hormander's vector fields for which the highest order commutators are only Holder continuous. The theory explicitly covers the case of one vector field having weight two while the others have weight one.Comment: 46 pages, LaTeX. Minor changes in Section

Two characterization of BV functions on Carnot groups via the heat semigroup

In this paper we provide two different characterizations of sets with finite perimeter and functions of bounded variation in Carnot groups, analogous to those which hold in Euclidean spaces, in terms of the short-time behaviour of the heat semigroup. The second one holds under the hypothesis that the reduced boundary of a set of finite perimeter is rectifiable, a result that presently is known in Step 2 Carnot groups

L^p and Schauder estimates for nonvariational operators structured on H\"ormander vector fields with drift

We consider linear second order nonvariational partial differential operators of the kind a_{ij}X_{i}X_{j}+X_{0}, on a bounded domain of R^{n}, where the X_{i}'s (i=0,1,2,...,q, n>q+1) are real smooth vector fields satisfying H\"ormander's condition and a_{ij} (i,j=1,2,...,q) are real valued, bounded measurable functions, such that the matrix {a_{ij}} is symmetric and uniformly positive. We prove that if the coefficients a_{ij} are H\"older continuous with respect to the distance induced by the vector fields, then local Schauder estimates on X_{i}X_{j}u, X_{0}u hold; if the coefficients belong to the space VMO with respect to the distance induced by the vector fields, then local L^{p} estimates on X_{i}_{j}u, X_{0}u hold. The main novelty of the result is the presence of the drift term X_{0}, so that our class of operators covers, for instance, Kolmogorov-Fokker-Planck operators