Sobolev inequalities in arbitrary domains

A theory of Sobolev inequalities in arbitrary open sets of Euclidean space is established. Boundary regularity of domains is replaced with information on boundary traces of trial functions and of their derivatives up to some explicit minimal order. The relevant Sobolev inequalities involve constants independent of the geometry of the domain, and exhibit the same critical exponents as in the classical inequalities on regular domains. Our approach relies upon new representation formulas for Sobolev functions, and on ensuing pointwise estimates which hold in any open set

Symmetric gradient Sobolev spaces endowed with rearrangement-invariant norms

A unified approach to embedding theorems for Sobolev type spaces of vector-valued functions, defined via their symmetric gradient, is proposed. The Sobolev spaces in question are built upon general rearrangement-invariant norms. Optimal target spaces in the relevant embeddings are determined within the class of all rearrangement-invariant spaces. In particular, all symmetric gradient Sobolev embeddings into rearrangementinvariant target spaces are shown to be equivalent to the corresponding embeddings for the full gradient built upon the same spaces. A sharp condition for embeddings into spaces of uniformly continuous functions, and their optimal targets, are also exhibited. By contrast, these embeddings may be weaker than the corresponding ones for the full gradient. Related results, of independent interest in the theory symmetric gradient Sobolev spaces, are established. They include global approximation and extension theorems under minimal assumptions on the domain. A formula for the K-functional, which is pivotal for our method based on reduction to one-dimensional inequalities, is provided as well. The case of symmetric gradient Orlicz-Sobolev spaces, of use in mathematical models in continuum mechanics driven by nonlinearities of non-power type, is especially focused

Global boundedness of the gradient for a class of nonlinear elliptic systems

Gradient boundedness up to the boundary for solutions to Dirichlet and Neumann problems for elliptic systems with Uhlenbeck type structure is established. Nonlinearities of possibly non-polynomial type are allowed, and minimal regularity on the data and on the boundary of the domain is assumed. The case of arbitrary bounded convex domains is also included

Quasilinear elliptic problems with general growth and merely integrable, or measure, data

Boundary value problems for a class of quasilinear elliptic equations, with an Orlicz type growth and L^1 right-hand side are considered. Both Dirichlet and Neumann problems are contemplated. Existence and uniqueness of generalized solutions, as well as their regularity, are established. The case of measure right-hand sides is also analyzed

Potential estimates for the p-Laplace system with data in divergence form

A pointwise bound for local weak solutions to the p-Laplace system is established in terms of data on the right-hand side in divergence form. The relevant bound involves a Havin-Maz'ya- Wulff potential of the datum, and is a counterpart for data in divergence form of a classical result of [KiMa], that has recently been extended to systems in [KuMi2]. A local bound for oscillations is also provided. These results allow for a unified approach to regularity estimates for broad classes of norms, including Banach function norms (e.g. Lebesgue, Lorentz and Orlicz norms), and norms depending on the oscillation of functions (e.g. Holder, BMO and, more generally, Campanato type norms). In particular, new regularity properties are exhibited, and well-known results are easily recovered

Canceling effects in higher-order Hardy-Sobolev inequalities

A classical first-order Hardy-Sobolev inequality in Euclidean domains, involving weighted norms depending on powers of the distance function from their boundary, is known to hold for every, but one, value of the power. We show that, by contrast, the missing power is admissible in a suitable counterpart for higher-order Sobolev norms. Our result complements and extends contributions by Castro and Wang [CW], and Castro, D\'avila and Wang [CDW1, CDW2], where a surprising canceling phenomenon underling the relevant inequalities was discovered in the special case of functions with derivatives in $L^1$.Comment: 18 page

Second-order regularity for parabolic p-Laplace problems

Optimal second-order regularity in the space variables is established for solutions to Cauchy-Dirichlet problems for nonlinear parabolic equations and systems of $p$-Laplacian type, with square-integrable right-hand sides and initial data in a Sobolev space. As a consequence, generalized solutions are shown to be strong solutions. Minimal regularity on the boundary of the domain is required, though the results are new even for smooth domains. In particular, they hold in arbitrary bounded convex domains

Continuity properties of weakly monotone Orlicz-Sobolev functions

The notion of weakly monotone functions extends the classical definition of monotone function, that can be traced back to H.Lebesgue. It was introduced, in the setting of Sobolev spaces, by J.Manfredi, and thoroughly investigated in the more general framework of Orlicz-Sobolev spaces by diverse authors, including T.Iwaniec, J.Kauhanen, P.Koskela, J.Maly, J.Onninen, X.Zhong. The present paper complements and augments the available theory of pointwise regularity properties of weakly monotone functions in Orlicz-Sobolev spaces. In particular, a variant is proposed in a customary condition ensuring the continuity of functions from these spaces which avoids a technical additional assumption, and applies to certain situations when the latter is not fulfilled. The continuity outside sets of zero Orlicz capacity, and outside sets of (generalized) zero Hausdorff measure, will are also established when everywhere continuity fails

Banach algebras of weakly differentiable functions

The question is addressed of when a Sobolev type space, built upon a general rearrangement-invariant norm, on an $n$-dimensional domain, is a Banach algebra under pointwise multiplication of functions. A sharp balance condition among the order of the Sobolev space, the strength of the norm, and the (ir)regularity of the domain is provided for the relevant Sobolev space to be a Banach algebra. The regularity of the domain is described in terms of its isoperimetric function. Related results on the boundedness of the multiplication operator into lower-order Sobolev type spaces are also established. The special cases of Orlicz-Sobolev and Lorentz-Sobolev spaces are discussed in detail. New results for classical Sobolev spaces on possibly irregular domains follow as well

Higher-order Sobolev embeddings and isoperimetric inequalities

Optimal higher-order Sobolev type embeddings are shown to follow via isoperimetric inequalities. This establishes a higher-order analogue of a well-known link between first-order Sobolev embeddings and isoperimetric inequalities. Sobolev type inequalities of any order, involving arbitrary rearrangement-invariant norms, on open sets in \rn, possibly endowed with a measure density, are reduced to much simpler one-dimensional inequalities for suitable integral operators depending on the isoperimetric function of the relevant sets. As a consequence, the optimal target space in the relevant Sobolev embeddings can be determined both in standard and in non-standard classes of function spaces and underlying measure spaces. In particular, our results are applied to any-order Sobolev embeddings in regular (John) domains of the Euclidean space, in Maz'ya classes of (possibly irregular) Euclidean domains described in terms of their isoperimetric function, and in families of product probability spaces, of which the Gauss space is a classical instance