Fourth-order parabolic equations with weak BMO coefficients in Reifenberg domains

We study optimal W2,p-regularity for fourth-order parabolic equations with discontinuous coefficients in general domains. We obtain the global W2,p-regularity for each 1<p<∞ under the assumption that the coefficients have suitably small BMO semi-norm of weak type and the boundary of the domain is δ-Reifenberg flat. The situation of our main theorem arises when the conductivity on fractals is controlled by a random variable in the time direction.     

Parabolic equations with BMO coefficients in Lipschitz domains

In this paper, we are concerned with certain natural Sobolev-type estimates for weak solutions of inhomogeneous problems for second-order parabolic equations in divergence form. The geometric setting is that of time-independent cylinders having a space intersection assumed to be locally given by graphs with small Lipschitz coefficients, the constants of the operator being uniformly parabolic. We prove the relevant L^p estimates, assuming that the coefficients are in parabolic bounded mean oscillation (BMO) and that their parabolic BMO semi-norms are small enough.     

Optimal <Emphasis Type="Italic">W</Emphasis><Superscript>1,<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis></Superscript> regularity theory for parabolic equations in divergence form

This work treats L^p regularity theory for weak solutions of parabolic equations in divergence form with discontinuous coefficients on nonsmooth domains. We essentially obtain an optimal condition on the coefficients under which the global W^1,p regularity theory holds. This work was supported by SNU foundation in 2005.     

Parabolic equations in time dependent Reifenberg domains

In this paper we define time dependent parabolic Reifenberg domains and study Lp estimates for weak solutions of uniformly parabolic equations in divergence form on these domains. The basic assumption is that the principal coefficients are of parabolic BMO space with small parabolic BMO seminorms. It is shown that Lp estimates hold for time dependent parabolic δ-Reifenberg domains.     

Elliptic equations with BMO nonlinearity in Reifenberg domains

Given p∈[2,+∞), we obtain the global W1,p estimate for the weak solution of a boundary-value problem for an elliptic equation with BMO nonlinearity in a Reifenberg domain, assuming that the nonlinearity has sufficiently small BMO seminorm and that the boundary of the domain is sufficiently flat.     

Gradient estimates for higher order elliptic equations on nonsmooth domains

We establish optimal gradient estimates in Orlicz space for a nonhomogeneous elliptic equation of higher order with discontinuous coefficients on a nonsmooth domain. Our assumption is that for each point and for each sufficiently small scale the coefficients have small mean oscillation and the boundary of the domain is sufficiently close to a hyperplane. As a consequence we prove the classical Wm,p, m=1,2,…, 1<p<∞, estimates for such a higher order equation. Our results easily extend to higher order elliptic and parabolic systems.     

Hardy and BMO spaces associated to divergence form elliptic operators

Consider a second order divergence form elliptic operator L with complex bounded measurable coefficients. In general, operators based on L, such as the Riesz transform or square function, may lie beyond the scope of the Calderón–Zygmund theory. They need not be bounded in the classical Hardy, BMO and even some L ^p spaces. In this work we develop a theory of Hardy and BMO spaces associated to L, which includes, in particular, a molecular decomposition, maximal and square function characterizations, duality of Hardy and BMO spaces, and a John–Nirenberg inequality. S. Hofmann was supported by the National Science Foundation.     

Applications of the Differential Calculus to Nonlinear Elliptic Operators with Discontinuous Coefficients

The paper concerns Dirichlet’s problem for second order quasilinear non-divergence form elliptic equations with discontinuous coefficients. We start with suitable structure, growth, and regularity conditions ensuring solvability of the problem under consideration. Fixing then a solution u ₀ such that the linearized at u ₀ problem is non-degenerate, we apply the Implicit Function Theorem. As a result we get that for all small perturbations of the coefficients there exists exactly one solution u ≈ u ₀ which depends smoothly (in W ^2,p with p larger than the space dimension) on the data. For that, no structure and growth conditions are needed and the perturbations of the coefficients can be general L ^∞-functions of the space variable x. Moreover, we show that the Newton Iteration Procedure can be applied in order to obtain a sequence of approximate (in W ^2,p ) solutions for u ₀.     

Coincidence sets in quasilinear elliptic problems of monostable type

This paper concerns the formation of a coincidence set for the positive solution of the boundary value problem: −εΔpu=uq−1f(a(x)−u) in Ω with u=0 on ∂Ω, where ε is a positive parameter, Δpu=div(|∇u|^p−2∇u), 1<q?p<∞, f(s)∼|s|^θ−1s(s→0) for some θ>0 and a(x) is a positive smooth function satisfying Δpa=0 in Ω with infΩ|∇a|>0. It is proved in this paper that if 0<θ<1 the coincidence set Oε={x∈Ω:uε(x)=a(x)} has a positive measure for small ε and converges to Ω with order O(ε1/p) as ε→0. Moreover, it is also shown that if θ?1, then Oε is empty for any ε>0. The proofs rely on comparison theorems and the energy method for obtaining local comparison functions.     

Maximum principles for the polyharmonic equation on Lipschitz domains

The Agmon-Miranda maximum principle for the polyharmonic equations of all orders is shown to hold in Lipschitz domains in ℝ³. In ℝn,n≥4, the Agmon-Miranda maximum principle andL ^p-Dirichlet estimates for certainp>2 are shown to fail in Lipschitz domains for these equations. In particular if 4≤n≤2m+1 theL ^p Dirichlet problem for Δ ^m fails to be solvable forp>2(n−1)/(n−3). Supported in part by the NSF.     

Orlicz regularity for higher order parabolic equations in divergence form with coefficients in weak BMO

We consider higher order parabolic equations in divergence form with measurable coefficients to find optimal regularity in Orlicz spaces of the maximum order derivatives of the weak solutions. The relevant minimal regularity requirement on the tensor matrix coefficients is of small BMO in the spatial variable and is measurable in the time variable. As a consequence we prove the classical W ^m,p regularity, m = 1, 2, . . . , 1 < p < ∞, for such higher order equations. In the same spirit the results easily extend to higher order parabolic systems as well as up to the boundary.     

A compatible‐incompatible decomposition of symmetric tensors in Lp with application to elasticity

In this paper, we prove the Saint‐Venant compatibility conditions in L^p for p∈(1,+∞), in a simply connected domain of any space dimension. As a consequence, alternative, simple, and direct proofs of some classical Korn inequalities in L^p are provided. We also use the Helmholtz decomposition in L^p to show that every symmetric tensor in a smooth domain can be decomposed in a compatible part, which is the symmetric part of a displacement gradient, and in an incompatible part, which is the incompatibility of a certain divergence‐free tensor. Moreover, under a suitable Dirichlet boundary condition, this Beltrami‐type decomposition is proved to be unique. This decomposition result has several applications, one of which being in dislocation models, where the incompatibility part is related to the dislocation density and where 1 < p < 2. This justifies the need to generalize and prove these rather classical results in the Hilbertian case (p = 2), to the full range p∈(1,+∞). Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global weighted estimates for quasilinear elliptic equations with non-standard growth

In this paper we obtain a new global gradient estimates in weighted Lorentz spaces for weak solutions of p(x)$p(x)$-Laplacian type equation with small BMO coefficients in a δ-Reifenberg flat domain. The modified Vitali covering lemma, the maximal function technique and the appropriate localization method are the main analytical tools. Our results improve the known results for such equations.     

Fine regularity for elliptic systems with discontinuous ingredients

We propose results on interior Morrey, BMO and H?lder regularity for the strong solutions to linear elliptic systems of order 2b with discontinuous coefficients and right-hand sides belonging to the Morrey space L^p,λ. Received: 20 October 2004     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">C</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">1,</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">α</Emphasis></Superscript> regularity for infinity harmonic functions in two dimensions

We propose a new method for showing C ^{1, α} regularity for solutions of the infinity Laplacian equation and provide full details of the proof in two dimensions. The proof for dimensions n ≥ 3 depends upon some conjectured local gradient estimates for solutions of certain transformed PDE. LCE is supported in part by NSF Grant DMS-0500452. OS was supported in part by the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, Berkeley.     

Large solutions to the p-Laplacian for large p

In this work we consider the behaviour for large values of p of the unique positive weak solution u _p to Δ _p u = u ^q in Ω, u = +∞ on , where q > p − 1. We take q = q(p) and analyze the limit of u _p as p → ∞. We find that when q(p)/p → Q the behaviour strongly depends on Q. If 1 < Q < ∞ then solutions converge uniformly in compacts to a viscosity solution of with u = +∞ on . If Q = 1 then solutions go to ∞ in the whole Ω and when Q = ∞ solutions converge to 1 uniformly in compact subsets of Ω, hence the boundary blow-up is lost in the limit.     

Regularity of radial minimizers of reaction equations involving the <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Laplacian

We consider semi-stable, radially symmetric, and decreasing solutions of  − Δ _p u = g(u) in the unit ball of , where p > 1, Δ _p is the p-Laplace operator, and g is a locally Lipschitz function. For this class of radial solutions, which includes local minimizers, we establish pointwise, L ^q , and W ^1,q estimates which are optimal and do not depend on the specific nonlinearity g. Among other results, we prove that every radially decreasing and semi-stable solution u belonging to W ^1,p (B ₁) is bounded whenever n < p + 4p/(p − 1). Under standard assumptions on the nonlinearity g(u) = λf (u), where λ > 0 is a parameter, it is proved that the corresponding extremal solution u ^* is semi-stable, and hence, it enjoys the regularity stated in our main result.     

Gradient Young measures generated by sequences in Sobolev spaces

Oscillatory properties of a weak convergent sequence of functions bounded inL ^p , 1 ≤p ≤ ∞, may be summarized by the parametrized measure it generates. When such a measure is generated by the gradients of a sequence of functions bounded inH ^1,p , it must have special properties. The purpose of this paper is to characterize such parametrized measures as the ones that obey Jensen’s inequality for all quasiconvex functions with the appropriate growth at infinity. We have found subtle differences between the casesp < ∞ andp = ∞. A consequence is that any measure determined by biting convergence is in fact generated by a sequence convergent in a stronger sense. We also give a few applications. Research groupTransitions and Defects in Ordered Materials, funded by the NSF, the AFOSR, and the ARO. The work of the second author is also supported by DGICYT (Spain) through “Programa de Perfeccionamiento y Movilidad del Personal Investigador” and through Grant PB90-0245.     

A bifurcation problem governed by the boundary condition I

We deal with positive solutions of Δu = a(x)u ^p in a bounded smooth domain subject to the boundary condition ∂u/∂v = λu, λ a parameter, p > 1. We prove that this problem has a unique positive solution if and only if 0 < λ < σ₁ where, roughly speaking, σ₁ is finite if and only if |∂Ω ∩ {a = 0}| > 0 and coincides with the first eigenvalue of an associated eigenvalue problem. Moreover, we find the limit profile of the solution as λ → σ₁. Supported by DGES and FEDER under grant BFM2001-3894 (J. García-Melián and J. Sabina) and ANPCyT PICT No. 03-05009 (J. D. Rossi). J.D. Rossi is a member of CONICET.     

Local a priori estimates in Lp for first order linear operators with nonsmooth coefficients

We prove local a priori estimates inL ^p , 1<p<∞, for first-order linear operators that satisfy the Nirenberg-Treves condition (p) and whose coefficients have Lipschitz continuous derivatives of order one. When the number of variables is two, only Lipschitz continuity of the coefficients is assumed. This extends toL ^p spaces estimates that were previously known forp=2. Examples show that the regularity required from the coefficients is essentially minimal. Research partially supported by CNPq.