On the best constant for Hardy's inequality in

Let be a domain in and . We consider the (generalized) Hardy inequality , where . The inequality is valid for a large family of domains, including all bounded domains with Lipschitz boundary. We here explore the connection between the value of the Hardy constant and the existence of a minimizer for this Rayleigh quotient. It is shown that for all smooth -dimensional domains, , where is the one-dimensional Hardy constant. Moreover it is shown that for all those domains not possessing a minimizer for the above Rayleigh quotient. Finally, for , it is proved that if and only if the Rayleigh quotient possesses a minimizer. Examples show that strict inequality may occur even for bounded smooth domains, but for convex domains.