Maximal function estimates and self-improvement results for Poincaré inequalities

Our main result is an estimate for a sharp maximal function, which implies a Keith–Zhong type self-improvement property of Poincaré inequalities related to differentiable structures on metric measure spaces. As an application, we give structure independent representation for Sobolev norms and universality results for Sobolev spaces. peerReviewed

Uniqueness of diffusion on domains with rough boundaries

Let $\Omega$ be a domain in $\mathbf R^d$ and $h(\varphi)=\sum^d_{k,l=1}(\partial_k\varphi, c_{kl}\partial_l\varphi)$ a quadratic form on $L_2(\Omega)$ with domain $C_c^\infty(\Omega)$ where the $c_{kl}$ are real symmetric $L_\infty(\Omega)$-functions with $C(x)=(c_{kl}(x))>0$ for almost all $x\in \Omega$. Further assume there are $a, \delta>0$ such that $a^{-1}d_\Gamma^{\delta}\,I\le C\le a\,d_\Gamma^{\delta}\,I$ for $d_\Gamma\le 1$ where $d_\Gamma$ is the Euclidean distance to the boundary $\Gamma$ of $\Omega$. We assume that $\Gamma$ is Ahlfors $s$-regular and if $s$, the Hausdorff dimension of $\Gamma$, is larger or equal to $d-1$ we also assume a mild uniformity property for $\Omega$ i…

Weighted pointwise Hardy inequalities

We introduce the concept of a visual boundary of a domain �¶ �¼ Rn and show that the weighted Hardy inequality  �¶ |u|pd�¶ �A.p  C  �¶ |�Þu|pd�¶ �A, where d�¶(x) = dist(x, �Ý�¶), holds for all u �¸ C �� 0 (�¶) with exponents �A < �A0 when the visual boundary of �¶ is sufficiently large. Here �A0 = �A0(p, n, �¶) is explicit, essentially sharp, and may even be greater than p . 1, which is the known bound for smooth domains. For instance, in the case of the usual von Koch snowflake domain the sharp bound is shown to be �A0 = p . 2 + �E, with �E = log 4/ log 3. These results are based on new pointwise Hardy inequalities.

Assouad Type Dimensions in Geometric Analysis

We consider applications of the dual pair of the (upper) Assouad dimension and the lower (Assouad) dimension in analysis. We relate these notions to other dimensional conditions such as a Hausdorff content density condition and an integrability condition for the distance function. The latter condition leads to a characterization of the Muckenhoupt Ap properties of distance functions in terms of the (upper) Assouad dimension. It is also possible to give natural formulations for the validity of Hardy–Sobolev inequalities using these dual Assouad dimensions, and this helps to understand the previously observed dual nature of certain cases of these inequalities. peerReviewed

Quasiadditivity of Variational Capacity

We study the quasiadditivity property (a version of superadditivity with a multiplicative constant) of variational capacity in metric spaces with respect to Whitney type covers. We characterize this property in terms of a Mazya type capacity condition, and also explore the close relation between quasiadditivity and Hardy's inequality.

Sharp capacity estimates for annuli in weighted R^n and in metric spaces

We obtain estimates for the nonlinear variational capacity of annuli in weighted R^n and in metric spaces. We introduce four different (pointwise) exponent sets, show that they all play fundamental roles for capacity estimates, and also demonstrate that whether an end point of an exponent set is attained or not is important. As a consequence of our estimates we obtain, for instance, criteria for points to have zero (resp. positive) capacity. Our discussion holds in rather general metric spaces, including Carnot groups and many manifolds, but it is just as relevant on weighted R^n. Indeed, to illustrate the sharpness of our estimates, we give several examples of radially weighted R^n, which …

A note on the dimensions of Assouad and Aikawa

We show that in Euclidean space and other regular metric spaces, the notions of dimensions defined by Assouad and Aikawa coincide. In addition, in more general metric spaces, we study the relationship between these two dimensions and a related codimension and give an application of the Aikawa (co)dimension for the Hardy inequalities.

Self-improvement of weighted pointwise inequalities on open sets

We prove a general self-improvement property for a family of weighted pointwise inequalities on open sets, including pointwise Hardy inequalities with distance weights. For this purpose we introduce and study the classes of $p$-Poincar\'e and $p$-Hardy weights for an open set $\Omega\subset X$, where $X$ is a metric measure space. We also apply the self-improvement of weighted pointwise Hardy inequalities in connection with usual integral versions of Hardy inequalities.

Fractional Hardy-Sobolev type inequalities for half spaces and John domains

As our main result we prove a variant of the fractional Hardy-Sobolev-Maz'ya inequality for half spaces. This result contains a complete answer to a recent open question by Musina and Nazarov. In the proof we apply a new version of the fractional Hardy-Sobolev inequality that we establish also for more general unbounded John domains than half spaces.

Fractional Hardy inequalities and visibility of the boundary

We prove fractional order Hardy inequalities on open sets under a combined fatness and visibility condition on the boundary. We demonstrate by counterexamples that fatness conditions alone are not sufficient for such Hardy inequalities to hold. In addition, we give a short exposition of various fatness conditions related to our main result, and apply fractional Hardy inequalities in connection to the boundedness of extension operators for fractional Sobolev spaces.

Weighted Hardy inequalities and the boundary size

Volume growth, capacity estimates, p-parabolicity and sharp integrability properties of p-harmonic Green functions

In a complete metric space equipped with a doubling measure supporting a $p$-Poincar\'e inequality, we prove sharp growth and integrability results for $p$-harmonic Green functions and their minimal $p$-weak upper gradients. We show that these properties are determined by the growth of the underlying measure near the singularity. Corresponding results are obtained also for more general $p$-harmonic functions with poles, as well as for singular solutions of elliptic differential equations in divergence form on weighted $\mathbf{R}^n$ and on manifolds. The proofs are based on a new general capacity estimate for annuli, which implies precise pointwise estimates for $p$-harmonic Green functions…

Hardy inequalities and Assouad dimensions

We establish both sufficient and necessary conditions for weighted Hardy inequalities in metric spaces in terms of Assouad (co)dimensions. Our sufficient conditions in the case where the complement is thin are new even in Euclidean spaces, while in the case of a thick complement we give new formulations for previously known sufficient conditions which reveal a natural duality between these two cases. Our necessary conditions are rather straight-forward generalizations from the unweighted case, but together with some examples they indicate the essential sharpness of our results. In addition, we consider the mixed case where the complement may contain both thick and thin parts.

Pointwise Hardy inequalities and uniformly fat sets

We prove that it is equivalent for domain in R n \mathbb {R}^n to admit the pointwise p p -Hardy inequality, have uniformly p p -fat complement, or satisfy a uniform inner boundary density condition.

The annular decay property and capacity estimates for thin annuli

We obtain upper and lower bounds for the nonlinear variational capacity of thin annuli in weighted $\mathbf{R}^n$ and in metric spaces, primarily under the assumptions of an annular decay property and a Poincar\'e inequality. In particular, if the measure has the $1$-annular decay property at $x_0$ and the metric space supports a pointwise $1$-Poincar\'e inequality at $x_0$, then the upper and lower bounds are comparable and we get a two-sided estimate for thin annuli centred at $x_0$, which generalizes the known estimate for the usual variational capacity in unweighted $\mathbf{R}^n$. Most of our estimates are sharp, which we show by supplying several key counterexamples. We also character…

Fractional Maximal Functions in Metric Measure Spaces

Abstract We study the mapping properties of fractional maximal operators in Sobolev and Campanato spaces in metric measure spaces. We show that, under certain restrictions on the underlying metric measure space, fractional maximal operators improve the Sobolev regularity of functions and map functions in Campanato spaces to Hölder continuous functions. We also give an example of a space where fractional maximal function of a Lipschitz function fails to be continuous.

A maximal Function Approach to Two-Measure Poincaré Inequalities

This paper extends the self-improvement result of Keith and Zhong in  Keith and Zhong (Ann. Math. 167(2):575–599, 2008) to the two-measure case. Our main result shows that a two-measure (p, p)-Poincare inequality for $$10$$ under a balance condition on the measures. The corresponding result for a maximal Poincare inequality is also considered. In this case the left-hand side in the Poincare inequality is replaced with an integral of a sharp maximal function and the results hold without a balance condition. Moreover, validity of maximal Poincare inequalities is used to characterize the self-improvement of two-measure Poincare inequalities. Examples are constructed to illustrate the role of t…

In between the inequalities of Sobolev and Hardy

We establish both sufficient and necessary conditions for the validity of the so-called Hardy–Sobolev inequalities on open sets of the Euclidean space. These inequalities form a natural interpolating scale between the (weighted) Sobolev inequalities and the (weighted) Hardy inequalities. The Assouad dimension of the complement of the open set turns out to play an important role in both sufficient and necessary conditions. peerReviewed

Maximal Function Methods for Sobolev Spaces

Measures with predetermined regularity and inhomogeneous self-similar sets

We show that if $X$ is a uniformly perfect complete metric space satisfying the finite doubling property, then there exists a fully supported measure with lower regularity dimension as close to the lower dimension of $X$ as we wish. Furthermore, we show that, under the condensation open set condition, the lower dimension of an inhomogeneous self-similar set $E_C$ coincides with the lower dimension of the condensation set $C$, while the Assouad dimension of $E_C$ is the maximum of the Assouad dimensions of the corresponding self-similar set $E$ and the condensation set $C$. If the Assouad dimension of $C$ is strictly smaller than the Assouad dimension of $E$, then the upper regularity dimens…

Weighted Hardy inequalities beyond Lipschitz domains

It is a well-known fact that in a Lipschitz domain \Omega\subset R^n a p-Hardy inequality, with weight d(x,\partial\Omega)^\beta, holds for all u\in C_0^\infty(\Omega) whenever \beta<p-1. We show that actually the same is true under the sole assumption that the boundary of the domain satisfies a uniform density condition with the exponent \lambda=n-1. Corresponding results also hold for smaller exponents, and, in fact, our methods work in general metric spaces satisfying standard structural assumptions.

Existence and almost uniqueness for p -harmonic Green functions on bounded domains in metric spaces

We study ($p$-harmonic) singular functions, defined by means of upper gradients, in bounded domains in metric measure spaces. It is shown that singular functions exist if and only if the complement of the domain has positive capacity, and that they satisfy very precise capacitary identities for superlevel sets. Suitably normalized singular functions are called Green functions. Uniqueness of Green functions is largely an open problem beyond unweighted $\mathbf{R}^n$, but we show that all Green functions (in a given domain and with the same singularity) are comparable. As a consequence, for $p$-harmonic functions with a given pole we obtain a similar comparison result near the pole. Various c…

Sharp capacity estimates for annuli in weighted $$\mathbf {R}^n$$ R n and in metric spaces

We obtain estimates for the nonlinear variational capacity of annuli in weighted $$\mathbf {R}^n$$ and in metric spaces. We introduce four different (pointwise) exponent sets, show that they all play fundamental roles for capacity estimates, and also demonstrate that whether an end point of an exponent set is attained or not is important. As a consequence of our estimates we obtain, for instance, criteria for points to have zero (resp. positive) capacity. Our discussion holds in rather general metric spaces, including Carnot groups and many manifolds, but it is just as relevant on weighted $$\mathbf {R}^n$$ . Indeed, to illustrate the sharpness of our estimates, we give several examples of …

In between the inequalities of Sobolev and Hardy

We establish both sufficient and necessary conditions for the validity of the so-called Hardy-Sobolev inequalities on open sets of the Euclidean space. These inequalities form a natural interpolating scale between the (weighted) Sobolev inequalities and the (weighted) Hardy inequalities. The Assouad dimension of the complement of the open set turns out to play an important role in both sufficient and necessary conditions.