Sobolev \(L_p^2\)-functions on closed subsets of \(\mathbb R^2\) (Q2445285)

For fixed positive integers \(m,n\) and \(n<p<\infty\), the author considers the homogeneous Sobolev space \(L^{2,p}(\mathbb{R}^2)\) endowed with the seminorm \[ \|F\|_{L^{2,p}(\mathbb{R}^2)}=\sum_{|\alpha|=m}\left\|\partial^{\alpha}F(x)\right\|_{L_2(\mathbb{R}^2)}. \] \noindent For \(E\subset \mathbb{R}^n\) finite and \(f:E\to \mathbb{R}\), \(L_p^2(\mathbb{R}^2)|_E\) is defined as the space formed by the restrictions to \(E\) of functions of \(L^{2,p}(\mathbb{R}^2)\cap C^1(\mathbb{R}^2)\) to \(E\) endowed with the natural quotient seminorm \[ \|f\|_{L_p^2(\mathbb{R}^2)|_E}=\inf\{\|F\|_{L_p^2(\mathbb{R}^2)}:F\in L_p^2(\mathbb{R}^2)\cap C^1(\mathbb{R}^2),\;F|_E=f\}. \] This seminorm is called trace norm throughout the paper. The author deals with the problem of estimating how small this trace norm \(\|f\|_{L_p^2(\mathbb{R}^2)}|_E\) of a given function \(f:E\to \mathbb{R}\) can be. The main result of the paper establishes a constructive formula for the calculation of the magnitude of the trace norm. This kind of descriptions has been obtained by the same author for the corresponding spaces \(\|L_p^1(\mathbb{R}^n)|_E\|\), for an arbitrary subset \(E\subset \mathbb{R}^n\), whenever \(p>n\) [\textit{P. Shvartsman}, Adv. Math. 248, 155--228 (2013; Zbl 1293.46017)]. A Whitney-type result is also given. For each \(E\subseteq\mathbb{R}^2\), the existence of a continuous linear operator from \(L_p^2(\mathbb{R}^2)|_E\) into \(L_p^2(\mathbb{R}^2)\) is proved. These operators admit a bound for the operator which depends only on \(p\). This is related to recent research of \textit{A. Israel} [Ann. Math. (2) 178, No. 1, 183--230 (2013; Zbl 1315.46034)] and \textit{C. L. Fefferman} et al. [J. Am. Math. Soc. 27, No. 1, 69--145 (2014; Zbl 1290.46027)], where some results on the existence of continuous linear extension operators acting on trace spaces of Sobolev spaces to arbitrary closed subsets have been given. In the present paper, a partial positive solution of a problem posed by Israel in [loc.\,cit.]\ about the structure of the trace norm is given. {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize} \item[(a)] There exists a continuous linear \(T:\mathbb{X}(E)\to \mathbb{X}\) such that \(T(f)=f\) on \(E\) (i.e., \(T\) is a linear extension operator). \item [(b)] If \(E\) is assumed to be finite, then there exist constants \(c,C>0\) and linear functionals \(\psi_1,\dots,\psi_L:\mathbb{X}(E)\to \mathbb{R}\) such that \(L\leq CN\) and \[ c\sum_{l=1}^{L}|\psi_l(f)|^p \leq \|f\|_{\mathbb{X}(E)}^{p}\leq C \sum_{l=1}^{L}|\psi_l(f)|^p \] for each \(f\in \mathbb{X}(E)\). \end{itemize}} The classical Whitney extension theorem is the analogue in (a) above for \(\mathbb{X}=C^m(\mathbb{R}^n)\). A lot of references about recent research on good computation of the norm for the smooth case are given in the paper, including important work of the author. The author also proves that in the case that \(E\) is finite, there exists a collection of functionals \(\Omega=\{\omega_1,\dots,\omega_S\}\) such that in (b) \(T\) and the functionals \(\psi_1,\dots,\psi_L\) can be taken to have \(\Omega\)-assisted bounded depth. The significance of this condition is related to a bound in the number of computations needed to evaluate \(T\) and \(\psi_1,\dots,\psi_L\). He conjectures that the coefficients arising in the formula for the assists and the functionals could be computed in an efficient way in order to give algorithms for \(X=L^{m,p}(\mathbb{R}^n)\) analogous to those given by \textit{C. L. Fefferman} and \textit{B. Klartag} for \(X=C^m(\mathbb{R}^n)\) [Ann. Math. (2) 169, No.~1, 315--346 (2009; Zbl 1175.41001)]. Moreover, the author indicates that for the non-homogeneous case \(\mathbb{X}=W^{m,p}(\mathbb{R}^n)\) (a Banach space), analogous results are also true. The results are deduced for the proof of (a) for a finite subset \(E\subset \mathbb{R}^n\). From a careful examination of the proof, (b) is obtained as well as the result about bounded depth. The general theorem (a) for \(E\) infinite is obtained by taking a Banach limit.