Positive kernel operators in \(L^{p(x)}\) spaces (Q395604)

Let \(K_v\) be the weighted kernel operator defined by \[ K_v f(x) = v(x)\int_0^x k(x,t)f(t)\,dt\,, \quad x>0. \] In the present paper, the authors characterize the boundedness and the compactness of the operator \(K_v\) acting on variable exponent Lebesgue spaces. In general, the results hold under the usual \(\log\)-Hölder continuity condition on the exponents of the spaces, with the additional assumption of being constant outside some large interval when the whole domain \(\mathbb{R}^+\) is considered. In the last part of the paper, two-sided estimates of the measure of non-compactness for the integral operator \(K_v\) are also derived. Recall that, given a measurable set \(E\subset \mathbb{R}^n\) and a measurable exponent \(p: E \rightarrow [1,\infty)\), with ess~sup~\(p(x) < \infty\), the variable Lebesgue space \(L^{p(\cdot)}(E)\) consists of all measurable functions \(f\) on \(E\) such that \[ I_{p(\cdot)}(f):= \int_E |f(x)|^{p(x)} dx < \infty. \] It is a Banach space with respect to the norm \[ \|f\|_{p(\cdot),E}:= \inf \left\{ \lambda >0: \, I_{p(\cdot)}(f/\lambda) \leq 1 \right\}. \]