Hardy-Sobolev type inequalities with sharp constants in Carnot-Carathéodory spaces (Q2430761)

The authors prove a generalization of a classical inequality due to Hardy to Carnot-Carathéodory spaces associated with a system of vector fields \(X= \{X_1,\dots, X_m\}\) in \(\mathbb{R}^n\), \(n\geq 3\), satisfying the Hörmander condition. To formulate the main result of the paper we need some notations. Let \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^n\) be a bounded open set, and let \(K\subset\Omega\) be a fixed compact set. Denote by \(\Lambda(n,r)\) the Nagel-Stein-Wainger polynomial relative to \(K\) and by \(Q(x)\) the homogeneous dimension at \(x\) of the system \(X\). For \(1< p<\infty\), let \[ \Delta_{H,p}u:= -\sum_{1\leq i\leq m} X_i(|\nabla_Hu|^{p-2} X_i u),\;|\nabla_Hu|^2:= \sum_{1\leq i\leq m}(X_i u)^2 \] be the horizontal \(p\)-Laplacian. We denote by \(\Gamma_p(x,\cdot)\) its fundamental solution with singularity at \(x\) and zero boundary values. For any \(x\in\Omega\) and for \(1< p< Q(x)\), we introduce the function \(E_p(x,r):= [n^{-p}\Lambda(x,r)]^{1/p-1}\), which is strictly increasing in \(r> 0\), and denote by \(F_p(x,\cdot):= E_p(x,\cdot)^{-1}\) its inverse. The regularized pseudo-distance based at \(x\) is denoted by \[ \rho_n(y):= F_p(x,\Gamma_p(x,y)^{-1}),\;y\in\Omega\setminus\{0\}. \] Finally we let \(B_X(x,R):= \{y\in\mathbb{R}^n; \rho_x(y)< B\}\). The result is the following: If \(\Gamma_p(x,y)\) satisfies a technical condition, let \(x\in K\) and suppose that \(1< p< Q(x)\). There exists \(R_0> 0\) such that for every \(0< R< R_0\) for which \(B_X(x,4R)\subset \Omega\), one has for \(\varphi\in{\mathcal C}^\infty_0(B_X(x,R)\setminus\{x\})\) \[ \int_{B_X(x,R)} |\varphi|^p\Biggl\{{E'(x,\rho_x)\over E(x,\rho_x)}\Biggr\} |\nabla_H\rho_x|^p \,dy\leq \Biggl({p\over p-1}\Biggr) \int_{B_X(x,R)} |\nabla_H\varphi|^p \,dy.\tag{\(*\)} \] When \(\Lambda(x,r)\) is a monomial (e.g. in the case of a Carnot group), the constant in the right-hand side of \((*)\) is best possible. The authors also obtain a sharp inequality of Hardy-Sobolev type.