Maximum principles for weak solutions of degenerate elliptic equations with a uniformly elliptic direction (Q1032863)

In this paper, elliptic operators of the form \[ L = \sum_{i,j} a_{ij} D_{ij} + \sum_i b_i D_i + c \] are considered, acting on functions defined in \(\Omega\) open, connected and bounded subset of \({\mathbb R}^n\). The matrix \(A(x) = [a_{ij}]_{i,j=1}^n\) is supposed to satisfy \[ a_{ij} \in C^0(\bar \Omega) , \quad \langle A(x) \zeta, \zeta \rangle \geqslant 0 \text{ for every } (x,\zeta) \in \Omega \times {\mathbb R}^n \] being zero at most in a set \(\Sigma\) which has measure zero. But a geometric condition on \(\Sigma\) is made; the authors suppose there is a direction \(\xi\), \(|\xi| = 1\), such that \[ \langle A(x) \xi, \xi \rangle \geqslant \beta \quad\text{ for every } x \in \Omega \] where \(\beta\) is a positive constant. The authors study the natural space in which the solution to an eqaution \(L u = f\) should live, the space \(H^{1,A}\) defined as the completion with respect to the norm \[ \| u \|_A^2 := \int_{\Omega} ( u^2 + \langle A(x) Du, Du \rangle ) \,dx \] of the functions \(v\) in \(C^1(\Omega)\) for which \(\| v \|_A\) is finite. After showing the existence of a weak solution in the space \(H^{1,A}_0(\Omega)\) of \[ Lu= f \quad\text{in } \Omega, \qquad u = 0 \quad \text{in } \partial\Omega \] they give a maximum principle for the weak solution of the problem above.