\(L^p\)-estimates for the wave equation on the Heisenberg group (Q1125259)

Let \(\mathcal L\) denote the sub-Laplacian on the Heisenberg group \(\mathbb{H}_m\), which is \(\mathbb{C}^m\times \mathbb{R}\) endowed with the group law \[ (z,t)\cdot (z',t') = (z + z', t + t' -\tfrac 12 \text{Im }z\cdot \overline{z}'). \] Let \(L^p(\mathbb{H}_m)\), \(1\leq p\leq\infty\), denote the \(L^p\)-Lebesgue space on \(\mathbb{H}_m\) with respect to the bi-invariant Haar measure. Consider the Cauchy problem for the wave equation on \(\mathbb{H}^m\times \mathbb{R}\) associated to \(\mathcal L\) \[ \frac{\partial^2u}{\partial t^2}={\mathcal L}u, \quad u|_{t=0}=f,\quad \frac{\partial u}{\partial t}|_{t=0}=g, \] where \(t \in \mathbb{R}\) denotes time. The solution to this problem is formally given by \[ u(x,t) = \left(\frac{\sin(t\sqrt{-{\mathcal L}}}{\sqrt{{\mathcal L}}} g\right)(x) + (\cos(t \sqrt{-{\mathcal L}})f)(x). \] If one decides to measure smoothness properties of the solution \(u(x,t)\) for fixed time \(t\) in terms of Sobolev norms of the form \(\|f\|_{L^p_\alpha}=\|(1-{\mathcal L})^{\alpha/2}f\|_{L^p}\) one is naturally led to study the mapping properties of operators such as \(\frac{e^{it}\sqrt{-{\mathcal L}}}{(1-{\mathcal L})^{\alpha/2}}\) as operators on \(L^p(\mathbb{H}_m)\) into itself. For the classical wave equation on the Euclidean space, sharp estimates for the corresponding operators have been established by \textit{J. C. Peral} [J. Funct. Anal. 36, 114-145 (1980; Zbl 0442.35017)] and \textit{A. Miyachi} [J. Fac. Sci., Univ. Tokyo, Sect. IA 27, 331-354 (1980; Zbl 0437.35042)]. If \(\Delta\) denotes the Laplacian on \(\mathbb{R}^d\) then \(\frac{e^{it}\sqrt{-\Delta}}{(1-\Delta)^{\alpha/2}}\) is bounded on \(L^p(\mathbb{R}^d)\) if \(\alpha\geq (d - 1)|1/p - 1/2|\) for \(1 < p < \infty\). Moreover, \[ \frac{e^{it}\sqrt{-\Delta}}{(1-\Delta)^{((d-1)/2)/2}} \] is bounded from the real Hardy space \(H^1(\mathbb{R}^d)\) into \(L^1(\mathbb{R}^d)\). The authors prove analogues of these results for the Heisenberg group. Theorem. The operator \(\frac{e^{i}\sqrt{-{\mathcal L}}}{(1-{\mathcal L})^{\alpha/2}}\) extends to a bounded operator on \(L^p(\mathbb{H}_m)\), for \(1 < p < \infty\), where \(\alpha > m|1/p - 1/2|\). -- This theorem is slightly weaker than what one would expect in direct analogy with the mentioned results of Peral and Miyachi. The authors' approach to the theorem is based on harmonic analysis on \(\mathbb{H}_m\) in the sense expressed by \textit{R. Strichartz} in [J. Funct. Anal. 96, 350-406 (1991; Zbl 0734.43004)].