Partial regularity results for evolutional \(p\) -Laplacian systems with natural growth (Q1865598)

The paper under review is concerned with the following system of nonlinear PDE's in \(Q=(0,T)\times \Omega\) (\(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^m\) domain): \[ \partial_tu^i-\sum^m_{\alpha,\beta=1} D_\alpha\bigg(|Du|^{p-2}_g g^{\alpha\beta}(z,u)D_\beta u^i\bigg) = f^i(z,u,Du) \quad (i=1,\dots,n), \] where \(u=\big(u^1,\dots,u^n\big)\), \(D_\alpha=\frac{\partial}{\partial x_\alpha}\) \(\big(\alpha=1,\dots,m\big)\), \(Du=(D_\alpha u^i)\), \(|Du|^2_g=\)\break \(\sum^n_{j=1} \sum^m_{\alpha,\beta=1} g^{\alpha,\beta}(z,u) D_\alpha u^i D_\beta u^i, 1<p<+\infty, z=(t,x)\), and \(f\) is a Carathéodory function defined on \(Q\times\mathbb{R}^n\times\mathbb{R}^m\). The matrix \(g=(g^{\alpha,\beta})\) is symmetric, the entries are Caratheodory functions on \(Q\times \mathbb{R}^n\) and satisfy the condition \[ \gamma|\xi|^2\leq g^{\alpha,\beta}(z,u)\xi_\alpha\xi_\beta\leq\Gamma|\xi|^2\quad \forall\xi=(\xi_\alpha)\in\mathbb{R}^m. \] The function \(f\) is assumed to satisfy the growth condition \[ |f(z,u,p)|\leq a|P|^p\qquad (a=\text{const}>0) \] for a.e. \(z\in Q\), and all \(u\in\mathbb{R}^m\), \(P=(P^i_\alpha)\in\mathbb{R}^{m,n}\). The author studies weak solutions \(u\in L^\infty(Q,\mathbb{R}^n)\cap L^p_{\text{loc}}(0,T;W^{1,p}_{\text{loc}}(\Omega,\mathbb{R}^n))\) which satisfy the smallness condition \[ \|u\|_{L^\infty(Q,\mathbb{R}^n)} < \frac{\gamma^{p/2}}{2a}. \] The main results of the paper are as follows. Suppose that \(\frac{1}{2}(m+8-\sqrt{(m+4)^2+16})<p<+\infty\). Then: 1. For any \(\alpha\in ]0,1[\) there exists a closed set \(S\subset Q\) such that \(u\) is locally Hölder continuous in \(Q\setminus S\) with exponent \(\alpha\), where the \((m-\delta_0)\)-dimensional Hausdorff measure of \(S\) is locally zero in \(Q\). 2. There exists \(\alpha_1\in ]0,1[\) such that \(Du\) is locally Hölder continuous in \(Q\setminus S\). The basic tool for proving these results is the higher integrability of \(Du\) via reverse Hölder inequality which has been developed by Giaquinta and Struwe, and more recently by Kinnunen and Lewis. The author of the paper under review gives a further development of this technique. An appendix is devoted to the sketch of an existence proof for weak solutions \(v\) to a nonlinear parabolic problem with \(v=u\) on the ''parabolic part'' of \(\partial Q_R\) for subcylinders \(\overline{Q_R}\subset Q\).