A sharp \(L^q\)-Liouville theorem for \(p\)-harmonic functions (Q1972842)

Let \(M\) be a complete, noncompact Riemannian manifold. The author considers \(A\)-harmonic functions satisfying the equation \(\text{div }A(\nabla u)=0\) on \(M\), where \(A\) is a differential operator. Corresponding classes of the \(A\)-superharmonic and \(A\)-subharmonic functions are discussed in the Sobolev space \(W^{1,p} (1<p<\infty)\). Let \(B(o,r)\) be the ball of radius \(r\) centered at the fixed point \(o\in M\). The author proves the following theorem. Let \(u:M\rightarrow [0,\infty ]\) be a measurable function and write \(v(r)=\int_{B(o,r)}u^{q}\). Assume that \(\int_{r}^{\infty }[ \frac{t}{v(t)}] ^{1/(p-1)} dt=\infty \) for all \(r>0\). Then \(u\) is constant if either (i) \(q<p-1\) and \(u\) is \(A\)-superharmonic in \(M\); or (ii) \(q>p-1\) and \(u\) is \(A\)-subharmonic in \(M\).