Regularity of maps between Sobolev spaces (Q2014337)

Consider a \(C^k\) mapping \(F\) between Sobolev spaces \(H^q\), either on \(\mathbb{R}^q\) or on a compact manifold. The author proves that if \(F\) is equivariant under the diffeomorphism group, then smoothness of the (non-linear) map \(F\) can be traded for smoothness in the image space. Namely, the following theorem is established: Theorem. Assume \(q > \frac{d}{2}+1\) where \(d\) is the dimension of the underlying space (or compact manifold). Fix \(0 \leq l \leq k\) and a \(C^k\)-map \(F : H^q \rightarrow H^q\) equivariant under the action of the group of \(H^q\)-Sobolev diffeomorphisms. Then \(F\) induces a mapping \(H^{q+l} \rightarrow H^{q+l}\) of class \(C^{k-l}\). This result is then applied to study the geodesic boundary value problem for right-invariant metrics on the group of (Sobolev) diffeomorphisms and for reparametrisation-invariant Sobolev metrics on spaces of curves. Omitting some technicalities, the article establishes that all intermediate points between two non-conjugate points on a geodesic in the diffeomorphism group (or on a space of immersions) are as smooth as the boundary points.