Boundary regularity for degenerate and singular parabolic equations (Q2017820)

The boundary behaviour of the solutions to the evolutionary \(p\)-Laplace equation \[ {\partial u\over\partial t}= \nabla\cdot(| \nabla u| ^{p-2}\nabla u),\qquad 1< p< \infty, \] is studied in arbitrary bounded domains \(\Omega\) in the \((x,t)\)-space; these are, usually, not space-time cylinders \(\Omega= G\times (0,T)\), \(G\subset\mathbb R^n\). Continuous boundary values \(f:\partial\Omega\to\mathbb R\) are prescribed as if the problem were an elliptic one (the parabolic boundary is not distinguished). A boundary point \((\xi_0,\tau_0)\in \partial\Omega\) is called regular, if for every \(f\in C(\partial\Omega)\) the solution with boundary values \(f\) attains these in the classical sense, i.e., \[ \lim_{(x,t)\to (\xi_0,\tau_0)} u(x,t)= f(\xi_0,\tau_0). \] The solution is constructed with Perron's method. The regularity of a boundary point is equivalent to the existence of a family of barrier functions (Theorem 3.3). Several sufficient criteria are provided: an exterior ball condition, exterior cone conditions, and some special conditions in \(\mathbb R^{1+1}\). Then, a counterpart to Petrowskij's classical criterion for the regularity at the latest boundary point of domains with rotational symmetry (around the \(t\)-axis) is proved. Elaborate calculations, combined with a judicious choice of an auxiliary function, improve similar results by \textit{P. Lindqvist} [Rev. Mat. Iberoam. 11, No. 3, 569--578 (1995; Zbl 0841.35058)]. The final result is nearly sharp. In the case \(p=2\) one has the Wiener criterion for the heat equation. Also the case \(\Omega= G\times (0,T)\) is known to be related to a Wiener criterion. The paper ends with a list of several interesting open problems. One of these is Wiener's resolutivity theorem.