Regularity of quasi-linear equations with Hörmander vector fields of step two (Q2172227)

The authors study regularity of quasi-linear equations of the form \[ \sum_{i=1}^mX_i^*A_i(X_1u,\dots,X_mu)=0\tag{1} \] for a set of smooth vector fields \(\{X_1,\dots,X_m\}\) defined on an open simply connected bounded domain \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^N\), with \(m\leq N\), such that \(X_1,\dots,X_m\) and \([X_j,X_k]\) for all \(j,k\in\{1,\dots,m\}\) span the tangent space at every point in \(\Omega\). In particular, only commutators up to the second order are involved, instead of the full Lie algebra generated by the vector fields considered by Hörmander for the study of hypoellipticity. In this paper the authors prove that, under suitable assumptions on the function \(A\!:\mathbb{R}^m\to\mathbb{R}^m\), the sub-elliptic gradient is locally bounded and locally Hölder continuous with respect to the Carnot-Carathéodory metric. As a consequence, they obtain regularity results for weak solutions of (1).