Sobolev regularity for commutators of the fractional maximal functions (Q2218276)

The primary purpose of the paper is to study the regularity properties of the commutators of the fractional maximal function, both in the global and local sense. For \(0\le \alpha <n\), the fractional maximal operator \(M_\alpha\) is defined as \[ M_\alpha f(x) = \sup_{r>0} \frac{r^\alpha}{|B(x,r)|} \int_{B(x,r)} |f(y)|dy,\quad x\in\mathbb R^n. \] For a locally integrable function \(b\) defined on \(\mathbb R^n\), the commutator of the fractional maximal function is defined by \[ [b,M_\alpha]f(x) = b(x) M_\alpha f(x) - M_\alpha(bf)(x),\quad x\in\mathbb R^n. \] The maximal commutator of \(M_\alpha\) with \(b\) is defined by \[ \mathcal M_{b,\alpha}f(x) = \sup_{r>0} \frac1{|B(x,r)|^{1-\alpha/n} \int_{B(x,r}} |b(x)-b(y)|\,|f(y)| dy, \quad x\in\mathbb R^n. \] One of the main results of the paper is the following: Theorem 1.1. Let \(1<p_1, p_2, p, p_1p_2/(p_1+p_2) <\infty\), \(0\le \alpha < n/p_1\), and \[ \frac1{p} = \frac1{p_1} +\frac1{p_2} -\frac{\alpha}{n}. \] If \(b\in W^{1,p_2}(\mathbb R^n)\), then the map \([b,M_\alpha] : W^{1,p_1}(\mathbb R^n)\to W^{1,p}(\mathbb R^n)\) is bounded. In particular, if \(f\in W^{1,p_1}(\mathbb R^n)\), it holds pointwisely \[ |\nabla [b,M_\alpha]f(x)| \le |\nabla b(x)|M_\alpha f(x) + n(|b(x)|M_\alpha |\nabla f|(x) + M_\alpha (|\nabla b| f)(x) + M_\alpha(|\nabla f| b)(x)), \] for almost every \(x\in \mathbb R^n\). Moreover, \[ \|[b,M_\alpha](f)\|_{1,p} \le C_{p_1,p_2,n,\alpha} \|b\|_{1,p_2} \|f\|_{1,p_1}. \] The authors also prove in Theorem 1.2 that under the same hypothesis as above the operator \(\mathcal M_{b,\alpha}f \) satisfies the same inequality as (1).