Traces of weighted Sobolev spaces. Old and new (Q2349083)

A multi-index \(\alpha\in\mathbb{N}^{n+1}\) is written as \(\alpha=(\beta,\,\gamma)\), with \(\beta\in\mathbb{N}^n\) and \(\gamma\in\mathbb{N}\). For any fixed integer \(\ell\) and real number \(s\), let \[ \mathcal{M}_\ell:= \left\{(\beta,\,0)\in\mathbb{N}^{n+1}:\;|\beta|=\ell\right\}\cup\{(0,\,\ell)\} \] and \[ \mathcal{P}_s:= \left\{(\beta,\,\gamma)\in\mathbb{N}^{n+1}:\;\gamma\in(0,\infty)\right\}\cup \left\{(\beta,\,0)\in\mathbb{N}^{n+1}:\;|\beta|>s\right\}. \] In the paper under review, the authors generalize \textit{S. V. Uspenskij}'s results [Am. Math. Soc., Transl., II. Ser. 87, 121--145 (1970); translation from Trudy Mat. Inst. Steklov 60, 282--303 (1961; Zbl 0198.46106)], which characterize Besov spaces as trace spaces of weighted Sobolev spaces, and prove the optimality of these generalizations. Precisely, let \(p\in[1,\infty]\), \(q\in[1,\infty)\) and \(s\in\mathbb{R}\). Denote by \(|\cdot|_{B_{p,q}^s}\) the quasi-norm of the homogeneous Besov space \(B_{p,q}^s(\mathbb{R}^n)\). The authors establish the following conclusions. {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] If \(s\in(0,\infty)\), \(\ell\) is an integer such that \(\ell>s\), \(F\in C^\infty(\mathbb{R}^n\times[0,\infty))\), then \[ |f|_{B_{p,q}^s}^q\lesssim\sum_{\alpha\in\mathcal{M}_\ell}\int_0^\infty \varepsilon^{q(\ell-s)-1}\|\partial^\alpha F(\cdot,\varepsilon)\|_ {L^p(\mathbb{R}^n)}^q\,d\varepsilon, \] where \(f(\cdot):=F(\cdot,0)\); \item [(ii)] if \(s\in\mathbb{R}\) and \(f\in C_c^\infty(\mathbb{R}^n)\), then \(f\) has an extension \(U\in C^\infty(\mathbb{R}^n\times[0,\infty))\) such that \[ \int_0^\infty\varepsilon^{q(|\alpha|-s)-1}\|\partial^\alpha U(\cdot,\varepsilon)\|_ {L^p(\mathbb{R}^n)}^q\,d\varepsilon\lesssim|f|_{B_{p,q}^s}^q\;\text{ for all } \alpha\in\mathcal{P}_s. \] Moreover, the choice of \(U\) may depend linearly on \(f\). \end{itemize}} For \(p\in[1,\infty]\), \(q\in[1,\infty)\), \(s\in\mathbb{R}\), \(\ell\in\mathbb{N}\) and \(F\in C^\infty(\mathbb{R}^n\times[0,\infty))\), define \[ E(F):=E_{\ell,s,p,q}(F):=\sum_{|\alpha|=\ell}\int_0^\infty \varepsilon^{q(|\alpha|-s)-1}\|\partial^\alpha F(\cdot,\varepsilon)\|_ {L^p(\mathbb{R}^n)}^q\,d\varepsilon. \] For some \(f\in C_c^\infty(\mathbb{R}^n)\), a harmonic extension \(V\) of \(f\) is said to satisfy the ``almost Dirichlet principle'' if \(V\) satisfies that \(E(V)\lesssim E(F)\) for any smooth extension \(F\) of \(f\). In this paper, the authors also give necessary and sufficient conditions for the validity of the ``almost Dirichlet principle''. Moreover, how classical results on the functional calculus in the Besov spaces can be obtained as straightforward consequences of the theory of weighted Sobolev spaces is also shown in this paper.