Maximal regularity for non-autonomous evolution equations governed by forms having less regularity (Q2355908)

The author considers the non-autonomous evolution equation \[ u'(t) + A(t)u(t) = f(t), u(0) = u_0. \] Here, each operator \(A(t)\) is associated to a form \(a(t,\cdot,\cdot)\) on some fixed Hilbert space \(H\). Moreover, the following standard assumptions are made: the form domains are independent of \(t\) and the forms are uniformly bounded and satisfy a uniform coercivity estimate in \(t\). A classical problem going back to Lions asks under which regularity assumptions on \(t \mapsto a(t,\cdot,\cdot)\) the problem has maximal \(L^p\)-regularity in \(H\). This means that for all \(f \in L^p(0,T;H)\) there exists a unique \(u \in W^{1,p}(0,T;H)\) with \(u(t) \in D(A(t))\) for almost all \(t\) that satisfies the equation in the \(L^p\)-sense. Several maximal regularity results for this problem have already been established by different authors. However, the minimal regularity on the forms needed is an open problem. In this note, the author proves a further sufficient criterion for maximal regularity using techniques developed in [\textit{B. Haak} and the author, ``Maximal regularity for non-autonomous evolution equations'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1402.1136}]: if the forms satisfy among the standard assumptions the regularity estimate \(| a(t,u,v) - a(s,u,v)| \leq \omega(| t - s|) \| u\|_{V_\beta}\| v\|_{V_\gamma}\) for some \(\beta\), \(\gamma \in [0,1]\) and for some non-decreasing \(\omega: [0,T] \to [0,\infty)\) with \[ \int_0^T \frac{\omega(t)}{t^{1+\frac{\gamma}{2}}} < \infty, \] then the problem has maximal \(L_p\)-regularity for \(u_0 = 0\). Here, \(V_\beta =[V,H]_\beta\) denotes the complex interpolation space between \(H\) and the common form domain \(V\). A similar criterion is shown for initial values in the real interpolation space \((H,D(A(0)))_{1-1/p,p}\). This generalizes recent results by \textit{W. Arendt} and {S. Monniaux} [``Maximal regularity for non-autonomous Robin boundary conditions'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1410.3063}]. At the end of the article, several concrete applications of the general theorem are given.