Optimal regularity for elliptic transmission problems including \(C^1\) interfaces (Q2468802)

The main purpose of this paper is to prove an optimal regularity result for operators of the form \[ -\nabla \cdot \mu \nabla : W_{0}^{1,q} (\Omega) \to W^{1,-q} (\Omega) \] for \(q > 3\) in the case when the coefficient function \(\mu\) has a jump across a \(C^{1}\) interface. It is assumed that \(\Omega \subset \mathbb R^{d}\) is a bounded domain with Lipschitz boundary, \(\mu\) is a function on \(\Omega\) with values in the set of real and symmetric \(d \times d\) matrices, and satisfying the ellipticity condition \[ \operatorname{ess}\inf_{X \in \Omega} \;\inf_{\|\xi \|_{\mathbb C^{d}} = 1} \mu (\mathbf{x}) \xi \;\overline{\xi} > 0. \] It is shown by a counterexample that the \(C^{1}\) condition cannot be relaxed. Function-analytic properties for the corresponding parabolic operators are deduced from the elliptic regularity result.