High order regularity for subelliptic operators on Lie groups of polynomial growth (Q2493580)

Let \(G\) be a Lie group of polynomial volume growth with Lie algebra \textbf{g}. Consider a second-order, right-invariant, subelliptic differential operator \(H\) on \(G,\) and the associated semigroup \(S_t=e^{-tH}.\) The author identifies an ideal \textbf{n\('\)} of \textbf{g} such that \(H\) satisfies global regularity estimates for spatial derivatives of all orders, when the derivatives are taken in the direction of \textbf{n\('\)}. The regularity is expressed as \(L_2\) estimates for derivatives of the semigroup, and as Gaussian bounds for derivatives of the heat kernel. The boundedness in \(L_p,\) \(1<p<\infty,\) is obtained of some associated Riesz transform operators. It is shown that \textbf{n\('\)} is the largest ideal of \textbf{g} for which the regularity results hold. Various algebraic characterizations of \textbf{n\('\)} are given. In particular, \textbf{n\('\)}=\textbf{s} \(\oplus\) \textbf{n} where \textbf{n} is the nilradical of \textbf{g} and \textbf{s} is the largest semisimple ideal of \textbf{g}. Additional features of this article include an exposition of the structure theory for \(G\) in Section 2, and a concept of twisted multiplication on Lie groups which includes semidirect products in the Appendix.