Sobolev inequalities for differential forms and \(L_{q,p}\)-cohomology (Q2508669)

In this paper, the relation between Sobolev inequalities for differential forms on a Riemannian manifold \((M, g)\) and the \(L_{q,p}\)-cohomology of \((M, g)\) is investigated. The \(L_{q,p}\)-cohomology of \((M, g)\) is defined as \[ H^k_{q,p} (M) := Z^k_p (M)/d\Omega^{k-1}_{q,p} (M), \] where \(Z^k_p (M)\) is the Banach space of closed \(k\)-forms in \(L^p (M)\) and \(\Omega^{k-1}_{q,p} (M)\) is the space of all \((k - 1)\)-forms \(\phi\) in \(L^q (M)\) such that \(d\phi \in L^p\). Let \(L^1_l (M,\Lambda^k)\) be the space of differential \(k\)-forms whose coefficients are locally integrable. Let \(L^p (M,\Lambda^ k)\) be the space of differential forms \(\theta\) in \(L^1_l (M,\Lambda^ k)\) such that \[ \| \theta\|_p : =\biggl(\int_{M}|\theta|^{p} \,dx\biggr)^{\frac{1}{p}} < \infty. \] Let \(B^k_{q,p} (M) := d (L^q (M,\Lambda^{k-1}))\cap L^p (M,\Lambda^k)\) and \(\overline {B}^k_{q,p}\) the closure of \(B^k_{q,p} (M)\). The authors prove the following results: Let \((M, g)\) be a smooth \(n\)-dimensional compact Riemannian manifold, \(1\leq k\leq n\) and \(p, q \in (1,\infty)\). \(\bullet\) There exists a constant \(C\) such that, for any differential form \(\theta\) of degree \(k - 1\) on \(M\) with coefficients in \(L^q\), we have \[ \inf_{\zeta \in Z^{k-1}}\| \theta - \zeta\|_{L^{q}(M)} \leq C \| d\theta\|_{L^{p}(M)} \tag{1} \] if and only if \[ \frac{1}{p} - \frac {1}{q} \leq \frac {1}{n}, \tag{2} \] where \(Z^{k-1}\) denotes the set of smooth closed \((k - 1)\)-forms on \(M\). \(\bullet\) There exists a constant \(C\) such that, for all closed differential forms \(\omega\) of degree \(k\) on \(M\) with coefficients in \(L^p (M)\), there exists a differential form \(\theta\) of degree \(k - 1\) such that \(d\theta = \omega\) and \[ \| \theta\|_{L^{q}} \leq C \| \omega\|_{L^{p}} \tag{3} \] if and only if \(p, q\) satisfy (2) and \(H^k_{\text{de Rham}} (M) = 0\). From now on, let \((M, g)\) be a smooth \(n\)-dimensional Riemannian manifold, \(1\leq k\leq n\) and \(p, q \in (1,\infty)\). \(\bullet\) \(H^k_{q,p} (M) = 0\) if and only if there exists a constant \(C\) such that, for any closed \(p\)-integrable differential form \(\omega\) of degree \(k\) on \(M\), there exists a differential form \(\theta\) of degree \(k - 1\) such that \(d\theta =\omega\) and \[ \| \theta \|_{L^q} \leq C \| \omega \|_{L^p}. \] \(\bullet\) If \(\overline {B}^k_{q,p} /B^k_{q,p} = 0\), then there exists a constant \(C\) such that, for any differential form \(\theta \in \Omega^{k-1}_{q,p}(M)\) of degree \(k - 1\), there exists a closed form \(\zeta \in Z^{k -1}_{q} (M)\) such that \[ \| \theta - \zeta \|_{L^q} \leq C \| d\theta \|_{L^p}.\tag{4} \] \(\bullet\) If \(1 < q < \infty\), and if there exists a constant \(C\) such that, for any form \(\theta \in \Omega^{k-1}_{q,p} (M)\) of degree \(k - 1\), there exists a \(\zeta \in Z^{k - 1}_{q} (M)\) such that (4) holds, then \(\overline{B}^{k}_{q,p}/ B^k_{q,p} = 0\). The construction is presented in a precise way.