Proof of a conjecture of José L. Rubio de Francia (Q2571397)

Let \(G\) be a compact connected abelian group with dual group \(\Gamma\). Then \(\Gamma\) can be ordered (in a canonical way) so that it becomes an ordered group. For a fixed ordering \(\leq\) on \(\Gamma\), let \(\Gamma^+=\{\gamma\in\Gamma: \gamma\geq 0\}\). A classical result of \textit{S. Bochner} [Ann. Math. (2) 40, 769--799 (1939; Zbl 0024.04203)] asserts that, for \(1<p<\infty\), the characteristic function of \(\Gamma^+\) is a \(p\)-multiplier. In fact, for each interval \(I\) in \(\Gamma\), the characteristic function of \(I\) is a \(p\)-multiplier with a uniform bound on its multiplier norm independent of \(I\). Given an interval \(I\), let \(S_I\) denote the corresponding operator on \(L^p(G)\). Rubio de Francia showed that, for \(1<p<\infty\) and \(\frac 1p <\frac 2q < \frac{p+1}{p}\), there is a constant \(C_{p,q}\) such that \[ \biggl\|\Bigl (\sum_j|S_{I_j}f_j|^q \Bigr)^{1/q}\biggr\|_{L^p(G)}\leq C_{p,q} \biggl\|\Bigl(\sum_j|f_j|^q \Bigr)^{1/q}\biggr\|_{L^p(G)} \] for all sequences \(\{I_j\}\) of intervals in \(\Gamma\) and all sequences \(\{f_j\}\) in \(L^p(G)\). It was also noted that the inequality is true for all \(1<p\), \(q<\infty\) when \(G=\mathbb{T}\) or \(\mathbb{T}^n\). The arbitrary case of a compact connected abelian group was conjectured. The authors in this paper prove this conjecture. The proof uses a transference result which is a special case of a more general theorem involving operator-valued kernels to deduce the result for \(\mathbb{T}^n\) from that for \(\mathbb{T}\). Structural considerations then give the result for a general \(G\). An added advantage of this approach is that it adapts to give an extension of the result for functions taking values in a UMD space.