On the Dirichlet problem generated by the Maz'ya-Sobolev inequality (Q2636888)

Let \(p\in (1,+\infty)\) and let \(\Omega\) be a domain in \(\mathbb{R}^n=\mathbb{R}^m\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m}\), where \(n\geq 3\) and \(2\leq m \leq n-1\). Further, let \(\dot{W}_p^1(\Omega)\) be the closure of the space \(C_0^\infty(\Omega)\) with respect to the norm \(\|\nabla v\|_{p,\Omega}=\left(\int_\Omega |\nabla v|^pdx\right)^{\frac{1}{p}}\). Denote by \((y;z)\) the points of \(\mathbb{R}^m\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m}\). For each \(\sigma\in [0,\min\{1,n/p\})\), let \(p_\sigma^*=\frac{np}{n-\sigma p}\) be the critical exponent for the Maz'ya-Sobolev inequality \[ \||y|^{\sigma-1}v\|_{p_\sigma^*,\Omega}\leq \mathcal{N}(p,\sigma,\Omega)\|\nabla v\|_{p,\Omega}\tag{1} \] which holds true for any \(v\in \dot{W}_p^1(\Omega)\) in the following cases: \((a)\) \(\frac{n(p-m)}{p(n-m)}<\sigma\leq 1\); \((b)\) \(\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n\setminus (\{0_{\mathbb{R}^m}\}\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m})\), \(p>m\), \(\sigma\leq \min\{\frac{n(p-m)}{p(n-m)},\frac{n}{p}\}\) and \(\sigma\neq 1\); \((c)\) \(\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n\setminus (\ell\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m})\), \(p=m\) and \(\sigma=0\), where \(\ell\) is a ray in \(\mathbb{R}^m\) beginning at the origin. \noindent The author studies the attainability of the sharp constant \(\mathcal{N}(p,\sigma,\Omega)\). For \(\sigma=1\) the Maz'ya-Sobolev inequality \((1)\) reduces to the classical Sobolev inequality and, for \(p<n\), the constant \(\mathcal{N}(p,\sigma,\Omega)\) is not attained unless the complement of \(\Omega\) is negligible. The author observes that the same is true also for \(\sigma \in (0,1)\) provided that \(\Omega\cap (\{0_{\mathbb{R}^m}\}\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m})\neq\emptyset\). He then considers the more delicate case \(\Omega\cap (\{0_{\mathbb{R}^m}\}\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m})=\emptyset\), \(\partial \Omega\cap (\{0_{\mathbb{R}^m}\}\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m})\neq\emptyset\). In particular, in the case in which \(\Omega\) is a wedge, that is \(\Omega=K\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m}\) where \(K\) is an open cone in \(\mathbb{R}^m\), the author proves that the sharp constant in the Maz'ya-Sobolev inequality \((1)\) is not attained if \(\sigma=0\) and is attained if \(\sigma>0\). Moreover, he gives a variational characterization of the sharp constant when \(\sigma=0\), and establishes some symmetry properties of the extremal function when \(\sigma>0\). The author also studies the attainability/unattainability of the sharp constant for perturbed wedges of the type \(\Omega=\Omega_1\setminus \overline{\Omega_2}\) or \(\Omega=\Omega_1\cup\Omega_2\), where \(\Omega_1\) is a wedge and \(\Omega_2 \Subset \mathbb{R}^n\setminus (\{0_{\mathbb{R}^m}\}\times \mathbb{R}^{n-m})\) with \(\Omega_1\cap \Omega_2\neq \emptyset\). \noindent Finally, the author considers the case \(p=2\) and \(\sigma \in (0,1)\) and proves the attainability of the sharp constant for general bounded domain \(\Omega\), where only a local concavity type-condition on \(\partial \Omega\) is imposed. This last result improves Theorem 1.1 of \textit{N. Ghoussoub} and \textit{F. Robert} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 361, No. 9, 4843--4870 (2009; Zbl 1187.35085)]. The proofs are based on variational methods.