Regularity results for nonlinear parabolic obstacle problems with subquadratic growth (Q329255)

The paper is concerned about the localizable solution for nonlinear parabolic obstacle problem with subquadratic growth. The problem is solved by means of weak formulation as follows \[ \int\limits_{t_{1}}^{t_{2}} \left\langle \partial_{t}w,w-u\right\rangle_{\mathcal{O}}dt +\int\limits_{{\mathcal{O}}_{I}}a(z)|Du|^{p-2}Du\cdot D(w-u)dz +\frac{1}{2}\Arrowvert w(\cdot,t_{1})-u_{0}\Arrowvert_{L^{2}(\mathcal{O})}^{2} \] \[ \geq \int\limits_{{\mathcal{O}}_{I}}|F|^{p-2}F\cdot D(w-u)+f(w-u)dz, \qquad \forall\, w\in{\mathcal{K}}_{\psi,u}^{\prime}({\mathcal{O}}_{I})\, . \] Here \( u\in {\mathcal{K}}_{\psi,g}(\Omega_{T})\) denotes a solution \[ {\mathcal{K}}_{\psi,g}(\Omega_{T}) :=\left\{ v\in C^{0}([0,T];L^{2}(\Omega)) \cap [g+L^{p}(0,T;W_{0}^{1,p}(\Omega))] :v\geq\psi\;\text{a.e. on}\;\Omega_{T}\right\} \] \[ {\mathcal{K}}_{\psi,u}^{\prime}(\Omega_{T}) :=\left\{ w\in {\mathcal{K}}_{\psi,u}(\Omega_{T}): \partial_{t}w\in L^{p^{\prime}} (0,T;W^{-1,p^{\prime}}(\Omega))\right\} \] where \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^{n}\), \(n\geq 2\) is a bounded domain, \(2n/(n+2)<p<2\), \(\Omega_{T}:=\Omega\times(0,T)\), \({\mathcal{O}}_{I}={\mathcal{O}}\times I\subset\Omega_{T}\), \({\mathcal{O}}=\tilde{\mathcal{O}}\cap\Omega\) with a Lipschitz regular domain \({\mathcal{O}}\subset\mathbb{R}^{n}\), \(I=(t_{1},t_{2})\subset(0,T)\), \(g,\psi\in C^{0}([0,T];L^{2}(\Omega))\cap L^{p}(0,T;W^{1,p}(\Omega))\) and \(\partial_{t}g,\partial_{t}\psi\in L^{p^{\prime}} (0,T;W^{-1,p^{\prime}}(\Omega))\). The boundary data satisfy the following condition \[ g\geq\psi\;\text{a.e. on}\;\partial\Omega\times(0,T) \quad \text{and}\quad u_{0}\geq\psi\;\text{a.e. on}\;\Omega \] where the initial values \(u_{0}=u(\cdot,0)\in L^{2}(\Omega)\) and moreover a fuction \(a:\Omega_{T}\rightarrow\mathbb{R}\) satisfy \[ \nu\leq a(z)\leq L\;\text{{and}}\;|a(z_{1})-a(z_{2})| \leq \omega(d_{\mathcal{P}}(z_{1},z_{2})) \quad\forall\, z,z_{1},z_{2}\in\Omega_{T},\;0<\nu\leq 1\leq L \] with modulus of continuity \(\omega:[0,\infty)\rightarrow[0,1]\). The function \(\omega\) is a concave, non-decreasing such that \(\omega(\rho)\leq L\rho^{\sigma}\) for some \(\sigma\in(0,1]\) and any \(\rho\in(0,1]\). Under of these assumptions the author prove that \(Du\in C_{\mathrm{loc}}^{0;\alpha,\alpha/2}\) for some \(\alpha\in(0,1)\) provided the coefficients and the obstacle are regular enough and in conclusion it is shown the local Lipschitz continuity of the solution \(u\), i.e. \(u\in C_{\mathrm{loc}}^{0;1,1/2}\). The articl extends the results of \textit{A. H. Erhardt} [Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. (4) 194, No. 3, 645--671 (2015; Zbl 1319.35105)] and closes the gap, such that the local Hölder continuity is valid for every \(2n/(n+2)<p<\infty\).