BMO estimates for nonvariational operators with discontinuous coefficients structured on Hörmander's vector fields on Carnot groups (Q360924)

Let \(X_{1},X_{2},\dots,X_{q}\) be homogeneous left-invariant Hörmander vector fields on \(\mathbb{R}^{N}\) with respect to a structure of Carnot group. In a bounded domain \(\Omega\) the authors consider the following linear non-variational operator \[ Lu=\sum_{i,j=1}^{q}a_{ij}(x)X_{i}X_{j}u\,, \] where the matrix \(\left\{ a_{ij}\right\} \) is symmetric and uniformly positive definite on \(\mathbb{R}^{q}\). The coefficients \(a_{ij} \) are assumed to belong to \(L^{\infty}\cap\mathrm{VLMO}_{\mathrm{loc}}\left( \Omega\right) \) (``vanishing logarithmic mean oscillation'') with respect to the distance induced by the vector fields. The main theorem of the paper states the following a priori local estimate in \(\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathrm{loc}}^p=\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathrm{loc}}\cap L^{p}\) (\(p>1\)): \[ \begin{aligned} & \sum_{i,j=1}^{q}\left\| X_{i}X_{j}u\right\| _{\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathrm{loc}}^{p}\left( \Omega^{\prime}\right) }+\sum_{i=1}^{q}\left\| X_{j}u\right\| _{\mathrm{BMO}_{loc}^{p}\left( \Omega^{\prime}\right) }\leq\\ & c\left\{ \left\| Lu\right\| _{\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathrm{loc}}^{p}\left( \Omega\right) }+\left\| u\right\| _{\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathrm{loc}}^{p}\left( \Omega\right) }\right\}, \quad \Omega^\prime \Subset\Omega.\end{aligned} \] This estimate improves the known results even in the uniformly elliptic case \(X_{i}=\partial_{x_{i}}\), \(q=N\). Fundamental tool for the proof of the estimate is a suitable extension of the \(L^{p}\) estimate for the commutator of a Calderón-Zygmund operator with the multiplication by a BMO function, proved by Coifman, Rochberg and Weiss, which was first applied to the proof of \(L^{p}\) a priori estimates for uniformly elliptic operators with VMO coefficients by \textit{F. Chiarenza} et al. [Ric. Mat. 40, No. 1, 149--168 (1991; Zbl 0772.35017); Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 336, No. 2, 841--853 (1993; Zbl 0818.35023)]. Such a kind of result has been proved by \textit{Y. Z. Sun} and \textit{W. Y. Su} [Acta Math. Sin., Engl. Ser. 21, No. 6, 1249--1258 (2005; Zbl 1129.42373)] in the Euclidean setting regarding singular integral operators of convolution type satisfying a strong cancellation property. Sun and Su proved that the commutator map \(\mathrm{BMO}\cap L^{p}(\mathbb R^N)\) into itself (\(1<p<\infty\)) is continuous, with operator norm bounded by the LMO seminorm of \(a\). The authors extend the commutator theorem to the setting of convolution-type singular integrals on homogeneous groups. However, since the coefficients \(a_{ij}\) are defined on \(\Omega\), and because of the lack of an extension result for LMO functions in this abstract context, the commutator estimate has been established directly in a local form, namely in a new kind of local \(\mathrm{BMO}_{\mathrm{loc}}( \Omega_{1},\Omega_{2}) \) spaces, defined averaging the function over the balls centered at points of some open set \(\Omega_{1}\) and contained in a larger open set \(\Omega_{2}\subseteq \Omega\).