An imbedding theorem for Musielak-Sobolev spaces (Q412648)

Let \(N\geq2\) and let \(\Omega\) be a bounded domain in \(\mathbb R^N\) with the cone property. Let \(A:\overline{\Omega}\times[0,\infty)\to[0,\infty)\) be a continuous function such that \(A(x,t)\in(0,\infty)\) for all \((x,t)\in\overline{\Omega}\times(0,\infty)\) and \(A(x,t)=A(x,1)t\) for \((x,t)\in\overline{\Omega}\times[0,1]\). The Musielak-Orlicz space \(L^A(\Omega)\) is the class of measurable functions \(u:\Omega\to\mathbb R\) with the finite norm \(\| u\|_A=\inf\{\lambda>0:\int_\Omega A(x,| u(x)|/\lambda)\,dx\leq1\}\) and the Musielak-Sobolev space \(W^{1,A}(\Omega)\) is formed by functions \(u\in L^A(\Omega)\) with the finite norm \(\| u\|_{1,A}=\| u\|_A+\sum_{j=1}^N\| D_j u\|_A\). Assuming that \(A\) satisfies some further conditions, the author proves that there is a continuous embedding \(W^{1,A}(\Omega)\hookrightarrow L^{A_*}(\Omega)\), where \(A_*\) is the Sobolev conjugate function of \(A\), and there is a compact embedding \(W^{1,A}(\Omega)\hookrightarrow\hookrightarrow L^B(\Omega)\) where \(B\ll A\), i.e., \(\lim_{t\to\infty}B(x,kt)/A(x,t)=0\) for any \(k>0\) uniformly on \(\Omega\). The result extends the classical embedding theorem for Orlicz-Sobolev spaces by \textit{T. K. Donaldson} and \textit{N. S. Trudinger} [J. Funct. Anal. 8, 52--75 (1971; Zbl 0216.15702)]. It is illustrated by standard examples of functions \(A\) of power and logarithm type.