No label defined (Q4328587)

Let \(\mathcal X\) be an \(n\)-dimensional (\(n\geq 2\)) connected Riemannian manifold without boundary. Let \(d(x',x'')\) be the geodesic distance between points \(x'\), \(x''\in\mathcal X\). Write \[ B(o,t) = \{x\in\mathcal X:d(o,x) \leq t\},\quad \Sigma(o,t) = \{x\in\mathcal X:d(o,x) = t\} \] for the geodesic ball and the geodesic sphere, respectively, with center at \(o\in\mathcal X\) and radius \(t > 0\). Let \(p > 1\) be a fixed number, and let \(D\subset \mathcal X\) be a domain. A function \(f\in C^2(D)\) is called a \(p\)-harmonic function if it satisfies the \(p\)-Laplace equation on \(D\) \[ {\mathcal A}_p[f] = \text{div }(|\nabla f|^{p-2}\nabla f) = 0,\quad p > 1. \] One of the main results of the paper is the following generalized maximum principle: Let \(D\subset B(o,R)\) be a domain with a piecewise smooth boundary \(\partial D\) (possibly empty) and satisfy the conditions \[ \Sigma(o,t)\neq\emptyset, \quad B(o,t)\cap\overline D\quad\text{is compact for all } t\in (R_1,R), \] where \(R_1\), \(0 < R_1 < R\), is a number. Let \(f_1\), \(f_2\) be functions of the class \(C^2\cap C^0(\overline D)\) satisfying \[ (f_1 - f_2)({\mathcal A}_p[f_1] - {\mathcal A}_p[f_2]) \geq 0\quad\text{for all } x\in D. \] Assume that \((f_1 - f_2)|_{\partial D} = 0\) for all \(x\in\partial D\) if \(\partial D\neq\emptyset\). If for some \(r > 0\) \[ \int_r^R d\tau\Biggl(\int_{\Sigma(o,\tau)\cap D}(f_1 - f_2)^2(|\nabla f_1|^{p-2} + |\nabla f_2|^{p-2}) dH^{n-1}\Biggr)^{-1} = \infty, \quad p \geq 2, \] or \[ \int_r^R d\tau\Biggl(\int_{\Sigma(o,\tau)\cap D}(f_1 - f_2)^2(|\nabla f_1|^{2-p} + |\nabla f_2|^{2-p})^{-1} dH^{n-1}\Biggr)^{-1} = \infty, \quad 1<p \leq 2, \] then \(f_1 - f_2 \equiv \text{const}\). In particular, if \(\partial D\neq \emptyset\) then \(f_1 - f_2 \equiv 0\). The authors show that the above statement contains the maximum principle in the standard form and use it to derive a version of Liouville theorem for differences of \(p\)-harmonic functions on Riemannian manifolds. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0971.00061].