Regularity of solutions of certain parabolic system with nonstandard growth condition (Q4397376)

This paper is concerned with solutions of parabolic systems of the form \[ u_t =\text{div}(g(| Du|)Du) \] for a class of functions \(g\) which are smooth except possibly at zero. The model function is \(g(\tau) = \tau^{p-2}\) for some \(p\in(1,\infty)\), in which case \textit{E. DiBenedetto} and \textit{A. Friedman} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 357, 1-22 (1985; Zbl 0549.35061)] and \textit{H. J. Choe} [Nonlinear Anal., Theory Methods Appl. 18, 235-243 (1992; Zbl 0778.35017)] showed that bounded solutions of this system have Hölder continuous gradient. To generalize this result, \textit{L. Simon} [Indiana Univ. Math. J. 25, 821-855 (1976; Zbl 0346.35016)] showed that solutions of the corresponding elliptic equation have bounded gradients provided the ratio \(\tau g'(\tau)/g(\tau)\) is bounded from above by a positive constant and below by a constant greater than \(-1\). (This ratio is identically \(p-2\) for the model function.) The reviewer showed that this condition also suffices to prove Hölder continuity of the gradient for elliptic equations [Commun. Partial Differ. Equations 16, 311-361 (1991; Zbl 0742.35028)] and for parabolic equations [Nonlinear Anal., Theory Methods Appl. 20, 551-569 (1993; Zbl 0782.35036)]. For elliptic or parabolic systems, a condition on \(g''\) is needed to apply the proofs of Hölder continuity of the gradient in the model case. The author also introduces a growth condition on \(g\), namely, that there are constants \(p>1\), \(q\in [p,p+1)\), \(c_1>0\), and \(c_2>0\) such that \[ c^1\tau^{p-2} \leq g(\tau) \leq c^2(\tau^{p-2} +\tau^{q-2}), \] although it only seems to be important in proving that a weak solution of the system is bounded. The proofs of \(L^\infty\) estimates for \(u\) and its gradient are given somewhat carefully, based on the Moser iteration scheme, while the proof of Hölder continuity of the gradient is only sketched. An interesting element of the proof is a variation on the method of DiBenedetto and Friedman [op. cit.] for deriving the pointwise Hölder continuity from some integral oscillation estimates.