Stability for parabolic quasiminimizers (Q462323)

The solutions \(u= u(x,t)\) in the Sobolev space \(L^p(0,T;W^{1,p}(\Omega))\) of the inequality \[ -\int^T_0 \int_\Omega u{\partial\varphi\over\partial t}\,dx\,dt+{1\over p} \iint_{\text{supp}(\varphi)} |\nabla u|^p\,dx\,dt\leq {Q\over p} \iint_{\text{supp}(\phi)} |\nabla(u-\varphi)|^p\,dx\,dt, \] for all test functions \(\varphi\in C^\infty_0(\Omega_T)\), are called \(Q\)-quasiminimizers. Here, \(\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^n\) is a sufficiently regular domain, \(\Omega_T= \Omega\times (0,T)\), and \(Q\geq 1\) is a constant. If \(Q>1\), the \(Q\)-quasiminimizers do not satisfy any differential equation. Also, uniqueness fails in every respect. But if \(Q=1\), the \(1\)-quasiminimizers are indeed weak solutions of the evolutionary \(p\)-Laplace equation \[ {\partial u\over\partial t}= \nabla\cdot(|\nabla u|^{p-2} \nabla u). \] The authors prove an interesting stability result: If \[ Q_j\to 1+,\quad p_j\to p,\quad {2n\over n+2}< p<\infty, \] then the corresponding \(Q_j\)-quasiminimizers \(u_j\in L^{p_j}(0,T,W^{1, p_j}(\Omega))\) converge in \(L^p(0,T,\) \(W^{1,p}(\Omega))\) to a weak solution of the evolutionary \(p\)-Laplace equation. All functions are assumed to have the same boundary values. The case \(Q_j\to Q\neq 1\) is also included. Extra difficulties are due to the nonuniqueness of \(Q_j\)-quasiminimizers. For the proofs, a higher summability result for the spatial gradient is expedient (Gehring's lemma). The assumptions on the regularity of the boundary \(\partial\Omega\) are delicate.