Eigenvalues, embeddings and generalised trigonometric functions (Q621896)

The main theme of these lecture notes is the study, from the standpoint of \(s\)-numbers, of operators of Hardy type and related Sobolev embeddings. More precisely, let \(p,q \in (1,\infty)\) and suppose that \(I\) is the interval \((a,b)\), where \(-\infty < a < b < \infty\). Maps \(T : L_p (I) \rightarrow L_q (I)\) of the form \((T f)(x) = v(x) \int^x_a u(t) f (t)\,dt,\) where \(u\) and \(v\) are prescribed functions satisfying some integrability conditions, are said to be of Hardy type. They are of importance in connection with small ball problems in probability theory and also in the theory of embeddings of Sobolev spaces when the underlying subset \(\Omega\) of \(\mathbb{R}^n\) is a generalised ridged domain, which means, put crudely, that \(\Omega\) has a central axis (the generalised ridge) that is the image of a tree under a Lipschitz map. The literature on such maps \(T\) has grown to such an extent that the topic has acquired an independent life. The authors' aim is to give an account of the present state of knowledge in this area. In addition to the main theme, topics that arise naturally include the geometry of Banach spaces and the \(p\)-Laplacian. A key role in the description of \(s\)-numbers of the operators under consideration play the generalised trigonometric functions \(\sin_p\) and \(\cos_p\), to which a whole chapter is devoted. The usefulness of such \(p\)-functions is also underlined in the third chapter, where it is shown how \(\sin_p\) and \(\cos_p\) arise naturally in the study of initial- and boundary-value problems for the one-dimensional \(p\)-Laplacian on an interval. Finally, the authors also consider weighted Hardy operators, nonlinear integral systems and Hardy operators on variable exponent spaces.