Partial expansion of a Lipschitz domain and some applications (Q693190)

The authors provide a theoretical tool for Lipschitz domains which can be useful when working with function spaces resulting from boundary value problems with mixed boundary conditions, i.e., when part of a Lipschitz boundary is endowed with essential boundary conditions, while the remainder has natural boundary conditions. It is shown that a Lipschitz domain can be expanded solely near a part of its boundary, assuming that the part is enclosed by a piecewise \(C^1\) curve. The expanded domain as well as the extended part are both Lipschitz. This result is applied to prove a regular decomposition of standard vector Sobolev spaces with vanishing traces only on part of the boundary. The expanded domain is used to prove a decomposition result for two Sobolev spaces of vector functions whose (tangential or normal) traces vanish only on a part of the boundary. Such decompositions are a valuable tool in proving convergence of numerical algorithms. As another application of the domain expansion result, a missing detail is provided in the construction of low-regularity bounded cochain projectors (Schöberl projectors) having partial boundary conditions.