Diederich-Fornæss index and global regularity in the \(\overline{\partial } \)-Neumann problem: domains with comparable Levi eigenvalues (Q6961180)

This article is an advance in the global regularity theory of the \(\overline{\partial}\)-Neumann problem on bounded pseudoconvex domains in \(\mathbb{C}^n\) having smooth boundary. The second author and the reviewer previously showed [Math. Z. 206, No. 1, 81--88 (1991; Zbl 0696.32008)] that if such a domain admits a defining function that is plurisubharmonic on the boundary, then the \(\overline{\partial}\)-Neumann operator and the Bergman projection are continuous on the Sobolev space of index \(s\) for every positive real number \(s\). The authors now weaken the hypothesis to the assumption that the Diederich-Fornæss index of the domain is equal to \(1\). They obtain the same conclusion of exact global regularity when the dimension \(n\) is equal to \(2\). When \(n>2\), they require the additional hypothesis that the Levi form has comparable eigenvalues. More generally, if the \(q_0\)-sums of eigenvalues are comparable, and \(q_0\le q \le n\), then the \(\overline{\partial}\)-Neumann operator \(N_q\) and the Bergman projection \(P_{q-1}\) are continuous on each Sobolev space.\N\NThe proof depends on a new characterization of the Diederich-Fornæss index obtained by the first author [Adv. Math. 353, 776--801 (2019; Zbl 1429.32046)] and reformulated by \textit{J. Yum} [Math. Z. 297, No. 3--4, 1043--1056 (2021; Zbl 1475.32022)]. Additionally, the argument uses ideas from an article of the second author [Adv. Math. 217, No. 3, 1072--1095 (2008; Zbl 1151.32014)] and from a joint work of the first author with \textit{P. Harrington} [Commun. Partial Differ. Equations 45, No. 10, 1435--1450 (2020; Zbl 1475.32028)].