Properties of a frequency of Almgren type for harmonic functions in Carnot groups (Q745589)

In this paper, the frequency function of Almgren and its local and global properties are studied. This function plays a fundamental role in partial differential equations and geometric measure theory. Let \(u\) be a harmonic function in the closed unit ball \({\overline B}_1\subset\mathbb{ R}^n\), then its frequency is given by \[ r\rightarrow N(u,r)=\frac{r\int_{B_r}|\nabla u|^2}{\int_{S_r}u^2},\quad 0<r<1\,, \] where \(S_r=\partial B_r\). The authors define the Dirichlet integral of a function \(u\) in \(B_r\) as follows \[ D(r)=\int_{B_r}|\nabla u_H|^2\,dg\,,\eqno{(1)} \] where \(|\nabla u_H|^2\) denotes the degenerate energy associated with the so-called horizontal gradient of \(u\). The height of a function \(u\) on \(B_r\) is defined as \[ H(r)=\int_{S_r}u^2|\nabla u_H\rho|\,d\sigma_H\,,\eqno{(2)} \] where by \(d\sigma_H\) the restriction is denoted to \(S_r\) of the \(H\)-perimeter measure à la De Giorgi. The first author and \textit{E. Lanconelli} [Ann. Inst. Fourier 40, No. 2, 313--356 (1990; Zbl 0694.22003)] defined the frequency of \(u\) as \[ N(r)=N(u;r)=\frac{rD(r)}{H(r)}\,.\eqno{(3)} \] In this paper, the authors propose a generalization of the functionals (1), (2) for harmonic functions on any stratified nilpotent Lie group \(\mathbb{G}\) (also known as a Carnot group). With such functionals they then form the relevant frequency function, which generalizes (3), and they study the connection between its properties and the local and global structure of the harmonic functions on \(\mathbb{G}\). One of the main results of this paper is the following: { Theorem.} Let \(\mathbb{G}\) be a Carnot group, and let \(u\) be harmonic in \(B_R\). Suppose in addition that \(u\) has vanishing discrepancy at \(e\in\mathbb{G}\). Then, the frequency of \(u\) is non-decreasing on \((0, R)\). In particular, \(N(u,\cdot)\in L^\infty(0, \mathbb R)\). The discrepancy of \(u\) at \(e\in\mathbb{G}\) is defined in the paper. The authors prove that if such a function has constant frequency equal to \(\kappa\), then it must be homogeneous of degree \(\kappa\). Furthermore, the discrepancy is analyzed in the setting of groups of Heisenberg type. The authors provide a sufficient condition, expressed in terms of the bound on the discrepancy, for the frequency to be bounded. It is proved that any harmonic function in a Carnot group which has globally bounded frequency \(N(u, \cdot)\) must be a stratified polynomial of degree less than or equal to the integral part of \(\|N(u, \cdot)\|_{L^\infty(0,\infty)}\). Monotonicity properties of the Baouendi type operators are also studied.