Boundary regularity for the \(\overline{\partial}_b\)-Neumann problem. II (Q819256)

The author, using methods developed in the first part of this work [J. Geom, Anal. 16, No.~1, 117--153 (2006; Zbl 1123.32022)], studies existence and sharp regularity for the \(\overline\partial_b\)-Neumann problem in the special case of the Heisenberg group \(\mathbb{H}^{2n +1}\). The basic fact is that if one removes the center of the group, the remaining part of \(\mathbb{H}^{2n + 1}\) can be viewed as a product manifold with factors consisting of the unit sphere and the hyperbolic plane. The author considers the homogeneous distance function on \(\mathbb{H}^{2n + 1}\), defined as \(\text{dist}_H ((t_1, z_1), (t_1, z_2)) = | (t_1, z_1) \cdot (t_2, z_2^{-1})| _H\) where \(| (t, z)| _H = (| z| ^4 + t^2)^{1/4}\), \(t \in \mathbb{R}\), \(z \in \mathbb{C}^n\), and \((t_1, z_1) \cdot (t_2, z_2) = (t_1 + t_2) + 2 \operatorname {Im}(\langle z_1, z_2\rangle, z_1 + z_2)\). For \(K \subset \mathbb{H}^{2n + 1}\), one considers also \(\text{dist}(\cdot, K) = \inf \{\text{dist}_H(\cdot, p), p \in K\}\). The ball of radius \(r\) and center \(p\), with respect to the homogeneous distance is denoted by \(B_p^r\). Now, to obtain an explicit realization of the \(\overline\partial_b\)-complex as a genuine differential form, the author selects a psudo-Hermitian structure on \(\mathbb{H}^{2n + 1}\); if \(\mathcal{E}_w = \{z = 0\}\), away from \(\mathcal{E}_w\), the level sets of the function \(w = t + is = t + i| z| ^2\) are all spheres, with an induced CR structure which is CR-diffeomorphic to that on the unit sphere, which is a normal CR manifold \(\rho\). Using this fact, one can construct a new psudo-Hermitian structure on \(\mathbb{H}^{2n + 1}\backslash \mathcal{E}_w\), which permit to apply the result of part I, but is singular along the characteristic set \(\mathcal{E}_w\). If we denote by \(\theta\) this pseudo-Hermitian structure and with \(\Theta\) the usual one, which has the drawback that the orbits of the characteristic field \(T_\Theta\) are not closed open, one gets two Kohn Laplacians, \(\square_b^\theta\) and \(\square_b^\Theta\), which have to be compared. Define \(d_\varepsilon(x)\) to be the smoothed minimum homogeneous distance from \(x\) to a characteristic point of the boundary of the unit ball, denoted by \(\Omega\). The main result of the paper is the following: if \(n \geq 4\), \(\Omega = B'_0 \subset \mathbb{H}^{2n + 1}\) and \(1 \leq q \leq n - 2\), \(k \geq 0\), then on \((0, q)\) forms, \(\square_{b}^\Theta : d^2_\varepsilon \cdot \widetilde S_{\Theta, d_2}^{k, 2} (\Omega) \to S_{\Theta, d_q}^k(\Omega)\) is an isomorphism. Moreover, for all \((p, q)\)-forms \(\xi \in L_\Theta^2(\Omega)\) such that \(\overline\partial_b^\Theta \xi = 0\), the equation \(\overline\partial_b^\Theta \varphi = \xi \) has a solution \(\varphi \in L^2_\Theta (\Omega) \cap (\operatorname{Ker} \overline\partial_b^\Theta)^1\). If \(\xi \in S^k_{\Theta, d_q}\; \varphi\) can be choosen such that \(\varphi \in d_b \widetilde S_{\Theta, d_q}^{k, 1} (\Omega)\) and satisfies an uniform estimate. For \(n = 3\) a weak result (i.e., not involving the weighting by \(d_\varepsilon^2\)) can be obtained, but no sharp isomorphism. In an appendix the author explains how the Folland-Stein spaces associated with \(\theta\) and \(\Theta\) are related.