Boundary trace inequalities and rearrangements (Q948863)

Let \(\Omega\) be an open bounded subset of \(\mathbb R^n,\) \(n\geq 2,\) with Lipschitz boundary \(\partial \Omega\), and let \(X(\Omega)\) and \(Y(\partial \Omega)\) be rearrangement invariant spaces. The authors consider the problem of traces for the nonhomogeneous Sobolev spaces \(W^m X(\Omega)\) built upon \(X(\Omega).\) The main result is the following reduction theorem: \[ \|\text{tr\,} u\|_{Y(\partial \Omega)} \leq C_2 \|u\|_{W^m X(\Omega)} \] iff \[ \|\int_{t^k}^1 f(s) s^{m/n-1} ds\|_{Y(0,1)} \leq C_1 \|f\|_{X(0,1)}, \] \(1/n+1/m=1,\) \(f\) is non-increasing, where \(X(0,1)\) is the representation space for \(X(\Omega)\) and \(Y(0,1)\) the representation space for \(Y(\partial \Omega).\) Given the space \(X(\Omega)\), the optimal target space \(Y(\partial \Omega)\) is also characterized in terms of the associated norms. In this way, a unified treatment of the trace problem for Sobolev type spaces is given and many classical results are covered or improved.