On the existence and smoothness of a generalized solution of a nonlinear differential equation with degeneration

Abstract

Let Ω be an arbitrary open set in R _n , and let σ(x) and g _i (x), i = 1, 2, ..., n, be positive functions in Ω. We prove a embedding theorem of different metrics for the spaces W ^r _p (Ω, σ, $\vec g$), where r ∈ N, p ≥ 1, and $\vec g$(x) = (g ₁(x), g ₂(x), ..., g _n (x)), with the norm

$$ \left\| {u;W_p^r (\Omega ;\sigma ,\vec g)} \right\| = \left\{ {\left\| {u;L_{p,r}^r (\Omega ;\sigma ,\vec g)} \right\|^p + \left\| {u;L_{p,r}^0 (\Omega ;\sigma ,\vec g)} \right\|^p } \right\}^{{1 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 p}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} p}} , $$

where

$$ \left\| {u;L_{p,r}^m (\Omega ;\sigma ,\vec g)} \right\| = \left\{ {\sum\limits_{\left| k \right| = m} {\int\limits_\Omega {(\sigma (x)g_1^{k_1 - r} (x)g_2^{k_2 - r} (x) \cdots g_n^{k_n - r} (x)\left| {u^{(k)} (x)} \right|)^p dx} } } \right\}^{{1 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {1 p}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} p}} , $$

We use this theorem to prove the existence and uniqueness of a minimizing element U(x) ∈ W ^r _p (Ω, σ, $\vec g$) for the functional

$$ \Phi (u) = \sum\limits_{\left| k \right| \leqslant r} {\frac{1} {{p_k }}\int\limits_\Omega {a_k (x)} \left| {u^{(k)} (x)} \right|^{p_k } } dx - \left\langle {F,u} \right\rangle , $$

where F is a given functional. We show that the function U(x) is a generalized solution of the corresponding nonlinear differential equation. For the case in which Ω is bounded, we study the differential properties of the generalized solution depending on the smoothness of the coefficients and the right-hand side of the equation.