43 Acta Math. Univ. Comenianae Vol. LXXVII, 1(2008), pp. 43–54 REGULARITY OF WEAK SOLUTIONS OF DEGENERATE ELIPTIC EQUATIONS A. C. CAVALHEIRO Abstract. In this article we establish the existence of higher order weak derivatives of weak solutions of the Dirichlet problem for a class of degenerate elliptic equations. 1. Introduction In this paper we shall study the existence of higher order weak derivatives (see Theorem 3.9) of weak solutions of degenerate elliptic equations Lu = g, where L is an elliptic operator (1.1) Lu = − n X Dj (aij (x)Di u)(x)) i,j=1 whose coefficients aij are measurable, real-valued functions, and whose coefficient matrix A = (aij ) is symmetric and satisfies the degenerate ellipticity condition (1.2) 2 ω(x)|ξ| ≤ n X 2 aij (x)ξi ξj ≤ v(x)|ξ| i,j=1 for all ξ ∈ Rn and almost every x ∈ Ω ⊂ Rn , where Ω is a bounded open set, ω and v are weight functions (that is, ω and v are locally integrable and nonnegative functions on Rn ). In general, the Sobolev spaces W k,p (Ω) without weights occurs as spaces of solutions for elliptic and parabolic partial differential equations. For degenerate partial differential equations, i.e., equations with various types of singularities in the coefficients it is natural to look for solutions in weighted Sobolev spaces (see [1], [2], [3], [4], [5] and [8]). Received September 25, 2006; revised February 7, 2007. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 35J70, 35J25. Key words and phrases. degenerate elliptic equations; weighted Sobolev spaces. The author was partially supported by CNPq Grant 476040/2004-03. 44 A. C. CAVALHEIRO 2. Definitions and basic results By a weight, we shall mean a locally integrable function ω on Rn such that 0 < ω(x) < ∞ for a.e. x∈Rn . Every weight ω gives rise to a measure on the measurable n subsets of will also be denoted by ω. Thus R R through integration. This measure ω(E) = E ω dx for measurable sets E ⊂ Rn . Definition 2.1. Let Ω ⊂ Rn be open and let ω be a weight. For 1 < p < ∞, we define Lp (Ω, ω), the Banach space of all measurable functions f defined on Ω for which Z 1/p p < ∞. kf kLp (Ω,ω) = |f (x)| ω(x) dx Ω Definition 2.2. Let 1 ≤ p < ∞. (a) The weight ω belongs to the Muckenhoupt class Ap (ω∈Ap ) if there is a constant C = Cp,ω (called Ap -constant) such that p−1 Z Z 1 1 −1/(p−1) ω dx ω dx ≤ C, when 1 < p < ∞ |B| B |B| B Z 1 1 ω dx ess sup ≤ C, when p = 1, |B| B ω B for every ball B ⊂ Rn , where |B| is the n-dimensional Lebesgue measure of B. (b) Let ω and v be weights. We shall say that the pair of weights (v, ω) satisfies the condition Ap , 1 ≤ p < ∞, if there is a constant C such that p−1 Z Z 1 1 v(x) dx ω −1/(p−1) (x) dx ≤ C, when 1 < p < ∞, |B| B |B| B Z 1 v(x) dx ≤ C ess inf ω, when p = 1, B |B| B for every ball B in Rn . The smallest constant C will be called the Ap constant for the pair (ω, v). Remark 2.3. If (v, ω)∈Ap and ω ≤ v then ω∈Ap and v∈Ap . α Example 2.4. The function ω(x) = |x| , x∈Rn , is a weight Ap if and only if −n < α < n(p − 1) (see [7, Chapter 15]). Remark 2.5. If ω∈Ap , 1 ≤ p < ∞, then since ω −1/(p−1) is locally integrable, when p > 1, and 1/ω is locally bounded, when p = 1, we have Lp (Ω, ω) ⊂ L1loc (Ω) for every open set Ω and such that convergence in Lp (Ω, ω) implies local convergence in L1 (Ω). If Ω is bounded, in the same way one obtains Lp (Ω, ω) ⊂ L1 (Ω). It thus makes sense to talk about weak derivatives of functions in Lp (Ω, ω). Definition 2.6. We shall say that the pair of weights (v, ω) satisfies the condition Sp (1 < p < ∞) if there is a constant C (called the Sp -constant) such 45 REGULARITY OF WEAK SOLUTIONS that p Z M (µχB )(x) v(x) dx ≤ Cµ(B) < ∞, B Z 1 for every ball B, where [M f ](x) = sup |f (y)| dy is the Hardy-Littlewood B3x |B| B R maximal function, µ = ω −1/(p−1) and µ(B) = B µ(x) dx. Remark 2.7. If (v, ω)∈Sp , 1 < p < ∞, then (v, ω)∈Ap . Theorem 2.8 (Muckenhoupt generalized theorem). Let 1 < p < ∞ and let (v, ω) be a pair of weights in Rn . Then M : Lp (Rn , ω) → Lp (Rn , v) is bounded kM f kLp (Rn ,v) ≤ CM kf kLp (Rn ,ω) , if and only if (v, ω)∈Sp . The constant CM is called Muckenhoupt constant and CM depends only on n, p and the Sp -constant of (v, ω). Proof. See Theorem 4.9, Chapter IV in [6]. Definition 2.9. Let Ω ⊂ Rn be a bounded domain and let v, ω be weights. We define the space W k,2 (Ω, ω, v) Z = u∈L2 (Ω, v) : hA∇u, ∇ui dx < ∞ and Dα u∈L2 (Ω, ω), 2 ≤ |α| ≤ k Ω with the norm 1/2 Z kukW k,2 (Ω,ω,v) = u2 v dx + Ω Z X hA∇u, ∇ui dx + Ω 2 ≤ |α| ≤ k Z |Dα u|2 ω dx Ω where A = (aij )i,j=1,...,n is the coefficient matrix of the operator L. Remark 2.10. If (v, ω)∈S2 and ω ≤ v then C ∞ (Ω) is dense in W k,2 (Ω, ω, v) (see [1, Theorem 4.7]). In this case, we define W0k,2 (Ω, ω, v) as the closure of C0∞ (Ω) with respect to the norm 1/2 Z X Z kukW k,2 (Ω,ω,v) = hA∇u, ∇ui dx + |Dα u|2 ω dx . 0 Ω 2≤|α|≤k Ω Note that, by (1.2), we have Z Z Z 2 2 |∇u| ω dx ≤ hA∇u, ∇ui dx ≤ |∇u| v dx. Ω Ω Ω Definition 2.11. We say that an element u∈W 1,2 (Ω, ω, v) is a weak solution of the equation Lu = g if Z X Z n aij Di uDj ϕ dx = g ϕ dx Ω i,j=1 for every ϕ∈W01,2 (Ω, ω, v). Ω 46 A. C. CAVALHEIRO Remark 2.12. The existence and uniqueness result for the Dirichlet problem ( Lu = g, in Ω (P ) u − ψ∈W01,2 (Ω, ω, v) where ψ ∈ W 1,2 (Ω, ω, v), can be found in [1, Theorem 4.9]. 3. Differentiability of Weak Solutions In this section we prove that weak solutions u∈W 1,2 (Ω, ω, v) of the equation Lu = g, with some hypotheses, are twice weakly differentiable and Dij u∈L2 (Ω0 , ω) (that is, u∈W 2,2 (Ω0 , ω, v), ∀Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω). Definition 3.1. Let u be a function on a bounded open set Ω ⊂ Rn and denote by ei the unit coordinate vector in the xi direction. We define the difference quotient of u at x in the direction ei by (3.1) ∆hk u(x) = u(x + hek ) − u(x) , (0 < |h| < dist h (x, ∂Ω)). Lemma 3.2. Let Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω and 0 < |h| < dist(Ω0 , ∂Ω). If u, ϕ∈L2loc (Ω, ω), supp(ϕ) ⊂ Ω0 and g is a measurable function with |g(x)| ≤ Cω(x), then (a) ∆hk (uϕ)(x) = u(x + hek )∆hk ϕ(x) + ϕ(x)∆hk u(x), with 1 ≤ k ≤ n. Z Z −h (b) g(x)u(x)∆k ϕ(x) dx = − ϕ(x)∆hk (gu)(x) dx. Ω Ω (c) If ϕ ∈ C 1 (Ω), then ∆hk (Dj ϕ)(x) = Dj (∆hk ϕ)(x). Proof. The proof of this lemma follows trivially from the Definition 3.1. Definition 3.3. Let ω be a weight in Rn . We say that ω is uniformly Ap in each coordinate if (a) ω∈Ap (Rn ); (b) ωi (t) = ω(x1 , . . . , xi−1 , t, xi+1 , . . . , xn ) is in Ap (R), for x1 , . . . , xi−1 , xi+1 , . . . , . . . , xn a.e., 1 ≤ i ≤ n, with Ap constant of ωi bounded independently of x1 , . . . , xi−1 , xi+1 , . . . , xn . 1/2 Example 3.4. Let ω(x, y) = ω1 (x)ω2 (y), with ω1 (x) = |x| |y| . We have ω is uniformly A2 in each coordinate. and ω2 (y) = 1/2 Definition 3.5. Let v, ω be weights in Rn . (a) We say that (v, ω) is uniformly Ap in each coordinate if (v, ω)∈Ap (Rn ) and (vi , ωi )∈Ap (R) (1 ≤ i ≤ n) with constant Ap of (vi , ωi ) bounded independently of x1 , . . . , xi−1 , xi+1 , . . . , xn . (b) We say that (v, ω) is uniformly Sp in each coordinate if (v, ω)∈Sp (Rn ) and (vi , ωi )∈Sp (R) (1 ≤ i ≤ n) with Sp -constant of (vi , ωi ) bounded independently of x1 , . . . , xi−1 , xi+1 , . . . , xn . REGULARITY OF WEAK SOLUTIONS 47 Lemma 3.6. Let u∈W 1,2 (Ω, ω, v) and let (ω, v) be uniformly S2 in each coordinate. Then for any Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω and 0 < |h| < dist(Ω0 , ∂Ω), we have k∆hk ukL2 (Ω0 ,v) ≤ CkDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) (3.2) where C = 2CM , and CM is the Muckenhoupt constant. Proof. Case 1: Let us suppose initially that u∈C ∞ (Ω). We have, Z u(x + hek ) − u(x) 1 h h ∆k u(x) = Dk (x + ζek ) dζ = h h 0 Z h 1 = Dk u(x1 , . . . , xk−1 , xk + ζ, xk+1 , . . . , xn ) dζ. h 0 For 1 ≤ k ≤ n, we define the functions ( Dk u(x), if x∈Ω Gk (x) = 0, if x6∈Ω. We have for x∈Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω and h satisfying 0 < |h| < dist(Ω0 , ∂Ω), Z 1 h h |Dk u(x1 , ..., xk−1 , xk + ζ, xk+1 , . . . , xn )| dζ |∆k u(x)| ≤ |h| 0 Z 1 xk +h = |Gk (x1 , . . . , xk−1 , t, xk+1 , . . . , xn )| dt |h| xk Z 1 xk +h ≤ |G (x , . . . , x , t, x , . . . , x )| dt k 1 k−1 k+1 n |h| xk −h x ,...,xk−1 ,xk+1 ,...,xn ≤ 2M (Gk1 )(xk ), x ,...,xk−1 ,xk+1 ,...,xn (xk ) Gk 1 = Gk (x1 , . . . , xk , . . . , xn ). Consequently, using the where d notation dxk = dx1 . . . dxk−1 dxk+1 . . . dxn (where the hat indicates the term that must be omitted in the product) and by Theorem 2.8, we obtain Z |∆hk u(x)|2 v(x) dx Ω0 Z x ,...,xk−1 xk+1 ,...,xn 2 ≤ 22 [M (Gk1 )] (xk )v(x1 , . . . , xk , . . . , xn ) dx Ω0 Z x ,...,xk−1 ,xk+1 ,...,xn 2 ≤4 [M (Gk1 )] (xk )v(x1 , . . . , xk , . . . , xn ) dx1 . . . dxk . . . dxn Rn Z Z x1 ,...,xk−1 ,xk+1 ,...,xn 2 2 dk ≤4 CM |Gk (xk )| ω(x1 , . . . , xk , . . . , xn ) dxk dx Rn−1 R Z Z 2 2 = 4CM |Gk (x)|2 ω(x) dx = 4CM |Dk u(x)|2 ω(x) dx, Rn Ω where CM is independent of x1 , . . . , xk−1 , xk+1 , . . . , xn because (v, ω) is uniformly S2 in each coordinate. Therefore k∆hk ukL2 (Ω0 ,v) ≤ CkDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) , where C = 2CM . 48 A. C. CAVALHEIRO Case 2: If u ∈ W 1,2 (Ω, ω, v) then there exists a sequence {um }, um ∈ C ∞ (Ω), Cauchy sequence in the norm k · kW 1,p (Ω,ω,v) . By Remark 2.10, we have um → u in L2 (Ω, v), and Dk um → Dk u in L2 (Ω, ω). Since (v, ω)∈S2 and ω ≤ v, we have ω∈A2 and v∈A2 . Consequently, by Remark 2.5, there exists a subsequence {umj} such that umj → u a.e. and Dk umj → Dk u a.e.. This implies, for 0 < |h| < dist(Ω0 , ∂Ω), that ∆hk umj →∆hk u a.e.. We have {∆hk umj } is a Cauchy sequence in L2 (Ω0 , v), for any Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω. In fact, using the first case, we have k∆hk umr − ∆hk ums kL2 (Ω0 ,v) = k∆hk (umr − ums )kL2 (Ω0 ,v) ≤ CkDk (umr − ums )kL2 (Ω,ω) = CkDk umr − Dk ums kL2 (Ω,ω) → 0, as mr , ms →∞. Therefore, there exists g ∈ L2 (Ω0 , v) such that ∆hk umj → g in L2 (Ω0 , v). Consequently, there exists a subsequence ∆hk umjr −→g a.e.. We can conclude that ∆hk u = g a.e.. Hence ∆hk umj →∆hk u in L2 (Ω0 , v). This implies that k∆hk ukL2 (Ω0 ,v) = lim k∆hk umj kL2 (Ω0 ,v) mj →∞ ≤ C lim kDk umj kL2 (Ω,ω) mj →∞ = CkDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) , that is, k∆hk ukL2 (Ω0 ,v) ≤ CkDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) . Lemma 3.7. Let u∈Lp (Ω, ω), 1 < p < ∞, ω∈Ap and suppose there exists a constant C such that k∆hk ukLp (Ω0 ,ω) ≤ C, (3.3) k = 1, 2, . . . , n for any Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω and 0 < |h| < dist(Ω0 , ∂Ω) (with C independent of h). Then there exists ϑk ∈Lp (Ω, ω) such that Dk u = ϑk in the weak sense and kDk ukLp (Ω,ω) ≤ C. Proof. Since k∆hk ukLp (Ω0 ,ω) ≤ C, using Lp (Ω, ω) is reflexive (1 < p < ∞), there exists a sequence {hm }, hm → 0, and a function ϑk ∈ Lp (Ω, ω), with kϑk kLp (Ω,ω) ≤ C, such that Z Z (3.4) ∆hk m u(x)ϕ(x)ω(x) dx → ϑk (x)ϕ(x)ω(x) dx Ω Ω REGULARITY OF WEAK SOLUTIONS 0 49 0 for all ϕ ∈ Lp (Ω, ω). Since ω∈Ap , we have ϕ = ψ/ω∈Lp (Ω, ω) for any ψ∈C0∞ (Ω). In fact, Z Z 0 0 0 |ϕ|p ω dx = |ψ|p ω −p ω dx Ω Ω Z 0 ≤ Cψ ω 1−p dx < ∞ (because ω∈Ap ). Ω Setting ϕ = ψ/ω in (3.4), we obtain Z Z hm ∆k u(x)ψ(x) dx → ϑk (x)ψ(x) dx, ∀ ψ ∈ C0∞ (Ω). Ω Ω Now for hm < dist(supp ψ, ∂Ω), we have Z Z u(x)∆k−hm ψ(x) dx ∆hk m u(x)ψ(x) dx = − Ω Ω Z → − u(x)Dk ψ(x) dx, with hm → 0. Ω Hence Z Z ϑk (x)ψ(x) dx = − Ω u(x)Dk ψ(x) dx, ∀ ψ ∈ C0∞ (Ω). Ω Therefore Dk u = ϑk in the weak sense. Remark 3.8. If the assumptions of Lemma 3.6 are satisfied and ω ≤ v, then we have k∆hk ukL2 (Ω0 ,ω) ≤ k∆hk ukL2 (Ω0 ,v) ≤ CkDk ukL2 (Ω0 ,ω) . We are able now to prove the main result of this paper. Theorem 3.9. Let u∈W 1,2 (Ω, ω, v) be a weak solution of the equation Lu = g in Ω, and assume that (a) g/v ∈ L2 (Ω, v); (b) The pair of weights (v, ω) is uniformly S2 in each coordinate; (c) |∆hk aij (x)| ≤ C1 v(x), x∈Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω a.e., 0 < |h| < dist(Ω0 , ∂Ω), with constant C1 is independent of Ω0 and h. Then for any subdomain Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω, we have u∈W 2,2 (Ω0 , ω, v) and (3.5) kukW 2,2 (Ω0 ,ω,v) ≤ C kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + kg/vkL2 (Ω,v) for C = C(n, CM , C1 , d0 ), and d0 = dist(Ω0 , ∂Ω). Proof. Since u∈W 1,2 (Ω, ω, v) is a weak solution of the equation Lu = g, then by Definition 2.11 we have, Z Z (3.6) aij (x)Di u(x)Dj ϕ(x) dx = g(x)ϕ(x) dx, Ω for all ϕ∈W01,2 (Ω, ω, v) Ω (in particular for all ϕ∈C0∞ (Ω)). 50 A. C. CAVALHEIRO ∞ In (3.6) let us replace ϕ by ∆−h k ϕ (1 ≤ k ≤ n), with ϕ∈C0 (Ω), supp(ϕ) ⊂⊂ Ω and let |2h| < dist(supp (ϕ), ∂Ω). Then, by Lemma 3.2, we obtain Z Z − g(x)∆−h ϕ(x) dx = − aij (x)Di u(x)Dj (∆−h k k ϕ(x)) dx Ω Ω Z =− aij (x)Di u(x)∆−h k (Dj ϕ)(x) dx Ω Z = ∆hk (aij Di u)(x)Dj ϕ(x) dx Ω Z = a(x + hek )∆hk Di u(x) + Di u(x)∆hk aij (x) Dj ϕ(x) dx ZΩ = (3.7) [h∆hk aij (x) + aij (x)]∆hk Di u(x) + Di u(x)∆hk aij (x) Ω · Dj ϕ(x) dx. By Lemma 3.6, if u∈W 1,2 (Ω, ω, v) we have (3.8) k∆hk ukL2 (Ω0 ,v) ≤ CkDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) = C̃, ∀ Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω. Since u ∈ L2 (Ω, v) and v ∈ A2 (see Remark 2.3 and Remark 2.7), by Lemma 3.7 we have that (3.9) kDk ukL2 (Ω0 ,v) ≤ kDk ukL2 (Ω,v) ≤ C̃ = CkDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) , ∀ Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω. Consequently, in (3.7), we obtain Z aij (x)Di (∆hk u(x))Dj ϕ(x) dx Ω Z Z = − g(x)∆−h ϕ(x) dx − ∆hk aij (x)Di u(x)Dj ϕ(x) dx k Ω Ω Z − h∆hk aij (x)∆hk Di u(x)Dj ϕ(x) dx Ω Z Z h dx + ∆k aij (x) |Di u(x)| |Dj ϕ(x)| dx (3.10) ≤ |g(x)| ∆−h ϕ(x) k Ω Ω Z h h + |h| ∆k aij (x) ∆k Di u(x) |Dj ϕ(x)| dx Ω We have, by Lemma 3.6, Z Z 1/2 −h |g(x)| v 1/2 (x) ∆−h (x) dx |g(x)| ∆k ϕ(x) dx = k ϕ(x) v v(x) Ω Ω g ≤ k∆−h k ϕkL2 (suppϕ,v) v L2 (Ω,v) g kDk ϕkL2 (Ω,ω) . ≤C v L2 (Ω,v) 51 REGULARITY OF WEAK SOLUTIONS And, using (3.9), we obtain Z h ∆k aij (x) |Di u(x)| |Dj ϕ(x)| dx Ω Z ≤ C1 v(x) |Di u(x)| |Dj ϕ(x)| dx supp ϕ Z ≤ C1 |Di u(x)|v 1/2 (x)|Dj ϕ(x)|v 1/2 (x) dx suppϕ ≤ C1 C 2 Z 1/2 Z 1/2 2 |Di u(x)| ω(x) dx |Di ϕ(x)| ω(x) dx 2 Ω Ω Hence, in (3.10), we obtain Z aij (x)Di (∆hk u(x))Dj ϕ(x) dx Ω g 1,2 ≤ C kukW (Ω,ω,v) + (3.11) kDϕkL2 (Ω,ω) v L2 (Ω,ω) Z + C1 |h| v(x)|∆hk Di u(x)||Dj ϕ(x)| dx Ω Let Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω. To proceed further let us take a function η ∈ C0∞ (Ω) satisfying 0 ≤ η ≤ 1, η ≡ 1 in Ω0 and with kDηk∞ ≤ 2/d0 , where d0 = dist(Ω0 , ∂Ω) and set ϕ = η 2 ∆hk u (with |2h| < dist(supp(η), ∂Ω)). We have Dj ϕ = 2ηDj η∆hk u + η 2 Dj (∆hk u). g We denote by a = kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + . In (3.11) we obtain v L2 (Ω,v) Z hAηD(∆hk u), ηD(∆hk u)i dx Ω Z aij (x)[η(x)Di (∆hk u(x))][η(x)Dj (∆hk u(x))] dx Ω g ≤ C kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + k2ηDj η∆hk u v L2 (Ω,v) Z 2 h + η ∆k (Dj u)kL2 (Ω,ω) + 2 |aij (x)||ηDi ∆hk u||Dj η∆hk u| dx = Ω Z + C1 |h| v|∆hk Di u||2ηDj η∆hk u + η 2 Dj ∆hk u| dx Ω ≤ Ca 2kηDj η∆hk ukL2 (suppη,ω) + kηDj (∆hk u)kL2 (suppη,ω) + 2I2 + C1 |h|I3 ≤ Ca kDj ηk∞ k∆hk ukL2 (suppη,ω) + kηDj ∆hk ukL2 (suppη,ω) + 2I2 + C1 |h|I3 ≤ CakDj ηk∞ kDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) + CakηDj ∆hk ukL2 (Ω,ω) + 2I2 + C1 |h|I3 , 52 A. C. CAVALHEIRO i. e. Z (3.12) hAηD(∆hk u),ηD(∆hk u)i dx Ω ≤ C a2 kDj ηk∞ + CakηDj ∆hk ukL2 (Ω,ω) + 2I2 + C1 |h|I3 . Let us estimate the integrals I2 and I3 . By (1.2), we have that |aij (x)| ≤ Cv(x) a.e. in Ω. Using (3.8), (3.9) and Remark 3.8, we obtain Z I2 = |aij ||ηDi ∆hk u||Dj η∆hk u| dx Ω Z ≤ C v|ηDi ∆hk u||Dj η∆hk u| dx suppη ≤ CkηDi ∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) kDj η∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) ≤ CkDi (η∆hk u) − Di η∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) kDj ηk∞ k∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) ≤ C CM kDi η∆hk u + ηDi ∆hk ukL2 (suppη,ω) + CkukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) · kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) ≤ C kDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) + kηDi ∆hk ukL2 (Ω,ω) + kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) · kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) ≤ C kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + kηDi ∆hk ukL2 (Ω,ω) kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) ≤ Ckuk2W 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + CkηDi ∆hk ukL2 (Ω,ω) kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) ≤ Ca2 + CakηDj ∆hk ukL2 (Ω,ω) . (3.13) We also have, Z I3 = v|∆hk Di u||2ηDj η∆hk u + η 2 Dj ∆hk u| dx Ω Z Z ≤ 2 v|∆hk Di u||ηDj η∆hk u| dx + v|∆hk Di u||η 2 Dj ∆hk u| dx suppη suppη Z Z = 2 v|η∆hk Di u||Dj η∆hk u| dx + v|ηDi ∆hk u||ηDj ∆hk u|dx suppη ≤ (3.14) suppη h h 2kηDi ∆k ukL2 (suppη,v) kDj η∆k ukL2 (suppη,v) + kηDi ∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) kηDj ∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) . Using (3.8) and (3.9), we obtain kDj η∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) ≤ kDj ηk∞ k∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) ≤ CkDj ηk∞ kDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) ≤ CkDj ηk∞ kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) (3.15) And we also have, ≤ CakDj ηk∞ . REGULARITY OF WEAK SOLUTIONS 53 kηDi ∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) = kDi (η∆hk u) − ∆hk uDi ηkL2 (suppη,v) ≤ kDi (η∆hk u)kL2 (suppη,v) + k∆hk uDi ηkL2 (suppη,v) ≤ CM kDi (η∆hk u)kL2 (suppη,ω) + kDi ηk∞ k∆hk ukL2 (suppη,v) ≤ CM kDi η∆hk u + ηDi ∆hk ukL2 (suppη,ω) + CM kDi ηk∞ kDk ukL2 (Ω,ω) ≤ CakDj ηk∞ + CM kηDi ∆hk ukL2 (suppη,ω) . (3.16) By condition (1.2) we have, Z Z h h aij (x)[η(x)Dj (∆k u(x))][η(x)Di (∆k u(x))] dx ≥ |η(x)D(∆hk u(x))|2 ω(x) dx Ω Ω Z (3.17) = |η(x)∆hk (Du(x))|2 ω(x) dx. Ω We denote by b = kηD(∆hk u)kL2 (Ω,ω) . By (3.12), (3.13), (3.14), (3.15), (3.16) and (3.17), and using Young’s inequality, we obtain b2 ≤ Ca2 + Cab + C|h|a2 + Cab|h| + C|h|b2 ε2 ε−2 2 ε2 ε−2 2 2 a + C|h|a2 + C b2 + C a + C b2 |h| + C|h|b2 2 2 2 2 2 2 ε ε2 2 −2 = C + Cε + C|h| a + C + C |h| + C|h| b2 . 2 2 ≤ Ca2 + C Choose ε > 0 and h such that Cε2 Cε2 2 1 + |h| + C|h| ≤ , 2 2 2 we obtain, 2 Z g |η∆hk Du|2 ω dx ≤ C kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + . v L2 (Ω,v) Ω Using η ≡ 1 in Ω0 , we have 2 Z g |∆hk Du|2 ω dx ≤ C kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + . v L2 (Ω,v) Ω0 Then we conclude that kDj (∆hk u)k2L2 (Ω0 ,ω) = k∆hk Dj uk2L2 (Ω0 ,ω) ≤ k∆hk Duk2L2 (Ω0 ,ω) 2 g ≤ C kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + . v L2 (Ω,v) By Lemma 3.7, we have there exists Djk u and g kDjk ukL2 (Ω0 ,ω) ≤ C kukW 1,2 (Ω,ω,v) + . v L2 (Ω,v) Therefore u∈W 2,2 (Ω0 , ω, v), ∀ Ω0 ⊂⊂ Ω. 54 A. C. CAVALHEIRO References 1. Cavalheiro A. C., An approximation theorem for solutions of degenerate elliptic equations, Proc. of the Edinburgh Math. Soc. 45 (2002), 363-389. 2. Chanillo S. and Wheeden R. 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Turesson B.O., Nonlinear Potential Theory and Weighted Sobolev Spaces, Lec. Notes in Math. 1736, Springer-Verlag 2000. A. C. Cavalheiro, State University of Londrina, Department of Mathematics, 86051-990 Londrina – PR, Brazil, e-mail: accava@gmail.com