Boundary Harnack Inequality Research Articles

A comparison method for the fractional Laplacian and applications

We study the boundary behavior of solutions to fractional Laplacian. As the first result, the isolation of the first eigenvalue of the fractional Lane-Emden equation is proved in the bounded open sets with Wiener regular boundary. Then, a generalized Hopf's lemma and a global boundary Harnack inequality are proved for the fractional Laplacian.

Parabolic Boundary Harnack Inequalities with Right-Hand Side

We prove the parabolic boundary Harnack inequality in parabolic flat Lipschitz domains by blow-up techniques, allowing, for the first time, a non-zero right-hand side. Our method allows us to treat solutions to equations driven by non-divergence form operators with bounded measurable coefficients, and a right-hand side f∈Lq\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$f \\in L^q$$\\end{document} for q>n+2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$q > n+2$$\\end{document}. In the case of the heat equation, we also show the optimal C1-ε\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C^{1-\\varepsilon }$$\\end{document} regularity of the quotient. As a corollary, we obtain a new way to prove that flat Lipschitz free boundaries are C1,α\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C^{1,\\alpha }$$\\end{document} in the parabolic obstacle problem and in the parabolic Signorini problem.

The boundary Harnack principle on optimal domains

We give a short and self-contained proof of the Boundary Harnack inequality for a class of domains satisfying some geometric conditions given in terms of a state function that behaves as the distance function to the boundary, is subharmonic inside the domain and satisfies some suitable estimates on the measure of its level sets. We also discuss the applications of this result to some shape optimization and free boundary problems.

On higher order boundary Harnack and analyticity of free boundaries

We establish a C1,α Schauder estimate of a non-standard degenerate elliptic equation and use it to give another proof of the higher order boundary Harnack inequality. As an application, we obtain the analyticity of the free boundary in the classical obstacle problem based on iterating the boundary Harnack principle.

Heat and Martin Kernel estimates for Schrödinger operators with critical Hardy potentials

Let Ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\Omega $$\\end{document} be a bounded domain in RN\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${{\\mathbb {R}}}^N$$\\end{document} with C2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C^2$$\\end{document} boundary and let K⊂∂Ω\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$K\\subset \\partial \\Omega $$\\end{document} be either a C2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C^2$$\\end{document} submanifold of the boundary of codimension k<N\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$k<N$$\\end{document} or a point. In this article we study various problems related to the Schrödinger operator Lμ=-Δ-μdK-2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$L_{\\mu } =-\\Delta - \\mu d_K^{-2}$$\\end{document} where dK\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$d_K$$\\end{document} denotes the distance to K and μ≤k2/4\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mu \\le k^2/4$$\\end{document}. We establish parabolic boundary Harnack inequalities as well as related two-sided heat kernel and Green function estimates. We construct the associated Martin kernel and prove existence and uniqueness for the corresponding boundary value problem with data given by measures. To prove our results we introduce among other things a suitable notion of boundary trace. This trace is different from the one used by Marcus and Nguyen (Math Ann 374(1–2):361–394, 2019) thus allowing us to cover the whole range μ≤k2/4\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mu \\le k^2/4$$\\end{document}.

On the Harnack inequality for antisymmetric s-harmonic functions

We prove the Harnack inequality for antisymmetric s-harmonic functions, and more generally for solutions of fractional equations with zero-th order terms, in a general domain. This may be used in conjunction with the method of moving planes to obtain quantitative stability results for symmetry and overdetermined problems for semilinear equations driven by the fractional Laplacian.The proof is split into two parts: an interior Harnack inequality away from the plane of symmetry, and a boundary Harnack inequality close to the plane of symmetry. We prove these results by first establishing the weak Harnack inequality for super-solutions and local boundedness for sub-solutions in both the interior and boundary case.En passant, we also obtain a new mean value formula for antisymmetric s-harmonic functions.

Green function estimates for second order elliptic operators in non-divergence form with Dini continuous coefficients

Two-sided sharp Green function estimates are obtained for second order uniformly elliptic operators in non-divergence form with Dini continuous coefficients in bounded C1,1 domains, which are shown to be comparable to that of the Dirichlet Laplace operator in the domain. The first and second order derivative estimates of the Green functions are also derived. Moreover, boundary Harnack inequality with an explicit boundary decay rate and interior Schauder’s estimates for these differential operators are established, which may be of independent interest.

Strong Maximum Principle and Boundary Estimates for Nonhomogeneous Elliptic Equations

We give a simple proof of the strong maximum principle for viscosity subsolutions of fully nonlinear nonhomogeneous degenerate elliptic equations on the formF(x,u,Du,D2u)=0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ F(x,u,Du,D^{2}u) = 0 $$\\end{document} under suitable assumptions allowing for non-Lipschitz growth in the gradient term. In case of smooth boundaries, we also prove a Hopf lemma, a boundary Harnack inequality, and that positive viscosity solutions vanishing on a portion of the boundary are comparable with the distance function near the boundary. Our results apply, e.g., to weak solutions of an eigenvalue problem for the variable exponent p-Laplacian.

$$C^{2,\alpha }$$ regularity of free boundaries in parabolic non-local obstacle problems

We study the regularity of the free boundary in the parabolic obstacle problem for the fractional Laplacian \((-\Delta )^s\) (and more general integro-differential operators) in the regime \(s>\frac{1}{2}\). We prove that once the free boundary is \(C^1\) it is actually \(C^{2,\alpha }\). To do so, we establish a boundary Harnack inequality in \(C^1\) and \(C^{1,\alpha }\) (moving) domains, providing that the quotient of two solutions of the linear equation, that vanish on the boundary, is as smooth as the boundary. As a consequence of our results we also establish for the first time optimal regularity of such solutions to nonlocal parabolic equations in moving domains.

Boundary Harnack principle on nodal domains

We study some geometric and potential theoretic properties of nodal domains of solutions to certain uniformly elliptic equations. In particular, we establish corkscrew conditions, Carleson type estimates and boundary Harnack inequalities on a class of nodal domains.

Potential Theory on Gromov Hyperbolic Spaces

Abstract Gromov hyperbolic spaces have become an essential concept in geometry, topology and group theory. Herewe extend Ancona’s potential theory on Gromov hyperbolic manifolds and graphs of bounded geometry to a large class of Schrödinger operators on Gromov hyperbolic metric measure spaces, unifying these settings in a common framework ready for applications to singular spaces such as RCD spaces or minimal hypersurfaces. Results include boundary Harnack inequalities and a complete classification of positive harmonic functions in terms of the Martin boundary which is identified with the geometric Gromov boundary.

Potential theory for a class of strongly degenerate parabolic operators of Kolmogorov type with rough coefficients

In this paper we develop a potential theory for strongly degenerate parabolic operators of the formL:=∇X⋅(A(X,Y,t)∇X)+X⋅∇Y−∂t, in unbounded domains of the formΩ={(X,Y,t)=(x,xm,y,ym,t)∈Rm−1×R×Rm−1×R×R|xm>ψ(x,y,ym,t)}, where ψ is assumed to satisfy a uniform Lipschitz condition adapted to the dilation structure and the (non-Euclidean) Lie group underlying the operator L. Concerning A=A(X,Y,t) we assume that A is bounded, measurable, symmetric and uniformly elliptic (as a matrix in Rm). Beyond the solvability of the Dirichlet problem and other fundamental properties our results include scale and translation invariant boundary comparison principles, boundary Harnack inequalities and doubling properties of associated parabolic measures. All of our estimates are translation- and scale-invariant with constants only depending on the constants defining the boundedness and ellipticity of A and the Lipschitz constant of ψ. Our results represent a version, for operators of Kolmogorov type with bounded, measurable coefficients, of the by now classical results of Fabes and Safonov, and several others, concerning boundary estimates for uniformly parabolic equations in (time-dependent) Lipschitz type domains.

The fractional obstacle problem with drift: Higher regularity of free boundaries

We study the higher regularity of free boundaries in obstacle problems for integro-differential operators with drift, like (−Δ)s+b⋅∇, in the subcritical regime s>12. Our main result states that once the free boundary is C1 then it is C∞, whenever s∉Q.In order to achieve this, we establish a fine boundary expansion for solutions to linear nonlocal equations with drift in terms of the powers of distance function. Quite interestingly, due to the drift term, the powers do not increase by natural numbers and the fact that s is irrational plays al important role. Such expansion still allows us to prove a higher order boundary Harnack inequality, where the regularity holds in the tangential directions only.

New boundary Harnack inequalities with right hand side

We prove new boundary Harnack inequalities in Lipschitz domains for equations with a right hand side. Our main result applies to non-divergence form operators with bounded measurable coefficients and to divergence form operators with continuous coefficients, whereas the right hand side is in Lq with q>n. Our approach is based on the scaling and comparison arguments of [13], and we show that all our assumptions are sharp.As a consequence of our results, we deduce the C1,α regularity of the free boundary in the fully nonlinear obstacle problem and the fully nonlinear thin obstacle problem.

Classification of Nonnegative g −Harmonic Functions in Half-Spaces

In this paper we present a short proof of the following classification Theorem for g −harmonic functions in half-spaces. Assume that u is a nonnegative solution to Δgu = 0 in {xn > 0} that continuously vanishes on the flat boundary {xn = 0}. Then, modulo normalization, u(x) = xn in {xn ≥ 0}. Our proof depends on a recent quantitative version of the Hopf-Oleinik Lemma proven by the authors in Braga and Moreira (Adv. Math.334, 184–242, 2018). Moreover, in this paper, we show how to adapt the proofs in the literature to extend Carleson Estimate, Boundary Harnack Inequality and Schwartz Reflection Principle to the context of nonnegative g −harmonic functions. These results are also ingredients for the proof of the main result.

Estimates of Dirichlet heat kernel for symmetric Markov processes

We consider a large class of symmetric pure jump Markov processes dominated by isotropic unimodal Lévy processes with weak scaling conditions. First, we establish sharp two-sided heat kernel estimates for these processes in C1,1 open sets. As corollaries of our main results, we obtain sharp two-sided Green function estimates and a scale invariant boundary Harnack inequality with explicit decay rates in C1,1 open sets.

The Boundary Harnack Principle for Nonlocal Elliptic Operators in Non-divergence Form

We prove a boundary Harnack inequality for nonlocal elliptic operators L in non-divergence form with bounded measurable coefficients. Namely, our main result establishes that if Lu1 = Lu2 = 0 in Ω ∩ B1, u1 = u2 = 0 in B1 ∖Ω, and u1,u2 ≥ 0 in ℝn, then u1 and u2 are comparable in B1/2. The result applies to arbitrary open sets Ω. When Ω is Lipschitz, we show that the quotient u1/u2 is Holder continuous up to the boundary in B1/2. These results will be used in forthcoming works on obstacle-type problems for nonlocal operators.

The asymptotic Dirichlet problems on manifolds with unbounded negative curvature

AbstractElton P. Hsu used probabilistic method to show that the asymptotic Dirichlet problem is uniquely solvable under the curvature condition −Ce(2−η)r(x) ≤ KM(x) ≤ −1 with η &amp;gt; 0. We give an analytical proof of the same statement. In addition, using this new approach we are able to establish two boundary Harnack inequalities under the curvature condition −Ce(2/3−η)r(x) ≤ KM(x) ≤ −1 with η &amp;gt; 0. This implies that there is a natural homeomorphism between the Martin boundary and the geometric boundary of M. As far as we know, this is the first result of this kind under unbounded curvature conditions. Our proof is a modification of an argument due to M. T. Anderson and R. Schoen.

Quasi-linear PDEs and low-dimensional sets

In this paper we establish new results concerning boundary Harnack inequalities and the Martin boundary problem, for non-negative solutions to equations of p-Laplace type with variable coecients. The key novelty is that we consider solutions which vanish only on a

Boundary Harnack inequality for the linearized Monge-Ampère equations and applications

In this paper, we obtain boundary Harnack estimates and comparison theorem for nonnegative solutions to the linearized Monge-Ampère equations under natural assumptions on the domain, Monge-Ampère measures and boundary data. Our results are boundary versions of Caffarelli and Gutiérrez’s interior Harnack inequality for the linearized Monge-Ampère equations. As an application, we obtain sharp upper bound and global L p L^p -integrability for Green’s function of the linearized Monge-Ampère operator.