Dahlberg's bilinear estimate for solutions of divergence form complex elliptic equations

TL;DR

This paper extends Dahlberg's bilinear estimate to complex elliptic equations in divergence form, using layer potential theory, providing new bounds for solutions in higher dimensions with complex coefficients.

Contribution

It generalizes Dahlberg's bilinear estimate to complex, t-independent elliptic operators, utilizing recent advances in layer potential boundedness and invertibility.

Findings

Established bilinear estimate for complex elliptic solutions

Extended Dahlberg's result to non-symmetric, complex coefficients

Provided bounds involving non-tangential maximal functions

Abstract

We consider divergence form elliptic operators $L=-\dv A(x)\nabla$, defined in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}=\{(x,t)\in\mathbb{R}^{n}\times\mathbb{R}\}, n \geq 2$, where the $L^{\infty}$ coefficient matrix $A$ is $(n+1)\times(n+1)$, uniformly elliptic, complex and $t$-independent. Using recently obtained results concerning the boundedness and invertibility of layer potentials associated to such operators, we show that if $Lu=0$ in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_+$, then for any vector-valued ${\bf v} \in W^{1,2}_{loc},$ we have the bilinear estimate $$|\iint_{\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_+} \nabla u \cdot \bar{{\bf v}} dx dt |\leq C\sup_{t>0} \|u(\cdot,t)\|_{L^2(\mathbb{R}^n)}(\||t \nabla {\bf v}\|| + \|N_*{\bf v}\|_{L^2(\mathbb{R}^n)}),$$ where $\||F\|| \equiv (\iint_{\mathbb{R}^{n+1}_+} |F(x,t)|^2 t^{-1} dx dt)^{1/2},$ and where $N_*$ is the usual non-tangential maximal operator. The result is new even in the case of real symmetric coefficients, and generalizes the analogous result of Dahlberg for harmonic functions on Lipschitz graph domains.