The obstacle problem for subelliptic non-divergence form operators on homogeneous groups

Abstract

The main result established in this paper is the existence and uniqueness of strong solutions to the obstacle problem for a class of subelliptic operators in non-divergence form. The operators considered are structured on a set of smooth vector fields in R^n; X = \{X_0, X_1, ...,X_q\}, q \le n, satisfying H\"ormanders finite rank condition. In this setting, X_0 is a lower order term while {X1, ...,X_q} are building blocks of the subelliptic part of the operator. In order to prove this, we establish an embedding theorem under the assumption that the set {X_0, X_1, ...,X_q} generates a homogeneous Lie group. Furthermore, we prove that any strong solution belongs to a suitable class of H\"older continuous functions.