Sobolev spaces on non-Lipschitz subsets of $\mathbb{R}^n$ with application to boundary integral equations on fractal screens

Abstract

We study properties of the classical fractional Sobolev spaces (or Bessel potential spaces) on non-Lipschitz subsets of $\mathbb{R}^n$. We investigate the extent to which the properties of these spaces, and the relations between them, that hold in the well-studied case of a Lipschitz open set, generalise to non-Lipschitz cases. Our motivation is to develop the functional analytic framework in which to formulate and analyse integral equations on non-Lipschitz sets. In particular we consider an application to boundary integral equations for wave scattering by planar screens that are non-Lipschitz, including cases where the screen is fractal or has fractal boundary.