A surprising formula for Sobolev norms

Abstract

We establish the equivalence between the Sobolev semi-norm $\|\nabla u\|_{L^p}$ and a quantity obtained when replacing the strong $L^p$ by a weak $L^p$ norm in the Gagliardo semi-norm $|u|_{W^{s,p}}$ computed at $s = 1$. As corollaries we derive alternative estimates in some exceptional cases (involving $W^{1,1}$) where the "anticipated" fractional Sobolev and Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequalities fail.