$C^{1,\alpha}$ regularity for quasilinear parabolic equations with nonstandard growth

Abstract

In this paper, we obtain $C^{1,\alpha}$ estimates for weak solutions of certain quasilinear parabolic equations satisfying nonstandard growth conditions, the prototype examples being $$u_t - \text{div} (|\nabla u|^{p-2} \nabla u + a(t)|\nabla u|^{q-2} \nabla u) = 0,$$ $$u_t - \text{div} (|\nabla u|^{p(t)-2} \nabla u) = 0.$$ under the assumption that the solutions a priori have bounded gradient. We build on the recently developed scaling and covering argument which allows us to consider the singular and degenerate cases in a uniform manner and with minimal regularity requirements on the phase switching factor $a(t)$ and the variable exponent $p(t)$. Moreover, we are able to take any $p \leq q < \infty$ to obtain the desired regularity.