A clustering theorem in fractional Sobolev spaces

Abstract

We prove a general clustering result for the fractional Sobolev space $W^{s,p}$: whenever the positivity set of a function $u$ in a square has measure bounded from below by a multiple of the cube's volume, and the $W^{s,p}$-seminorm of $u$ is bounded from above by a convenient power of the cube's side, then $u$ is positive in a universally reduced cube. Our result aims at applications in regularity theory for fractional elliptic and parabolic equations. Also, by means of suitable interpolation inequalities, we show that clustering results in $W^{1,p}$ and $BV$, respectively, can be deduced as special cases.