Schauder-type estimates and applications

Abstract

The Schauder estimates are among the oldest and most useful tools in the modern theory of elliptic partial differential equations (PDEs). Their influence may be felt in practically all applications of the theory of elliptic boundary-value problems, that is, in fields such as nonlinear diffusion, potential theory, field theory or differential geometry and its applications. Schauder estimates give H\"older regularity estimates for solutions of elliptic problems with H\"older continuous data; they may be thought of as wide-ranging generalizations of estimates of derivatives of an analytic function in the interior of its domain of analyticity and play a role comparable to that of Cauchy's theory in function theory. They may be viewed as converses to the mean-value theorem: a bound on the solution gives a bound on its derivatives. Schauder theory has strongly contributed to the modern idea that solving a PDE is equivalent to obtaining an a priori bound that is, trying to estimate a solution before any solution has been constructed. The chapter presents the complete proofs of the most commonly used theorems used in actual applications of the estimates.