Approximation in higher-order Sobolev spaces and Hodge systems

Abstract

Let $d\geq 2$ be an integer, $1\leq l\leq d-1$ and $\varphi$ be a differential $l$-form on ${\mathbb R}^d$ with $\dot{W}^{1,d}$ coefficients. It was proved by Bourgain and Brezis (\cite[Theorem 5]{MR2293957}) that there exists a differential $l$-form $\psi$ on ${\mathbb R}^d$ with coefficients in $L^{\infty}\cap \dot{W}^{1,d}$ such that $d\varphi=d\psi$. Bourgain and Brezis also asked whether this result can be extended to differential forms with coefficients in the fractional Sobolev space $\dot{W}^{s,p}$ with $sp=d$. We give a positive answer to this question, in the more general context of Triebel-Lizorkin spaces, provided that $d-\kappa\leq l\leq d-1$, where $\kappa$ is the largest positive integer such that $\kappa<\min(p,d)$. The proof relies on an approximation result for functions in $\dot{W}^{s,p}$ by functions in $\dot{W}^{s,p}\cap L^{\infty}$, even though $\dot{W}^{s,p}$ does not embed into $L^{\infty}$ in this critical case.