Regularity of soda-can domains for the $p$-parabolic equation

Abstract

We classify the regularity of the origin for the $p$-parabolic equation in the soda-can domains $$Θ_{l,θ}=\{(x,t)\in\mathbb{R}^n\times\mathbb{R}:0 < -t < θ|x|^l < θ\},\text{ where }l,θ>0.$$ The classification covers every $p>1$ in dimensions $n\ge2$. At the endpoint $l=p$, the origin is regular if and only if $p\ge2n/(n+1)$. We also prove that the origin admits a traditional barrier for every $p>2$ and $l>0$. When $2 < p < n$ and $l < p$, the origin is nevertheless irregular. This answers negatively the well-known open question whether one barrier suffices to characterize boundary regularity in the degenerate range $p>2$.