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The trace agrees with classical restriction for continuous Sobolev functions
Statement
Assume the Axiom of Choice. Let , , be a bounded domain, , and let admit a representative . Then, with the trace operator of The trace operator on a bounded domain, in particular whenever such a representative vanishes on . Two representatives continuous on of the same class have the same restriction to .
Facts & Assumptions
Given: The Axiom of Choice; a bounded domain ; ; a class and a representative ; and the trace operator of The trace operator on a bounded domain.
is the unique bounded linear operator with for every , where uses the chart-independent surface measure of Surface integration on compact C1 hypersurfaces. (The trace operator on a bounded domain)
Membership in is a property of the class: a representative differing on a null set defines the same class and the same weak derivatives, and classes are almost-everywhere classes. (Integer-order Sobolev spaces and their norms, The space as the quotient by null functions)
If two continuous functions on an open set agree almost everywhere, they agree everywhere: the disagreement set is open, and a nonempty open subset of contains a nondegenerate box, which has positive Lebesgue measure by the box formula. (A box in with parameters is Lebesgue measurable of measure , whichever of its faces are included)
Every point of the topological boundary of an open set is the limit of a sequence in ; hence a function continuous on is determined on by its values on .
Proof
The trace is the classical restriction. The representative lies in : its class is the class of , so it is an element of in the quotient sense, and it is continuous on the compact set by hypothesis. By the defining property of in [F1], in .
Continuous representatives are unique on . Let represent the same class. Then almost everywhere on , so by [F3] they agree everywhere on (the disagreement set, if nonempty, would be a nonempty open subset of and would have positive measure). For take with by [F4]; then by continuity of both functions on . Hence the restrictions to coincide.
Conclusion. Step 1.1 gives ; if vanishes on then in , and step 1.2 shows that two such continuous representatives have the same boundary restriction, so the identity is independent of the choice of continuous representative.
Source notes
Teschl's Theorem 9.18 (printed p. 209) states for continuous functions; Laugesen's opening clause and Step 4 of Theorem 3.14 (printed pp. 62-64) and Schikorra's Theorem III.3.21(1) (printed p. 76) record the same agreement. The lemma above is the formal unpacking of the defining clause of the trace operator together with the elementary uniqueness of a continuous representative on the boundary.
Depends on
The trace operator on a bounded domain
Bounded C^k domains and boundary charts
Surface integration on compact C1 hypersurfaces
Integer-order Sobolev spaces and their norms
The space as the quotient by null functions
The Axiom of Countable Choice ()
A box in with parameters is Lebesgue measurable of measure , whichever of its faces are included
The Axiom of Choice
Dependency tree · 2 levels
Sources
- Gerald Teschl, Partial Differential Equations: From Classical to Modern (archived 2025 author manuscript)
- Richard S. Laugesen, Linear Analysis and Partial Differential Equations (University of Illinois, complete 158-page graduate notes)
- Armin Schikorra, Partial Differential Equations (University of Pittsburgh, version 4 December 2019)