Regularity Results for Potential Functions of the Optimal Transportation Problem on Spheres and Related Hessian Equations

Abstract

In this thesis, results will be presented that pertain to the global regularity of solutions to a class of boundary value problems closely related to the Optimal Transportation Equation. Ultimately, analogies to the global regularity result presented in [TW06] for the Optimal Transportation Problem to this new fully-nonlinear elliptic boundary value problem will be presented and proven. It will also be shown that the A3w condition (first presented in [MTW05]) is also necessary for global regularity for this class of problems. The core part of this research lies in proving various a priori estimates so that a method of continuity argument can be applied to get the existence of globally smooth solutions. The a priori estimates vary from those presented in [TW06], due to the structure of these new equations, introducing some complications that are not present in the Optimal Transportation case.

In the final chapter of this thesis, the A3 condition will be reformulated and analysed on round spheres. The example cost-functions subsequently analysed have already been studied in the Euclidean case within [MTW05] and [TW06]. In this research, a stereographic projection is utilised to reformulate the A3 condition on round spheres for a general class of cost-functions, which are general functions of the geodesic distance as defined relative to the underlying round sphere. With this general expression, the A3 condition can be readily verified for a large class of cost-functions that depend on the metrics of round spheres, which is tantamount (combined with some geometric assumptions on the source and target domains) to the classical regularity for solutions of the Optimal Transportation Problem on round spheres.