\documentclass[reqno]{amsart}
\usepackage{hyperref}

\AtBeginDocument{{\noindent\small
\emph{Electronic Journal of Differential Equations},
Vol. 2009(2009), No. 144, pp. 1--11.\newline
ISSN: 1072-6691. URL: http://ejde.math.txstate.edu or http://ejde.math.unt.edu
\newline ftp ejde.math.txstate.edu}
\thanks{\copyright 2009 Texas State University - San Marcos.}
\vspace{8mm}}

\begin{document}
\title[\hfilneg EJDE-2009/144\hfil Weak solutions for anisotropic equations]
{Weak solutions for anisotropic nonlinear elliptic equations with
variable exponents}

\author[B. Kone, S. Ouaro, S. Traore \hfil EJDE-2009/144\hfilneg]
{Blaise Kone, Stanislas Ouaro, Sado Traore} % in alphabetical order


\address{Blaise Kone \newline
Laboratoire d'Analyse Math\'ematique des Equations (LAME)\\
Institut Burkinab\'e des Arts et M\'etiers, 
Universit\'e de  Ouagadougou \\ 
03 BP 7021 Ouaga 03 \\ 
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso}
\email{leizon71@yahoo.fr}

\address{Stanislas Ouaro \newline
Laboratoire d'Analyse Math\'ematique des Equations (LAME)\\
UFR. Sciences Exactes et Appliqu\'ees, 
Universit\'e de Ouagadougou \\
03 BP 7021 Ouaga 03 \\ 
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso}
\email{souaro@univ-ouaga.bf, ouaro@yahoo.fr}

\address{Sado Traore \newline
Laboratoire d'Analyse Math\'ematique des Equations (LAME)\\
Institut des Sciences Exactes et Appliqu\'ees, 
Universit\'e de Bobo Dioulasso\\ 
01 BP 1091 Bobo-Dioulasso 01 \\ 
Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso}
\email{sado@univ-ouaga.bf}

\thanks{Submitted February 10, 2008. Published November 12, 2009.}
\subjclass[2000]{35J20, 35J25, 35D30, 35B38, 35J60} 
\keywords{Anisotropic Sobolev spaces;
weak energy solution; variable exponents; \hfill\break\indent 
electrorheological fluids}

\begin{abstract}
 We study the anisotropic boundary-value problem
 \begin{gather*}
 -\sum^{N}_{i=1}\frac{\partial}{\partial
 x_{i}}a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u)=f
 \quad \text{in } \Omega, \\
 u=0 \quad\text{on }\partial \Omega,
 \end{gather*}
 where $\Omega$ is a smooth bounded domain in $\mathbb{R}^{N}$
 $(N\geq 3)$. We obtain the existence and uniqueness of a weak
 energy solution for $f\in L^{\infty}(\Omega)$,
 and the existence of weak energy solution for general data $f$
 dependent on $u$.
\end{abstract}

\maketitle
\numberwithin{equation}{section}
\newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}[section]
\newtheorem{lemma}[theorem]{Lemma}
\newtheorem{proposition}[theorem]{Proposition}
\newtheorem{definition}[theorem]{Definition}


\section{Introduction}

Let $\Omega$ be a bounded domain of $\mathbb{R}^{N}$ $(N\geq 3)$
with smooth boundary $\partial \Omega$. Our aim is to prove existence
and uniqueness of a weak energy solution to the anisotropic nonlinear
elliptic problem
\begin{equation} \label{e1.1}
\begin{gathered}
-\sum^{N}_{i=1}\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
 a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u)=f \quad \text{in }  \Omega\\
u=0 \quad \text{on }\partial \Omega,
\end{gathered}
\end{equation}
where the right hand side $f$ is in $L^{\infty}(\Omega)$.
We assume that for $i=1,\dots ,N$ the function
$a_{i}:\Omega\times\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$ is Carath\'eodory; i.e.,
 $a(x,.)$ is continuous for a.e. $x\in\Omega$ and $a(.,t)$ is
measurable for every $t\in \mathbb{R}$ and satisfy the following
conditions:
$a_{i}(x,\xi)$ is the continuous derivative with respect to $\xi$
of the mapping $A_{i}: \Omega\times\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$,
$A_{i}=A_{i}(x,\xi)$; i.e.,
$a_{i}(x,\xi)=\frac{\partial}{\partial \xi}A_{i}(x,\xi)$ such that:

The following equatility holds
\begin{equation} \label{e1.2}
A_{i}(x,0)=0,
\end{equation}
for almost every $x\in\Omega$.

There exists a positive constant $C_{1}$ such that
\begin{equation} \label{e1.3}
|a_{i}(x,\xi)|\leq C_{1}(j_{i}(x)+|\xi|^{p_{i}(x)-1})
\end{equation}
for almost every $x\in\Omega$ and for every $\xi\in \mathbb{R}$,
where $j_{i}$ is a nonnegative function in $L^{p_{i}'(.)}(\Omega)$,
with $1/p_{i}(x)+1/p_{i}'(x)=1$.

The following inequality holds
\begin{equation} \label{e1.4}
\big(a_{i}(x,\xi)-a_{i}(x,\eta)\big).\big(\xi-\eta\big)>0
\end{equation}
for almost every $x\in\Omega$ and for every $\xi,\eta\in\mathbb{R}$,
 with $\xi\neq\eta$.

The following inequalities hold
\begin{equation} \label{e1.5}
|\xi|^{p_{i}(x)}\leq a_{i}(x,\xi).\xi\leq p_{i}(x)A_{i}(x,\xi)
\end{equation}
for almost every $x\in \Omega$ and for every $\xi\in\mathbb{R}$.

For the exponent $p_{1}(.),\dots ,p_{N}(.)$, we assume that
$p_{i}(.):\overline{\Omega}\to\mathbb{R}$ are continuous functions
such that:
\begin{equation} \label{e1.6}
2\leq p_{i}(x)<N, \quad \sum_{i=1}^{N}\frac{1}{p_{i}^{-}}>1,
\end{equation}
where
\[
p_{i}^{-}:=\mathop{\rm ess\,inf}_{x\in\Omega}p_{i}(x),
p_{i}^{+}:=\mathop{\rm ess\,sup}_{x\in\Omega}p_{i}(x).
\]
A prototype example that is covered by our assumptions is the
following anisotropic $(p_{1}(.),\dots ,p_{N}(.))$-harmonic problem:
 Set
\[
A_{i}(x,\xi)=\big(1/p_{i}(x)\big)|\xi|^{p_{i}(x)}, \quad
a_{i}(x,\xi)=|\xi|^{p_{i}(x)-2}\xi
\]
where $p_{i}(x)\geq 2$. Then we obtain the problem:
\[
-\sum^{N}_{i=1}\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
\Big(|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u|^{p_{i}(x)-2}
\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u\Big)=f
\]
which, in the particular case when $p_{i}=p$ for any
$i\in\{1,\dots ,N\}$ is the $p(.)$-Laplace equation.

The study of nonlinear elliptic equations involving the $p$-Laplace
 operator is based on the theory of standard Sobolev spaces
$W^{m,p}(\Omega)$ in order to find weak solutions.
For the nonhomogeneous $p(.)$-Laplace operators, the natural setting
for this approach is the use of the variable exponent Lebesgue
and Sobolev spaces $L^{p(.)}(\Omega)$ and $W^{m,p(.)}(\Omega)$.
The spaces  $L^{p(.)}(\Omega)$ and $W^{m,p(.)}(\Omega)$ were
thoroughly studied by Musielak \cite{m3}, Edmunds et
al \cite{e1,e2,e3}, Kovacik and Rakosnik \cite{k1},
Diening \cite{d1,d2} and the references therein.

Variable Sobolev spaces have been used in the last decades to model
various phenomena.  Chen, Levine and Rao \cite{c1} proposed a
framework for image restoration based on a variable
exponent Laplacian. An other application which uses nonhomogeneous
Laplace operators is related to the modelling of
electrorheological fluids. The first major discovery
in electrorheological fluids is due to Willis Winslow in 1949.
These fluids have the interesting property that their viscosity
depends on the electric field in the fluid. They can raise the
viscosity by as much as five orders of magnitude.
This phenomenon is known as the Winslow effect. For some technical
applications, consult Pfeiffer et al \cite{p1}. Electrorheological
fluids have been used in robotics and space technology.
The experimental research has been done mainly in the USA,
for instance in NASA Laboratories. For more information on
properties, modelling and the application of variable exponent
spaces to these fluids, we refer to
Diening \cite{d1}, Rajagopal and Ruzicka \cite{r1}, and
Ruzicka \cite{r2}.

In this paper, the operator involved in \eqref{e1.1} is more
general than the $p(.)$-Laplace operator. Thus, the variable
exponent Sobolev space $W^{1,p(.)}(\Omega)$ is not adequate to
study nonlinear problems of this type. This lead us to seek weak
solutions for problems \eqref{e1.1} in a more general variable
exponent Sobolev space which was introduced for the first  time by
Miha\"ilescu et al \cite{m1}. Note that, Antontsev and Shmarev \cite{a2}
studied the following problem which is quite close to
\eqref{e1.1}:
\begin{equation} \label{e1.7}
\begin{gathered}
-\sum_{i}D_{i}(a_{i}(x,u))|D_{i}u|^{p_{i}(x)-2}D_{i}u+c(x,u)
|u|^{\sigma(x)-2}u=F(x) \quad \text{in }\Omega\\
u=0 \quad \text{on }\partial\Omega,
\end{gathered}
\end{equation}
in a bounded domain $\Omega\in\mathbb{R}^{N}$, and elliptic systems
of the same structure,
\begin{equation} \label{e1.8}
\begin{gathered}
-\sum_{j}D_{j}(a_{ij}(x,\nabla u))=f^{i}(x,u) \quad\text{ in }\Omega,
\; i=1,\dots ,n.\\
u=0 \quad \text{on }\partial\Omega.
\end{gathered}
\end{equation}
In \cite{a2}, the authors proved among others result, existence of
(bounded) weak solutions and establish sufficient conditions
of uniqueness of a weak solution, where the variational set
considered is
\[
\textbf{V}(\Omega)=\{u\in L^{\sigma(x)}(\Omega)\cap W^{1,1}_{0}(\Omega),
D_{i}(u)\in L^{p_{i}(x)}(\Omega), i=1,\dots ,n\}
\]
 equipped with the norm $\|u\|_{V}=\|u\|_{\sigma(.)}
+\sum^{n}_{i=1}\|D_{i}u\|_{p_{i}(.)}$.

The remaining part of this paper is organized as follows: Section
2 is devoted to mathematical preliminaries including,  among other
things, a brief discussion of variable exponent Lebesgue, Sobolev
and anisotropic Sobolev variables exponent spaces. The main
existence and uniqueness result is stated and proved in section 3.
Finally, in section 4, we discuss some extensions.

\section{Preliminaries}

In this section, we define the Lebesgue and  Sobolev spaces with
variable exponent and give some of their properties. Roughly
speaking, anistropic Lebesgue and Sobolev spaces are functional
spaces of Lebesgue's and Sobolev's type in which different space
directions have different roles.

Given a measurable function $p(.):\Omega\to[1,\infty)$. We define
the Lebesgue space with variable exponent $L^{p(.)}(\Omega)$ as
the set of all measurable function $u:\Omega\to\mathbb{R}$ for
which the convex modular
\[
\rho_{p(.)}(u):=\int_{\Omega}|u|^{p(x)}dx
\]
is finite. If the exponent is bounded; i.e., if $p_{+}<\infty$,
then the expression
\[
|u|_{p(.)}:=\inf\{\lambda>0: \rho_{p(.)}(u/\lambda)\leq 1\}
\]
defines a norm in $L^{p(.)}(\Omega)$, called the Luxembourg norm.
The space $(L^{p(.)}(\Omega),|.|_{p(.)})$ is a separable Banach space.
Moreover, if $p_{-}>1$, then $L^{p(.)}(\Omega)$ is uniformly convex,
hence reflexive, and its dual space is isomorphic to $L^{p'(.)}(\Omega)$,
where $\frac{1}{p(x)}+\frac{1}{p'(x)}=1$.
Finally, we have the H\"older type inequality:
\begin{equation} \label{e2.1}
\big|\int_{\Omega}uv\,dx\big|\leq\Big(\frac{1}{p_{-}}+\frac{1}{p'_{-}}
\Big)|u|_{p(.)}|v|_{p'(.)},
\end{equation}
for all $u\in L^{p(.)}(\Omega)$ and $v\in L^{p'(.)}(\Omega)$.
Now, let
\[
W^{1,p(.)}(\Omega):=\{u\in L^{p(.)}(\Omega):|\nabla u|\in L^{p(.)}
(\Omega)\},
\]
which is a Banach space equipped with the norm
\[
\|u\|_{1,p(.)}:=|u|_{p(.)}+|\nabla u|_{p(.)}.
\]
An important role in manipulating the generalized Lebesgue-Sobolev
spaces is played by the modular $\rho_{p(.)}$ of the space
$L^{p(.)}(\Omega)$.
We have the following result (cf. \cite{f1}).


\begin{lemma} \label{lem2.1}
If $u_{n}, u\in L^{p(.)}(\Omega)$ and $p_{+}<+\infty$ then the
following relations hold
\begin{itemize}
\item[(i)] $|u|_{p(.)}>1\Rightarrow|u|_{p(.)}^{p_{-}}
 \leq \rho_{p(.)}(u)\leq |u|_{p(.)}^{p_{+}}$;

\item[(ii)] $|u|_{p(.)}<1\Rightarrow|u|_{p(.)}^{p_{+}}
\leq \rho_{p(.)}(u)\leq |u|_{p(.)}^{p_{-}}$;

\item[(iii)] $|u_{n}-u|_{p(.)}\to 0\Rightarrow\rho_{p(.)}(u_{n}-u)\to 0$;

\item[(iv)] $|u|_{L^{p(.)}(\Omega)}<1$ (respectively $=1;>1$)
$\Leftrightarrow \rho_{p(.)}(u)<1$ (respectively $=1;>1$);

\item[(v)] $|u_{n}|_{L^{p(.)}(\Omega)}\to 0$
(respectively  $\to+\infty$)
$\Leftrightarrow\rho_{p(.)}(u_{n})\to 0$ (respectively $\to+\infty$);

\item[(vi)]$\rho_{p(.)}\big(u/|u|_{L^{p(.)}(\Omega)}\big)=1$.

\end{itemize}
\end{lemma}

Next, we define $W^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$ as the closure of
$C_{0}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ in $W^{1,p(.)}(\Omega)$ under the
norm $\|u\|_{1,p(.)}$. Set
\[
C_{+}(\overline{\Omega})=\{p\in C(\overline{\Omega}):
\min_{x\in \overline{\Omega}}p(x)>1\}.
\]
Furthermore, if $p\in C_{+}(\overline{\Omega})$ is logarithmic H\"older
continuous, then $C_{0}^{\infty}(\Omega)$ is dense in
$W^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$, that is
$H^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)=W^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$ (cf. \cite{h1}).
 Since $\Omega$ is an open bounded set and $p\in C_{+}(\overline{\Omega})$
is logarithmic H\"older, the $p(.)$-Poincar\'e inequality
\[
|u|_{p}\leq C|\nabla u|_{p(.)}
\]
holds for all $u\in W^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$, where $C$ depends
on $p$, $|\Omega|$, diam$(\Omega)$ and $N$ (see \cite{h1}), and so
\[
\|u\|:=|\nabla u|_{p(.)},
\]
is an equivalent norm in $W^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$. Of course also the norm
\[
\|u\|_{p(.)}:=\sum_{i=1}^{N}\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u\big|_{p(.)}
\]
is an equivalent norm in $W^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$. Hence the
space $W^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$ is a separable and reflexive
Banach space.

Finally, let us present a natural generalization of the variable
exponent Sobolev space $W^{1,p(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$ (cf. \cite{m1})
that will enable us to study with sufficient accuracy
problem \eqref{e1.1}.
First of all, we denote by
$\overrightarrow{p}:\overline{\Omega}\to \mathbb{R}^{N}$ the
vectorial function $\overrightarrow{p}=(p_{1},\dots ,p_{N})$.
 The \emph{anisotropic variable exponent Sobolev space}
$W^{1,\overrightarrow{p}(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$ is defined as
the closure of $C^{\infty}_{0}(\Omega)$ with respect to the norm
\[
\|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}:=\sum_{i=1}^{N}
\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u\big|_{p_{i}(.)}.
\]
The space $(W^{1,\overrightarrow{p}(.)}_{0}(\Omega),
 \|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)})$ is a reflexive Banach
space (cf. \cite{m1}).

Let us introduce the following notation.
\begin{gather*}
\overrightarrow{P}_{+}=(p_{1}^{+},\dots ,p_{N}^{+}), \quad
\overrightarrow{P}_{-}=(p_{1}^{-},\dots ,p_{N}^{-}),\\
P_{+}^{+}=\max\{p_{1}^{+},\dots ,p_{N}^{+}\}, \quad
P_{-}^{+}=\max\{p_{1}^{-},\dots ,p_{N}^{-}\},\\
P_{-}^{-}=\min\{p_{1}^{-},\dots ,p_{N}^{-}\},\quad
P_{-,\infty}=\max\{P_{-}^{+},P_{-}^{\ast}\}, \\
P_{-}^{\ast}=\frac{N}{\sum_{i=1}^{N}\frac{1}{p_{i}^{-}}-1}\,.
\end{gather*}

We have the following result (cf. \cite{m1}).

\begin{theorem} \label{thm2.2}
Assume $\Omega\subset\mathbb{R}^{N}$ $(N\geq 3)$ is a bounded
domain with smooth boundary. Assume relation \eqref{e1.6} is fulfilled.
For any $q\in C(\overline{\Omega})$ verifying
\[
1<q(x)<P_{-,\infty}\quad \text{for all } x\in \overline{\Omega},
\]
then the embedding
\[
W^{1,\overrightarrow{p}(.)}_{0}(\Omega)\hookrightarrow L^{q(.)}(\Omega)
\]
is continuous and compact.
\end{theorem}

We remark that Assumption \eqref{e1.4} and relation
$a_{i}(x,\xi)=\nabla_{\xi}A_{i}(x,\xi)$ imply in particular that
for $i=1,\dots ,N$, $A_{i}(x,\xi)$ is convex with respect to the
second variable.

\section{Existence and uniqueness of weak energy solution}

In this section, we study the weak energy solution of \eqref{e1.1}.

\begin{definition} \label{def3.1} \rm
A weak energy solution of \eqref{e1.1} is a function
$u\in W^{1,\overrightarrow{p}(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$ such that
\begin{equation} \label{e3.1}
 \int_{\Omega}\sum_{i=1}^{N}a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u).
\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} \varphi dx
=\int_{\Omega}f(x)\varphi dx, \text{ for all }\varphi\in
W^{1,\overrightarrow{p}(.)}_{0}(\Omega).
\end{equation}
\end{definition}

The main result of this section is the following.

\begin{theorem} \label{thm3.2}
Assume \eqref{e1.2}-\eqref{e1.6} and $f\in L^{\infty}(\Omega)$.
Then there exists a unique weak energy solution of \eqref{e1.1}.
\end{theorem}

\subsection*{Proof of Existence}
Let $E$ denote the anisotropic variable exponent Sobolev
space $W^{1,\overrightarrow{p}(.)}_{0}(\Omega)$.
Define the energy functional $J: E\to\mathbb{R}$ by
\[
J(u)=\int_{\Omega}\sum_{i=1}^{N}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u)
dx-\int_{\Omega}fu\,dx.
\]
We first establish some basic properties of $J$.

\begin{proposition} \label{prop3.3}
The functional $J$ is well-defined on $E$ and $J\in C^{1}(E,\mathbb{R})$
with the derivative given by
\[
\langle J'(u),\varphi\rangle=\int_{\Omega}\sum_{i=1}^{N}a_{i}
(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u).\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
\varphi dx-\int_{\Omega}f\varphi dx,
\]
for all $u,\varphi\in E$.
\end{proposition}

To prove the above proposition, we define for $i=1,\dots ,N$ the
functionals $\Lambda_{i}:E\to\mathbb{R}$ by
\[
\Lambda_{i}(u)=\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}
{\partial x_{i}}u)dx, \quad \text{for all }u\in E.
\]

\begin{lemma} \label{lem3.4}
For $i=1,\dots ,N$,
\begin{itemize}
\item[(i)] the functional $\Lambda_{i}$ is well-defined on $E$;

\item[(ii)] the functional  $\Lambda_{i}$ is of class
$C^{1}(E,\mathbb{R})$ and
\[
\langle \Lambda_{i} '(u),\varphi\rangle
=\int_{\Omega}a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u).
\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} \varphi dx,
\]
 for all $u,\varphi\in E$.
\end{itemize}
\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}
(i) For any $x\in\Omega$ and $\xi\in \mathbb{R}$, we have
\[
A_{i}(x,\xi)=\int_{0}^{1}\frac{d}{dt}A_{i}(x,t\xi)dt
=\int_{0}^{1}a_{i}(x,t\xi).\xi dt.
\]
Then by \eqref{e1.3},
\[
A_{i}(x,\xi)\leq C_{1}\int_{0}^{1}(j_{i}(x)+|\xi|^{p_{i}(x)-1}t^{p_{i}(x)-1})|\xi|dt\leq C_{1}j_{i}(x)|\xi|+\frac{C_{1}}{p_{i}(x)}|\xi|^{p_{i}(x)}.
\]
The above inequality and \eqref{e1.6} imply
\[
0\leq\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx
\leq C_{1}\int_{\Omega}j_{i}(x)|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u|dx
+\frac{C_{1}}{p_{i}^{-}}\int_{\Omega}|
\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u|^{p_{i}(x)}dx,
\]
for all $u\in E$.
Using \eqref{e2.1} and Lemma 2.1, we deduce that $\Lambda_{i}$ is 
well-defined on $E$, for $i=1,\dots ,N$.\\
(ii) Existence of the G\^ateaux derivative.
Let $u,\varphi\in E$. Fix $x\in \Omega$ and $0<|r|<1$.
Then by the mean value theorem, there exists $\nu\in[0,1]$ such that
\begin{align*}
&\big|a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u(x)
+\nu r\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi(x))\big|
\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi(x)\big|\\
&=\big|A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u(x)
 +r\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi(x))-A_{i}
 (x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u(x))\big|/|r|
\\
&\leq\Big[C_{1}j_{i}(x)+C_{1}2^{P_{+}^{+}}
\Big(\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u(x)\big|^{p_{i}(x)-1}
+\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi(x)\big|^{p_{i}(x)-1}\Big)
\Big]\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi(x)\big|.
\end{align*}
Next, by \eqref{e2.1}, we have
\[
\int_{\Omega}C_{1}j_{i}(x)|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi(x)|dx
\leq\beta|C_{1}j_{i}|_{p_{i}'(x)}.|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
\varphi|_{p_{i}(x)}
\]
and
\[
\int_{\Omega}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|^{p_{i}(x)-1}|
\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} \varphi|dx\leq\alpha|
|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|^{p_{i}(x)-1}|_{p_{i}'(x)}.|
\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi|_{p_{i}(x)}.
\]
The above inequalities imply
\[
C_{1}\Big[j_{i}(x)+2^{P_{+}^{+}}\Big(\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
u(x)\big|^{p_{i}(x)-1}+\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi(x)
\big|^{p_{i}(x)-1}\Big)\Big]\big|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
\varphi(x)\big|\in L^{1}(\Omega).
\]
It follow from the Lebesgue theorem that
\[
\langle \Lambda_{i} '(u),\varphi\rangle
=\int_{\Omega}a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)
\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} \varphi dx, \quad \text{for }i=1,\dots ,N.
\]
Assume now $u_{n}\to u$ in $E$. Let us define
$\psi_{i}(x,u)=a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)$.
Using assumption \eqref{e1.3}, \cite[theorems 4.1 and 4.2]{k1}, we deduce
that $\psi_{i}(x,u_{n})\to\psi_{i}(x,u)$ in $L^{p'_{i}(x)}(\Omega)$.
By \eqref{e2.1}, we obtain
\[
|\langle \Lambda_{i}'(u_{n})-\Lambda_{i}'(u),\varphi\rangle|
\leq C|\psi_{i}(x,u_{n})-\psi_{i}(x,u)|_{p_{i}'(x)}|
\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}\varphi|_{p_{i}(x)},
\]
and so
\[
\|\Lambda_{i}'(u_{n})-\Lambda_{i}'(u)\|\leq
 C|\psi_{i}(x,u_{n})-\psi_{i}(x,u)|_{p_{i}'(x)}\to 0,
\]
 as $n\to\infty$  for $i=1,\dots ,N$.
The proof is complete.
\end{proof}

By Lemma 3.4, it is clear that Proposition 3.3 holds true and then,
the proof of Proposition 3.3 is also complete.

\begin{lemma} \label{lem3.5}
For $i=1,\dots ,N$ the functional $\Lambda_{i}$ is weakly lower
semi-continuous.
\end{lemma}

\begin{proof}
 By \cite[corollary III.8]{b1}, it is sufficient to show that
$\Lambda_{i}$ is lower semi-continuous. For this,
fix $u\in E$ and $\epsilon>0$. Since $\Lambda_{i}$ is convex
(by Remark 2.3), we deduce that for any $v\in E$, the following
inequality holds
\[
\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} v)dx
\geq\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx
+\int_{\Omega}a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u).
(\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} v-\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx.
\]
Using \eqref{e1.3} and \eqref{e2.1}, we have
\begin{align*}
\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} v)dx
&\geq\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx
-\int_{\Omega}|a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)|
|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} v-\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|dx
\\
&\geq\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx
-C_{1}\int_{\Omega}j_{i}(x)|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} (v-u)|dx
\\
&\quad -C_{1}\int_{\Omega}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|^{p_{i}(x)-1}
|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} (v-u)|dx
\\
&\geq\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u)dx
 -C_{2}|j_{i}|_{p_{i}'(x)}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
 (v-u)|_{p_{i}(x)}
\\
&\quad -C_{3}||\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
 u|^{p_{i}(x)-1}|_{p_{i}'(x)}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
 (v-u)|_{p_{i}(x)}
\\
&\geq\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx
 -C_{4}\|v-u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}\\
&\geq\int_{\Omega}
 A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx-\epsilon,
\end{align*}
for all $v\in E$ with
$\|v-u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}<\delta=\epsilon/C_{4}$, where
$C_{2}, C_{3}$ and $C_{4}$ are positive constants.
We conclude that $\Lambda_{i}$ is weakly lower semi-continuous
for $i=1,\dots ,N$. The proof  is complete.
\end{proof}

\begin{proposition} \label{prop3.6}
The functional $J$ is bounded from below, coercive and weakly lower
semi-continuous.
\end{proposition}.

\begin{proof} Using \eqref{e1.5}, we have
\begin{align*}
J(u)&=\int_{\Omega}\sum_{i=1}^{N}A_{i}(x,
 \frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx
 -\int_{\Omega}fu\,dx\\
&\geq \frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}
 \sum_{i=1}^{N}\int_{\Omega}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|^{p_{i}(x)}
 dx-\int_{\Omega}fu\,dx
 \\
&\geq\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}\sum_{i=1}^{N}
 \int_{\Omega}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|^{p_{i}(x)}dx
 -\|f\|_{q'}\|u\|_{q},
\end{align*}
where $\|u\|_{q}=\big(\int_{\Omega}|u|^{q}dx\big)^{1/q}$ and
$1<q<P_{-}^{+}$.
For each $i\in{1,\dots ,N}$, we define
\[
\alpha_{i}=\begin{cases}
P_{+}^{+} &\text{if }|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|<1,\\
P_{-}^{-} &\text{if }|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|>1.
\end{cases}
\]
For the coerciveness of $J$, we focus our attention on the case
when $u\in E$ and $\|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}>1$.
Then, by Lemma 2.1 we obtain
\begin{align*}
J(u)
&\geq\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}\sum_{i=1}^{N}|
 \frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|_{p_{i}(.)}^{\alpha_{i}}
 -\|f\|_{q'}\|u\|_{q}\\
&\geq\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}\sum_{i=1}^{N}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
 u|_{p_{i}(.)}^{P_{-}^{-}}-\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}
 \sum_{\{i:\alpha_{i}=P^{+}_{+}\}}
 \Big(|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|_{p_{i}(.)}^{P^{-}_{-}}
  -|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|_{p_{i}(.)}^{P^{+}_{+}}\Big)
 -\|f\|_{q'}\|u\|_{q}\\
&\geq\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}\sum_{i=1}^{N}|
  \frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|_{p_{i}(.)}^{P_{-}^{-}}
  -\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}\sum_{\{i:\alpha_{i}=P^{+}_{+}\}}
 \Big(|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|_{p_{i}(.)}^{P^{-}_{-}}\Big)
 -\|f\|_{q'}\|u\|_{q}\\
&\geq\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}
 \sum_{i=1}^{N}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|_{p_{i}(.)}^{P_{-}^{-}}
 -\frac{N}{P_{+}^{+}}-\|f\|_{q'}\|u\|_{q}\\
&\geq \frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}\sum_{i=1}^{N}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
 u|_{p_{i}(.)}^{P_{-}^{-}}-\frac{N}{P_{+}^{+}}-C'\|u\|_{q}\\
&\geq\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}}\Big(\frac{1}{N}
 \sum_{i=1}^{N}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u|_{p_{i}(.)}
 \Big)^{P^{-}_{-}}
 -\frac{N}{P_{+}^{+}}-C'\|u\|_{q}\\
&\geq\frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}
 N^{P_{-}^{-}}}\|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}^{P_{-}^{-}}
 -\frac{N}{P_{+}^{+}}-C'\|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)},
\end{align*}
since $E$ is continuously embedded in $L^{q}(\Omega)$.
As $P_{-}^{-}>1$, then $J$ is coercive. It is obvious that $J$
is bounded from below. By Lemma 3.5, $\Lambda_{i}$ is weakly
lower semi-continuous for $i=1,\dots ,N$. We show that $J$
is weakly lower semi-continuous. Let $(u_{n})\subset E$ be
a sequence which converges weakly to $u$ in $E$.
Since for $i=1,\dots ,N$ $\Lambda_ {i}$ is weakly lower
semi-continuous, we have
\begin{equation} \label{e3.2}
\Lambda_{i}(u)\leq \liminf_{n\to+\infty}\Lambda_{i}(u_{n}).
\end{equation}
On the other hand, $E$ is embedded in $L^{q}(\Omega)$
for $1<q<P_{-,\infty}$. This fact together with relation \eqref{e3.2}
imply
\[
J(u)\leq \liminf_{n\to+\infty}J(u_{n}).
\]
Therefore, $J$ is weakly lower semi-continuous.
The proof  is complete.
\end{proof}

Since $J$ is proper, weakly lower semi-continuous and coercive,
then $J$ has a minimizer which is a weak energy solution
of \eqref{e1.1}. The proof of existence is then complete.

\subsection*{Proof of uniqueness for Theorem \ref{thm3.2}}
Let $u_{1}$, $u_{2}$ be two weak energy solutions of \eqref{e1.1}. Then
\begin{equation} \label{e3.3}
\sum_{i=1}^{N}\int_{\Omega}\Big(a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}
u_{1})-a_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u_{2})\Big).
\big(\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u_{1}
-\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u_{2}\big)dx=0.
\end{equation}
Using \eqref{e1.4} in \eqref{e3.3}, we obtain
\begin{equation} \label{e3.4}
\|u_{1}-u_{2}\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}
=\sum_{i=1}^{N}|\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u_{1}
-\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u_{2}|_{p_{i}(.)}=0.
\end{equation}
 From \eqref{e3.4} it follows that  $u_{1}=u_{2}$.

\section{An extension}

In this section, we show that the existence result obtained
for \eqref{e1.1} can be extended to more general anisotropic
elliptic problem of the form
\begin{equation} \label{e4.1}
\begin{gathered}
-\sum^{N}_{i=1}\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}a_{i}
(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u)=f(x,u) \quad \text{in  }  \Omega\\
u=0 \quad \text{on }\partial \Omega.
\end{gathered}
\end{equation}
We assume that the nonlinearity $f:\Omega\times\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$
is a Carath\'eodory function.
Let
\[
F(x,t)=\int_{0}^{t}f(x,s)ds.
\]
We assume that there exists $C_{1}>0$, $C_{2}>0$ such that
\begin{equation} \label{e4.2}
|f(x,t)|\leq C_{1}+C_{2}|t|^{\beta-1},
\end{equation}
where $1<\beta<P_{-}^{-}$.
We have the following result.

\begin{theorem} \label{thm4.1}
Under assumptions \eqref{e1.2}-\eqref{e1.6} and \eqref{e4.2},
Problem \eqref{e4.1} has at least one weak energy solution.
\end{theorem}

\begin{proof}
Let $ g(u)=\int_{\Omega}F(x,u)dx$, then $g':E\to E^{*}$
is completely continuous; i.e.,
$u_{n}\rightharpoonup u\Rightarrow g'(u_{n})\to g'(u)$,
and thus the functional $g$ is weakly continuous.
Consequently,
\[
J(u)=\sum_{i=1}^{N}\int_{\Omega}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)
dx-\int_{\Omega}F(x,u)dx, \quad u\in E
\]
is such that $J\in C^{1}(E,\mathbb{R})$ and is weakly lower
semi-continuous. We then have to prove that $J$ is bounded from
below and coercive in order to complete the proof. From \eqref{e4.2},
we have $|F(x,t)|\leq C(1+|t|^{\beta})$ and then
\[
J(u)\geq \frac{1}{P_{+}^{+}N^{P_{-}^{-}}}
\|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}^{P_{-}^{-}}
-\frac{N}{P^{+}_{+}}-C\int_{\Omega}|u|^{\beta}dx-C_{3},
\]
for all $u\in E$ such that $\|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}>1$.

We know that $E$ is continuously embedded in $L^{\beta}(\Omega)$.
It follows from inequality above that
\[
J(u)\geq C_{5}\|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}^{P_{-}^{-}}
-\frac{N}{P^{+}_{+}}-C_{4}\|u\|^{\beta}_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}
-C_{3}\to +\infty
\]
 as $\|u\|_{\overrightarrow{p}(.)}\to+\infty$.
Consequently, $J$ is bounded from below and coercive.
The proof is then complete.
\end{proof}

Assume now that $F^{+}(x,t)=\int_{0}^{t}f^{+}(x,s)ds$ is such that
there exists $C_{1}>0$, $C_{2}>0$ such that
\begin{equation} \label{e4.3}
|f^{+}(x,t)|\leq C_{1}+C_{2}|t|^{\beta-1},
\end{equation}
 where $1<\beta<P_{-}^{-}$.
Then we have the following result.

\begin{theorem} \label{thm4.2}
Under assumptions \eqref{e1.2}-\eqref{e1.6} and \eqref{e4.3},
Problem \eqref{e4.1} has at least one weak energy solution.
\end{theorem}

\begin{proof}
As $f=f^{+}-f^{-}$, let $F^{-}(x,t)=\int_{0}^{t}f^{-}(x,s)ds$. Then
 \begin{align*}
I(u)&=\int_{\Omega}\sum_{i=1}^{N}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}} u)dx
+\int_{\Omega}F^{-}(x,u)dx-\int_{\Omega}F^{+}(x,u)dx\\
&\geq \int_{\Omega}\sum_{i=1}^{N}A_{i}(x,\frac{\partial}{\partial x_{i}}u)dx
-\int_{\Omega}F^{+}(x,u)dx.
\end{align*}
Therefore, similarly as in the proof of Theorem 4.1, the conclusion
follows immediately.
\end{proof}

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\end{document}
