On criticality theory for elliptic mixed boundary value problems in divergence form

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the study of positive solutions of a second-order linear elliptic equation in divergence form in a domain [Formula: see text] that satisfy an oblique boundary condition on a portion of [Formula: see text]. First, we study weak solutions for the degenerate mixed boundary value problem [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is a bounded Lipschitz domain, [Formula: see text] is a relatively open portion of [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] is an oblique (Robin) boundary operator defined on [Formula: see text] in a weak sense. In particular, we discuss the unique solvability of the above problem, the existence of a principal eigenvalue, and the existence of a minimal positive Green function. Then we establish a criticality theory for positive weak solutions of the operator [Formula: see text] in a general domain [Formula: see text] with no boundary condition on [Formula: see text] and no growth condition at infinity. The paper extends results obtained by Pinchover and Saadon for classical solutions of such a problem, where stronger regularity assumptions on the coefficients of [Formula: see text], and the boundary [Formula: see text] are assumed.