Question on optimal regularity for the elliptic Neumann problem

39 Views Asked by At

I 'm reading a paper at the moment and I have a really hard time understanding the following:

Let $U \subset \mathbb R^3$ be open, bounded and connected with a $C^2-$ regular boundary $\partial U$. Consider the following problem:

  • $\Delta u=0$ in $U$
  • $\frac{\partial u}{\partial \nu}=u-f$ on $\partial U$

where $\frac{\partial u}{\partial \nu}$ denotes the directional derivative and $f$ is a function such that $f\in L^2(\partial U)$.

By optimal regularity theory it follows $u \in W^{1-1/2,2}(U)$.

To begin with I never heard before the term "optimal regularity" and after some research I didn't find something clear and useful. I can't understand why the sentence in bold holds and I would really appreciate if somebody could enlighten me.

Moreover, what book do you suggest for studying this type of regularity?

Thanks in advance