Revista Matemática Complutense

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13163-019-00320-3

Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and

applications

Kwok-Pun Ho1

Received: 15 January 2019 / Accepted: 7 August 2019

© Universidad Complutense de Madrid 2019

Abstract
This paper gives an extension of the extrapolation theory to Herz spaces with vari-
able exponents. By using this extrapolation theory, we establish the Fefferman–Stein
inequalities, the Rubio de Francia inequalities, the John–Nirenberg inequalities, the
characterizations of BMO and the boundedness of the geometrical maximal operator
on Herz spaces with variable exponents.

Keywords Herz spaces · Variable exponent · Extrapolation · Fefferman–Stein

inequality · Bounded mean oscillation · John–Nirenberg inequality · Rubio de
Francia inequality · Geometrical maximal operator

Mathematics Subject Classification 42B20 · 42B35 · 46E30

1 Introduction

This paper aims to extend the extrapolation theory originated from Rubio de Fran-
cia [40–42] to Herz spaces with variable exponents.
The classical Herz spaces were introduced by Herz [14] to study the Fourier series
and the Fourier transform. The classical Herz spaces are extensions of Lebesgue
spaces. A number of important properties of Lebesgue spaces such as the bound-
edness of singular integral operators, the mapping properties of fractional integral
operators, the complex interpolation and the Hausdorff–Young inequalities had been
extended to Herz spaces [11,13,20,21,31,34]. The Herz spaces are also used to study
the solutions of partial differential equations [38,39]. The reader is referred to [35] for
a detail account of the results for the classical Herz spaces.

B Kwok-Pun Ho
vkpho@eduhk.hk

1 Department of Mathematics and Information Technology, The Education University of Hong Kong,
10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, Hong Kong, China

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 K.-P. Ho

The classical Herz spaces had been generalized to Herz spaces with variable expo-
nents in [1,26,27,44]. The Herz spaces with variable exponents are extensions of the
classical Herz spaces and the Lebesgue spaces with variable exponents. For the studies
of Lebesgue spaces with variable exponents, the reader may consult [6–8,29].
Several important results for Herz spaces with variable exponents such as the
boundedness of the Hardy–Littlewood maximal operators [1,44] and the wavelet char-
acterizations [26,27], are obtained.
In this paper, we are going to extend some other important results from harmonic
analysis to Herz spaces with variable exponents. Our results are obtained by using the
extrapolation theory.
The extrapolation theory was developed by Rubio de Francia. It is a powerful
method which does not only apply to the boundedness of linear operators, it also
applies to nonlinear operators and even inequalities that does not involve operators
such as the John–Nirenberg inequalities [16,18,19].
In this paper, we extend the extrapolation theory to Herz spaces with variable
exponents. As applications of this extrapolation theory, we obtain the Fefferman–Stein
inequalities, the Rubio de Francia inequalities, the John–Nirenberg inequalities, the
characterizations of BMO and the boundedness of the geometrical maximal operator
on Herz spaces with variable exponents.
This paper is organized as follows. The definition and some basic properties of
Herz spaces with variable exponents are presented in Sect. 2. In particular, the bound-
edness of the Hardy–Littlewood maximal operator [1] is recalled, the dual space of
Herz spaces with variable exponents and the norm conjugate formula are obtained in
Sect. 2. By using the boundedness of maximal operator and duality of the Herz spaces
with variable exponents, we establish the extrapolation theory for Herz spaces with
variable exponents in Sect. 3. The applications of the extrapolation theory, namely, the
Fefferman–Stein inequalities, the Rubio de Francia inequalities, the John–Nirenberg
inequalities, the characterizations of BMO and the boundedness of the geometrical
maximal operator on Herz spaces with variable exponents are given in Sect. 4.

2 Herz spaces with variable exponents

This section presents the definitions of Herz spaces with variable exponents. Moreover,
a number of important properties for Herz spaces with variable exponents such as
the boundedness of Hardy–Littlewood maximal operator, the duality and the norm
conjugate formula, are given in this section. They are essential components to establish
the extrapolation theory for Herz spaces with variable exponents.
Let M and L loc
1 denote the space of Lebesgue measurable functions and the space

of locally integrable functions on Rn , respectively.

For any x ∈ Rn and r > 0, define B(x, r ) = {y ∈ Rn : |x − y| < r } and
B = {B(x, r ) : x ∈ Rn , r > 0}.
We recall the definition of Lebesgue spaces with variable exponents and the class
of globally log-Hölder continuous functions in the followings.

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Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

Definition 2.1 Let p(·) : Rn → (0, ∞] be a Lebesgue measurable function. The

Lebesgue space with variable exponent L p(·) (Rn ) consists of all f ∈ M satisfying
 
 f  L p(·) (Rn ) = inf λ > 0 : ρ p(·) ( f /λ) ≤ 1 < ∞

where Rn∞ = {x ∈ Rn : p(x) = ∞} and


ρ p(·) ( f ) = | f (x)| p(x) d x + ess sup | f (x)|.
Rn \Rn∞ Rn∞

We call p(x) the exponent function of L p(·) (Rn ).

The Lebesgue space with variable exponent is a Banach space when 1 ≤ p(x) ≤ ∞
(see [29, Theorem 2.5]). Moreover, L p(·) (Rn ) is a Banach function space, see [8,
Theorem 3.2.13]. For the definition of Banach function space, the reader is referred
to [8, Definition 2.7.7].
The associate space of L p(·) (Rn ) is given in [8, Theorem 3.2.13].

Theorem 2.1 If 1 < p(x) < ∞, then the associate space of L p(·) (Rn ) is L p (·) (Rn )
where p  satisfies p(x)
1
+ p1(x) = 1.
We call p  (x) the conjugate function of p(x). Whenever supx∈Rn p(x) < ∞, the dual
space of L p(·) (Rn ) equals to the associate space of L p(·) (Rn ), see [8, Theorem 3.4.6].
The following gives the conditions on the exponent function of the Lebesgue
space with variable exponent L p(·) (Rn ) that guarantee the boundedness of the Hardy–
Littlewood maximal operator on L p(·) (Rn ).
Definition 2.2 A continuous function g on Rn is log-Hölder continuous at the origin
when
c0
|g(x) − g(0)| ≤ , ∀x ∈ Rn (2.1)
log(e + 1/|x|)
log
for some c0 > 0. We write g ∈ C0 (Rn ) if g is log-Hölder continuous at the origin.
A continuous function g on Rn is locally log-Hölder continuous if there exists
clog > 0 such that

clog
|g(x) − g(y)| ≤ , ∀x, y ∈ Rn . (2.2)
log(e + 1/|x − y|)
log
We denote the class of locally log-Hölder continuous function by Cloc (Rn ).
Furthermore, a continuous function is globally log-Hölder continuous if g ∈
log
Cloc (Rn ) and there exist g∞ ∈ R and c∞ > 0 such that

c∞
|g(x) − g∞ | ≤ , ∀x ∈ Rn . (2.3)
log(e + |x|)

The class of globally log-Hölder continuous function is denoted by C log (Rn ).

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 K.-P. Ho

Notice that we have (g  )∞ = (g∞ ) . Therefore, we write g∞

 = (g  ) .
∞
For any Lebesgue measurable function p(x) : R → (−∞, ∞], define p− =
n

inf x∈Rn p(x) and p+ = supx∈Rn p(x).

Whenever p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ), the Hardy–Littlewood maximal operator is bounded
on L p(·) (Rn ).

Theorem 2.2 If p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) and 1 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞, then the Hardy–Littlewood
maximal operator

1
(M f )(x) = sup | f (y)|dy
r >0 |B(x, r )| B(x,r )

is bounded on L p(·) (Rn ).

For the proof of the above theorem, the reader is referred to [4,7,36] and [8, Theorem
4.3.8].
We now recall the definition of Herz spaces with variable exponents from [1, Def-
inition 3.1]. Let

Bk = B(0, 2k ), Rk = Bk \Bk−1 , χk = χ Rk , k ∈ Z.

Definition 2.3 Let 0 < q ≤ ∞, p(·) : Rn → (0, ∞) be a Lebesgue measurable

function and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ). The inhomogeneous Herz space with variable exponent
α(·)
K p(·),q consists of all f ∈ M satisfying
 
 f  K α(·) =  f χ B0  L p(·) (Rn ) + {2kα(·) f χk  L p(·) (Rn ) }∞ 
k=1 l < ∞.
p(·),q q

α(·)
The homogeneous Herz space with variable exponent K̇ p(·),q consists of all f ∈ M
satisfying
 
 f  K̇ α(·) = {2kα(·) f χk  L p(·) (Rn ) }∞ 
k=−∞ l < ∞.
p(·),q q

Whenever p(·) ≡ p and α(·) ≡ α are constant functions, the Herz spaces with
α(·) α(·)
variable exponents K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q reduce to the classical Herz spaces K αp,q and
K̇ αp,q studied in [35].
The reader is reminded that there are two versions of Herz spaces with variable
exponents given in [1,44]. For brevity, we just consider the Herz spaces with variable
exponents defined in Definition 2.3. On the other hand, our method and idea also apply
to the Herz spaces with variable exponents introduced in [44].
In addition, the above family of Herz spaces with variable exponents had been
generalized in [28] with the constant q replaced by a variable exponent function
α(·),q(·)
q(·), K p(·) . When q(·) is log-Hölder continuous, the Herz spaces with variable
α(·),q(·)
exponents studied in [28] K p(·) become the inhomogeneous Herz spaces with

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Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

variable exponents defined in Definition 2.3, see [9, Proposition 1]. Therefore, for
α(·) α(·)
simplicity, we consider K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q in this paper and the results obtained in
α(·),q(·)
this paper applied to K p(·) when q(·) is log-Hölder continuous.
For any B ∈ B, we have χ B ∈ L p(·) (Rn ), therefore, according to the definition of
K p(·),q , we see that χ B ∈ K α(·)
α(·)
p(·),q , ∀B ∈ B.
α(·) α(·)
For K̇ p(·),q , whenever α− > 0, we have χ B ∈ K̇ p(·),q because

q

0 
min(L,1)
χ B  α(·) ≤ (2 kα−
χ B  L p(·) (Rn ) ) +q
(2kα+ χ B  L p(·) (Rn ) )q < ∞
K̇ p(·),q
k=−∞ k=1

where B = B(x, r ) and L ∈ N satisfies 2 L−1 ≤ r + |x| < 2 L .

We now state an important characterization for the Herz spaces with variable expo-
α(·) α(·)
nents K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q given in [1]. Let

{gk }∞
k=0 l>
q
∞
(L p(·) (Rn )) = {gk  L p(·) (Rn ) }k=0 lq ,
{gk }−1 −1
k=−∞ l< (L p(·) (Rn )) = {gk  L p(·) (Rn ) }k=−∞ lq .
q

Proposition 2.3 Let 0 < q ≤ ∞, p(·) : Rn → [1, ∞) be a Lebesgue measurable

function and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ).
(1) If α(·) satisfies (2.3), then

K α(·) α∞
p(·),q = K p(·),q (R ).
n

(2) If α(·) satisfies (2.1) and (2.3), then

 f  K̇ α(·) ≈ {2kα(0) f χk }−1

k=−∞ l< (L p(·) (Rn )) + {2
q
kα∞
f χk } ∞
k=0 l>
q
(L p(·) (Rn )) .
p(·),q

The reader is referred to [1, Proposition 3.8] for the proof of the preceding propo-
sition.
When p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 1 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞, the above proposition also gives
α(·)
a relaxed condition for the belonging χ B ∈ K̇ p(·),q where B ∈ B. Whenever

n
+ α(0) > 0, (2.4)
p(0)

Item (2) of Proposition 2.3 and [8, Corollary 4.5.9] show that for any B = B(x, r ) ∈ B,

q

0 
min(L,1)
χ B  α(·) ≤ (2kα(0) χ B∩Bk  L p(·) (Rn ) )q + (2kα∞ χ B∩Bk  L p(·) (Rn ) )q
K̇ p(·),q
k=−∞ k=1
−1
 
min(L,1)
n
k
≤C (2kα(0) 2 p(0) )q + (2kα∞ χ B  L p(·) (Rn ) )q < ∞
k=−∞ k=0

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 K.-P. Ho

α(·)
where L ∈ N satisfies 2 L−1 ≤ r + |x| < 2 L . Thus, χ B ∈ K̇ p(·),q .
Most importantly, we have the boundedness of the Hardy–Littlewood maximal
α(·) α(·)
operator on the Herz spaces with variable exponents K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q .
Theorem 2.4 Let 0 < q ≤ ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 1 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and
α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ).
(1) If α(·) satisfies (2.3) and
n n
− < α∞ <  , (2.5)
p∞ p∞

α(·)
then M is bounded on K p(·),q .
(2) If α(·) satisfies (2.1), (2.3) and
 
n 1
− < α− ≤ α+ < n 1 − , (2.6)
p+ p−

then M is bounded on K̇ α(·)

p(·),q .
For the proof of Theorem 2.4, the reader may consult [1, Theorem 4.2 and Corollary
4.7].
The reader is reminded again that in [44], there exists another family of Herz
spaces associated with Lebesgue spaces with variable exponent. The boundedness of
the maximal operator on this family of Herz spaces is also obtained in [44].
Notice that when p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 1 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) ∩
log
C0 (Rn ) satisfying (2.3) and (2.6), we have

n n
+ α(0) ≥ + α− > 0.
p(0) p+

Therefore, (2.4) is fulfilled and, hence, χ B ∈ K̇ α(·)

p(·),q , ∀B ∈ B.
α(·) α(·)
Next, we study the r -convexification of K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q . The reader is referred
to [30, Definition 1.a.1] for the definition of Banach lattice. For any 0 < r < ∞ and
Banach lattice X , the r -convexification of X , X r is defined by

X r = { f : | f |r ∈ X }.
1/r
We equip X r with the quasi-norm  f  X r = | f |r  X . For further details of the
p-convexification, the reader is referred to [30, Volumn II, pp. 53–54] for the case
1 ≤ r < ∞ and [37, Section 2.2] for the general case. Notice that in [37], the
r -convexification of X is the r1 th power of X .
α(·) α(·)
It is easy to see that L p(·) (Rn ), K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q are Banach lattices. For any
0 < r < ∞, we have (L p(·) (Rn ))r = L r p(·) (Rn ). Consequently,

α(·) α(·)/r α(·) α(·)/r

(K p(·),q )r = K r p(·),rq and ( K̇ p(·),q )r = K̇ r p(·),rq . (2.7)

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Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

α(·) α(·)
Finally, we study the dual spaces of K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q . We use the ideas in [35,
Theorem 1.2.1 and Corollary 1.2.1] to identify the dual spaces of Herz spaces with
variable exponents.
Let 0 < q < ∞, α0 , α1 ∈ R and Ȧ = {A j }∞ j=−∞ be a family of Banach spaces. The
α0 ,α1 ∞
quasi-Banach space lq (Ȧ) consists of all a = {a j }∞
j=−∞ ∈ j=−∞ A j satisfying

⎛ ⎞1/q
−1
 ∞

alqα0 ,α1 (Ȧ) = ⎝ (2 jα0 a j  A j )q + (2 jα1 a j  A j )q ⎠ < ∞.
j=−∞ j=0

Let 0 < q < ∞, α ∈ R and A = {A j }∞ j=0 be a family of Banach spaces. The

α ∞
∞
quasi-Banach space lq (A) consists of all a = {a j } j=0 ∈ j=0 A j satisfying

⎛ ⎞1/q
∞

alqα (A) = ⎝ (2 jα a j  A j )q ⎠ < ∞.
j=0

α(·)
In view of the characterization of K̇ p(·),q given in Item (2) of Proposition 2.3, the
quasi-Banach space lqα0 ,α1 (Ȧ) is introduced to study the dual spaces of K̇ α(·)
p(·),q .
 q
For any 0 < q < ∞, write q = q−1 when 1 < q < ∞ and q = ∞ when 

0 < q ≤ 1.

Theorem 2.5 Let 0 < q < ∞, α0 , α1 ∈ R and Ȧ = {A j }∞

j=−∞ be a family of Banach
spaces. We have

(lqα0 ,α1 (Ȧ))∗ = lq−α


0 ,−α1
(Ȧ∗ )

where Ȧ∗ = {A∗j }∞

j=−∞ .

The proof of the above theorem is similar to the proof of [35, Theorem 1.2.1], therefore,
for brevity, we skip the details and leave them to the reader. In addition, [35, Theorem
1.2.1] also gives

(lqα (A))∗ = lq−α ∗

 (A ) (2.8)

where A∗ = {A∗j }∞
j=0 .

Theorem 2.6 Let 0 < q < ∞ and p(·) : Rn → (1, ∞) be a Lebesgue measurable
function and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ).
(1) If α(·) satisfies (2.3), then

α(·) −α(·)
(K p(·),q )∗ = K p (·),q  .

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 K.-P. Ho

(2) If α(·) satisfies (2.1) and (2.3), then

α(·) −α(·)
( K̇ p(·),q )∗ = K̇ p (·),q  .

Proof According to Proposition 2.3, we have

α(·)
K p(·),q = K αp(·),q
∞
(Rn ).

Since 0 < q  ≤ ∞, p  (·) : Rn → (1, ∞) and −α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ). We also have

−α(·)
K p (·),q  = K −α
p  (·),q  .
∞
(2.9)


Let A0 = L p(·) (B0 ) and Ak = L p(·) (Rk ), k ≥ 1. We have (A0 )∗ = L p (·) (B0 ) and

(Ak )∗ = L p (·) (Rk ), k ≥ 1. Therefore,
α(·)
K p(·),q = lqα∞ ({L p(·) (Rk )}∞
k=0 ).

Hence, (2.8) and (2.9) give

α(·)  −α(·)
(K p(·),q )∗ = lq−α

∞
({L p (·) (Rk )}∞ −α∞
k=0 ) = K p  (·),q  = K p  (·),q  .

Next, Proposition 2.3 assures that

α(·)
K̇ p(·),q = lqα(0),α∞ ({L p(·) (Rk )}∞
k=−∞ ),
−α(·) −α(0),−α∞ 
K̇ p (·),q  = lq  ({L p (·) (Rk )}∞
k=−∞ ).

Consequently, Theorem 2.5 yields

α(·)
( K̇ p(·),q )∗ = (lqα(0),α∞ ({L p(·) (Rk )}∞
k=−∞ ))
∗

−α(0),−α∞  −α(·)
= lq  ({L p (·) (Rk )}∞
k=−∞ ) = K̇ p  (·),q  .



−α(·)
Theorem 2.5, (2.8) and Theorem 2.6 assure that for any g ∈ K p (·),q  ,

Tg ( f ) = f (x)g(x)d x
Rn

α(·) α(·) −α(·)

belongs to (K p(·),q )∗ . Moreover, for any T ∈ (K p(·),q )∗ , there exists a g ∈ K p (·),q 
α(·) −α(·)
such that T = Tg . We also have the corresponding results for K̇ p(·),q and K̇ p (·),q  .
Theorem 2.6 yields the Hölder inequality for the Herz spaces with variable expo-
nents.

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Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

Corollary 2.7 Let 0 < q < ∞ and p : Rn → (1, ∞) be a Lebesgue measurable

function and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ).
(1) If α(·) satisfies (2.3), then

| f (x)g(x)|d x ≤  f  K α(·) g K −α(·) .
Rn p(·),q p (·),q 

(2) If α(·) satisfies (2.1) and (2.3), then


| f (x)g(x)|d x ≤  f  K̇ α(·) g K̇ −α(·) .
Rn p(·),q p (·),q 

Theorem 2.6 also gives the following result.

Corollary 2.8 Let 1 < q < ∞ and p : Rn → (1, ∞) be a Lebesgue measurable
function and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ).
(1) If α(·) satisfies (2.3), then
 
 
 f  K α(·) = sup  f (x)g(x)d x  . (2.10)

p(·),q g −α(·) ≤1 Rn
K 
p (·),q 

(2) If α(·) satisfies (2.1) and (2.3), then

 
 
 f  K̇ α(·) = sup  f (x)g(x)d x  . (2.11)

p(·),q g −α(·) ≤1 Rn
K̇ 
p (·),q 

We have the above results because when 1 < q < ∞ and p : Rn → (1, ∞),
Theorem 2.6 yields
−α(·) α(·)
(K p (·),q  )∗ = K p(·),q .

Therefore, (2.10) follows from the definition of dual space. Similarly, we also have
(2.11).
Whenever p(·) = p and α(·) = α are constant functions, Theorem 2.6, Corol-
lary 2.8 and Corollary 2.7 become the duality, the norm conjugate formula and the
Hölder inequality on the classical Herz spaces K αp,q and K̇ αp,q in [35].
We present the following lemma which is used in the characterizations of BMO by
α(·) α(·)
K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q .

Lemma 2.9 Let 1 < q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 1 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and
α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) satisfying (2.3).
(1) If α(·) satisfies (2.5), then there is a constant C > 0 such that for any B ∈ B

χ B  K α(·) χ B  K −α(·) ≤ C|B|.

p(·),q p (·),q 

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 K.-P. Ho

(2) If α(·) satisfies (2.1) and (2.6), then there is a constant C > 0 such that for any
B∈B

χ B  K̇ α(·) χ B  K̇ −α(·) ≤ C|B|.

p(·),q p (·),q 

α(·) −α(·)
Proof For Item (1), it is easy to see that χ B ∈ K p(·),q ∩ K p (·),q  , ∀B ∈ B.
For Item (2), as p(·) and α(·) satisfy (2.6), we have χ B ∈ K̇ α(·)
p(·),q . Moreover, since
(−α(·))− = −α+ and ( p  (·))+ = ( p− ) , (2.6) gives

n n
− =− < −α+ = (−α(·))− .
( p  (·))+ ( p − )

That is, p  (·) and −α(·) also fulfill

n n
+ (−α(0)) >  + (−α(·))− > 0.
p  (0) ( p (·))+

As p  (·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 1 < p−  ≤ p  < ∞ and −α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) ∩ C (Rn ) log
+ 0
−α(·)
satisfying (2.3), we have χ B ∈ K̇ p (·),q  , ∀B ∈ B. Consequently, for any B ∈ B,
χ B  K α(·) , χ B  K −α(·) , χ B  K̇ α(·) and χ B  K̇ −α(·) are well defined.
p(·),q p (·),q  p(·),q p (·),q 
For any g ∈ 1
L loc and B ∈ B, define
  
1
PB g(y) = g(x)d x χ B (y), y ∈ Rn .
|B| B

We have a constant C > 0 independent of B ∈ B such that for any g ∈ L loc

1 and

B ∈ B,

|PB g| ≤ C M(g) (2.12)

because the uncentered Hardy–Littlewood maximal operator is dominated by M. Since

−α(·) −α(·) α(·)
χ B ∈ K p (·),q  and χ B ∈ K̇ p (·),q  , by using Corollary 2.7, we have K p(·),q → L loc
1
α(·) α(·) α(·)
and K̇ p(·),q → L loc
1 . Therefore, (2.12) is valid for any g ∈ K
p(·),q ∪ K̇ p(·),q .
α(·) α(·)
As the Hardy–Littlewood maximal operator is bounded on K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q , we
find that

sup PB  K α(·) α(·) ≤ C M  K α(·) α(·) ,

B∈B p(·),q →K p(·),q p(·),q →K p(·),q

sup PB  K̇ α(·) α(·) ≤ C M  K̇ α(·) α(·) .

B∈B p(·),q → K̇ p(·),q p(·),q → K̇ p(·),q

Consequently, Corollary 2.8 yields

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Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

  
 
χ B  K α(·) χ B  K −α(·) = sup  g(x)d x  χ B  K α(·) : g ∈ K α(·)

p(·),q , g α(·)
K p(·),q
≤1
p(·),q p  (·),q  B p(·),q

≤ |B|PB  K α(·) α(·) ≤ C|B|

p(·),q →K p(·),q

and
  
  α(·)
χ B  K̇ α(·) χ B  K̇ −α(·) = sup  g(x)d x  χ B  K̇ α(·) : g ∈ K̇ p(·),q , g K̇ α(·) ≤1
p(·),q p  (·),q  p(·),q
B p(·),q

≤ |B|PB  K̇ α(·) α(·) ≤ C|B|

p(·),q → K̇ p(·),q

for some C > 0. 



3 Extrapolation

This section gives the extrapolation theory for Herz spaces with variable exponents
K α(·) α(·)
p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q . In order to state the extrapolation theory for Herz spaces with vari-
able exponents, we need the Muckenhoupt classes of weight functions. Even though
the definitions of these families of weight functions are well known, for completeness,
we recall the definition of A p weight because it is one of the essential components for
the extrapolation theory.

Definition 3.1 For 1 < p < ∞, a locally integrable function ω : Rn → [0, ∞) is said
to be an A p weight if

    
 p
1 1 − pp p
[ω] A p = sup ω(x)d x ω(x) dx <∞
B∈B |B| B |B| B

where p  = p
p−1 . A locally integrable function ω : Rn → [0, ∞) is said to be an A1
weight if

1
ω(y)dy ≤ Cω(x), a.e. x ∈ B
|B| B

for some constants C > 0. The infimum of all such C is denoted by [ω] A1 . We define
A∞ = ∪ p≥1 A p .

For any Lebesgue measurable set E and ω ∈ A∞ , write ω(E) = E ω(x)d x.
Let F denote a family of pairs ( f , g) of non-negative, Lebesgue measurable functions
that are not identically zero. Given such a family F, p0 > 0, 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞ and ω ∈ A p ,
if we say that
 
f (x) p0 ω(x)d x ≤ C g(x) p0 ω(x)d x, ( f , g) ∈ F,
Rn Rn

123
 K.-P. Ho

then we mean that this inequality holds for all pairs ( f , g) ∈ F such that the left-hand
side is finite, and that the constant C depends only on p and [ω] A p .
We now present the extrapolation theory for K α(·) α(·)
p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q .

Theorem 3.1 Let 0 < p0 , q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 0 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and
α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) satisfying (2.3).
Let f , g ∈ M(Rn ). Suppose that for every ω ∈ A1 , we have
 
f (x) p0 ω(x)d x ≤ C g(x) p0 ω(x)d x, ( f , g) ∈ F (3.1)
Rn Rn

where C is independent of f , g and p0 .

(1) If there exists a q0 satisfying p0 ≤ q0 < min( p− , q) and
 
n 1 1
− < α∞ < n − , (3.2)
p∞ q0 p∞

then

 f  K α(·) ≤ Cg K α(·) , ( f , g) ∈ F. (3.3)

p(·),q p(·),q

Moreover, for every λ, 1 < λ < ∞, and ( f i , gi ) ∈ F, i ∈ N, satisfying (3.1), we

have
  1/λ    1/λ 
   
 | f i |λ  α(·)
≤ C |gi |λ  α(·)
(3.4)
K p(·),q K p(·),q
i∈N i∈N

for some C > 0.

log
(2) If α(·) ∈ C0 (Rn ) and there exists a q0 satisfying p0 ≤ q0 < min( p− , q) and
 
n 1 1
− < α− ≤ α+ < n − , (3.5)
p+ q0 p−

then

 f  K̇ α(·) ≤ Cg K̇ α(·) , ( f , g) ∈ F. (3.6)

p(·),q p(·),q

Moreover, for every λ, 1 < λ < ∞, and ( f i , gi ) ∈ F, i ∈ N, satisfying (3.1), we

have
  1/λ    1/λ 
   
 | f i |λ  α(·)
≤ C |gi |λ  α(·)
(3.7)
K̇ p(·),q K̇ p(·),q
i∈N i∈N

for some C > 0.

123
Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

Proof We just present the proof for Item (1) as the proof of Item (2) follows similarly.
Since | f | K α(·) =  f  K α(·) , we can assume that f and g are non-negative. Fur-
p(·),q p(·),q
thermore, it suffices to prove (3.3) as the proof of (3.4) follows accordingly, see [5,
Corollary 3.12].
We use the Rubio de Francia iteration algorithm. Write

β(·) = −q0 α(·) and P(·) = ( p(·)/q0 ) .

We have β(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) with β∞ = −q0 α∞ . As α(·) satisfies (2.3), β(·) also
satisfies (2.3). Moreover, since q0 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞, we find that P(·) ∈ C log (Rn )
with 1 < P− ≤ P+ < ∞ and P∞ = ( p∞ /q0 ) .
Therefore, (3.2) yields
 
q0 nq0
−n 1 − < −q0 α∞ < .
p∞ p∞

Since
 
n n q0 n n nq0
− =− = −n 1 − and = = ,
P∞ ( p∞ /q0 ) p∞ P∞ p∞ /q0 p∞

we have
n n
− < β∞ <  .
P∞ P∞

Theorem 2.4 assures that the Hardy–Littlewood maximal operator M is bounded

−q0 α(·)
on K ( p(·)/q 
0 ) ,(q/q0 )
.
For any nonnegative Lebesgue measurable function h, define
∞
 Mk h(x)
Rh(x) =
k=0
2k  M k −q α(·)
0
K ( p(·)/q 
0 ) ,(q/q0 )

−q α(·)
where  M  −q α(·)
0
0
denotes the operator norm of M on K ( p(·)/q 
0 ) ,(q/q0 )
.
K ( p(·)/q 
0 ) ,(q/q0 )
We have the following properties for R
h(x) ≤ Rh(x), (3.8)
Rh −q0 α(·) ≤ 2h −q0 α(·) , (3.9)
K ( p(·)/q   K ( p(·)/q  
0 ) ,(q/q0 ) 0 ) ,(q/q0 )
[Rh] A1 ≤ 2 M  −q α(·)
0 . (3.10)
K ( p(·)/q 
0 ) ,(q/q0 )

−q α(·)
 , R is well defined and (3.8) follows from the
0
As M is bounded on K ( p(·)/q 
0 ) ,(q/q0 )
definition of R. The properties (3.9) and (3.10) are consequences of the boundedness
−q0 α(·)
of M on K ( p(·)/q 
0 ) ,(q/q0 )
 and the definition of A 1 .

123
 K.-P. Ho

The extrapolation theory for Lebesgue spaces [5, Corollary 3.14] guarantees that
for any ω ∈ A1 ,
 
f (x)q0 ω(x)d x ≤ C g(x)q0 ω(x)d x. (3.11)
Rn Rn

Since q0 < min( p− , q), Corollary 2.8 asserts that

q0
f α(·) =  f q0  q0 α(·)
K p(·),q K p(·)/q ,q/q
 
0 0

≤ sup f (x)q0 h(x)d x : h ≥ 0, h −q α(·)

0 ≤1 (3.12)
K ( p(·)/q  
Rn 0 ) ,(q/q0 )

−q α(·)
because f ≥ 0 and |g| −q α(·)
0 = g −q α(·)
0 , ∀g ∈ K ( p(·)/q
0

0 ) ,(q/q0 )
.
K ( p(·)/q   K ( p(·)/q  
0 ) ,(q/q0 ) 0 ) ,(q/q0 )
−q α(·)
For any non-negative h ∈ K ( p(·)/q
0

0 ) ,(q/q0 )
 with h −q0 α(·)
K
≤ 1, Corol-
( p(·)/q0 ) ,(q/q0 )
lary 2.7, (2.7), (3.8) and (3.9) assure that
 
f (x)q0 h(x)d x ≤ f (x)q0 Rh(x)d x
Rn Rn
≤ 2 f q0  q α(·)
0 h −q α(·)
0 < ∞.
K p(·)/q K ( p(·)/q 
0 ,q/q0 0 ) ,(q/q0 )

As a result of (3.10), Rh ∈ A1 . By applying ω = Rh on (3.11) and using (3.8),

we find that
  
f (x)q0 h(x)d x ≤ f (x)q0 Rh(x)d x ≤ C g(x)q0 Rh(x)d x.
Rn Rn Rn

Corollary 2.7, (2.7) and (3.9) yield that


f (x)q0 h(x)d x ≤ Cg q0  q α(·)
0 Rh −q α(·)
0
K p(·)/q K ( p(·)/q 
Rn 0 ,q/q0 0 ) ,(q/q0 )

≤ Cg K α(·) h −q α(·)

0
p(·),q K ( p(·)/q 
0 ) ,(q/q0 )
q0
≤ Cg α(·)
K p(·),q

−q α(·)
for some C > 0. By taking supremum over those h ∈ K ( p(·)/q 0

0 ) ,(q/q0 )
 with
h −q0 α(·) ≤ 1, Corollary 2.8, (2.7) and (3.12) give (3.3). 

K ( p(·)/q  
0 ) ,(q/q0 )

The extrapolation theory had also been extended to Morrey spaces, mixed norm
spaces and ball Banach function spaces [17–19,45].

123
Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

4 Applications

This section gives applications of the extrapolation theory for Herz spaces with variable
exponents.
We extend the Fefferman–Stein inequality, the John–Nirenberg inequality and the
α(·) α(·)
Rubio de Francia inequalities to K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q . Furthermore, we also establish the
characterizations of BMO and the boundedness of the geometrical maximal operator
α(·) α(·)
on K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q .

4.1 Fefferman–Stein inequality

The first application of the extrapolation theory for Herz spaces with variable exponents
is on the sharp maximal operator. It is defined as

1
M f (x) = sup | f (y) − f B |dy
xB |B| B

where the supremum is taken over all B ∈ B containing x and f B = |B| 1
B f (y)dy.
The celebrated Fefferman–Stein inequality [10] states that for any 0 < p < ∞ and
ω ∈ A∞ , we have
 
| M f (x)| ω(x)d x ≤ C
p
| M f (x)| p ω(x)d x. (4.1)
Rn Rn

Let L ∞
c denote the set of bounded function with compact support.
Theorem 4.1 Let 1 < r < ∞, 0 < q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 0 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞
and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) satisfying (2.3).
(1) If − pn∞ < α∞ , then there is a constant C > 0 such that for any { f i } ⊂ L ∞
c , we
have
  1/r    1/r 
   
 | M f i |r  α(·) ≤ C  | M f i |r  α(·) . (4.2)
K p(·),q K p(·),q
i i

log
(2) If α(·) ∈ C0 (Rn ) and − pn+ < α− , then there is a constant C > 0 such that for
any { f i } ⊂ L ∞
c , we have
  1/r    1/r 
   
 | M f i |r  α(·)
≤ C | M f i |r  α(·)
. (4.3)
K̇ p(·),q K̇ p(·),q
i i

Proof Since − pn∞ < α∞ , we can select a q0 satisfying 0 < q0 < min( p− , q) and
(3.2). Moreover, (4.1) is valid for q0 , therefore, we are allowed to apply Theorem 3.1
and F = {(M f , M f ) : f ∈ L ∞ c } to establish (4.2). The proof for (4.3) follows
similarly. 

For the Fefferman–Stein inequality on Morrey spaces, the reader is referred to [18].

123
 K.-P. Ho

4.2 Rubio de Francia inequalities

We establish the Rubio de Francia inequalities on Herz spaces with variable exponents
in this section. Roughly speaking, the Rubio de Francia inequalities give the bound-
edness of the Littlewood-Paley operators with arbitrary family of disjoint intervals.
In this section, we first establish a general result for sublinear operators on Herz
spaces with variable exponents and the Rubio de Francia inequalities are consequences
of this general result.
We begin with the denseness of smooth functions with compact support Cc∞ on
α(·) α(·)
K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q .
Proposition 4.2 Let 0 < q < ∞, p(·) : Rn → [1, ∞) be a Lebesgue measurable
function with 1 ≤ p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ). The set of smooth functions
with compact support Cc∞ is dense on K α(·) α(·)
p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q , respectively.
α(·) α(·)
Proof We present the proof for K̇ p(·),q only since the proof for K p(·),q follows similarly.
q̃
Write q̃ = min(1, q). Therefore,  ·  α(·) satisfies the triangle inequality. Accord-
K̇ p(·),q
α(·)
ing to the definition of K̇ p(·),q , for any
> 0, there exists a M ∈ N such that

 f − f χ D M  K̇ α(·) ≤
(4.4)
p(·),q

where D M = B M \B−M . In view of the denseness of Cc∞ on L p(·) (Rn ) [8, Theorem
3.4.12], there exists {g j } M ∞
j=−M ⊂ C c with suppg j ⊆ R j , | j| ≤ M such that

 f χ R j − g j  L p(·) (Rn ) ≤ 2−| j|

.
M
Write g = j=−M g j . We have g ∈ Cc∞ . Consequently,

q̃ q̃ q̃
 f − g α(·) ≤  f − f χ DM  α(·) +  f χ D M − g α(·)
K̇ p(·),q K̇ p(·),q K̇ p(·),q
⎛ ⎞q̃/q

M
≤
q̃ + ⎝  f χ R j − g j  L p(·) (Rn ) ⎠
q

j=−M

≤ C
q̃

α(·)
for some C > 0 independent of
> 0. Therefore, Cc∞ is dense in K̇ p(·),q . 

We now use the denseness of Cc∞ and the extrapolation theory for Herz spaces with
α(·)
variable exponents to study the boundedness of sublinear operators on K p(·),q and
K̇ α(·)
p(·),q . Let V be a vector space. We say that an operator T : V → M is a sublinear
operator if for any f , g ∈ V and k ∈ C,

T ( f + g) ≤ T ( f ) + T (g) and T (k f ) = |k||T ( f )|. (4.5)

123
Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

Theorem 4.3 Let 0 < p0 , q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 1 ≤ p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and
α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) satisfying (2.3).
Let T be a sublinear operator such that for every ω ∈ A1 , we have
 
|T f (x)| ω(x)d x ≤ C
p0
| f (x)| p0 ω(x)d x, ∀ f ∈ Cc∞ (4.6)
Rn Rn

where C is independent of f , g and p0 .

(1) If there exists a q0 satisfying p0 ≤ q0 < min( p− , q) and (3.2), then T can be
α(·)
extended to be a bounded operator on K p(·),q .
log
(2) If α(·) ∈ C0 (Rn ) and there exists a q0 satisfying p0 ≤ q0 < min( p− , q) and
(3.5), then T can be extended to be a bounded operator on K̇ α(·)
p(·),q .

Proof By using Theorem 3.1, we have a constant C > 0 such that for any f ∈ Cc∞ ,

T f  K α(·) ≤ C f  K α(·) .
p(·),q p(·),q

Since T is a sublinear operator, we have |T ( f ) − T (g)| ≤ |T ( f − g)| and, hence,

for any f , g ∈ Cc∞ , we have

T ( f ) − T (g) K α(·) ≤ T ( f − g) K α(·) ≤ C f − g K α(·) .

p(·),q p(·),q p(·),q

α(·)
Since Cc∞ is dense in K p(·),q , the above inequalities guarantee that T can be extended
to be a bounded operator on K α(·)
p(·),q .
α(·)
The proof for K̇ p(·),q follows similarly, for brevity, we leave the details to the reader.



The above theorem gives a complementary result for the boundedness of sublinear
operators on Herz spaces with variable exponents obtained in [27]. For the studies
of sublinear operators on Hardy spaces, Herz-Hardy spaces, Triebel–Lizorkin spaces,
Morrey spaces and block spaces, the reader is referred to [22–25,31–33,47,49]. The
reader is reminded that the definitions of sublinear operators on Hardy spaces, Herz-
Hardy spaces and Triebel–Lizorkin spaces may be different from (4.5).
We now recall the weighted Rubio de Francia inequalities from [43].
For any interval I ∈ R, define S I f by (S I f )∧ = fˆχ I where fˆ is the Fourier
transform of f . For any sequence of disjoint intervals I = {Ik }k∈N , define

 1
 2
I f = |S Ik f | 2
.
k∈N

It is easy to see that I f is well defined for f ∈ Cc∞ and I is a sublinear operator.

123
 K.-P. Ho

Theorem 4.4 Let 2 < p < ∞ and I be a family of disjoint intervals in R. For any
ω ∈ A p/2 , there is a constant C > 0 such that
 
|I f (x)| p ω(x)d x ≤ | f (x)| p ω(x)d x.
R R

The reader is referred to [43, Theorem 6.1] for the proof of the preceding result.
Theorem 4.5 Let 0 < q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (R) with 2 < min( p− , q) and α(·) ∈
L ∞ (R) satisfying (2.3). Let I be a family of disjoint intervals in R.
(1) If

1 1 1
− < α∞ < − , (4.7)
p∞ 2 p∞

then

I f  K α(·) ≤ C f  K α(·) . (4.8)

p(·),q (R) p(·),q (R)

log
(2) If α(·) ∈ C0 (Rn ) and

1 1 1
− < α− ≤ α+ < − , (4.9)
p+ 2 p−

then

I f  K̇ α(·) ≤ C f  K̇ α(·) . (4.10)

p(·),q (R) p(·),q (R)

Proof In view of (4.7), there exists a q0 satisfying 2 < q0 < min( p− , q) and

1 1 1
− < α∞ < − .
p∞ q0 p∞

Therefore, Theorem 4.3 with p0 = 2 guarantees that I can be extended to be a

α(·)
bounded operator on K p(·),q .
Similarly, there exists a q0 satisfying 2 < q0 < min( p− , q) and

1 1 1
− < α− ≤ α+ < − .
p+ q0 p−

Theorem 4.3 with p0 = 2 also assures that I can be extended to be a bounded

α(·)
operator on K̇ p(·),q . 

Furthermore, according to (3.4), the vector-valued Rubio de Francia inequalities
α(·) α(·)
on K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q are also valid. For simplicity, we also skip the details of the
vector-valued inequalities and leave them to the reader.

123
Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

4.3 Characterization of BMO

α(·) α(·)
The John–Nirenberg inequalities on K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q are obtained in this section.
It also gives the characterizations of the space of bounded mean oscillation BMO in
terms of Herz spaces with variable exponents.
A locally integrable function f belongs to BMO if

( f − f B )χ B  L 1
 f  B M O = sup < ∞.
B∈B χ B  L 1

The John–Nirenberg inequality states that for any γ > 0 and any B ∈ B,
C γ
−f2
|{x ∈ B : | f (x) − f B | > γ }| ≤ C1 e BMO |B|, f ∈ B M O\C (4.11)

where C denotes the set of constant functions and C1 , C2 > 0 are independent of f
and γ .
We can consider the John–Nirenberg inequality as a norm inequality on L 1 . That
is,
C γ
−f2
χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |>γ }  L 1 ≤ C1 e BMO χ B  L 1 , f ∈ B M O\C.

The above inequality motivates us to consider John–Nirenberg inequality on some

other function spaces such as Lebesgue spaces with variable exponents [15,19], Morrey
spaces [18], mixed norm spaces [19] and Banach function spaces [16].
The followings are the John–Nirenberg inequalities on Herz spaces with variable
exponents.
Theorem 4.6 Let 0 < q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 0 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and
α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) satisfying (2.3).
(1) If − pn∞ < α∞ , then there exist constants C, C1 > 0 such that for any γ > 0,
f ∈ B M O\C and B ∈ B, we have
C γ
−f1
χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |≥γ }  K α(·) ≤ Ce BMO χ B  K α(·) . (4.12)
p(·),q p(·),q

log
(2) If α(·) ∈ C0 (Rn ) and − pn+ < α− , then there exist constants C, C1 > 0 such
that for any γ > 0, f ∈ B M O\C and B ∈ B, we have
C γ
−f1
χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |≥γ }  K̇ α(·) ≤ Ce BMO χ B  K̇ α(·) . (4.13)
p(·),q p(·),q

Proof Since ω ∈ A∞ , there exist an

> 0 and a constant C0 > 0 such that for any
B ∈ B and all Lebesgue measurable subsets E of B, we have
 

ω(E) |E|
≤ C0 (4.14)
ω(B) |B|

123
 K.-P. Ho

where C0 depends on n and [ω] A∞ only. For the proof of the above well known
characterization of A∞ , the reader is referred to [12, Theorem 9.3.3 (d)].
The John–Nirenberg inequality (4.11) and (4.14) give
 C
γ

−  f 2
χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |>γ } (x)ω(x)d x ≤ C1
e BMO χ B (x)ω(x)d x

where C1 depends on n and [ω] A∞ only.

Furthermore, for any p0 > 0, we also have
 C
γ

−  f 2
(χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |>γ } (x)) p0 ω(x)d x ≤ C1
e BMO (χ B (x)) p0 ω(x)d x (4.15)

where C1 depends on n and [ω] A∞ only.

In view of [12, Section 9.3.1], we have [ω] A∞ ≤ [ω] A1 . Therefore, C1 depends on
n and [ω] A1 only.
As − pn∞ < α∞ , we can select a q0 such that 0 < q0 < min( p− , q) and
 
n 1 1
− < α∞ < n −
p∞ q0 p∞

are valid. Since (4.15) is valid for any 0 < p0 < q0 and for any ω ∈ A1 , the
fact A1 ⊂ A∞ guarantees that the conditions given in Theorem 3.1 are fulfilled. By
applying Theorem 3.1 with
C
γ
−  f 2
F = {(χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |>γ } , e BMO χ B ) : B ∈ B},

we obtain
C γ
−f1
χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |≥γ }  K α(·) ≤ Ce BMO χ B  K α(·) .
p(·),q p(·),q

α(·)
Next, we establish the John–Nirenberg inequality for K̇ p(·),q . Notice that the
inequality − pn+ < α− yields (2.4). Therefore, χ B ∈ K̇ α(·)
p(·),q ∀B ∈ B. Furthermore,
the inequality − p+ < α− also yields a q0 satisfying 0 < q0 < min( p− , q) and
n

 
n 1 1
− < α− ≤ α+ < n − .
p+ q0 p−

Consequently, we are allowed to apply Theorem 3.1 with

C
γ
−  f 2
F = {(χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |>γ } , e BMO χ B ) : B ∈ B}

α(·)
to obtain the John–Nirenberg inequality for K̇ p(·),q . 


123
Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

Particularly, when p(·) = p and α(·) = α are constant functions and − np < α,
Theorem 4.6 gives the following John–Nirenberg inequalities for the classical Herz
spaces

C γ
−f1
χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |≥γ }  K αp,q ≤ Ce BMO χ B  K αp,q ,
C γ
−f1
χ{x∈B:| f (x)− f B |≥γ }  K̇ α ≤ Ce BMO χ B  K̇ α .
p,q p,q

Theorem 4.6 yields the characterizations of BMO via K α(·) α(·)

p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q . We define
α(·) α(·)
some notations in order to present the characterizations of BMO via K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q .
For any 1 < q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 1 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn )
satisfying (2.3), write

( f − f B )χ B  K α(·)
p(·),q
 f B M O α(·) = sup ,
K
p(·),q B∈B χ B  K α(·)
p(·),q

( f − f B )χ B  K̇ α(·)
p(·),q
 f B M O α(·) = sup .
K̇
p(·),q B∈B χ B  K̇ α(·)
p(·),q

α(·) α(·)
We are now ready to obtain the characterizations of BMO via K p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q .

Theorem 4.7 Let 1 < q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 1 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and
α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) satisfying (2.3).
(1) If α(·) satisfies (2.5), then  ·  B M O and  ·  B M O α(·) are equivalent norms on
K̇
p(·),q
BMO.
(2) If α(·) satisfies (2.1) and (2.6), then  ·  B M O and  ·  B M O α(·) are equivalent
K
p(·),q
norms on BMO.

Proof As χ B ∈ K α(·)
p(·),q ,  ·  B M O α(·) is well defined. Similarly, since (2.6) yields
K
p(·),q
α(·)
(2.4), χ B ∈ K̇ p(·),q for any B ∈ B. Therefore,  ·  B M O α(·) and  ·  B M O α(·) are
K K̇
p(·),q p(·),q
well defined.
Since 1 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞, p(·) and α(·) fulfill (2.5), Corollary 2.7 and Lemma 2.9
give

| f (x) − f B |d x ≤ ( f − f B )χ B  K α(·) χ B  K −α(·)
B p(·),q p (·),q 

( f − f B )χ B  K α(·)
p(·),q
≤ C|B| .
χ B  K α(·)
p(·),q

123
 K.-P. Ho

Therefore,

 f  B M O ≤ C f  B M O α(·) (4.16)
K
p(·),q

for some C > 0 independent of f .

Theorem 4.6 yields constants C, C1 > 0 such that for any f ∈ B M O\C, we have
 
C1 2 j
χ{x∈B:2 j <| f (x)− f B |≤2 j+1 }  K α(·) ≤ Cexp − χ B  K α(·) . (4.17)
p(·),q  f B M O p(·),q

Since

    ∞  
C1 2 j C1 s
2 exp −
j
≤C exp − ds ≤ C f  B M O
 f B M O 0  f B M O
j∈Z

for some C > 0 independent of f ∈ B M O and B ∈ B, by multiplying 2( j+1) on both

sides of (4.17) and summing over j, we find that

( f − f B )χ B  K α(·) ≤ C f  B M O χ B  K α(·) (4.18)

p(·),q p(·),q

for some C > 0 independent of B ∈ B.

We get

 f B M O α(·) ≤ C f  B M O , ∀ f ∈ B M O (4.19)
K
p(·),q

for some C > 0. Thus, (4.16) and (4.19) assert that the norms  ·  B M O α(·) and
K
p(·),q
 ·  B M O are mutually equivalent.
The proof for  ·  B M O α(·) follows similarly. 

K̇
p(·),q

In particular, when p(·) ≡ p and α(·) ≡ α are constant functions, Theorems 4.6
and 4.7 give the John–Nirenberg inequalities of K αp,q and K̇ αp,q and the characteriza-
tions of BMO by K αp,q and K̇ αp,q , respectively.
In addition, in view of (3.4), by using the ideas in [16], we also have vector-valued
characterizations of BMO by K α(·) α(·)
p(·),q and K̇ p(·),q . For brevity, we omit the details.

4.4 Geometric maximal operators

For any f ∈ M, the geometrical maximal operator is defined as

  
1
M0 f (x) = sup exp log | f (y)|dy
Bx |B| B

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Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

where the supremum is taken over all ball B ∈ B containing x. Notice that we have
M0 | f | = M0 f .
It is easy to see that M0 is not a linear operator. Moreover, it is not sublinear
and, hence, it does not fulfill the conditions in [35, Chapter 5]. On the other hand,
the geometrical maximal operator possesses the monotone property. That is, for any
f i , f ∈ M with | f i | ↑ | f |, we have M0 f i ↑ M0 f .
In order to use this property to establish the boundedness of the geometrical maximal
operator on Herz spaces with variable exponents, we need the following results.

Lemma 4.8 Let 0 < q < ∞, p(·) : Rn → (0, ∞) be a Lebesgue measurable

function and α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ). For any { f i }i=1 ∞ ⊂ M satisfying | f | ↑ f , we have
i
 f i  K α(·) ↑  f  K α(·) and  f i  K̇ α(·) ↑  f  K̇ α(·) .
p(·),q p(·),q p(·),q p(·),q

α(·) α(·)
Proof We present the proof for K̇ p(·),q only since the proof for K p(·),q follows similarly.
Without loss of generality, we assume that f i ≥ 0 and  f  K̇ α(·) < ∞.
p(·),q
q̃
Write q̃ = min(1, q). Hence,  · lq is subadditive. For any
> 0, there is a M ∈ N
such that

 f  K̇ α(·) ≤  f χ D M  K̇ α(·) +
(4.20)
p(·),q p(·),q

where D M = B M \B−M .
Since L p(·)/ p− (Rn ) is a Banach function space and | f i | p− ↑ | f | p− , for any j ∈
{−M, −M + 1, . . . , M − 1, M}, [8, Theorem 2.3.17] assures that there exists a i j ∈ N
such that for any i > i j , we have

 f χ R j  L p(·) (Rn ) ≤  f i χ R j  L p(·) (Rn ) + .

2| j|

Take L = max{i j : j ∈ {−M, −M + 1, . . . , M − 1, M}}. For any i > L, we have

 q̃
 
{ f χ R j  L p(·) (Rn ) } M
j=−M 
lq
 q̃
  
M 
≤ { f i χ R   
q̃
j }M 
L p(·) (Rn ) j=−M lq
+  | j| 
2 j=−M lq
q̃ q̃
≤  f i χ D M  α(·) + C
<
q̃
 f i  α(·) + C
q̃
K̇ p(·),q K̇ p(·),q

where C is independent of
. Consequently, (4.20) and the inequality 0 < q̃ ≤ 1 give

q̃ q̃
f α(·) ≤  f χ DM  α(·) +
q̃
K̇ p(·),q K̇ p(·),q
 q̃
  q̃
= { f χ R j  L p(·) (Rn ) } M
j=−M  +
<  f i  α(·) + (C + 1)

q̃ q̃
lq K̇ p(·),q

123
 K.-P. Ho

for some C > 0 independent of

. In addition, it is obvious that  f i  K̇ α(·) ≤
p(·),q
 f i+1  K̇ α(·) ≤  f  K̇ α(·) , i ∈ N. Therefore,  f i  K̇ α(·) ↑  f  K̇ α(·) . 

p(·),q p(·),q p(·),q p(·),q

Let L ∞
c denote the space of bounded functions with compact support in R . For
n
α(·) ∞
any f ∈ K̇ p(·),q , let f i = | f |χ{x∈Bi :| f (x)|≤i} , i ∈ N, we have f i ∈ L c and f i ↑ | f |.
Therefore, Lemma 4.8 assures that  f i  K̇ α(·) ↑  f  K̇ α(·) . The same result also holds
p(·),q p(·),q
α(·)
for f ∈ K p(·),q .
We need the above result instead of Proposition 4.2 to establish the boundedness
of the geometrical maximal operator because Proposition 4.2 does not guarantee the
existence of a family { f i } ⊂ Cc∞ such that f i ↑ f .
Next, we present the weighted norm inequalities for the geometrical maximal oper-
ator. According to [46], we have the following weighted norm inequalities for M0 .

Theorem 4.9 Let 0 < r < ∞. We have

 
(M0 f (x))r ω(x) ≤ C | f (x)|r ω(x)d x, ∀ f ∈ L r (Rn ) (4.21)
Rn Rn

for some C > 0 if and only if ω ∈ A∞ .

The reader is referred to [2,3,50] for some extensions of the above results in different
settings such as martingale spaces.
We are now ready to establish the boundedness of the geometrical maximal operator
on Herz spaces with variable exponents.
Theorem 4.10 Let 0 < q < ∞, p(·) ∈ C log (Rn ) with 0 < p− ≤ p+ < ∞ and
α(·) ∈ L ∞ (Rn ) satisfying (2.3).
(1) If − pn∞ < α∞ , then there exists constant C > 0 such that

 M0 f  K α(·) ≤ C f  K α(·) . (4.22)

p(·),q p(·),q

log
(2) If α(·) ∈ C0 (Rn ) and − pn+ < α− , then there exists constant C > 0 such that

 M0 f  K̇ α(·) ≤ C f  K̇ α(·) . (4.23)

p(·),q p(·),q

Proof Since − pn∞ < α∞ , we can select a q0 satisfying 0 < q0 < min( p− , q) and
(3.2). Furthermore, for any ω ∈ A1 ⊂ A∞ , Theorem 4.9 guarantees that (4.21) is
valid for r = q0 . Therefore, by applying Theorem 3.1 with p0 = q0 and

F = {(M0 f , f ) : f ∈ L ∞
c },

α(·)
we find that (4.22) is valid for any f ∈ L ∞
c ∩ K p(·),q .
α(·)
For any f ∈ K p(·),q , let f i = | f |χ{x∈Bi :| f (x)|≤i} , i ∈ N. We have f i ∈ L ∞
c and
f i ↑ | f |. Therefore, we also have M0 f i ↑ M0 f .

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Extrapolation to Herz spaces with variable exponents and applications

α(·)
Since f i ∈ L ∞
c ∩ K p(·),q , we find that

 M0 f i  K α(·) ≤ C f i  K α(·) .
p(·),q p(·),q

Consequently,

 M0 f  K α(·) = lim  M0 f i  K α(·) ≤ lim C f i  K α(·) = C f  K α(·) .

p(·),q i→∞ p(·),q i→∞ p(·),q p(·),q

This yields (4.22) and the proof of (4.23) is similar, therefore, for simplicity, we skip
the details. 


The following corollary is a special case of Theorem 4.10 while it is a new result
for the classical Herz spaces.
Corollary 4.11 Let 0 < q < ∞, 0 < p < ∞ and α ∈ R. If − np < α, then there exists
constant C > 0 such that

 M0 f  K αp,q ≤ C f  K αp,q and  M0 f  K̇ α ≤ C f  K̇ α .

p,q p,q

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the reviewers for their valuable suggestions.

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