On fractional Hardy-type inequalities in general open sets

Abstract: We show that, when $sp>N$, the sharp Hardy constant $\mathfrak{h}{s,p}$ of the punctured space $\mathbb R^N\setminus{0}$ in the Sobolev-Slobodecki\u{\i} space provides an optimal lower bound for the Hardy constant $\mathfrak{h}{s,p}(\Omega)$ of an open $\Omega\subsetneq \mathbb R^N$. The proof exploits the characterization of Hardy's inequality in the fractional setting in terms of positive local weak supersolutions of the relevant Euler-Lagrange equation and relies on the construction of suitable supersolutions by means of the distance function from the boundary of $\Omega$. Moreover, we compute the limit of $\mathfrak{h}{s,p}$ as $s\nearrow 1$, as well as the limit when $p \nearrow \infty$. Finally, we apply our results to establish a lower bound for the non-local eigenvalue $\lambda{s,p}(\Omega)$ in terms of $\mathfrak{h}_{s,p}$ when $sp>N$, which, in turn, gives an improved Cheeger inequality whose constant does not vanish as $p\nearrow \infty$.