Maz'ya-type bounds for sharp constants in fractional Poincar\'e-Sobolev inequalities

Abstract

We prove estimates for the sharp constants in fractional Poincar\'e-Sobolev inequalities associated to an open set, in terms of a nonlocal capacitary extension of its inradius. This work builds upon previous results obtained in the local case by Maz'ya and Shubin and by the first author and Brasco. We rely on a new Maz'ya-Poincar\'e inequality and, incidentally, we also prove new fractional Poincar\'e-Wirtinger-type estimates. These inequalities display sharp limiting behaviours with respect to the fractional order of differentiability. As a byproduct, we obtain a new criterion for the embedding of the homogeneous Sobolev space $\mathcal{D}^{s,p}_0(\Omega)$ in $L^q(\Omega)$, valid in the subcritical regime and for $p \le q < p^*_s$. Our results are new even for the first eigenvalue of the fractional Laplacian and contain an optimal characterization for the positivity of the fractional Cheeger's constant.