The Dirichlet problem for superdegenerate differential operators

Denis R. Bell and Salah E.-A. Mohammed

Let $L$ be an infinitely degenerate second-order linear operator defined on a bounded smooth Euclidean domain. Under weaker conditions than those of H\"ormander, we show that the Dirichlet problem associated with $L$ has a unique smooth classical solution. The proof uses the Malliavin calculus. At present, there appears to be no proof of this result using classical analytic techniques.