Ahlfors and Beurling [16] proved that set 𝐸 is removable for
class 𝐴𝐷2 of analytic functions with the finite Dirichlet integral if and only if 𝐸
does not change extremal distances. Their proof uses the conformal invariance
of class 𝐴𝐷2, so it does not immediately generalize to 𝑝 ̸= 2 and to the relevant
classes of harmonic functions in the space. In 1974 Hedberg [19] proposed new
approaches to the problem of describing removable singularities in the function
theory. In particular he gave the exact functional capacitive conditions for a set
to be removable for class 𝐻𝐷𝑝(𝐺). Here 𝐻𝐷𝑝(𝐺) is the class of real-valued
harmonic functions 𝑢 in a bounded open set 𝐺 ⊂ 𝑅𝑛, 𝑛 ≥ 2, and such that
∫︁
𝐺
|∇𝑢|𝑝 𝑑𝑥 < ∞, 𝑝 > 1.
In this paper we extend Hedberg’s results on class 𝐻𝐷𝑝,𝑤(𝐺) of harmonic
functions 𝑢 in 𝐺 and such that
∫︁
𝐺
|∇𝑢|𝑝 𝑤𝑑𝑥 < ∞.
Here a locally integrable function 𝑤 : 𝑅𝑛 → (0,+∞) satisfies the Muckenhoupt
condition [20]
sup
1
|𝑄|
∫︁
𝑄
𝑤𝑑𝑥
⎛
⎝ 1
|𝑄|
∫︁
𝑄
𝑤1−𝑞𝑑𝑥
⎞
⎠
𝑝−1
< ∞,
where the supremum is taking over all coordinate cubes 𝑄 ⊂ 𝑅𝑛, 𝑞 ∈ (1,+∞)
and 1
𝑝 + 1
𝑞 = 1; by ℒ𝑛(𝑄) = |𝑄| we denote the 𝑛-dimensional Lebesgue measure
of 𝑄.
We denote by 𝐿1
𝑞
, ˜ 𝑤(𝐺) the Sobolev space of locally integrable functions 𝐹
on 𝐺, whose generalized gradient in 𝐺 are such that
‖𝑓‖𝐿1
𝑞
, ˜ 𝑤(𝐺) =
⎛
⎝
∫︁
𝐺
|∇𝑓|𝑞 ˜ 𝑤𝑑𝑥
⎞
⎠
1
𝑞
< ∞, where ˜ 𝑤 = 𝑤1−𝑞.
The closure of 𝐶∞
0 (𝐺) in ‖ · ‖𝐿1
𝑞
, ˜ 𝑤(𝐺) is denoted by
∘L
1
𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝐺).
For compact set 𝐾 ⊂ 𝐺 (𝑞, ˜ 𝑤)-capacity regarding 𝐺 is defined by
𝐶𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝐾) = inf
𝑣
∫︁
𝐺
|∇𝑣|𝑞 ˜ 𝑤𝑑𝑥,
where the infimum is taken over all 𝑣 ∈ 𝐶∞
0 (𝐺) such that 𝑣 = 1 in some
neighbourhood of 𝐾.
Note that 𝐶𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝐾) = 0 is independent from the choice of bounded set
𝐺 ⊂ 𝑅𝑛. We set 𝐶𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝐹) = 0 for arbitrary 𝐹 ⊂ 𝑅𝑛 if for every compact 𝐾 ⊂ 𝐹
there exists a bounded open set 𝐺 such that 𝐶𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝐾) = 0 regarding 𝐺.
To conclude, we formulate the main results.
Theorem 1. Compact 𝐸 ⊂ 𝐺 is removable for 𝐻𝐷𝑝,𝑤(𝐺) if and only if
𝐶∞
0 (𝐺 ∖ 𝐸) is dense in
∘L
1
𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝐺).
Theorem 2. Compact 𝐸 ⊂ 𝐺 is removable for 𝐻𝐷𝑝,𝑤(𝐺) if and only if
𝐶𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝐸) = 0.
Corollary. The property of being removable for 𝐻𝐷𝑝,𝑤(𝐺) is local, i.e.
compact 𝐸 ⊂ 𝐺 is removable if and only if every 𝑥 ∈ 𝐸 has a compact
neighbourhood, whose intersection with 𝐺 is removable.
Theorem 3. If 𝐺 is an open set in 𝑅𝑛 and 𝐶𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝑅𝑛 ∖𝐺) = 0. Then 𝐶∞
0 (𝐺)
is dense in
∘L
1
𝑞, ˜ 𝑤(𝑅𝑛).