Orlicz–Sobolev extensions and measure density condition

We study the extension properties of Orlicz–Sobolev functions both in Euclidean spaces and in metric measure spaces equipped with a doubling measure. We show that a set E ⊂ R satisfying a measure density condition admits a bounded linear extension operator from the trace space W 1 , Ψ ( R n ) | E to W 1 , Ψ ( R n ) . Then we show that a domain, in which the Sobolev embedding theorem or a Poincaré-type inequality holds, satisfies the measure density condition. It follows that the existence of a bounded, possibly non-linear extension operator or even the surjectivity of the trace operator implies the measure density condition and hence the existence of a bounded linear extension operator.