Optimal extension to Sobolev rough paths

We show that every ${\mathbb{R}}^d$-valued Sobolev path with regularity $\alpha$ and integrability $p$ can be lifted to a Sobolev rough path in the sense of T. Lyons provided $\alpha >1\mathrm{/}p>0$. Moreover, we prove the existence of unique rough path lifts which are optimal w.r.t. strictly convex functionals among all possible rough path lifts given a Sobolev path. As examples, we consider the rough path lift with minimal Sobolev norm and characterize the Stratonovich rough path lift of a Brownian motion as optimal lift w.r.t. to a suitable convex functional. Generalizations of the results to Besov spaces are briefly discussed.