A new class of double phase variable exponent problems: Existence and uniqueness.

In this paper we introduce a new class of quasilinear elliptic equations driven by the so-called double phase operator with variable exponents. We prove certain properties of the corresponding Musielak-Orlicz Sobolev spaces (completeness, reflexivity, an equivalent norm) and the properties of the new double phase operator (continuity, strict monotonicity, (S$_+$)-property). Finally we show the existence and uniqueness of corresponding elliptic equations with right-hand sides that have gradient dependence (so-called convection terms) under very general assumptions on the data. As a result of independent interest, we also show the density of smooth functions in the new Musielak-Orlicz Sobolev space even when the domain is unbounded.