Stability in the theorem of length estimation for a curve of descent (Q1375024)

A smooth version of the problem under study can be formulated as follows. Let \(\Gamma (t)\) \((0\leq t\leq 1)\) be a family of smooth convex surfaces in the \(n\)-dimensional Euclidean space \(\mathbb E^n\), such that \(\Gamma (t_2)\) is a subset of the convex hull of \(\Gamma (t_1)\) for \(t_2\geq t_1\). Let \(\theta\) be a real number such that \(0\leq\theta <\pi /2\). A smooth curve \(x\: [0,1]\to\mathbb E^n\) is called a curve of \(\theta\)-descent if (1) \(x(t)\in\Gamma (t)\) for all \(0\leq t\leq 1\); (2) for all \(0<t<1\), the angle between the tangent line of the curve \(x\) at the point \(x(t)\) and the support plane of the surface \(\Gamma (t)\) at the point \(x(t)\) is greater than or equal to \(\pi /2 -\theta\). The problem is to obtain an upper bound for the length of any curve of \(\theta\)-descent. In the article under review, this problem is studied for an arbitrary (not necessarily smooth) family of convex surfaces; a \(\theta\)-descent curve need not be smooth too, it is assumed to be a Fréchet curve. The main result asserts that, for each \(n\), there exist constants \(\theta_n>0\) and \(M_n<\infty\) such that the inequality \(s(x)\leq M_nr(x)\) holds for any curve of \(\theta\)-descent \(x\: [0,1]\to\mathbb E^n\) with \(\theta <\theta_n\). Here \(s(x)\) is the length of the curve \(x\) and \(r(x)\) is the distance between the endpoints of \(x\). A similar result was previously obtained by the author for curves of \(\theta\)-descent with \(\theta =0\) [Sib. Math. J. 33, No.4, 739-742 (1992; Zbl 0788.52009)].