Some remarks on generalized roundness. (Q934651)

The generalized roundness \(\text{gr}(X,d)\) of metric space \((X,d)\) is the supremum of all positive numbers \(p\) such that for any \(n\geq 2\) and any collection of \(2n\) points \((a_1,\dots,a_n,b_1,\dots,b_n)\) in \(X\) the inequality \[ \sum_{1\leq i<j\leq n}(d(a_i,a_j)^p+d(b_i,b_j)^p)\leq\sum_{i=1}^n\sum_{j=1}^n d(a_i,b_j)^p \] holds. The main result of the paper is the estimate \(\text{gr}(X^{(0)},d_0)\geq 1\) where \(X^{(0)}\) is the \(0\)-skeleton of a finite dimensional CAT(0) cube complex \(X\) and \(d_0\) is the metric induced in \(X^{(0)}\) from the interior metric of the \(1\)-skeleton \(X^{(1)}\). As a corollary, the equalities \(\text{gr}(\mathbb{Z}^n)=1\) and \(\text{gr}(F_n)=1\) hold for the groups \(\mathbb{Z}^n\) and \(F_n\) endowed with the standard word metrics.