A characterization of the disc via a Hessian equality (Q1760389)

The author reproves a result by Polterovich and Sodin: The maximum of the absolute value of a compactly supported real function on \(\mathbb{R}^2\) times \(2\pi\) is bounded by the \(L^1\)-norm of its Hessian. While the original proof uses the Sasaki metric and the Banach indicatrix, the proof of the author is much more elementary. The proof uses standard curve theory and standard analytic tools. The support of \(f\) is divided into level sets. Generically, those are curves. Then, estimates on the curvature of the curves, a generalized Banach indicatrix, the co-area formula and several results in curve theory are used to establish the inequality. Although the ingredients for the proof are elementary, they are combined in a very nice and clever way. Additionally, the methods of the author allow him to characterize the equality case.