An isoperimetric inequality for logarithmic capacity of polygons (Q1890200)

The authors prove Pólya and Szegö's conjecture on the extreme value of the logarithmic capacity \(\operatorname{cap} E\) when \(E\) runs over all \(n\)-gons of a fixed area. Theorem 1. For any polygon \(D_n\) with \(n\geq 3\) sides, \[ \frac{\operatorname{cap}^2 \overline{D}_n}{\operatorname{Area} D_n}\geq \frac{\operatorname{cap}^2\overline{D}_n^*} {\operatorname{Area} D_n^*}= \frac{n\tan (\pi /n) \Gamma ^2(1+1/n)}{\pi 2^{4/n}\Gamma ^2(1/2+1/n)} \] with the sign of equality only for the regular \(n\)-gons. Here \(D_n^*\) stands for the regular \(n\)-gon centered at the origin \(z=0\) with one vertex at \(z=1\). The proof is based on the ingenious triangulation of \(D_n\) described in theorem 2. Let \(A_1,\ldots ,A_n\), \(A_{n+1}=A_1\) be the vertices of \(D_n\) numbered in the positive direction on \(\partial D_n\). A system of Euclidean triangles \(T_1,\ldots ,T_n\) is called admissible for \(D_n\) if for each \(k=1,\ldots ,n\), \(T_k\cap D_n\neq \emptyset\), \(T_k\) has the segment \([A_k,A_{k+1}]\) as its base, and \(T_k\) and \(T_{k+1}\) have a common boundary segment which is an entire side of at least one of these tringles but not necessarily of both of them. An admissible system is called proportional if the quotient \(\alpha _k/ \operatorname{Area} T_k\) does not depend on \(k=1,\ldots ,n\), where \(\alpha _k\) is the angle of \(T_k\) opposite to \([A_k,A_{k+1}]\). Theorem 2. For every convex \(n\)-gon \(D_n\) there exists a proportional system that covers \(D_n\), i.e. \[ D_n\subset \bigcup _{k=1}^n\overline{T}_k. \]