On the case of equality in the Brunn-Minkowski inequality for capacity (Q1909931)

Let \(\Omega_0\) and \(\Omega_1\) be convex open subsets of \(\mathbb{R}^n\) and let \(\Omega_t = \{(1 - t)x + ty : x \in \Omega_0\), \(y \in \Omega_1\}\), where \(0 \leq t \leq 1\). The Brunn-Minkowski inequality says that \[ (\text{vol} \Omega_t)^{1/N} \geq (1 - t) (\text{vol} \Omega_0)^{1/N} + t(\text{vol} \Omega_1)^{1/N}. \] \textit{C. Borell} [Math. Ann. 263, 179-184 (1983; Zbl 0546.31001)] proved an analogue with capacity in place of volume: with \(N \geq 3\) \[ (\text{cap} \Omega_t)^{1/(N - 2)} \geq (1 - t) (\text{cap} \Omega_0)^{1/(N - 2)} + t (\text{cap} \Omega_1)^{1/(N - 2)}. \] In the paper under review it is shown that equality holds in Borell's inequality if and only if \(\Omega_1\) is a translate and dilate of \(\Omega_0\). This result is used to prove uniqueness in a problem concerning the first variation of capacity [see \textit{D. Jerison}, Invent. Math. 105, 375-400 (1991; Zbl 0754.31007) and Acta. Math. (to appear)].