The \(L_p\)-Brunn-Minkowski inequality for \(p<1\) (Q2180911)

The classical Brunn-Minkowski inequality states that for any convex bodies $K$ and $L$ in the $n$-dimensional Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^n$, the volume of their Minkowski combination $(1-\lambda)K+\lambda L=\{(1-\lambda)x+\lambda y: x\in K, y\in L\}$, where $\lambda\in [0,1]$, satisfies \[ V((1-\lambda)K+\lambda L)^{\frac{1}{n}}\geq (1-\lambda)V(K)^{\frac{1}{n}}+\lambda V(L)^{\frac{1}{n}}, \tag{1} \] with equality if and only if $K$ and $L$ are homothetic. By the arithmetic-geometric means inequality, (1) can be rewritten as \[ V((1-\lambda)K+\lambda L)\geq V(K)^{1-\lambda}V(L)^{\lambda}. \tag{2} \] In 1960s, \textit{W. J. Firey} [Math. Scand. 10, 17--24 (1962; Zbl 0188.27303)] extended the Minkowski combination of convex bodies to the so-called $L_p$ Minkowski combination $(1-\lambda)\cdot K+_p\lambda\cdot L$ for $p\geq 1$. More precisely, when $p>1$ and $K,L$ are convex bodies containing the origin in their interiors, the support function of $(1-\lambda)\cdot K+_p\lambda\cdot L$ is defined as $h_{K,L,p}:=\left((1-\lambda)h_K^p+\lambda h_L^p\right)^{\frac{1}{p}}$. Firey also established the corresponding Brunn-Minkowski version inequality (what now is known as the $L_p$-Brunn-Minkowski inequality or the Brunn-Minkowski-Firey inequality) \[ V((1-\lambda)\cdot K+_p\lambda\cdot L)\geq V(K)^{1-\lambda}V(L)^{\lambda}, \tag{3} \] with equality if and only if $K=L$. A significant development in this topic is the work of Böröczky, Lutwak, Yang and Zhang [\textit{K. Böröczky jun.} et al., Adv. Math. 231, No. 3--4, 1974--1997 (2012; Zbl 1258.52005)]. They extended Firey's $L_p$ Minkowski combination to all real $p\in\mathbb{R}$. The $L_p$ Brunn-Minkowski inequality (3) is still an open problem when $p<1$. In the paper under review, the authors study this interesting problem. In Theorem 1.1 they prove that the $L_p$-Brunn-Minkowski inequality (3) holds true for origin-symmetric convex bodies and $p\in (p_0,1)$, where $p_0$ needs to satisfy \[ p_0\geq 1-\inf _{K\in\mathcal{K}_e}\sup_{T\in GL_n}\frac{1}{D(TK)}. \] Here $D(TK)$ is a constant satisfying $D(TK)\leq \frac{1}{r^2}\left(C^2_{poin}(TK)n+2C_{poin}(TK) R\right)$, where $r,R$ are the inner and outer radius of $TK$ and $C_{poin}$ is the best constant for Poincaré inequality in the domain $TK$. Using PDE methods, the authors extend Kolesnikov and Milman's [Local $L_p$-Brunn-Minkowski inequalities for $p<1$, Memoirs of the AMS, in press] local uniqueness of the $L_p$ Minkowski problem to global uniqueness in Theorem 1.4. Moreover, they also obtain the $L_p$ Minkowski inequality when $p\in(p_0,1)$ in Theorem 1.5, and the uniqueness for the log-Minkowski problem under some assumptions in Theorem 1.6, respectively.