Upper bounds for the eigenvalues of Hessian equations (Q2249402)

Let \( \Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n, n \geq 2,\) be a bounded open set with strictly positive Gauss curvature at every point and \(C^2\) boundary. The aim of the paper is to generalize some well-known upper bounds for eigenvalues of the Dirichlet-Laplacian to the case of the \(k\)-Hessian operator, \( 1 \leq k \leq n\), \[ \begin{cases} S_k(D^2u) = \lambda (-u)^k &\text{in } \Omega, \\ u = 0 &\text{on } \partial \Omega,\end{cases} \] here \[ S_k(D^2 u) = \sum_ {i_1<i_2<\dots<i_k} \lambda_{i_1}\lambda_{i_2}\cdots \lambda_{i_k}, \] where \(\lambda_1,\lambda_2,\dots,\lambda_n\) are the eigenvalues of \(D^2 u.\) For \(k=1\) the \(k\)-Hessian operator is the Laplacian and for \(k=n\) the Monge-Ampere operator \(\det D^2 u. \) The paper contains Makai-type upper bounds for all eigenvalues of the \(k\)-Hessian operator and results like the following one for \(k=n\) \[ \frac{\lambda_n(\Omega)-\lambda_n(\Omega^*_{n-1})}{\lambda_n(\Omega)} \leq C_\Omega (|\Omega^*_{n-1}|- |\Omega|), \] where \(\Omega^*_{n-1}\) is the ball centered at the origin such that \(W_{n-1} (\Omega) = W_{n-1}(\Omega^*_{n-1})\), and \(W_{n-1}(\Omega)\) is the \((n-1)\)-th quermassintegral of \(\Omega\). A similar result is given for \(1 \leq k \leq n-1.\) The proof is based essentially on properties of a class of test functions, depending on the distance to the boundary of the domain, which were first used by \textit{E. Makai} [Czech. Math. J. 9(84), 66--70 (1959; Zbl 0084.20704)] and \textit{G. Pólya} [J. Indian Math. Soc., New Ser. 24, 413--419 (1961; Zbl 0131.20203)].