\(\ell ^p\left(\mathbb {Z}^d\right)\)-estimates for discrete operators of Radon type: variational estimates (Q2407542)

The authors consider the study of estimates of \(r\)-variations for discrete operators of averaging and singular Radon type, and their application to ergodic theory. In particular, let \(\mathcal{P}=(\mathcal{P}_1,\cdots,\mathcal{P}_{d_0})\) be a suitable polynomial mapping on \(\mathbb Z^k\) and \[ M_N^{\mathcal{P}}f(x)=|\mathbb B_N|^{-1}\sum_{y\in\mathbb B_N}f(x-\mathcal{P}(y)) \] be the Radon average of \(f\), where \(\mathbb B_t=\{x\in\mathbb Z^k:|x|\leq t\}\), \(t>0\). Let \(K\in\mathcal{C}^1(\mathbb R^k\setminus\{0\})\) be a Calderón-Zygmund kernel and define the truncated Radon transform \[ T_N^{\mathcal{P}}f(x)= \sum_{y\in\mathbb B_N\setminus\{0\}}f(x-\mathcal{P}(y))K(y). \] Recall that, for \(1\leq r<\infty\), the \(r\)-variational seminorm \(V_r\) of a sequence \((a_n(x):n\in\mathbb N)\) is defined by \[ V_r(a_n(x):n\in\mathbb N)=\sup_{\{k_0<\dots < k_J:k_j\in\mathbb N\}}\bigg(\sum_{j=1}^J|a_{k_j}(x)-a_{k_{j-1}}(x)|^r\bigg)^{1/r}. \] Then, the main result of this paper is the following: Theorem. For every \(p\in(1,\infty)\) and \(r\in(2,\infty)\) there is \(C_{p,r}>0\) such that, for all \(f\in\ell^p(\mathbb Z^{d_0})\), \[ \|V_r(M_N^{\mathcal{P}}f:N\in\mathbb N)\|_{\ell^p}\leq C_{p,r}\|f\|_{\ell^p}.\tag{\(*\)} \] Moreover, the constant \(C_{p,r}\leq C_p r/(r-2)\), for some \(C_p>0\) which is independent of the coefficients of the polynomial mapping \(\mathcal P\). A similar result holds replacing \(M_N^{\mathcal{P}}f\) by \(T_N^{\mathcal{P}}f\). These estimates have some ergodic theoretical interpretations, considering an appropriate family of invertible commuting and measure preserving transformations. A first motivation for studying variational estimates is the case of Bourgain's averaging operators along squares, where he was able to circumvent the problem of proving pointwise convergence for a dense class of \(L^p\) by controlling their oscillation seminorm [\textit{J. Bourgain}, Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 69, 5--45 (1989; Zbl 0705.28008)]. Inequality \((*)\), with \(k=d_0=1\), has been recently studied in [\textit{B. Krause}, ``Polynomial ergodic averages converge rapidly: variations on a theorem of Bourgain'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1402.1803}], for \(p\in(1,\infty)\) and \(r>\max\{p,p'\}\). Also, in [\textit{P. Zorin-Kranich}, J. Funct. Anal. 268, No. 1, 210--238 (2015; Zbl 1304.42031)], the author obtained \((*)\) with \(r\in(2,\infty)\) and \(|1/p-1/2|<1/(2(d'+1))\), where \(d'\) is the degree of the polynomial.