Optimal bounds on the modulus of continuity of the uncentered Hardy-Littlewood maximal function (Q692168)

Let \(U\subset \mathbb R^d\) be an open set, let \(\|\cdot\|\) be a norm on \(\mathbb R^d\), and let \(B\) be a generic ball with respect to this norm. Given a locally integrable function \(f:U\to \mathbb R\), the uncentered Hardy-Littlewood maximal function \(Mf\) is defined by \(Mf(x)=\sup_{x\in B\subset U}|B|^{-1}\int_B|f(y)|dy\), where \(|B|\) is the usual Lebesgue measure on \(\mathbb R^d\). And the modulus of continuity (associated with \(\|\cdot\|\)) of a function \(f\) is \(\omega(f,\delta):=\sup\{|f(x)-f(y)|; \,\|x-y\|\leq\delta\}\). The main theorem of the authors is the following: Let \(d\geq1\) and let \(f\) be a locally integrable function on \(\mathbb R^d\). Then, for every norm \(\|\cdot\|\) on \(\mathbb R^d\) and every \(t\geq0\), it holds that \[ \omega(Mf,t)\leq \sup_{v\in\mathbb R^d;\|v\|=1} \inf_{c\in\mathbb R^d, R>0;\|v-c\|\leq R} \frac{1}{|B(0,1)|}\int_{B(0,1)}\omega(|f|,t\|c+Ru\|)du. \] And this inequlity is optimal in some sense. Using this and its corollary, they deduce several results. For example, the best constant for Lipschitz and Hölder functions on proper subintervals of \(\mathbb R\) are \({\roman{Lip}}_\alpha(Mf)\leq (1+\alpha)^{-1}{\roman{Lip}}_\alpha(f)\), \(0<\alpha\leq1\). On \(\mathbb R\) itself, the best bound is \({\roman{Lip}}(Mf)\leq (\sqrt2 -1){\roman{Lip}}(f)\). In the higher dimension, they determine the asymptotic behavior, as \(d\to\infty\), of the norm of the maximal operator associated with \(\ell^p\) balls for \(p=1,2,\infty\).