Integral inequalities in higher dimensional spaces (Q816281)

The authors obtain some integral inequalities involving mean values of convex functions in two independent variables. However, the authors claim that the analogues in higher dimensional situations should be transparent which may not necessarily be true. For the sake of completeness, reproduced below is the key result obtained in the paper: Let \(f: [a,b]\times [c,d] \to \mathbb R\) be continuous, \(U \subset \mathbb R\) be an open interval containing the image of \(f\), and let \(F: U \to \mathbb R\) be convex (resp., concave). Then \[ \frac1{(b-a)(d-c)}\int^ b_ a \int^ d_ c F(f(x,y))dydx \geq F\Big[\frac1{(b-a)(d-c)}\int^ b_ a \int^ d_ c f(x,y)dydx\Big] \] (resp., the reverse inequality if \(F\) is concave). Furthermore, if \(F\) is strictly convex (resp., strictly concave), then equality holds if and only if \(f \equiv\) constant. Several useful consequences of this result are given as corollaries. In addition, applications of the results obtained in solving certian calculus of variations problems to obtain optimal solutions directly without going through the classical methods of deriving and solving the Euler-Lagrange equations are given.