\(L^p\)-improving properties of X-ray like transforms (Q862056)

Let \(X\) and \(Y\) be \(C^\infty\) manifolds with dim\(X=d_X \) and dim\(Y=d_Y \), \(d_Y >d_X \). Let \(M\) be a smooth \((d_Y +1)\)-dimensional submanifold of \(X \times Y\) such that the natural projections \(\pi_X: M \to X\) and \(\pi_Y: M \to Y\) have everywhere surjective maps. There is an induced Radon-like operator \(R\) which averages functions on \(X\) over the curves \(\gamma_y=\{x \in X: (x,y) \in M\}\), \(y \in Y\). The focus of the paper under review is to study the \(L^p\)-boundedness of \(R\). The canonical example is the usual \(X\)-ray transform, when \(X=R^n\) and \(Y\) is the space of all affine lines in \(R^n\). One of the aims of the paper is to show that some estimates due to S. W. Drury and M. Christ extend to any nondegenerate overdetermined Radon-like transform (more general than the \(X\)-ray transform). A largely coordinate-independent approach is used in the spirit of earlier works of Seeger, Christ, Nagel, Stein and Wainger, Tao and Wright.