Aug 2026· 5 citations· ⚡ 4 influential· 14 references
Mathematics
Abstract
We prove a concavity inequality for the Hessian quotient operator $\sigma_k/\sigma_{k-1}$ using a change of basis for symmetric polynomials. This removes an additional structural concavity assumption previously imposed in the interior $C^2$ estimate for convex solutions of the $\sigma_k/\sigma_{k-1}$ equation. The method also yields several useful inequalities for elementary symmetric polynomials.
We establish a concavity inequality for the Hessian quotient operators $\frac{\sigma_k}{\sigma_l}$ in the cases $k-l\in\{1,2\}$, and then derive the corresponding Jacobi inequality. Combining this with the framework developed by Lu and Tsai, we obtain an interior Hessian estimate for convex solutions of $\frac{\sigma_k(D^2u)}{\sigma_l(D^2u)}=f$. As an application, we prove that any entire convex solution in $\mathbb R^n$ with quadratic growth must be a quadratic polynomial.
In this paper, we establish interior $C^2$ estimates for admissible semiconvex solutions to the general Hessian quotient equation $\frac{\sigma_k}{\sigma_l}(D^2u)=f(x,u),$ for the cases $l=k-1$ and $l=k-2$, where $f$ is a positive $C^2$ function. Such estimates are known to fail in general for $k-l\geq 3$, even for convex solutions, as shown by counterexamples due to Lu \cite{LuGeneral}. The main ingredient is a quantitative concavity inequality for the Hessian quotient operator under the semiconvex condition. Our result provides a unified argument to such general Hessian quotient equations for $2\leq k\leq n-1$ in arbitrary dimensions.
We prove strict convexity of the square-root transformation $v=-\sqrt{-u}$ for admissible solutions of a graphical $\sigma_2$-curvature Dirichlet problem on smooth uniformly convex domains. A key ingredient is a constant-rank theorem for $D^2v$, proved by a direct Ma-Xu type argument in dimension three and by the Bian-Guan microscopic convexity principle together with inverse-convexity methods in arbitrary dimensions. Combined with boundary strict convexity and a domain-deformation argument, the constant-rank theorem yields $D^2v>0$ throughout the domain.
We prove interior $C^2$ regularity for convex viscosity solutions of the $3$-Hessian equation $\sigma_3(D^2u)=f(x)$ with $f\in C^{0,1}, \inf f>0$, under a strict $3$-convexity condition on $u$.
In this paper, we establish a doubling argument to obtain Hessian estimates for convex solutions to the Hessian quotient equation $\frac{\sigma_n}{\sigma_k}(D^2u) = f(x,u,Du)$ for $k=n-1$ and $k=n-2$ under the condition that $\log f$ is convex in the $Du$ variable. In particular, our approach is pointwise and does not make use of the Legendre transform or integral-based local maximum principles. We provide a counterexample demonstrating that interior estimates can fail if no structural assumption is imposed on $f$ in the $Du$ variable. Finally, we extend our doubling argument to general Hessian quotient equations $\frac{\sigma_l}{\sigma_k}(D^2u) = f(x,u,Du)$ for $k \in \{l-1, l-2\}$, under a similar structural condition imposed on $f$ in the $Du$ variable, alongside an additional structural concavity assumption on the operator introduced by Lu-Tsai 2026, which has very recently been established in independent works.
In this note, we prove a priori interior curvature bounds for strictly convex solutions to elliptic Weingarten curvature quotient equations. The proof does not employ the advanced methods involving integral estimates or compactness arguments. Instead, it relies on a concavity inequality for the equation operator and a novel choice of the auxiliary function to carry out an elementary maximum-principle argument. Interior curvature estimates for strictly convex solutions to the special Lagrangian curvature equation in low dimensions also follow as a consequence.