Stability in the Busemann-Petty and Shephard problems

Abstract

A comparison problem for volumes of convex bodies asks whether inequalities $f_K(\xi)\le f_L(\xi)$ for all $\xi\in S^{n-1}$ imply that $\vol_n(K)\le \vol_n(L),$ where $K,L$ are convex bodies in $\R^n,$ and $f_K$ is a certain geometric characteristic of $K.$ By linear stability in comparison problems we mean that there exists a constant $c$ such that for every $\e>0$, the inequalities $f_K(\xi)\le f_L(\xi)+\e$ for all $\xi\in S^{n-1}$ imply that $(\vol_n(K))^{\frac{n-1}n}\le (\vol_n(L))^{\frac{n-1}n}+c\e.$ We prove such results in the settings of the Busemann-Petty and Shephard problems and their generalizations. We consider the section function $f_K(\xi)=S_K(\xi)=\vol_{n-1}(K\cap \xi^\bot)$ and the projection function $f_K(\xi)=P_K(\xi)=\vol_{n-1}(K|\xi^\bot),$ where $\xi^\perp$ is the central hyperplane perpendicular to $\xi,$ and $K|\xi^\bot$ is the orthogonal projection of $K$ to $\xi^\bot.$ In these two cases we prove linear stability under additional conditions that $K$ is an intersection body or $L$ is a projection body, respectively. Then we consider other functions $f_K,$ which allows to remove the additional conditions on the bodies in higher dimensions.