Viterbo's conjecture as a worm problem

Abstract

In this paper, we relate Viterbo's conjecture from symplectic geometry to Minkowski versions of worm problems which are inspired by the well-known Moser worm problem from geometry. For the special case of Lagrangian products this relation provides a connection to systolic Minkowski billiard inequalities and Mahler's conjecture from convex geometry. Moreover, we use the above relation in order to transfer Viterbo's conjecture to a conjecture for the longstanding open Wetzel problem which also can be expressed as a systolic Euclidean billiard inequality and for which we discuss an algorithmic approach in order to find a new lower bound. Finally, we point out that the above mentioned relation between Viterbo's conjecture and Minkowski worm problems has a structural similarity to the known relationship between Bellmann's lost-in-a-forest problem and the original Moser worm problem.