Sharp local smoothing estimates for curve averages

Abstract

We prove sharp local smoothing estimates for curve averages in all dimensions. As a corollary, we prove the sharp $L^p$ boundedness of the helical maximal operator in $\mathbb{R}^4$, which was previously known only for $\mathbb{R}^2$ and $\mathbb{R}^3$. We also improve previously known results in higher dimensions. There are new ingredients in the proof: Fourier decay estimates and wave envelope estimates for nondegenerate curves in $\mathbb{R}^n$. As a byproduct, we prove Bochner-Riesz estimates for nondegenerate curves in all dimensions.