Sharp Hausdorff Bounds for the Interior Singular Set of Convex $k$-Hessian Solutions

Abstract

Let $2\le k\le n$, let $Ω\subset\mathbb{R}^n$ be open and convex, and let $u$ be a convex viscosity solution of $σ_k(D^2u)=1$ in $Ω$. We prove that the set on which $u$ fails to be locally $C^2$ has vanishing $(n-1)$-dimensional Hausdorff measure. In the intermediate range $3\le k 0$, we obtain Hausdorff bounds for strata defined by the affine dimension of all supporting contact sets. The proof combines a support-dependent Chou--Wang barrier argument, an estimate for the product of the smallest $k$ semiaxes of a John ellipsoid, and Mooney's convex section-covering theorem. As a direct analytical consequence, the full distributional Hessian is absolutely continuous and $u\in W^{2,1}_{\mathrm{loc}}(Ω)$, yielding a $k$-Hessian counterpart of the $W^{2,1}$ regularity known for singular Monge--Ampère solutions. In a logically separate structural part, we characterize the distinguished number of flat directions, $n-k+1$, by an asymptotic infimum mean-value formula over affine sections, and explain how this mean-value heuristic leads to the supporting-contact geometry used in the proof.