Fractional elementary symmetric functions and Hessian estimates in the plane

Abstract

We prove an endpoint Pucci maximum principle for domains in $\mathbb R^2$, formulated using a generalization of elementary symmetric polynomials to noninteger orders. As a result, we sharpen an earlier result of Astala, Iwaniec and Martin, and deduce a new Sobolev inequality for $q$-Hessians where $1 < q < 2$. The fractional elementary symmetric functions we use are derived through fractional differentiation. Their signed singular value extension coincides with the Burkholder functional introduced by Burkholder and gives us access to a local Burkholder inequality due to Astala, Iwaniec, Prause and Saksman, leading to a different proof of the Pucci maximum principle from the one in that used quasiconformal maps. We include an elementary real-variable proof of this local Burkholder inequality, obtained by combining a few known techniques from existing literature.