An improved bound on the number of point-surface incidences in three dimensions

We show that $m$ points and $n$ smooth algebraic surfaces of bounded degree in $\mathbb{R}^3$ satisfying suitable nondegeneracy conditions can have at most $O(m^{\frac{2k}{3k-1}}n^{\frac{3k-3}{3k-1}}+m+n)$ incidences, provided that any collection of $k$ points have at most O(1) surfaces passing through all of them, for some $k\geq 3$. In the case where the surfaces are spheres and no three spheres meet in a common circle, this implies there are $O((mn)^{3/4} + m +n)$ point-sphere incidences. This is a slight improvement over the previous bound of $O((mn)^{3/4} \beta(m,n)+ m +n)$ for $\beta(m,n)$ an (explicit) very slowly growing function. We obtain this bound by using the discrete polynomial ham sandwich theorem to cut $\mathbb{R}^3$ into open cells adapted to the set of points, and within each cell of the decomposition we apply a Turan-type theorem to obtain crude control on the number of point-surface incidences. We then perform a second polynomial ham sandwich decomposition on the irreducible components of the variety defined by the first decomposition. As an application, we obtain a new bound on the maximum number of unit distances amongst $m$ points in $\mathbb{R}^3$.Comment: 17 pages, revised based on referee comment

Spectral gaps, additive energy, and a fractal uncertainty principle

We obtain an essential spectral gap for $n$-dimensional convex co-compact hyperbolic manifolds with the dimension $\delta$ of the limit set close to $(n-1)/2$. The size of the gap is expressed using the additive energy of stereographic projections of the limit set. This additive energy can in turn be estimated in terms of the constants in Ahlfors-David regularity of the limit set. Our proofs use new microlocal methods, in particular a notion of a fractal uncertainty principle.Comment: 85 pages, 10 figures. To appear in GAF

A Kakeya maximal function estimate in four dimensions using planebrushes

We obtain an improved Kakeya maximal function estimate in $\mathbb{R}^4$ using a new geometric argument called the planebrush. A planebrush is a higher dimensional analogue of Wolff's hairbrush, which gives effective control on the size of Besicovitch sets when the lines through a typical point concentrate into a plane. When Besicovitch sets do not have this property, the existing trilinear estimates of Guth-Zahl can be used to bound the size of a Besicovitch set. In particular, we establish a maximal function estimate in $\mathbb{R}^4$ at dimension $3.059$. As a consequence, every Besicovitch set in $\mathbb{R}^4$ must have Hausdorff dimension at least $3.059$.Comment: 40 pages 2 figures. v2: revised based on referee's comments. In v1, the Nikishin-Pisier-Stein factorization theorem was stated (and used) incorrectly. This version corrects the problem by introducing several new arguments. The new argument leads to a Kakeya maximal function estimate at dimension 3.059, which is slightly worse than the previously claimed exponent 3.085