The obstruction conjecture for C^2 Lusin approximation of convex functions

Let n≥2n\geq 2. A convex function is a function whose restriction to every line segment in its domain is convex. Write Bn(0,1)B^n(0,1) for the open unit ball in Rn\mathbb R^n, and let ∣⋅∣|\cdot| denote Lebesgue measure. Obstruction conjecture. There is a convex function

f:Bn(0,1)→Rf:B^n(0,1)\to\mathbb R

and a number m>0m>0 such that, for every convex function g∈C2(Bn(0,1))g\in C^2(B^n(0,1)),

∣{f≠g}∣≥m.|\{f\neq g\}|\geq m.

This conjectures that in dimensions at least two, some convex functions cannot be approximated in the Lusin sense by convex C2C^2 functions, complementing the one-dimensional approximation theorem and the known result for locally strongly convex functions. The general question remains open.

References

Primary source

Paweł Goldstein and Piotr Hajłasz, “C^2-Lusin approximation of convex functions: one variable case”, arXiv:2505.22975 (2025).

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