Directional maximal operators in the plane

Abstract

This monograph investigates the Lebesgue boundedness of planar directional maximal operators $D_{\Omega}$. These are maximal averages of functions over line segments in $\mathbb R^2$ whose slopes lie in a specified set $\Omega\subseteq\mathbb R$. A large body of work has identified a geometric property of $\Omega$, called finite-order lacunarity, as a key factor in ensuring that $D_{\Omega}$ is Lebesgue bounded. While several variations of this notion exist, they all centre on the distribution of gaps in $\Omega$. Building on earlier work, an article of Bateman(2009) asserted a dichotomy for such operators. Namely, $D_{\Omega}$ is bounded on $L^p$ for all $p\in (1,\infty)$ precisely when the slope set $\Omega$ is finite-order lacunary, or equivalently, when $\Omega$ does not admit Kakeya-type sets. Conversely, sublacunary direction sets $\Omega$ admit Kakeya-like phenomena, implying that $D_{\Omega}$ is unbounded on $L^p$ for all $p\in [1,\infty)$. Recent work of Hagelstein, Radillo-Murguia, and Stokolos(2024) identified a gap in the proof of this assertion and produced counterexamples for which the separation mechanism underlying that proof fails, demonstrating the need for a corrected framework. We establish the corrected characterization by introducing a new notion of admissible finite-order lacunarity that faithfully reflects the combinatorial structure of the direction set. This leads to a tree-theoretic characterization in terms of finite splitting number and provides the foundation for new geometric and probabilistic constructions establishing the equivalence between finite-order lacunarity, the absence of Kakeya-type sets, and the boundedness of directional maximal operators. The resulting framework not only resolves the gap in the earlier proof, but also identifies admissible finite-order lacunarity as the structural invariant governing these phenomena.