Alexandrov--Fenchel inequalities for convex domains in the sphere

Abstract

We prove the Alexandrov--Fenchel inequalities between any two spherical quermassintegrals for smooth weakly convex domains contained in an open hemisphere, with equality if and only if the domain is a geodesic ball. For strictly convex hypersurfaces, we introduce a globally constrained curvature flow which preserves one quermassintegral and decreases the next one. We establish uniform curvature estimates by combining a pinching estimate, a support function argument, and spherical polarity. As a consequence, the flow exists for all time and converges smoothly and exponentially to a geodesic sphere. The monotonicity of the quermassintegrals gives the full family of Alexandrov--Fenchel inequalities. A short-time mean curvature flow approximation and a localized rigidity argument extend the result, including the equality characterization, to weakly convex domains.