A Riemannian interpolation inequality à la Borell, Brascamp and Lieb

Abstract.

A concavity estimate is derived for interpolations between L ¹(M) mass densities on a Riemannian manifold. The inequality sheds new light on the theorems of Prékopa, Leindler, Borell, Brascamp and Lieb that it generalizes from Euclidean space. Due to the curvature of the manifold, the new Riemannian versions of these theorems incorporate a volume distortion factor which can, however, be controlled via lower bounds on Ricci curvature. The method uses optimal mappings from mass transportation theory. Along the way, several new properties are established for optimal mass transport and interpolating maps on a Riemannian manifold.