A Sturm-type comparison theorem by a geometric study of plane multihedgehogs

Abstract

We prove a Sturm-type comparison theorem by a geometric study of plane (multi)hedgehogs. This theorem implies that for every $2\pi$-periodic smooth real function $h$, the number of zeros of $h$ in $[0,2\pi[$ is not bigger than the number of zeros of $h+h^{\prime\prime}$ plus $2$. In terms of $N$-hedgehogs, it can be interpreted as a comparison theorem between number of singularities and maximal number of support lines through a point. The rest of the paper is devoted to a series of geometric consequences.