A $2$-systolic inequality for $\mathbb S^2\times P$

Abstract

We prove a sharp $2$-systolic inequality for four-dimensional products $\mathbb S^2\times P$, where $P\subset\mathbb R^2$ is an arbitrary convex polygon. Let $h=g_{\mathbb S^2}+g_{\mathrm{eu}}$ be the standard product metric. If a Riemannian metric $g$ on $\mathbb S^2\times P$ has scalar curvature $\geq \sigma>0$, nonnegative mean curvature on every codimension one face, and dihedral angles no larger than the corresponding dihedral angles of $h$, then both its homotopy and homology $2$-systoles are at most $ \frac{8\pi}{\sigma}.$ This confirms a conjecture of Gromov.