In this work, we consider oriented compact manifolds which possess convex mean curvature boundary, positive scalar curvature and admit a map to $\mathbb {D}^{2}\times T^{n}$ with non-zero degree, where $\mathbb {D}^{2}$ is a disc and $T^{n}$ is an $n$-dimensional torus. We prove the validity of an inequality involving a mean of the area and the length of the boundary of immersed discs whose boundaries are homotopically non-trivial curves. We also prove a rigidity result for the equality case when the boundary is strongly totally geodesic. This can be viewed as a partial generalization of a result due to Lucas Ambrózio in (2015, J. Geom. Anal., 25, 1001–1017) to higher dimensions.

We derive a new equation for the optimal investment boundary of a general irreversible investment problem under exponential Lévy uncertainty. The problem is set as an infinite time-horizon, two-dimensional degenerate singular stochastic control problem. In line with the results recently obtained in a diffusive setting, we show that the optimal boundary is intimately linked to the unique optional solution of an appropriate Bank–El Karoui representation problem. Such a relation and the Wiener–Hopf factorization allow us to derive an integral equation for the optimal investment boundary. In case the underlying Lévy process hits any point in R with positive probability we show that the integral equation for the investment boundary is uniquely satisfied by the unique solution of another equation which is easier to handle. As a remarkable by-product we prove the continuity of the optimal investment boundary. The paper is concluded with explicit results for profit functions of Cobb–Douglas type and CES type. In the former case the function is separable and in the latter case nonseparable.