Sharp higher order regularity of discrete maximal functions

We derive sharp $\ell^p(\mathbb{Z})$ bounds for the $k$th derivative of the discrete uncentered maximal operator applied to characteristic functions $f:\mathbb{Z}\to\{0,1\}$ in the cases $k=0,1,2$. When $k=1,2$ these are the first sharp bounds for derivatives of a Hardy-Littlewood maximal function in continuous or discrete settings when $1<p<\infty$. We also establish several lower bounds for $k\geq 3$ and for general functions $f:\mathbb{Z}\to\mathbb{R}$.