Improved bounds for the Kakeya maximal conjecture in higher dimensions

We adapt Guth's polynomial partitioning argument for the Fourier restriction problem to the context of the Kakeya problem. By writing out the induction argument as a recursive algorithm, additional multiscale geometric information is made available. To take advantage of this, we prove that direction-separated tubes satisfy a multiscale version of the polynomial Wolff axioms. Altogether, this yields improved bounds for the Kakeya maximal conjecture in $\mathbb{R}^n$ with $n=5$ or $n\ge 7$ and improved bounds for the Kakeya set conjecture for an infinite sequence of dimensions.