Extremality, symmetry and regularity issues in harmonic analysis

In this Ph. D. thesis we discuss four different problems in analysis: (a) sharp inequalities related to the restriction phenomena for the Fourier transform, with emphasis on some Strichartz-type estimates; (b) extremal approximations of exponential type for the Gaussian and for a class of even functions, with applications to analytic number theory; (c) radial symmetrization approach to convolution-like inequalities for the Boltzmann collision operator; (d) regularity of maximal operators with respect to weak derivatives and weak continuity.