Rectifiability of sets of finite perimeter in Carnot groups: existence of a tangent hyperplane (Q2271907)

The class of sets \(E\) of locally finite perimeter in Carnot groups is considered. Denoting by \(X_1,\dots,X_m\) an orthonormal basis of the horizontal layer of the Lie algebra \(g\) of left-invariant vector fields of the Carnot group \(G\), this class of sets is defined by the property that the distributional derivatives \(X_11_E,\dots, X_m 1_E\) are representable by Radon measures in \(G\); this notion is compatible with the Carnot-Carathéodory (sub-Riemannian) distance \(d\) induced by \(X_1,\dots, X_m\). In this context the total variation \(|D1_E|\) of the \(\mathbb{R}^m\)-valued measure \((X_1 1_E,\dots, X_m 1_E)\) plays the role of a surface measure associated with \(d\). It has already been proved that in step 2 Carnot groups for almost every \(x\), a set \(E\) of locally finite perimeter has a unique tangent at \(x\), and this tangent is a vertical half-space. As a partial extension to the above mentioned result, the authors prove that if \(E\) is a set of locally finite perimeter in a Carnot group \(G\), then, for almost every \(x\in G\) with respect to the perimeter measure of \(E\), some tangent of \(E\) at \(x\) is a vertical half-space.