Gromov hyperbolic spaces and the sharp isoperimetric constant (Q2471791)

A metric space \((X,d)\) is called a geodesic metric space if for any two points \(x\), \(y\) in \(X\) there is a geodesic in \(X\) connecting \(x\) and \(y\), i.e., there is a map \(f: f[0,a]\to X\) with \(a= d(x,y)\) such that \(f\) is an isometry with \(f(0)= x\) and \(f(a)= y\). For \(\delta> 0\), a geodesic metric space \(X\) is called \(\delta\)-hyperbolic if for any geodesic triangle in \(X\) each side of the triangle is contained in the \(\delta\)-neighborhood of the union of the other two sides. A geodesic metric space is said to be Gromov-hyperbolic if it is \(\delta\)-hyperbolic for some \(\delta> 0\). The main result of this paper is the following: Let \(X\) be a geodesic metric space. Suppose there exist \(\varepsilon> 0\) and \(s_0> 0\) such that for any Lipschitz loop \(\gamma: S^1\to X\) with length \((\gamma)\geq s_0\) there is a Lipschitz map \(\Sigma: D^2\to X\) with \(\Sigma|_{S^1}= \gamma\), where \(D^2\subset\mathbb R^2\) is the unit disc such that \(\text{Area}(\Sigma)\leq (1-\varepsilon)/4\pi\, \text{length}(\gamma)^2\), where \(\text{Area}(\Sigma)\) is the 2-dimensional Hausdorff measure of \(\Sigma\). Then \(X\) is Gromov-hyperbolic. The result shows that a geodesic metric space cannot have a quadratic isoperimetric inequality for long curves with isoperimetric constant strictly smaller than \(1/4\pi\) unless it is Gromov hyperbolic. For the proof of this main result, the author recalls the notion of integral currents in metric spaces and the area functionals as well as the isoperimetrix.