Variation for the Riesz transform and uniform rectifiability (Q482917)

A Radon measure \(\mu\) on \(\mathbb{R}^d\) is said to be \(n\)-dimensional Ahlfors-David (AD) regular if there is a fixed constant \(C>0\) such that, for all \(x\in\mathbb{R}^d\) and all \(R>0\), \(\mu(B(x;R))\leq CR^n\). The measure is said to be uniformly \(n\)-rectifiable on \(E\) if there exist \(\theta>0\) and \(M>0\) such that for each \(x\in {\text{supp}}\, \mu\) and \(r>0\) there is a Lipschitz mapping \(g:B_n(0,r)\subset \mathbb{R}^n\to\mathbb{R}^d\) with Lipschitz norm at most \(M\) and \(\mu(B(x,r)\cap g(B_n(0,1)))\geq \theta r^n\). David and Semmes asked in the 1990s (e.g. [\textit{H. Pajot}, Analytic capacity, rectifiability, Menger curvature and the Cauchy integral. Lecture Notes in Mathematics 1799. Berlin: Springer (2002; Zbl 1043.28002)]) whether uniform \(n\)-rectifiability of an AD-regular measure \(\mu\) is equivalent to \(L^2(\mu)\)-boundedness of the maximal Riesz transforms. Uniform rectifiability follows if one requires simultaneous boundedness of a larger class of singular integrals with odd kernels [\textit{G. David} and \textit{S. Semmes}, Singular integrals and rectifiable sets in \(R^ n\). Au-delà des graphes lipschitziens. Montrouge: Société Mathématique de France (1991; Zbl 0743.49018)] but the question remains whether boundedness of the Riesz transforms alone is sufficient for rectifiability. The main result of the work under review is considered a significant step toward an affirmative answer. The \(\rho\)-variation of a family of functions \(\mathcal{F}=\{F_\epsilon\}_{\epsilon>0}: \mathbb{R}^d\to \mathbb{R}\) at \(x\) is \[ \mathcal{V}_\rho(\mathcal{F})(x)=\sup_{\{\epsilon_m\}}\bigl(\sum_n |F_{\epsilon_{m+1}}(x)-F_{\epsilon_m}(x)|^\rho\bigr)^{1/\rho} \] taken over all sequences \(\{\epsilon_m\}\downarrow 0\). Given a Calderón-Zygmund singular integral operator with kernel \(K\) one defines \(\mathcal{T}^\mu f=\{T^\mu_\epsilon f\}_{\epsilon>0}\), where \(T^\mu_\epsilon f(x)=\int_{|x-y|>\epsilon} K(x-y)\, f(y)\, d\mu(y)\). The main result of this work states that if \(1\leq n<d\) and \(\rho>2\), an \(n\)-dimensional AD-regular Radon measure \(\mu\) on \(\mathbb{R}^d\) is uniformly recifiable if and only if \(\mathcal{V}_\rho\circ \mathcal{R}^\mu\) is bounded on \(L^2(\mu)\). More generally, if \(\mu\) is uniformly \(n\)-rectifiable then \(\mathcal{V}_\rho\circ \mathcal{T}^\mu\) is bounded on \(L^2(\mu)\) for any standard Calderón-Zygmund kernel (i.e. \(|\partial_\alpha K(x)|\leq C/|x|^{n+\alpha}\) for any multi-index \(\alpha\) of order \(0,1\) or 2). The main result is stated precisely as equivalence of the following for an \(n\)-dimensional AD-regular Radon measure on \(\mathbb{R}^d\): (i) uniform rectifiability of \(\mu\), (ii) for any standard odd CZ-kernel \(K\) and \(\rho>2\), the operator \(\mathcal{V}_\rho\circ \mathcal{T}_\varphi^\mu\) is bounded on \(L^p_\mu\) for all \(1<p<\infty\) and from \(L^1(\mu)\) to \(L^{1,\infty}(\mu)\), (iii) same as (ii) but for \(L^2(\mu)\) only with \(\mathcal{V}_\rho\circ \mathcal{T}^\mu\), (iv) for some \(\rho>0\), \(\mathcal{V}_\rho\circ \mathcal{R}^\mu\) is \(L^2(\mu)\)-bounded and (v) \(\mathcal{V}_\rho\circ \mathcal{T}_\varphi^\mu\) is \(L^2(\mu)\)-bounded for \(K(x)=x/|x|^{n+1}\) and some \(\rho>0\). Here, \(T_{\varphi_\epsilon}^\mu=(K\varphi_\epsilon\ast \mu f)\) where \(\varphi_\epsilon=\varphi(|x|^2/\epsilon^2)\) for a standard smooth cutoff \(\varphi\). The technical arsenal includes a Calderón-Zygmund decomposition of measures, dyadic lattices adapted to \(\mu\), and a corona decomposition of \(\mu\). The authors employ also the so-called \(\beta\)-coefficients introduced by \textit{P. W. Jones} [Invent. Math. 102, No. 1, 1--15 (1990; Zbl 0731.30018)]. Corresponding estimates with \(\mu\) replaced by the Hausdorff measure also play a fundamental role.