Isoperimetric characterization of upper curvature bounds (Q1623216)

A metric space $X$ satisfies the ``Euclidean isoperimetric inequality for curves'' if any closed Lipschitz curve $\gamma: S^1\to X$ bounds a Lipschitz map of the unit disc $v:\overline{D}\to X$ whose parametrized Hausdorff area is at most $\ell^2_X(\gamma)/4\pi$, where $\ell_X(\gamma)$ denotes the length of $\gamma$ in $X$. The main result in the authors' article is the following: Theorem. Let $X$ be a proper metric space in which any pair of points is connected by a curve of finite length. Let $X^i$ denote the set $X$ with the induced length metric. The space $X^i$ is $\mathrm{CAT}(0)$ if and only if $X$ satisfies the Euclidean isoperimetric inequality for curves. \par This elegant result, along with its generalization to non-zero curvature bounds, provides an analytic characterization of upper curvature bounds without the need of identifying geodesics or angles. The authors obtain these results as consequences of theorems relating curvature and solutions to the Plateau problem on metric spaces which satisfy the Euclidean isoperimetric inequality for curves.