Non-compact \(\mathrm{RCD}(0,N)\) spaces with linear volume growth (Q1651358)

The \(\text{CD}(K, N)\) condition for general metric measure spaces is a notion of ``Ricci bounded from below by \(K \in \mathbb{R}\) and dimension bounded above by \(N \in [1, \infty]\)''. Recently the notion of \(\text{RCD}(K, \infty)\) spaces has been introduced by \textit{L. Ambrosio} et al. [Duke Math. J. 163, No. 7, 1405--1490 (2014; Zbl 1304.35310)]. An \(\text{RCD}(K,N)\) space is a metric measure space which is both a \(\text{CD}(K, N)\) space and a \(\text{RCD}(K, \infty)\) space. The main aim of the paper in review is to study non-compact metric measure spaces with `non-negative Ricci curvature' and linear volume growth. The first result of the paper is the following: Theorem 1.2. Suppose \((X,d,m)\) is a non-compact \(\text{RCD}(0, N)\) space with \(m(B_p(r)) \leq Cr\) for some point \(p\) and positive constant \(C\), and \(b\) is the Busemann function associated with some geodesic ray \(\gamma\). Then the diameter of \(b^{-1}(r)\) grows at most linearly. More precisely, we have \[ \limsup_{r \to +\infty} \frac{\text{diam}(b^{-1}(r))}{r} \leq C_0 \leq 2, \] where the diameter of \(b^{-1}(r)\) is computed with respect to the distance \(d\). In particular, \(b^{-1}(r)\) is compact. In fact an even stronger result holds: The assumption that \((X,d m)\) is an \(\text{RCD}(0,N)\) space can be weakened and it is sufficient to require that \((X,d,m)\) is a non-compact essentially non-branching \(\text{MCP}(0,N)\) with \(m(B_p(r)) \leq Cr\). The second main results is a generalization of a result from [\textit{C. Sormani}, J. Differ. Geom. 48, No. 3, 557--585 (1998; Zbl 0901.53029)] to the non-smooth setting: Theorem 1.4. Suppose \((X,d,m)\) is a non-compact \(\text{RCD}(0,N)\) space and satisfies the strongly minimal volume growth, then \((X, d, m)\) has only one end and there is some metric measure space \((Z, d', m')\) such that one of the following holds: \begin{itemize} \item[(1)] If \(X\) has exactly one point, then \((b^{-1}((r_0, \infty)), d, m)\) is isomorphic to \(((r_0, \infty), d_{\text{Eucl}}, c\mathcal{L}^1)\) with \(c = m(b^{-1}([r_0, r_0 + 1]))\). Furthermore, in this case \((X,d)\) is isometric to some \(([\bar{r}, \infty), d_{\text{Eucl}})\). \item[(2)] If \(Z\) has more than one point, then \(N \geq 2\), and \((Z, d', m')\) is a compact connected \(\text{RCD}(0, N-1)\) space, and \((b^{-1}((r_0, \infty)), d, m)\) is locally isomorphic to \((Z \times (r_0, \infty), d' \times d_{\text{Eucl}}, m' \otimes \mathcal{L}^1)\). Furthermore, let \(r_1 = r_0 + \frac{\text{diam}'(Z)}{2}\), then \((b^{-1}((r_1, \infty)), d, m)\) is isomorphic to \((Z \times (r_1, \infty), d' \times d_{\text{Eucl}}, m' \otimes \mathcal{L}^1)\). Here, \(\text{diam}'(Z)\) is the diameter of \(Z\) with respect to the distance \(d'\). \end{itemize} Examples are given that show that the conclusions in this theorem can not be strengthened.