Points of differentiability of the norm in Lipschitz-free spaces (Q2183617)

Let \(M\) be a pointed metric space with a distinguished point \(0\). Denote by \(\text{Lip}_0(M)\) the space of all Lipschitz functions on \(M\) which vanish at \(0\in M\). Also denote by \(\delta\) the canonical isometric embedding of \(M\) into \(\text{Lip}_0(M)^*\). The Lipschitz free space \(\mathcal{F}(M)\) (also known as Arens--Eells space) is defined as \(\mathcal{F}(M)=\overline{\text{span}}\{\delta(x)\colon x\in M\}\). A molecule is an element of \(\mathcal{F}(M)\) of the form \[ m_{x,y}:=\frac{\delta(x)-\delta(y)}{d(x,y)}, \] where \(x,y\in M$, $x\neq y\). It is known that any \(\mu\in \mathcal{F}(M)\) with norm one may be expressed as a series of type \[ \mu=\sum_{n=1}^\infty \lambda_nm_{x_n,y_n}, \text{where \(\lambda_n\geq 0\) and \(\sum_{n=1}^\infty\lambda_n\leq 1+\varepsilon\)} \] for any \(\varepsilon>0\). In the paper under review the authors focus on the case where \(\varepsilon=0\) in the expression above. They prove a geometric characterization on the points \(x_n\) and \(y_n\) of \(M\) for such type of convex series of molecules. The authors then establish when these convex series of molecules are points of Gâteaux differentiability. Also, they show that Gâteaux and Fréchet differentiability are equivalent for finitely supported elements of Lipschitz-free spaces over uniformly discrete and bounded metric spaces. The paper ends by pointing out a couple of interesting open questions.