On the Morse-Sard property and level sets of \(W^{n,1}\) Sobolev functions on \(\mathbb{R}^n\) (Q2261607)

The core result of this paper is that given (the precise representative of) a Sobolev function in \(W^{n,1}(\mathbb{R}^n)\), for almost all points in the image, the preimage is a finite disjoint family of \((n-1)\)-dimensional \(C^1\)-smooth compact manifolds (without boundary). On the way of proving this result, the authors obtain theorems that are interesting in their own right. These results are of two types. One type deals with the approximation of a given Sobolev function by smooth functions up to a small set. There, Whitney's extension theorem plays a crucial role. The other type ensures that the image of the set of critical points has zero one-dimensional Hausdorff measure. The Morse-Sard property in the title alludes to this second kind of results. In the last part of the paper, a part of the Sobolev-regularity is traded off for some BV-regularity. The authors show a Morse-Sard-type theorem for this kind of functions. This article contains a nice fusion of important results in analysis. It is instructive to see how they contribute to the proofs of the main theorems in the paper.