Minkowski content for reachable sets (Q2268178)

Let \(M\subset\mathbb R^n\) be a compact \(p\)-rectifiable subset, i.e., \(M\) is the image of of a compact subset of \(\mathbb R^p\) by a Lipschitzian map. \textit{M. Kneser} [Arch. Math. 6, 382--390 (1955; Zbl 0065.04001)] showed that the Minkowski content of a compact \(p\)-rectifiable subset \(M\) of \(\mathbb R^n\) is equal to its \(p\)-dimensional Hausdorff measure: \[ \lim_{t\to 0,\,t>0}\;\frac {{\mathcal L}^n(\overline {B}(M,t))}{\alpha(n-p)t^{(n-p)}}= {\mathcal H}^p(M), \] where \(\overline {B}(M,t):=\{x\mid d(M,x)\leq t\}\) denotes the tube of radius \(t\) around a subset \(M\) of \(\mathbb R^n\), \(d(M,x):=\inf_{y\in M}d(x,y)\), \(\alpha(i)\) the \(i\)-dimensional Lebesgue measure of the \(i\)-dimensional unit ball in \(\mathbb R^i\), and \({\mathcal H}^p(M)\) the \(p\)-dimensional Hausdorff measure of the set \(M\). Let \(\dot{x}(t)=f(x(t))u(t)\) be a dynamic system, where \(f:\mathbb R^n\to GL_n(\mathbb R)\) is a continuous map and \(u:[0,\infty)\to{\overline B}(0,1)\) is a measurable map (usually called control). The reachable set at time \(t\) is the set of points that can be reached by a trajectory of the control system at time \(t\): \[ \mathcal R_f(M,t)+:= \{t\mid \exists x_0\in M,\;\exists u, x=x(t; x_0,u)\}. \] As the main result, the authors extend a result of Kneser with respect to the reachable sets of the linear control system above, moreover, they give an interpretation in terms of a Riemannian distance.