Extrinsic curvature of semiconvex subspaces in Alexandrov geometry (Q2269469)

Let \(X\) be a complete geodesic metric space, not necessarily locally compact, of curvature bounded either above (CBA) or below (CBB) by \(K\) (for general references, see [\textit{W. Ballmann}, Lectures on spaces of nonpositive curvature. With an appendix by Misha Brin: Ergodicity of geodesic flows. DMV Seminar. Bd. 25. Basel: Birkhäuser Verlag. (1995; Zbl 0834.53003)], \textit{V. N. Berestovskii, I. G. Nikolaev} [Multidimensional generalized Riemannian spaces. Geometry. IV. Non-regular Riemannian geometry. Encycl. Math. Sci. 70, 168--243 (1993); translation from Itogi Nauki Tekh., Ser. Sovrem. Probl. Mat., Fundam. Napravleniya 70, 190--272 (1992; Zbl 0781.53049)], [\textit{M. R. Bridson} and \textit{A. Haefliger}, Metric spaces of non-positive curvature. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften. 319. Berlin: Springer. (1999; Zbl 0988.53001)], [\textit{D. Burago, Yu. Burago} and \textit{S. Ivanov}, A course in metric geometry. Graduate Studies in Mathematics. 33. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS). (2001; Zbl 0981.51016)], \textit{A. Petrunin} [Cheeger, Jeffrey (ed.) et al., Metric and comparison geometry. Surveys in differential geometry. Vol. XI. Somerville, MA: International Press. Surveys in Differential Geometry 11, 137--201 (2007; Zbl 1166.53001)], \textit{C. Plaut} [Daverman, R. J. (ed.) et al., Handbook of geometric topology. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 819-898 (2002; Zbl 1011.57002)]). One says that a subset \(Y\) of \(X\) has extrinsic curvature \(\leq A\) at \(p\in Y\) if for every pair of points with distance \(s< \varepsilon\) in the metric ball \(B_Y(p,\varepsilon)\) in \(Y\) and distance \(r\) in \(X\), \(\lim \sup_{\varepsilon\to 0} \sqrt{24(s-r)/r^3}\leq A\). For the definition of extrinsic curvature \(\geq A\) at \(p\), one substitutes \(\lim\inf\) by \(\lim\sup\), and \(\geq\) for \(\leq\). Let \(f:\text{Dom}(f)\to \mathbb{R}\) be a \(\lambda\)-concave function \((\lambda\in \mathbb{R})\), that is \(f\) is a locally Lipschitz function such that the function \(f\circ \gamma(t)-\lambda t^2/2\) is concave for any geodesic \(\gamma\), where Dom\((f)\) is an open subset of \(X\). The authors prove the following results that are immediate corollaries of slightly stronger uniform statements. Let \(Y:=f^{-1}([c,\infty))\) [resp. \(Y:=f^{-1}(c)\)] be a superlevel (resp. level) of \(f\). If \(\lambda >0\) and \(g>0\) (resp. \(\lambda<0\) and \(0<G<\sqrt{2}g\)), then the extrinsic curvature of \(Y\) at \(p\) is at most (resp. least) \(\lambda \sqrt{\frac{2}{g^2}-\frac{1}{G^2}}\) (resp. \(|\lambda| \sqrt{\frac{2}{G^2}-\frac{1}{g^2}}\)), where \(g\) and \(G\) are the \(\lim\inf\) and \(\lim\sup\), respectively, of \(|\nabla_q f|\) as \(q\to p\) within \(f^{-1}((-\infty,c))\) [resp. \(f^{-1}((c, \infty))\)]. The proof of the above result in the superlevel case, together with theorems on the Gauss equation and the injectivity radii of subspaces in a \(CAT(K)\) space proved in a previous paper of the authors [Geom. Dedicata 117, 65--84 (2006; Zbl 1094.53073)], leads to intrinsic curvature and injectivity radius bounds for \(Y\) like subspaces. For finite dimensional spaces of \(CBB\) bounded by \(K\) and whose nonempty boundary satisfies an extrinsic curvature assumption, the authors strengthen Perelman's concavity theorem for distance from the boundary [\textit{G. Perelman}, Alexandrov's spaces with curvature bounded from below II, Preprint, (1991)]. This last result provides important examples of functions to which the above result in the level case applies. Moreover, corollaries on sharp diameter bounds, contractibility, and rigidity are derived. The authors' considerations are build on \textit{A. Lytchak}'s work [St. Petersbg. Math. J. 17, No.~3, 477--491 (2006); translation from Algebra Anal. 17, No.~3, 139--159 (2006; Zbl 1152.53033)]. In particular, in the authors settings gradient curves exist and are unique, and the corresponding gradient flow is locally Lipschitz. Also one should note that related work has been done independently by J. Cao, B. Dai, and J. Mei [An extension of Perelman's soul theorem for singular spaces, arXiv: 0706.0565v1(5 June 2007), v2(19 June 2007), v3(19 December 2007)].