Characterization of metric spaces whose free space is isometric to \(\ell_1\) (Q330192)

The Lipschitz-free space over a metric space \(M\) is the isometric predual of the space of Lipschitz functions on \(M\) which vanish on a specific (arbitrary) point of \(M\). Such spaces, also called Arens-Eells spaces, have been intensively investigated in the last ten years. It is shown in this paper that if \(M\) is a negligible subset of a real metric tree, then the free space over \(M\) is isometric to \(l_1\) if and only if \(M\) contains all the branching points of its convex hull. It follows, for instance, that the free space over an ultrametric space (with at least three points) is never isometric to \(l_1\). It is also shown that the free space of a compact negligible subset of a metric tree is isometric to a subspace of \(l_1\).