Pretangent spaces with nonpositive and nonnegative Aleksandrov curvature (Q486907)

Let \((X,d,p)\) be a pointed metric space with a metric \(d\) and a marked point \(p\) and let \(\tilde{r}=(r_n)_{n\in \mathbb N}\) be a sequence of positive real numbers with \(\lim_{n\to \infty}r_n=0\). Denote by \(\tilde{X}_{p,\tilde{r}}\) a maximal set of sequences of points from \(X\) such that \((p,p,p,\ldots) \in \tilde{X}_{p,\tilde{r}}\) and there is a finite limit \[ \tilde{d}(\tilde{x},\tilde{y}) = \lim_{n\to \infty}\frac{d(x_n,y_n)}{r_n} \] for every pair \(\tilde{x}=(x_n)_{n\in \mathbb N}\) and \(\tilde{y}=(y_n)_{n\in \mathbb N}\) belonging to \(\tilde{X}_{p,\tilde{r}}\). A pretangent space \(\Omega_{p,\tilde{r}}^X\) to \(X\) at the point \(p\) is by definition the metric identification of the pseudometric space \((\tilde{X}_{p,\tilde{r}},\tilde{d})\). This notion of pretangent spaces was introduced by \textit{O. Dovgoshey} and \textit{O. Martio} in 2008 [``Tangent spaces to metric spaces'', Reports in Math., Helsinki Univ., preprint 480, 20 p. (2008); available at {\url www.math.helsinki.fi/reports}] and studied by several mathematicians during the last seven years. The aim of the paper under review is to give some conditions under which pretangent spaces have nonpositive or nonnegative Aleksandrov curvature. The results of the paper can be considered as some infinitesimal analogues of corresponding theorems from the papers [\textit{I. D. Berg} and \textit{I. G. Nikolaev}, Geom. Dedicata 133, 195--218 (2008; Zbl 1144.53045)] and [\textit{N. Lebedeva} and \textit{A. Petrunin}, Electron. Res. Announc. Math. Sci. 17, 122--124 (2010; Zbl 1222.53071)]. The infinitesimal structure of metric spaces with Busemann convex pretangent spaces is also described.