Isoperimetric problem in \(H\)-type groups and Grushin spaces (Q515347)

If \(M\) is a manifold, \(V\) is a volume, and \(P\) is a perimeter measure on \(M\), then for a regular set \(E\subset M\), \(P(E)\) is the area of the boundary \(\partial E\). The isoperimetric problem relative to \(V\) and \(P\) is the study of existence, symmetries, regularity and, if possible, classifying the minimizers of the problem \(\min\{P(E);\;E\in\mathcal{A}\}\) such that \(V(E)=v\), for a given volume \(v>0\) and for a given family of admissible sets \(\mathcal{A}\). The set all minimizers is called isoperimetric set. In a different approach, the perimeter of a Lebesgue measurable set \(E\subset\mathbb R^n\) is defined via a system \(X=\{X_1,\dots,X_h\}\), \(h\geq 2\), of self-adjoint vector fields in \(\mathbb R^n\), as \((*)\,P_X(E)=\sup\left\{\int\limits_E\sum\limits_{i=1}^hX_i\varphi_i(x)\right\}\), where \(\varphi\in C^1_c(\mathbb R^n;\mathbb R^h)\) and \(\max\limits_{x\in\mathbb R^n}|\varphi(x)|\leq 1\). The perimeter \(P_X\) is called a \(X\)-perimeter. A group \(H\) is of \(H\)-type if its Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{h}=\mathfrak{h}_1\oplus\mathfrak{h}_2\) is a stratified nilpotent real algebra of dimension \(n\geq 3\) and step \(2\). \(\mathfrak{h}\) can be identified with \(\mathbb R^n=\mathbb R^h\times\mathbb R^k\), \(\mathfrak{h}_1\) is identified with \(\mathbb R^h\times\{0\}\), and \(\mathfrak{h}_2\) with \(\{0\}\times\mathbb R^k\). If the Lie group product \(\cdot:\mathbb R^n\times\mathbb R^n\to\mathbb R^n\) is defined as \((x,y)\cdot(x',y')=(x+x',y+y'+Q(x,x'))\), where \((x,y)\in\mathbb R^h\times\mathbb R^k\) and \(Q:\mathbb R^h\times\mathbb R^h\to\mathbb R^k\) is a bilinear skew-symmetric mapping, then \((\mathbb R^n,\cdot)\) is a group of \(H\)-type. If \(\{X_i,Y_j\}\), \(i=1,\dots,h\), \(j=1,\dots,k\), is an orthonormal basis of the Lie algebra of the left-invariant vector fields of the group \((\mathbb R^n,\cdot)\), then \(P_H(E)=P_X(E)\), defined by \((*)\), is the perimeter of a set \(E\subset\mathbb R^n\) with respect to the system of vector fields \(X=\{X_1,\dots,X_h\}\) in the group \((\mathbb R^n,\cdot)\) of \(H\)-type, and is called the \(H\)-perimeter. \(\mathbb R^n\) is a Grushin space if \(\mathbb R^n=\mathbb R^h\times\mathbb R^k\) and for any real number \(\alpha>0\) the basis is \(X=\{X_i,Y_j\}\), where \(X_i=\frac{\partial}{\partial x_i}\), \(i=1,\dots,h\), \(Y_j=|x|^\alpha\frac{\partial}{\partial y_j}\), \(j=1,\dots,k\) with the standard norm \(|x|\) of \(x\). The perimeter \(P_\alpha(E)=P_X(E)\), defined by \((*)\), of a set \(E\subset\mathbb R^n\) with respect to the system of vector fields \(X\) is called the \(\alpha\)-perimeter. A set \(E\subset\mathbb R^n\) is said to be \(x\)-spherically symmetric if there exists a set \(F\subset\mathbb R\times\mathbb R^k\), called generating set of \(E\), such that \(E=\{(x,y);\;(|x|,y)\in F\}\). The class of \(\mathcal{L}^n\)-measurable, \(x\)-spherically symmetric sets is denoted by \(\mathcal{S}_x\). In this paper, the authors study the isoperimetric problem in the class of \(x\)-spherically symmetric sets in \(H\)-type groups and Grushin spaces, emphasizing relations between them. The problem is reduced to minimize the isoperimetric ratios \(\mathcal{I}_H(E)=\frac{P_H(E)^Q}{\mathcal{L}^n(E)^{Q-1}}\) with \(Q=h+2k\) for \(H\)-type groups and \(\mathcal{I}_H(E)=\frac{P_\alpha(E)^d}{\mathcal{L}^n(E)^{d-1}}\) with \(d=h+k(1+\alpha)\) for Grushin spaces. The authors show that the isoperimetric problems \(\min\{\mathcal{I}_H(E);\;E\in\mathcal{S}_x\}\) in any \(H\)-type group and \(\min\{\mathcal{I}_\alpha(E);\;E\in\mathcal{S}_x\}\) for \(h\geq 2\) or \(\min\{\mathcal{I}_\alpha(E);\;E\in\mathbb R^n\}\) for \(h=1\) in a Grushin space have solutions and, up to a vertical translation and a null set, any isoperimetric set is of the form \(E=\{(x,y);\;|y|<f(|x|)\}\) for some function \(f:(0,r_0)\to\mathbb R^+\) satisfying certain conditions.