Sobolev inequalities and convergence for Riemannian metrics and distance functions (Q6103339)

Let \(M\) be an \(m\)-dimensional connected, closed, and oriented manifold. For a Riemannian metric \(h\) on \(M\) and the corresponding distance function \(d_{h}\) on \(M\), one can define \(L^{p}\)-norms with respect to a fixed Riemannian metric \(g\) on \(M\). The authors study the subcritical case \(p<m/2\) and derive a Sobolev type inequality between a Riemannian metric and its distance function: \[ \left\Vert d_{h}\left( x,y\right) \right\Vert _{L^{q}\left( M\times M,g\oplus g\right) }\leq C(M,g,q)\left\Vert h\right\Vert _{L^{p/2}\left( M,g\right) }^{\frac{1}{2}}, \] where \(q<\frac{mp}{m-p}.\) The authors use an extension of this theorem to obtain a convergence theorem: If \(M\) is a connected, closed, oriented manifold, \(g_{0}\) is a smooth Riemannian metric on \(M\), and \(\left( g_{j}\right) _{j=1}^{\infty}\) is a sequence of continuous Riemannian metrics on \(M\) such that \[ g_{j}\left( v,v\right) \geq\left( 1-\frac{1}{j}\right) g_{0}\left( v,v\right) \] for every \(x\in M\) and \(v\in T_{x}M\), and \(\left\Vert g_{j}-g_{0}\right\Vert _{L_{g_{0}}^{p}\left( M\right) }\rightarrow0\) as \(j\rightarrow\infty\), \(\frac{1}{2}\leq p\leq\frac{m}{2}\), then there exists a subsequence of the sequence \(\left( g_{j}\right) _{j=1}^{\infty}\) and a measurable set \(U\subset M\) satisfying \(\operatorname{Vol}_{g_{0}}\left( U\right) =\operatorname{Vol}_{g_{0}}\left( M\right) ,\) \(\dim_{H_{g_{0}}}\left( M\backslash U\right) \leq m-2p\), such that \(d_{j_{k}}\left( p,q\right) \rightarrow d_{0}\left( p,q\right) \) \(\forall p,q\in U\). In addition, for all \(\varepsilon>0\) there is a measurable set \(U_{\varepsilon}\subset M\) with \(\operatorname{Vol}_{g_{0}}\left( M\backslash U_{\varepsilon}\right) <\varepsilon\) and \(d_{j_{k}}\left( p,q\right) \overset{U_{\varepsilon }}{\rightrightarrows}d_{0}\left( p,q\right) \) (uniform convergence on \(U_{\epsilon}\)). The authors provide a series of examples showing that the hypotheses of the convergence theorem are necessary and that the selection of a subsequence also is necessary. Finally, the authors prove a version of \textit{M. Gromov}'s conjecture [Cent. Eur. J. Math. 12, No. 8, 1109--1156 (2014; Zbl 1315.53027)].