Measurability of equivalence classes and MEC\(_p\)-property (Q925109)

The authors prove that if for some \(1 \leq p < \infty\), a locally compact metric space, endowed with a doubling measure, satisfies a weak \(p\)-Poincaré inequality then it is a MEC\(_{p}\)-space. Let \((X, d)\) be a metric space endowed with a \(\sigma\)-finite Borel measure \(\mu\). The restriction of the outer measure, generated by \(\mu\), to the \(\sigma\)-algebra of measurable sets is also denoted by \(\mu\). We say that the measure \(\mu\) on \(X\) is \textit{doubling} if there is a \(C > 0\) such that \(\mu(B(x, 2r)) \leq C\mu(B(x, r))\) for every \(x \in X\) and \(r > 0\). For every \(x, y \in X\), let \(\Gamma_{xy}\) be the set of all compact rectifiable paths in \(X\) connecting \(x\) to \(y\). For a Borel function \(\rho : X \to [0,\infty]\), one defines an equivalence relation on \(X\) by setting, for every \(x,y \in X\), \(x \sim_{\rho}y\) if and only if there is a \(\gamma \in \Gamma_{xy}\) such that \(\int_{\gamma}\rho ds < \infty\). Let \([x]_{\rho} = \{y \in X : y \sim_{\rho} x \}\). Given \((X,d,\mu)\), let \(u\) be an extended real valued function defined on \(X\). A non-negative Borel function \(\rho\) is said to be an \textit{upper gradient} of \(u\) if for every \(x,y \in X\) and \(\gamma \in \Gamma_{xy}\) we have \(|u(x) -u(y)| \leq \int_{\gamma}\rho d s\). Let \(1 \leq p < 1\). The metric measure space \((X,d,\mu)\) is said to have the \textit{main equivalence class property with respect to \(p\)}, abbreviated as MEC\(_{p}\)-property, if for each non-negative Borel function \(\rho \in L^{p}(X)\) there is a point \(x \in X\) such that \(\mu (X \setminus [x]_{\rho} ) = 0\). It was observed by \textit{N. Shanmugalingam} [Ill. J. Math. 45, No. 3, 1021--1050 (2001; Zbl 0989.31003)] that the MEC\(_{p}\)-property implies that every function which has 0 as an upper gradient is constant. It is therefore of interest to understand which metric measure spaces have the MEC\(_{p}\)-property. For \(1 \leq p < 1\), we say that \((X,d,\mu)\) satisfies a weak \(p\)-Poincaré inequality if there exist constants \( \tau \geq 1\) and \(C_{p} \geq 1\) such that for every \(r > 0\) and \(x \in X\), for every \(\mu\)-measurable function \(f \in L^{1}(B(x, r))\) defined on X, and for every upper gradient \(\rho\) of \(f\) we have \[ \frac{1}{ \mu(B(x, r))}\int_{B(x,r)} |f - f_{B(x,r)}| \,d\mu \leq C_{p}r\left(\frac{1}{\mu(B(x, \tau r))}\int_{B(x, \tau r)} \rho^{p} \,d\mu \right)^{\frac{1}{p}}, \] where \(f_{B(x,r)} = \frac{1}{\mu(B(x,r))} \int_{B(x,r)} f d\mu\). The main result of the paper is the following sufficient criterion: Theorem. Let \((X,d)\) be -- either a locally compact metric space -- or a complete metric space endowed with a doubling Borel measure \(\mu\) which is non-trivial and finite on balls. If for some \(1 \leq p < \infty\), the triple \((X,d,\mu)\) satisfies a weak \(p\)-Poincaré inequality then \(X\) is a MEC\(_{p}\)-space. As a corollary, one gets that the Heisenberg groups and e.g.\ the metric spaces constructed by \textit{M. Bourdon} and \textit{H. Pajot} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 127, No. 8, 2315--2324 (1999; Zbl 0976.30011)] and by \textit{T. J. Laakso} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 10, No. 1, 111--123 (2000; Zbl 0962.30006)] have the MEC\(_{p}\)-property. An important consequence of the proof of the previous theorem is the following. Theorem. Let \(X\) be a complete separable metric space endowed with a \(\sigma\)-finite Borel measure \(\mu\). If \(\rho : X \to [0,1]\) is a Borel function, then for every \(x \in X\), \([x]_{\rho}\) is analytic, in particular \(\mu\)-measurable. The \(\rho \equiv 1\) special case of this theorem gives that the rectifiable path connected components of \(X\) are \(\mu\)-measurable. As another corollary, the authors obtain that if \(\rho : X \to [0,\infty]\) is a Borel function, then for each \(x_{0} \in X\), the function \(u : X \to [0,\infty]\) defined by \(u(x) = \inf\{ \int _{\gamma }\rho \,ds: \gamma \in \Gamma _{x_{0}x}\}\) \((x \in X)\) is \(\mu\)-measurable. To illustrate how the ideas in the proofs of the above mentioned theorems can be used in other situations, the authors obtain the following result. Theorem. Let \(X\) be a complete metric space endowed with a doubling Borel measure \(\mu\) which is non-trivial and finite on balls. Suppose that for some \(1 \leq p < \infty\), \((X,d,\mu)\) satisfies a weak \(p\)-Poincaré inequality. If an extended real valued function \(u : X \to [-\infty,\infty]\) has a \(p\)-integrable upper gradient then \(u\) is measurable and locally \(p\)-integrable.