Metric currents, differentiable structures, and Carnot groups

DOI10.2422/2036-2145.201007_003MaRDI QIDQ2915215zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Marshall Williams

Publication date 21 September 2012

Published in Annali della Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. Classe di Scienze. Serie V (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1008.4120

zbMATH Keywords

Carnot groupdifferentiable structuremetric current

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Nilpotent and solvable Lie groups (22E25) Analysis on metric spaces (30L99) Geometric measure and integration theory, integral and normal currents in optimization (49Q15)

Abstract: We examine the theory of metric currents of Ambrosio and Kirchheim in the setting of spaces admitting differentiable structures in the sense of Cheeger and Keith. We prove that metric forms which vanish in the sense of Cheeger on a set must also vanish when paired with currents concentrated along that set. From this we deduce a generalization of the chain rule, and show that currents of absolutely continuous mass are given by integration against measurable $k$-vector fields. We further prove that if the underlying metric space is a Carnot group with its Carnot-Carath'eodory distance, then every metric current $T$ satisfies $Tlfloo{r}_{heta}=0$ and $Tlfloo{r}_{dheta}=0$, whenever $hetainOmeg{a}^1(mathbbG)$ annihilates the horizontal bundle of $mathbbG$. Moreover, this condition is necessary and sufficient for a metric current with respect to the Riemannian metric to extend to one with respect to the Carnot-Carath'eodory metric, provided the current either is locally normal, or has absolutely continuous mass.

Review text

This article examines the relation between the metric currents [\textit{L. Ambrosio} and \textit{B. Kirchheim}, Acta Math. 185, No. 1, 1--80 (2000; Zbl 0984.49025)] and differentiable structures on metric spaces [\textit{S. Keith}, Adv. Math. 183, No. 2, 271--315 (2004; Zbl 1077.46027)]. One of the main results is a compatibility theorem which states that metric forms that vanish in the sense of differentiable structures also vanish in the sense of currents, provided the current is concentrated where the form is defined. Precisely, let \(\omega = \sum_s \beta_s dg_s^1 \wedge \dots\wedge dg_s^k \) be a compactly supported measurable metric \(k\)-form on a metric space \(X\); this means \(\beta_s\) is a bounded Borel function with compact support, and each \(g_s^k\) is locally Lipschitz. Assuming that \(X\) is equipped with a strong measured differentiable structure in the sense of Keith, let \(Y_\omega\) be the set of points in a coordinate patch \(Y\) at which all functions \(g_s^k\) are differentiable and the equality \(\sum_s \beta_s dg_s^1 \wedge \dots\wedge dg_s^k=0 \) holds in the sense of pointwise derivatives. Then for every metric \(k\) current \(T\) of locally finite mass, we have \(T(\omega)=0\) provided that \(T\) is concentrated on \(Y_\omega\).NEWLINENEWLINEAs an application, the author shows that currents of absolutely continuous mass are given by integration against measurable \(k\)-vector fields. The applications of these ideas to the geometry of Carnot-Carathéodory spaces occupy the second half of the paper. The paper is very carefully written and the content is well organized.

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Cited in

(9)

• On the locally branched Euclidean metric gauge
• Metric currents and polylipschitz forms
• Some applications of metric currents to complex analysis
• Metric currents and Alberti representations
• An upper gradient approach to weakly differentiable cochains
• Surface measures in Carnot-Carathéodory spaces
• Local vector measures
• Filling minimality and Lipschitz-volume rigidity of convex bodies among integral current spaces
• Existence and partial regularity of Legendrian area-minimizing currents

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