Ahlfors-David regularity of intrinsically quasi-symmetric sections in
metric spaces
DANIELA DI DONATO
Department of Mathematics
University of Pavia
Via Adolfo Ferrata, 5, 27100 Pavia,
ITALY
Abstract: - We introduce a definition of intrinsically quasi-symmetric sections in metric spaces and we prove the
Ahlfors-David regularity for this class of sections. We follow a recent result by Le Donne and the author where
we generalize the notion of intrinsically Lipschitz graphs in the sense of Franchi, Serapioni and Serra Cassano.
We do this by focusing our attention on the graph property instead of the map one.
Key-Words: - Quasi-symmetric sections, Ahlfors-David regularity, quotient maps, intrinsically Lipschitz
sections, quasi-conformal maps, metric spaces
Received: July 13, 2024. Revised: November 15, 2024. Accepted: December 11, 2024. Published: December 31, 2024.
1 Introduction
The notion of Lipschitz maps is a key one for recti-
fiability theory in metric spaces [1] that is a key one
in Calculus of Variations and in Geometric Measure
Theory. The reader can see [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,
10, 11, 12]. On the other hand, in [13] and [14] the
authors prove that the classical Lipschitz definition
not work in the context of SubRiemannian Carnot
groups [15, 16, 17]. Then in a similar way of Eu-
clidean case, Franchi, Serapioni and Serra Cassano
[18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23] introduce a suitable definition
of intrinsic cones which is deep different to Euclidean
cones and then they say that a map ϕis intrinsic Lips-
chitz if for any pgraph(ϕ)it is possible to consider
an intrinsic cone Cwith vertex on psuch that
Cgraph(ϕ) = /0.(1)
In [24], we generalize this concept in general met-
ric spaces. Roughly speaking, in our new approach a
section ψis such that graph(ϕ) = ψ(Y)Xwhere
Xis a metric space and Yis a topological space.
We prove some important properties as the Ahlfors
regularity, the Ascoli-Arzel´
a Theorem, the Exten-
sion theorem for so-called intrinsically Lipschitz sec-
tions. Following this idea, the author introduce other
two natural definitions: intrinsically H¨
older sections
[25] and intrinsically quasi-isometric sections [26]
in metric spaces. Yet, thanks to the seminal papers
[27] [28, 29] it is possible to found suitable sets of
this class of sections in order to get the convexity
and vector space over Rand C.Finally, in [30] we
study the link between the continuous sections and
the Hamilton-Jacobi equation.
Following [31], the purpose of this note is to give a
natural intrinsically quasi-symmetric notion and then,
following again [24], to prove the Ahlfors-David reg-
ularity result for this class of sections which includes
intrinsically Lipschitz sections. More precisely, the
main result of this paper is Theorem 2.1.
1.1 Quasi-symmetric sections
Before to give a suitable definition of quasi-
symmetric sections, we recall the classical notion of
quasi-conformal maps [32, 33, 34, 35, 36]. Let X
and Ybe two metric spaces and let f:YXbe an
homeomorphism (i.e., fand its inverse are continu-
ous maps). For ¯yY,r>0 we define
Lf(¯y,r):=sup{d(f(¯y),f(y)) :d(¯y,y)r},(2)
f(¯y,r):=inf{d(f(¯y),f(y)) :d(¯y,y)r},(3)
and the ratio Hf(¯y,r):=Lf(¯y,r)/ℓf(¯y,r)which mea-
sures the eccentricity of the image of the ball B(¯y,r)
under f.We say that fis H-quasiconformal if
limsup
r0
Hf(¯y,r)H,¯yY.(4)
A good point of our research is that Yis just a topo-
logical space because, in many cases, we just con-
sider the metric on X.On the other hand, we can not
do a automatically choice of fand the reason will be
clear after to present our setting. We have a metric
space X, a topological space Y, and a quotient map
π:XY, meaning continuous, open, and surjective.
The standard example for us is when Xis a metric Lie
group G(meaning that the Lie group Gis equipped
with a left-invariant distance that induces the mani-
fold topology), for example a subRiemannian Carnot
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group, and Yis the space of left cosets G/H, where
H<Gis a closed subgroup and π:GG/His the
projection modulo H,g7→ gH.
In [24], we consider a section ϕ:YXof π:
XY(i.e., πϕ=idY) such that πproduces a foli-
ation for X,i.e., X=π1(y)and the Lipschitz prop-
erty of ϕconsists to ask that the distance between two
points ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2)is not comparable with the dis-
tance between y1and y2but between ϕ(y1)and the
fiber of y2. Following this idea, the corresponding
notion given in 4 becomes
limsup
r0
Hϕ(¯y,r)H,¯yY,(5)
where
Lϕ(¯y,r):=sup{d(ϕ(¯y),ϕ(y)) :d(ϕ(¯y),π1(y)) r},
ϕ(¯y,r):=inf{d(ϕ(¯y),ϕ(y)) :d(ϕ(¯y),π1(y)) r},
and the intrinsic ratio Hf(¯y,r):=Lϕ(¯y,r)/ℓϕ(¯y,r).
Now we can understand why we can not choice
ϕ.Indeed, in this case,
rd(ϕ(y1),π1(y2)) d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2))
and so
f(¯y,r) = r,¯yY.
Because of this, we follow Pansu in [31], and we
give the following non-trivial definition.
Definition 1.1 We say that a map ϕ:YX is an
intrinsically η-quasi-symmetric section of π, if it is a
section, i.e.,
πϕ=idY,(6)
and if there exists an homeomorphism η:(0,)
(0,)(i.e., ηand its inverse are continuous maps)
measuring the intrinsic quasi-symmetry of ϕ.This
means that for any y1,y2,y3Y distinct points of Y
which not belong to the same fiber, it holds
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2))
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y3)) ηd(ϕ(y2),π1(y1))
d(ϕ(y3),π1(y1)).(7)
Here d denotes the distance on X, and, as usual, for
a subset A X and a point x X, we have d(x,A):=
inf{d(x,a):aA}.
Equivalently to equation10aprile, we are request-
ing that
d(x1,x2)
d(x1,x3)ηd(x2,π1(π(x1)))
d(x3,π1(π(x1))),(8)
for all x1,x2,x3ϕ(Y)where we ask that x2,x3/
π1(π(x1)).
We give some examples of this class of maps.
Exemple 1.1 (Intrinsically Lipschitz section of π)
Following [24], we say that a map ϕ:YX is an
intrinsically Lipschitz section of πwith constant L,
with L [1,), if it is a section and
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2)) Ld(ϕ(y1),π1(y2)),
for all y1,y2Y.
Here, η(x) = Lx for every x (0,). In fact,
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2))
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y3)) =
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2))
d(ϕ(y2),π1(y1))
d(ϕ(y3),π1(y1))
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y3))
d(ϕ(y2),π1(y1))
d(ϕ(y3),π1(y1))
Ld(ϕ(y2),π1(y1))
d(ϕ(y3),π1(y1)),
where in the last inequality we used the simple fact
ϕ(y1)π1(y1)and so
d(ϕ(y3),π1(y1))
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y3)) 1.
Exemple 1.2 (BiLipschitz embedding) BiLipschitz
embedding are examples of intrinsically η-quasi-
symmetric sections of π.This follows because in
the case πis a Lipschitz quotient or submetry
[37, 38], being intrinsically Lipschitz is equivalent to
biLipschitz embedding, (see Proposition 2.4 in [24]).
Exemple 1.3 (Intrinsically H¨
older section of π(in
the discrete case)) Let X be a metric space with the
additional hypothesis that there is ε>0such that
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2)) ε>0for any y1,y2Y.Follow-
ing [25], we say that a map ϕ:YX is an intrinsi-
cally (L,α)-H¨
older section of π, with L [1,)and
α(0,1), if it is a section and
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2)) Ld(ϕ(y1),π1(y2))α,
for all y1,y2Y.
Here, η(x) = Lεα1xαfor any x (0,). Indeed,
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2))
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y3))
=d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2))
d(ϕ(y2),π1(y1))α
d(ϕ(y3),π1(y1))α
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y3))
d(ϕ(y2),π1(y1))α
d(ϕ(y3),π1(y1))α
Lεα1d(ϕ(y2),π1(y1))α
d(ϕ(y3),π1(y1))α,
as desired.
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2 Ahlfors-David regularity
Regarding Ahlfors-David regularity in metric setting,
the reader can see [24] for intrinsically Lipschitz sec-
tions; [25] for H¨
older sections; [26] for intrinsically
quasi-isometric sections.
The main result of this paper is the following.
Theorem 2.1 (Ahlfors-David regularity) Let
π:XY be a quotient map between a metric space
X and a topological space Y such that there is a
measure µon Y such that for every r0>0and every
x,xX with π(x) = π(x)there is C >0such that
µ(π(B(x,r))) Cµ(π(B(x,r))),(9)
for every r (0,r0).
We also assume that ϕ:YX is an intrinsically
η-quasi-symmetric section of πsuch that
1. ϕ(Y)is Q-Ahlfors-David regular with respect to
the measure ϕµ, with Q (0,)
2. it holds
η:=sup
g,qϕ(Y)π(g)=π(q)
ηd(g,π1(¯y))
d(q,π1(¯y))<,
(10)
for any ¯yY such that g,q/π1(¯y)
Then, for every intrinsically η-quasi-symmetric
section ψ:YX,the set ψ(Y)is Q-Ahlfors-David
regular with respect to the measure ψµ, with Q
(0,).
Namely, in Theorem 2.1 Q-Ahlfors-David regularity
means that the measure ϕµis such that for each
point xϕ(Y)there exist r0>0 and C>0 so that
C1rQϕµB(x,r)ϕ(Y)CrQ,(11)
for all r(0,r0).
We need to a preliminary result.
Lemma 2.1 Let X be a metric space, Y a topological
space, and π:XY a quotient map. If ϕ:YX is
an intrinsically η-quasi-symmetric section of πsuch
that equationeta holds, then
π(B(p,r)) π(B(p,ηr)ϕ(Y)) π(B(p,ηr)),
(12)
for all p ϕ(Y)and r >0.
Proof 1 Regarding the first inclusion, fix p =ϕ(y)
ϕ(Y),r>0and q B(p,r)with q =p.
We need to show that π(q)π(ϕ(Y)B(p,ηr)).
Actually, it is enough to prove that
ϕ(π(q)) B(p,ηr),(13)
because if we take g :=ϕ(π(q)),then g ϕ(Y)and
π(g) = π(ϕ(π(q))) = π(q)π(ϕ(Y)B(p,ηr)).
Hence using the intrinsic η-quasi-symmetric
property of ϕand 10, we have that for any p =
ϕ(y),q,gϕ(Y)with g =ϕ(π(q)),
d(p,g) = d(p,g)
d(p,q)d(p,q)ηd(g,π1(y))
d(q,π1(y))rηr,
(14)
i.e., 13 holds, as desired. Finally, the second inclu-
sion in 12 follows immediately noting that π(ϕ(Y)) =
Y because ϕis a section and the proof is complete.
At this point, we are able to prove Theorem 2.1.
Proof 2 (Proof of Theorem 2.1)Let ϕand ψintrin-
sically η-quasi-symmetric sections. Fix y Y.By
Ahlfors regularity of ϕ(y),we know that there are
c1,c2,r0>0such that
c1rQϕµB(ϕ(y),r)ϕ(Y)c2rQ,(15)
for all r (0,r0).We would like to show that there is
c3,c4>0such that
c4rQψµB(ψ(y),r)ψ(Y)c4rQ,(16)
for every r (0,r0).We begin noticing that, by sym-
metry and 2.2
C1µ(π(B(ψ(y),r))) µ(π(B(ϕ(y),r)))
Cµ(π(B(ψ(y),r))).
Moreover,
ψµB(ψ(y),r)ψ(Y)=µ(ψ1B(ψ(y),r)ψ(Y))
=µ(πB(ψ(y),r)ψ(Y)),
and, consequently,
ψµB(ψ(y),r)ψ(Y)
µ(π(B(ψ(y),r/ℓη))) C1µ(π(B(ϕ(y),r/ℓη)))
C1µ(π(B(ϕ(y),r/ℓη)ϕ(Y)))
=C1ϕµB(ϕ(y),r/ℓη)ϕ(Y)
c1C1Q
ηrQ,
where in the first inequality we used the first inclusion
of 12 with ψin place of ϕ, and in the second one we
used 2. In the third inequality we used the second
inclusion of 12 and in the fourth one we used 2 with
ϕin place of ψ.Moreover, in a similar way we have
that
ψµB(ψ(y),r)ψ(Y)µ(π(B(ψ(y),r)))
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Cµ(π(B(ϕ(y),r)))
Cµ(π(B(ϕ(y),ηr)) ϕ(Y)))
=CϕµB(ϕ(y),ηr)ϕ(Y)
c2CQ
ηrQ.
Hence, putting together the last two inequalities we
have that 16 holds with c3=c1C1Q
ηand c4=
c2CQ
η.
2.1 Quasi-conformal sections
In this section we present the definition of quasi-
conformal sections. Regarding the classical quasi-
conformal and quasi-symmetric maps the reader can
see [32, 33, 34, 35].
Definition 2.1 We say that a map ϕ:YX is an
intrinsically η-quasi-conformal section of π, if it is a
section, i.e., πϕ=idY,and there exist H 0and
an homeomorphism η:(0,)(0,)(i.e., ηsuch
that for any y1,y2,y3Y distinct points of Y which
not belong to the same fiber, it holds
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y2))
d(ϕ(y1),ϕ(y3))
limsup
x,xϕ(Y),π(x)=π(x)xx
ηd(x,π1(y1))
d(x,π1(y1))<H.
Here d denotes the distance on X, and, as usual, for
a subset A X and a point x X, we have d(x,A):=
inf{d(x,a):aA}.
Finally, this class of section satisfies the hypothe-
sis equationeta of Theorem 2.1. Hence, we can con-
clude with the following corollary.
Theorem 2.2 (Ahlfors-David regularity) Let
π:XY be a quotient map between a metric
space X and a topological space Y such that there
is a measure µon Y such that for every r0>0and
every x,xX with π(x) = π(x)there is C >0
such that µ(π(B(x,r))) Cµ(π(B(x,r))),for every
r(0,r0).
We also assume that ϕ:YX is an intrinsically
(η,H)-quasi-conformal section of πsuch that ϕ(Y)
is Q-Ahlfors-David regular with respect to the mea-
sure ϕµ, with Q (0,)for some fixed ¯y,¯y1Y.
Then, for every intrinsically (η,H)-quasi-
conformal section ψ:YX,the set ψ(Y)is
Q-Ahlfors-David regular with respect to the measure
ψµ, with Q (0,).
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Sources of Funding for Research Presented in a
Scientific Article or Scientific Article Itself
D.D.D. is supported by the Italian MUR through
the PRIN 2022 project “Inverse problems in PDE:
theoretical and numerical analysis”, project code
2022B32J5C, under the National Recovery and Re-
silience Plan (PNRR), Italy, funded by the European
Union - Next Generation EU, Mission 4 Component
1 CUP F53D23002710006.
Contribution of Individual Authors to the
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Policy)
The author contributed in the present research, at all
stages from the formulation of the problem to the
final findings and solution.
Conflict of Interest
The author has no conflict of interest to declare that
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