Sub-Riemannian vs. Euclidean dimension comparison and fractal geometry on Carnot groups

We solve Gromov's dimension comparison problem for Hausdorff and box counting dimension on Carnot groups equipped with a Carnot-Carathéodory metric and an adapted Euclidean metric. The proofs use sharp covering theorems relating optimal mutual coverings of Euclidean and Carnot-Carathéodory balls, and elements of sub-Riemannian fractal geometry associated to horizontal self-similar iterated function systems on Carnot groups. Inspired by Falconer's work on almost sure dimensions of Euclidean self-affine fractals we show that Carnot-Carathéodory self-similar fractals are almost surely horizontal. As a consequence we obtain explicit dimension formulae for invariant sets of Euclidean iterated function systems of polynomial type. Jet space Carnot groups provide a rich source of examples.     

Subharmonic functions on Carnot groups

 Many results of classical Potential Theory are extended to sub-Laplacians ▵_𝔾 on Carnot groups 𝔾. Some characterizations of ▵_𝔾-subharmonicity, representation formulas of Poisson-Jensen's kind and Nevanlinna-type theorems are proved. We also characterize the Riesz-measure related to bounded-above ▵_𝔾-subharmonic functions in ℝ ^N . Received: 21 June 2000 / Revised version: 12 March 2002 / Published online: 2 December 2002 RID="★" ID="★" Investigation supported by University of Bologna. Funds for selected research topics. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 31B05, 35J70, 35H20     

Quasiregular maps on Carnot groups

In this paper we initiate the study of quasiregular maps in a sub-Riemannian geometry of general Carnot groups. We suggest an analytic definition for quasiregularity and then show that nonconstant quasiregular maps are open and discrete maps on Carnot groups which are two-step nilpotent and of Heisenberg type; we further establish, under the same assumption, that the branch set of a nonconstant quasiregular map has Haar measure zero and, consequently, that quasiregular maps are almost everywhere differentiable in the sense of Pansu. Our method is that of nonlinear potential theory. We have aimed at an exposition accessible to readers of varied background. Dedicated to Seppo Rickman on his sixtieth birthday J.H. was partially supported by NSF, the Academy of Finland, and the A. P. Sloan Foundation. I.H. was partially supported by the EU HCM contract no. CHRX-CT92-0071.     

Viscosity convex functions on Carnot groups

We prove that any upper semicontinuous v-convex function in any Carnot group is h-convex.

     

Polynomial sub-Riemannian differentiability on Carnot groups

The polynomial sub-Riemannian differentiability of classes of mappings of Carnot groups and graphs is proved. Examples of polynomial sub-Riemannian differentials preserving Hausdorff dimension are given.     

Sub-Riemannian calculus on hypersurfaces in Carnot groups

We develop a sub-Riemannian calculus for hypersurfaces in graded nilpotent Lie groups. We introduce an appropriate geometric framework, such as horizontal Levi-Civita connection, second fundamental form, and horizontal Laplace-Beltrami operator. We analyze the relevant minimal surfaces and prove some basic integration by parts formulas. Using the latter we establish general first and second variation formulas for the horizontal perimeter in the Heisenberg group. Such formulas play a fundamental role in the sub-Riemannian Bernstein problem.     

Polar coordinates in Carnot groups

We describe a procedure for constructing ”polar coordinates” in a certain class of Carnot groups. We show that our construction can be carried out in groups of Heisenberg type and we give explicit formulas for the polar coordinate decomposition in that setting. The construction makes use of nonlinear potential theory, specifically, fundamental solutions for the p-sub-Laplace operators. As applications of this result we obtain exact capacity estimates, representation formulas and an explicit sharp constant for the Moser-Trudinger inequality. We also obtain topological and measure-theoretic consequences for quasiregular mappings. Received: 26 June 2001; in final form: 14 January 2002/Published online: 5 September 2002     

A note on Keller-Osserman conditions on Carnot groups

This paper deals with the study of differential inequalities with gradient terms on Carnot groups. We are mainly focused on inequalities of the form Δ_φu≥f(u)l(|∇₀u|), where f, l and φ are continuous functions satisfying suitable monotonicity assumptions and Δ_φ is the φ-Laplace operator, a natural generalization of the p-Laplace operator which has recently been studied in the context of Carnot groups. We extend to general Carnot groups the results proved in Magliaro et al. (2011) [7] for the Heisenberg group, showing the validity of Liouville-type theorems under a suitable Keller-Osserman condition. In doing so, we also prove a maximum principle for inequality Δ_φu≥f(u)l(|∇₀u|). Finally, we show sharpness of our results for a general φ-Laplacian.     

Spectral analysis for perturbed operators on Carnot groups

Let \(\textsf {G}\) be a Carnot group of homogeneous dimension M and \(\Delta \) its horizontal sublaplacian. For \(\alpha \in (0,M)\) we show that operators of the form \(H_\alpha :=(-\Delta )^\alpha +V\) have no singular spectrum, under generous assumptions on the multiplication operator V. The proof is based on commutator methods and Hardy inequalities.     

Subelliptic harmonic maps from Carnot groups

For subelliptic harmonic maps from a Carnot group into a Riemannian manifold without boundary, we prove that they are smooth near any -regular point (see Definition 1.3) for sufficiently small . As a consequence, any stationary subelliptic harmonic map is smooth away from a closed set with zero H^Q-2 measure. This extends the regularity theory for harmonic maps (cf. [SU], [Hf], [El], [Bf]) to this subelliptic setting.Received: 24 April 2002, Accepted: 30 September 2002, Published online: 17 December 2002Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 35B65, 58J42     

Weighted Hardy and Rellich inequality on Carnot groups

We prove some weighted Hardy and Rellich inequalities on general Carnot groups with weights associated to the norm constructed by Folland’s fundamental solution of the Kohn sub-Laplacian.     

Analytic properties of quasiconformal mappings on Carnot groups

The research was supported by the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research (Grant 94-01-00378) and the International Science Foundation (Grant RAT000).     

Whitney-type theorems on extension of functions on Carnot groups

We generalize the classical Whitney theorem which describes the restrictions of functions of various smoothness to closed sets of a Carnot group. The main results of the article are announced in [1].