10
$\begingroup$

A metric space is doubling if any ball of radius $2R$ can be covered by $N$ balls of radius $R$ and $N$ is fixed once forever.

Is there an example of complete length-metric space which is doubling, but the Besicovitch covering theorem does not hold?

$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ @Stas: Can't you just repeat the proof of BCT, say, the one given in math.wustl.edu/~sk/books/root.pdf : All you need is the packing lemma 4.2.2, which, I think, follows from the doubling condition? $\endgroup$
    – Misha
    Apr 18, 2013 at 4:48

1 Answer 1

10
$\begingroup$

The Besicovitch covering theorem fails for example in the Heisenberg group, see [ E. Sawyer and R. L. Wheeden, Weighted inequalities for fractional integrals on Euclidean and homogeneous spaces, Amer. J. Math. 114 (1992), no. 4, 813–874. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2374799 ]

The following was more of a comment to Misha's question.

It is easier to see (without assuming the space to be a length-space) that the Lemma 4.2.2. in http://www.math.wustl.edu/~sk/books/root.pdf is not true for general complete doubling metric spaces nor is the Besicovitch covering theorem:

Take for instance a space $X = \mathbb{N} \cup\{0\}$ with the distance $$d(0,j) = 2^{-j} \text{ for } j \ne 0$$ and $$d(i,j) = 2^{-j}+2^{-i} \text{ for }0 \ne i\ne j \ne 0.$$

To see that this does not satisfy the Lemma nor the Besicovitch covering theorem consider for any $k \in \mathbb{N}$ the collection $\{B(j,2^{-j}+2^{-k}) ~:~ j = 1, \dots, k-1 \}$.

$\endgroup$
3
  • $\begingroup$ Tapio: Yes, you are right, of course! (I was just not thinking clearly.) However, once one has the packing lemma, which one could regard as a strengthening (rather than weakening!) of the doubling condition, the proof in the Krantz-Parks' book goes through. Packing lemma: There exists a number $p=p(X)$ so that for every $r>0$, the number of pairwise disjoint $r$-balls contained in $B(x, 4r)$, is at most $p$. $\endgroup$
    – Misha
    Apr 18, 2013 at 16:05
  • $\begingroup$ Misha: perhaps I am misunderstanding the packing lemma, but it seems to be equivalent with the doubling condition. In particular, the packing lemma would seem to follow directly for example from the existence of a doubling measure on the (completion of the) doubling metric space. $\endgroup$ Apr 18, 2013 at 19:17
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Heuristically, problems should arise only when one starts to consider balls of different radii. $\endgroup$ Apr 18, 2013 at 19:18

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.