BV functions and sets of finite perimeter in sub-Riemannian manifolds

Abstract

We give a notion of BV function on an oriented manifold where a volume form and a family of lower semicontinuous quadratic forms Gp:TpM→[0,∞] are given. When we consider sub-Riemannian manifolds, our definition coincides with the one given in the more general context of metric measure spaces which are doubling and support a Poincaré inequality. We focus on finite perimeter sets, i.e., sets whose characteristic function is BV, in sub-Riemannian manifolds. Under an assumption on the nilpotent approximation, we prove a blowup theorem, generalizing the one obtained for step-2 Carnot groups in [24].