English

A Lipschitz curve in a Carnot group that is purely unrectifiable by smooth horizontal curves

Metric Geometry 2026-04-21 v1

Abstract

We construct a Lipschitz curve in the free Carnot group of step 3 with 2 generators that meets every C1C^{1} horizontal curve in a set of measure zero. This shows that the CH1C^{1}_{H}-Lusin property fails in a strong sense in this group, and we deduce that such a curve must be purely CH1C^1_H 1-unrectifiable. Hence 1-rectifiability in Carnot groups is wildly different to its counterpart in Euclidean spaces, wherein the Whitney Extension Theorem guarantees that Lipschitz rectifiability and C1C^1 rectifiability are equivalent.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.16618,
  title  = {A Lipschitz curve in a Carnot group that is purely unrectifiable by smooth horizontal curves},
  author = {Gareth Speight and Scott Zimmerman},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.16618},
  year   = {2026}
}

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26 pages