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 horizontal curve in a set of measure zero. This shows that the -Lusin property fails in a strong sense in this group, and we deduce that such a curve must be purely 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 rectifiability are equivalent.
Keywords
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