The splitting theorem in non-smooth context

Abstract

We prove that an infinitesimally Hilbertian CD(0,N) space containing a line splits as the product of $R$ and an infinitesimally Hilbertian CD(0,N-1) space. By `infinitesimally Hilbertian' we mean that the Sobolev space $W^{1,2}(X,d,m)$, which in general is a Banach space, is an Hilbert space. When coupled with a curvature-dimension bound, this condition is known to be stable with respect to measured Gromov-Hausdorff convergence.

Final version as appeared in Memoirs of the AMS