On the variational interpretation of local logarithmic Sobolev inequalities

Abstract

The celebrated Otto calculus has established itself as a powerful tool for proving quantitative energy dissipation estimates and provides with an elegant geometric interpretation of certain functional inequalities such as the Logarithmic Sobolev inequality. However, the \emph{local} versions of such inequalities, which can be proven by means of Bakry-Emery-Ledoux $\Gamma$-calculus, has not yet been given an interpretation in terms of this Riemannian formalism. In this short note we close this gap by explaining how Otto calculus applied to the Schr{ö}dinger problem yields a variations interpretation of the local logarithmic Sobolev inequalities, that could possibly unlock novel class of local inequalities.