Hausdorff Dimension of Union of Lines Covering a Curve: Applications to Mathematical Physics

Abstract

We prove that for any nonlinear $f\in C^{1,\alpha }([0,1])$, the union of lines covering its graph has a Hausdorff dimension of at least $1+\alpha$, and this dimension bound is sharp. We then apply these geometric results to mathematical physics, proving that spacetime observability sets for conservation laws with $\alpha$-Hölder initial wave speeds possess a dimension of at least $\alpha$. Finally, we prove that if an absolutely integrable vector field $v$ on the boundary of a polyhedron exhibits a strictly positive total flux, then the union of the line field spanned by $v$ possesses a Hausdorff dimension of 3.

21 pages, 5 figures