A characterization of the local structure of two-dimensional sets with positive reach

Abstract

The main result of the article is a complete characterization of the local structure of two-dimensional sets with positive reach in $R^d$. We also present a more elementary proof of a recent result of A. Lytchak which describes for $k\leq d$ the local structure of $k$-dimensional sets with positive reach $A$ in $R^d$ at points where the tangent cone of $A$ is $k$-dimensional. As an easy corollary of our and Lytchak's results we obtain a characterization of compact two-dimensional sets with positive reach in $R^d$. Our method also shows that, for any set $A\subset R^d$ with positive reach, the set of points at which the tangent cone of $A$ is $k$-dimensional is locally contained in a $k$-dimensional $C^{1,1}$ surface. As a consequence we obtain that if $1\leq k<d$, and $A$ is $k$-dimensional, it can be covered by countably many $k$-dimensional $C^{1,1}$ surfaces.