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The book is devoted to the theory of gradient flows in the general framework of metric spaces, and in the more specific setting of the space of probability measures, which provide a surprising link between optimal transportation theory and many evolutionary PDE's related to (non)linear diffusion. Particular emphasis is given to the convergence of the implicit time discretization method and to the error estimates for this discretization, extending the well established theory in Hilbert spaces. The book is split in two main parts that can be read independently of each other.

Alexandrov spaces are defined via axioms similar to those of the Euclid axioms but where certain equalities are replaced with inequalities. Depending on the signs of the inequalities, we obtain Alexandrov spaces with curvature bounded above (CBA) and curvature bounded below (CBB). Even though the definitions of the two classes of spaces are similar, their properties and known applications are quite different. The goal of this book is to give a comprehensive exposition of the structure theory of Alexandrov spaces with curvature bounded above and below. It includes all the basic material as well as selected topics inspired by considering Alexandrov spaces with CBA and with CBB simultaneously. The book also includes an extensive problem list with solutions indicated for every problem.

This book provides a valuable glimpse into discrete curvature, a rich new field of research which blends discrete mathematics, differential geometry, probability and computer graphics. It includes a vast collection of ideas and tools which will offer something new to all interested readers. Discrete geometry has arisen as much as a theoretical development as in response to unforeseen challenges coming from applications. Discrete and continuous geometries have turned out to be intimately connected. Discrete curvature is the key concept connecting them through many bridges in numerous fields: metric spaces, Riemannian and Euclidean geometries, geometric measure theory, topology, partial differential equations, calculus of variations, gradient flows, asymptotic analysis, probability, harmonic analysis, graph theory, etc. In spite of its crucial importance both in theoretical mathematics and in applications, up to now, almost no books have provided a coherent outlook on this emerging field.

The aim of this paper is to provide new characterizations of the curvature dimension condition in the context of metric measure spaces (X,d,m). On the geometric side, the authors' new approach takes into account suitable weighted action functionals which provide the natural modulus of K-convexity when one investigates the convexity properties of N-dimensional entropies. On the side of diffusion semigroups and evolution variational inequalities, the authors' new approach uses the nonlinear diffusion semigroup induced by the N-dimensional entropy, in place of the heat flow. Under suitable assumptions (most notably the quadraticity of Cheeger's energy relative to the metric measure structure) both approaches are shown to be equivalent to the strong CD∗(K,N) condition of Bacher-Sturm.

The author discusses in which sense general metric measure spaces possess a first order differential structure. Building on this, spaces with Ricci curvature bounded from below a second order calculus can be developed, permitting the author to define Hessian, covariant/exterior derivatives and Ricci curvature.

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