Absolute continuity of generalized Wasserstein barycenters of finitely many measures

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Ma, Jianyu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Ma, Jianyu
author_facet Ma, Jianyu
contents Consider a complete Riemannian manifold $(M, g)$ and optimal transport problems on it with cost functions of the form $c(x,y) = h(d_{g}(x,y))$. We study the absolute continuity of the corresponding generalized Wasserstein barycenters of finitely many marginal measures. For general strictly convex profiles $h$ lacking $\mathcal{C}^2$-smoothness, such as $h(d)= d^p / p$ with $1 < p < 2$ that defines the $p$-Wasserstein space, the singularity at $d=0$ prevents the barycenter from inheriting absolute continuity from a single marginal measure as the quadratic case. To overcome this singularity, recent Euclidean results necessitate the absolute continuity of all marginals. Building upon the approximation framework toward absolute continuity in arXiv:2310.13832, we extend the Euclidean advancements to the manifold setting. Stripping away the implicit reliance on flat translational symmetry and local coordinate calculations of their Euclidean proofs, our work handles the singularity in a geometrically transparent way, revealing the precise analytic condition on the cost profile that governs the necessary assumptions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_06518
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Absolute continuity of generalized Wasserstein barycenters of finitely many measures
Ma, Jianyu
Differential Geometry
Probability
49Q22, 51K10, 28A05
Consider a complete Riemannian manifold $(M, g)$ and optimal transport problems on it with cost functions of the form $c(x,y) = h(d_{g}(x,y))$. We study the absolute continuity of the corresponding generalized Wasserstein barycenters of finitely many marginal measures. For general strictly convex profiles $h$ lacking $\mathcal{C}^2$-smoothness, such as $h(d)= d^p / p$ with $1 < p < 2$ that defines the $p$-Wasserstein space, the singularity at $d=0$ prevents the barycenter from inheriting absolute continuity from a single marginal measure as the quadratic case. To overcome this singularity, recent Euclidean results necessitate the absolute continuity of all marginals. Building upon the approximation framework toward absolute continuity in arXiv:2310.13832, we extend the Euclidean advancements to the manifold setting. Stripping away the implicit reliance on flat translational symmetry and local coordinate calculations of their Euclidean proofs, our work handles the singularity in a geometrically transparent way, revealing the precise analytic condition on the cost profile that governs the necessary assumptions.
title Absolute continuity of generalized Wasserstein barycenters of finitely many measures
topic Differential Geometry
Probability
49Q22, 51K10, 28A05
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.06518