In mathematics, and more specifically, in the theory of fractal dimensions, Frostman's lemma provides a convenient tool for estimating the Hausdorff dimension of sets.

Lemma: Let A be a Borel subset of Rn, and let s > 0. Then the following are equivalent:

  • Hs(A) > 0, where Hs denotes the s-dimensional Hausdorff measure.
  • There is an (unsigned) Borel measure μ on Rn satisfying μ(A) > 0, and such that
holds for all x ∈ Rn and r>0.

Otto Frostman proved this lemma for closed sets A as part of his PhD dissertation at Lund University in 1935. The generalization to Borel sets is more involved, and requires the theory of Suslin sets.

A useful corollary of Frostman's lemma requires the notions of the s-capacity of a Borel set A ⊂ Rn, which is defined by

(Here, we take inf ∅ = ∞ and 1 = 0. As before, the measure is unsigned.) It follows from Frostman's lemma that for Borel A ⊂ Rn

Web pages

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Further reading

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  • Mattila, Pertti (1995), Geometry of sets and measures in Euclidean spaces, Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics, vol. 44, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-65595-8, MR 1333890