General Topology – Conditions for Boundary of Open Set to Have Measure Zero

general-topologymeasure-theory

Are there some simple conditions which would ensure that the boundary of an open set in $\mathbb{R}^n$ has measure zero?
Also, is it true that the boundary of a closed set in $\mathbb{R}^n$ has measure zero?

Best Answer

Here is a sufficient geometric condition for a general set $E$ to have measure zero: for every $x\in E$ there is $c>0$ such that for all sufficiently small $r>0$ the $r$-neighborhood of $x$ contains a ball of radius $cr$ that is disjoint from $E$. This is a weak form of condition known as porosity. To see that it implies having measure zero, use the Lebesgue density theorem.

Porosity is easy to verify for the boundary of a given open set: it suffices to find, for every boundary point, a subset in the shape of a cone (possible twisted) with a vertex at that point. The shape and size are allowed to depend on the point. Smooth, Lipschitz and uniform domains are covered by this condition.