Favard length and generalized projections

Abstract

We investigate generalized Favard lengths associated to smooth families of nonlinear projections. Under suitable regularity and transversality assumptions, we prove that generalized projections are locally comparable to orthogonal projections on sufficiently small scales. This yields a comparison principle that transfers quantitative upper bounds for classical Favard length to broad classes of nonlinear projection families. As a consequence, known upper bounds for the Favard length of purely unrectifiable self-similar 1-sets yield corresponding upper bounds for their generalized Favard lengths. We also prove that the union of circles with centers in a purely unrectifiable self-similar 1-set has Lebesgue measure zero whenever the radii vary sufficiently slowly. More generally, the same method yields measure estimates for unions of curves arising from suitable level-set families.