Convex integrals of molecules in Lipschitz-free spaces

Abstract: We introduce convex integrals of molecules in Lipschitz-free spaces $\mathcal{F}(M)$ as a continuous counterpart of convex series considered elsewhere, based on the de Leeuw representation. Using optimal transport theory, we show that these elements are determined by cyclical monotonicity of their supports, and that under certain finiteness conditions they agree with elements of $\mathcal{F}(M)$ that are induced by Radon measures on $M$, or that can be decomposed into positive and negative parts. We also show that convex integrals differ in general from convex series of molecules. Finally, we present some standalone results regarding extensions of Lipschitz functions which, combined with the above, yield applications to the extremal structure of $\mathcal{F}(M)$. In particular, we show that all elements of $\mathcal{F}(M)$ are convex series of molecules when $M$ is uniformly discrete and identify all extreme points of the unit ball of $\mathcal{F}(M)$ in that case.