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We introduce a notion of connected perimeter for planar sets defined as the lower semicontinuous envelope of perimeters of approximating sets which are measure-theoretically connected. A companion notion of simply connected perimeter is also studied. We prove a representation formula which links the connected perimeter, the classical perimeter, and the length of suitable Steiner trees. We also discuss the application of this notion to the existence of solutions to a nonlocal minimization problem with connectedness constraint. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the minimizing movement theory to study the gradient flow associated to a non-regular relaxation of a geometric functional derived from the Willmore energy. Thanks to the coarea formula, we can define a Willmore energy on regular functions of L1(Rd). This functional is extended to every L1 function by taking its lower semicontinuous envelope. We study the flow generated by this relaxed energy for radially non-increasing functions (functions with balls as superlevel sets). In the first part of the paper, we prove a coarea formula for the relaxed energy of such functions. Then, we show that the flow consists of an erosion of the initial data. The erosion speed is given by a first order ordinary equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]