A solution to the extreme point problem and other applications of Choquet theory to Lipschitz-free spaces

Abstract: We prove that every element of a Lipschitz-free space admits an expression as a convex series of elements with compact support. As a consequence, we conclude that all extreme points of the unit ball of Lipschitz-free spaces are elementary molecules, solving a long-standing problem. We also deduce that all elements of a Lipschitz-free space with the Radon-Nikod\'ym property can be expressed as convex integrals of molecules. Our results are based on a recent theory of integral representation for functionals on Lipschitz spaces which draws on classical Choquet theory, due to the third named author.