On the non-locality of quasiconvexity (Q1284041)

The main result of the paper is the proof of a conjecture due to C. B. Morrey, saying that there is no ``local'' condition (i.e., of differential type) which is necessary and sufficient for the quasi convexity of maps \(f:{\mathbb R}^{n\times m}\to{\mathbb R}\), with \(n, m\geq 2\). This is proved (leaving however open the cases \(n=2, m\geq 2\)) showing the existence of a function \(f\) which is not quasi convex but is ``locally quasi convex''. More specifically, it coincides with a suitable quasi convex function \(f_B\) on any ball \(B\) of radius 1. The construction is achieved by a modification of the famous Šverák example, showing that any \(C^2\) function satisfying a strict Legendre-Hadamard condition is locally quasi convex.