On minimisers of \(L^p\)-mean distortion (Q2255483)

Let \(\mathbb{D}\) denote the unit disk of \(\mathbb{C}\). A homeomorphism \(f: \mathbb{D}\to \mathbb{C}\) of Sobolev class \(W^{1,1}_{\mathrm{loc}} (\mathbb{D}, \mathbb{C})\) is said to have finite distortion if \(\|D f(z)\|^2 \leq K(z) J(z, f)\) a.e.\ for a measurable function \(1\leq K(z) <\infty\). Here \(\|D f(z)\|^2 = |f_z(z)|^2 + |f_{\overline{z}}(z)|^2\) and \(J(z, f) = \det D f(z) = |f_z(z)|^2 - |f_{\overline{z}}(z)|^2\). The distortion function \(\mathbb{K}(z, f)\) is the smallest \(K(z)\), that is, \[ \mathbb{K}(z, f) = \frac{\|D f(z)\|^2}{J(z, f)}\quad \mathrm{if}\quad J(z, f)>0\;\; \qquad \mathrm{and} \qquad\;\; \mathbb{K}(z, f) = 1 \quad \mathrm{if}\quad J(z, f)=0. \] Let \(f_0: \partial\mathbb{D} \to \partial\mathbb{D}\) be a homeomorphism. For a weight \(\lambda: \mathbb{D}\to [0, +\infty)\) and \(1\leq p \leq \infty\), the authors study the \(L^p\)-mean distortion functional \[ \mathcal{E}_{p,\lambda}[f] = \int_{\mathbb{D}} \mathbb{K}^p (z, f) \lambda^2(z)\, dz,\quad f_{|\partial\mathbb{D}} = f_0. \] They discuss the existence, regularity and uniqueness for minimisers and study the diffeomorphic critical points of \(\mathcal{E}_{p, \lambda}\). In particular, they prove that the complex conjugate Beltrami coefficient of a smooth minimiser is locally quasiregular.