Logarithmic potentials, quasiconformal flows, and \(Q\)-curvature (Q2482866)

A nonnegative locally integrable function \(w(x)\) in \(\mathbb R^n\) is said to be a weight comparable to a qc. Jacobian \(I_f(x)\) if there exist a qc. homeomorphism \(f:\mathbb R^n\to\mathbb R^n\) and a constant \(C\geq1\) such that \(C^{-1}w(x)\leq I_f(x)\leq Cw(x)\) for almost every \(x\in\mathbb R^n\). The quasiconformal Jacobian problem asks for characterization of the weights in \(\mathbb R^n\) that are comparable to a qc. Jacobian. The same authors in their earlier work [in: Abikoff, William (ed.) et al., In the tradition of Ahlfors and Bers, III. Proceedings of the 3rd Ahlfors-Bers colloquium, Storrs, CT, USA, October 18--21, 2001. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS). Contemporary Mathematics 355, 77--96 (2004; Zbl 1069.30036)] showed that weights of the form \(e^{2u}\) for functions \(u\) with distributional gradient \(\nabla u\) in \(L^2(\mathbb R^n)\) are comparable to qc. Jacobians in \(\mathbb R^2\) . In this article by making use of the method of qc. flows they prove among other facts the following deep result: For each \(n\geq 2\) there exists a positive constant \(c_n\) with the following property. If \(\mu\) is a signed measure on \(\mathbb R^n\) that satisfies the condition \(\int_{\mathbb R^n} \log^+|y|\,d|\mu|(y)<\infty\) and \(\|\mu\|<c_n\) then the weight \(w(x)=e^{nu(x)}\), \(x\in\mathbb R^n\), for the logarithmic potential \(u=L\mu\) is comparable to a qc. Jacobian.