No label defined (Q4263246)

The general trend of the geometric function theory in \(\mathbb{R}^n\) is to generalize certain topological aspects of the analytic functions of one complex variable to the mappings in higher dimensions with finite distortion, in particular, to the quasiconformal and quasiregular mappings. In this drive towards generalizations of analytic functions, the fact that the mappings in question solve important first order systems of PDEs analogous in many respects to the Cauchy-Riemann equations, has been quite neglected. The purpose of this paper is to present the terminology, the recent results obtained by the author and some problems concerning the nonlinear analysis and quasiconformal mappings from the perspective of PDEs. The paper is in fact a lecture presented by the author to the 5th Finnish-Polish-Ukrainian summer school in complex analysis, Lublin, Poland, August 15-21, 1996. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0919.00050].