No label defined (Q4948094)

Let \(f:D\to{{\mathbb R}^n},\) \(n\geq 2,\) be a nonconstant \(Q\) - quasiregular mapping, \(x_0\in D\) and \(F_t(x)=(f(tx+x_0)-f(x_0))/r(x_0,f,t),\) where \(r(x_0,f,t)\) stands for the mean radius of the image of the infinitesimal ball \(|x-x_0|<t\) under the mapping \(f.\) The set \(T(x_0,f)\) of all the limit functions for the family \(F_t(x)\) as \(t\to 0\) is called the infinitesimal space for the mapping \(f\) at the point \(x_0.\) Observe that if \(x_0\) is a regular point of \(f,\) then \(T(x_0,f)\) consists of the unique linear transformation \(x \mapsto f'(x_0)x,\) up to a constant positive factor. We first study the structure of \(T(x_0,f)\) and prove that \(T(x_0,f)\) is always nonempty and consists of entire quasiregular mappings \(g:{{\mathbb R}^n}\to {{\mathbb R}^n}\) of polynomial type. Moreover, if \(T(x_0,f)\) consists of one mapping \(g\) only then \(g\) is a homogeneous function of a positive order. The notion of infinitesimal space enables us to study the local topological and geometric behavior of the mapping \(f\) without differentiability assumption since the local properties are transformed into the corresponding global properties of the elements \(g\in T(x_0,f).\) One typical statement: the local injectivity of a quasiregular mapping \(f\) at \(x_0\) is equivalent to the fact that \(T(x_0,f)\) consists of quasiconformal mappings only.