Modulus of curve families and extremality of spiral-stretch maps (Q542043)

Suppose that an \(L\)-bilipschitz mapping \(f : \mathbb{C} \rightarrow \mathbb{C}\) satisfies \(f(z) = z\) for \(|z| \geq 1\), and \(f(z) = ze^{i\theta}\) for \(|z| \leq t\), i.e., \(f\) fixes the outside of the unit disk and rotates the smaller disk \(\theta\) times about the origin. \textit{F. John} [Commun. Pure Appl. Math. 14, 391--413 (1961; Zbl 0102.17404)] gave an upper estimate in terms of \(L\) and \(t\) for the rotation angle \(\theta\). Using quasiconformal methods, \textit{V. Gutlyanskii} and the reviewer [Conform. Geom. Dyn. 5, 6--20 (2001; Zbl 0981.30014)] obtained a sharp estimate and showed that the extremal case is obtained by a logarithmic spiral mapping. This map is also extremal for the corresponding problem in the quasiconformal formulation of the problem. In this paper the authors focus on mappings of finite distortion and on mappings between two annuli of different radii. The latter problem leads to spiral-stretch mappings, i.e., to spiral maps composed with radial stretchings. These mappings turn out to be extremal for the mean distortion even in the class of mappings with finite distortion. In particular, the simple stretch map \(f(z) = z|z|^{q-1}\) is extremal in the class of mappings without rotation between the annuli centered at the origin. The proofs make an extensive use of modulus estimates for spiral families of curves.