The Beltrami equations and prime ends (Q904542)

The Dirichlet problem for the Beltrami equation consists in finding the solution of \(f_{\overline{z}} = \mu f_z\) such that, in a simply connected plane domain \(D\), \(\lim_{z \rightarrow P} \mathrm{Re\,}f(z)= \varphi(P)\) whenever \(\varphi : E_D \rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) is continuous and \(E_D\) stands for the space of prime ends of \(D\). The authors look for minimal conditions on the regularity of \(\mu\) and \(f\) and use the concept of \(Q\)-homeomorphisms [the second author et al., J. Anal. Math. 96, 117--150 (2005; Zbl 1087.30019); \textit{O. Martio} et al., Moduli in modern mapping theory. New York, NY: Springer (2009; Zbl 1175.30020)] at the boundary points of \(D\). One of the key lemmas shows that, if a map \(f\) between simply connected domains \(D\) and \(D'\) is a \(Q_{z_0}\)-homeomorphism at every \(z_0 \in \partial D\) with \[ \int_0^{\varepsilon}dr/\| Q_{z_0} \| (r) = \infty,\tag{\(*\)} \] where \(\| Q_{z_0} \| (r)= \int_{D \cap S(z_0, r)} K^T_{\mu}(z,z_0)\, ds\) is the spherical integral over the tangential dilatation of \(f\) at \(z_0\), then \(f^{-1}\) extends to a homeomorphism between the completions of \(D'\) and \(D\) by their prime ends. For the Dirichlet problem it is shown that, if \(D\) is a simply connected bounded domain and \(\mu : D \rightarrow B(0,1)\) a measurable function with \(K_{\mu} \in L^1_{\mathrm{loc}}\), and (\(*\)) is satisfied at every \(z_0 \in \overline{D}\), then the Beltrami equation has for every continuous \(\varphi : E_D \rightarrow \mathbb{R}\) either a constant solution or a continuous, discrete and open mapping \(f\) as a solution to the Dirichlet problem. The proof consists of several steps and, at the final stage, the Schwartz formula is used to construct an analytic function with given real part on the boundary of the unit disk. Other aspects of the boundary extension for \(Q\)-homeomorphisms and solutions of the Dirichlet problem in multiply connected domains are also discussed.