Logarithmic Potentials and Quasiconformal Flows on the Heisenberg Group

Abstract

Let $\mathbb{H}$ be the sub-Riemannian Heisenberg group. That $\mathbb{H}$ supports a rich family of quasiconformal mappings was demonstrated by Kor\'{a}nyi and Reimann using the so-called flow method. Here we supply further evidence of the flexible nature of this family, constructing quasiconformal mappings with extreme behavior on small sets. More precisely, we establish criteria to determine when a given logarithmic potential $\Lambda$ on $\mathbb{H}$ is such that there exists a quasiconformal mapping of $\mathbb{H}$ with Jacobian comparable to $e^{2\Lambda}$ (so that the Jaobian is zero or infinity at the same points as $e^{2\Lambda}$). When $\Lambda$ is continuous and meets the criteria, we show the canonical (sub-Riemannian) metric $g_0$ and the weighted metric $g = e^\Lambda g_0$ generate bi-Lipschitz equivalent distance functions. These results rest on an extension to the theory of quasiconformal flows on $\mathbb{H}$ and constructions that adapt the iterative method of Bonk, Heinonen, and Saksman.