A sufficient and necessary condition for $\mathcal{A}$-quasiaffinity

Abstract

We consider a homogeneous, constant rank differential operator $\mathcal{A}$ and prove a characterisation theorem for $\mathcal{A}$-quasiaffine functions in the spirit of Ball, Currie and Olver (1981); i.e. functions such that \[ f(v) = \int_{T_N} f(v + \psi(y))~\mathrm{d}y \] for all $v$ and all $\mathcal{A}$-free test functions $\psi$ with zero mean. This result is used to get a sufficient, but not necessary condition for the differential operator $\mathcal{A}$, such that linearity along the characteristic cone of $\mathcal{A}$ implies $\mathcal{A}$-quasiaffinity. We show that this implication is true if $\mathcal{A}$ admits a first order potential.