Quasiconformal Mappings and Analysis

In August 1995 an international symposium on "Quasiconformal Mappings and Analysis" was held in Ann Arbor on the occasion of Professor Fred erick W. Gehring's 70th birthday and his impending retirement from the Mathematics Department at the University of Michigan. The concept of the symposium was to feature broad survey talks on a wide array of topics related to Gehring's basic research contributions in the field of quasicon formal mappings, emphasizing their relations to other parts of analysis. Principal speakers were Kari Astala, Albert Baernstein, Clifford Earle, Pe ter Jones, Irwin Kra, OUi Lehto, Gaven Martin, Dennis Sullivan, and Jussi Vaisala. Financial support was provided by the National Science Founda tion, with additional grants from the University of Michigan and from the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications. The symposium was a great success. The speakers rose to the occasion and presented excellent survey lectures. The present volume was conceived as a means for disseminating those expositions to a wider audience. Ad ditional mathematicians, some of whom had not been able to attend the symposium, were invited to contribute similar articles. The result is a fit ting tribute to Fred Gehring's pre-eminent role in developing the theory of quasiconformal mappings, through his own research and writings and lec tures, and through his supervision of graduate students. The volume begins with descriptions of Gehring's mathematical career and an overview of his research achievements.