Global inversion and covering maps on length spaces

Abstract

In order to obtain global inversion theorems for mappings between length metric spaces, we investigate sufficient conditions for a local homeomorphism to be a covering map in this context. We also provide an estimate of the domain of invertibility of a local homeomorphism around a point, in terms of a kind of lower scalar derivative. As a consequence, we obtain an invertibility result using an analog of the Hadamard integral condition in the frame of length spaces. Some applications are given to the case of local diffeomorphisms between Banach-Finsler manifolds. Finally, we derive a global inversion theorem for mappings between stratified groups.