Quasiconformal homogeneity of genus zero surfaces

A Riemann surface M is said to be K-quasiconformally homogeneous if, for every two points p, q ∈ M, there exists a K-quasiconformal homeomorphism f: M→M such that f(p) = q. In this paper, we show there exists a universal constant K > 1 such that if M is a K-quasiconformally homogeneous hyperbolic genus zero surface other than ⅅ^2, then K ≥ K. This answers a question by Gehring and Palka [10]. Further, we show that a non-maximal hyperbolic surface of genus g ≥ 1 is not K-quasiconformally homogeneous for any finite K ≥ 1.