An elementary existence theorem for entire functions

W. Bergweiler proved in 1990 that the equation f∘g= Q has infinitely many solutions in the complex plane, provided f and g are transcendental entire functions and Q is a non-constant polynomial. We prove a related result, using standard notations from the Nevanlinna theory: Let f be a non-linear entire function of finite order of growth, let g be a transcendental entire function of finite lower order and let Q be a non-constant entire function such that T(r,Q)=S(r,g). If II denotes the canonical product formed with the zeros of f∘g Q, then T(r,φ) ≠ S(r,g). As an immediate consequencef∘g−Q has infinitely many zeros.

The uniqueness problems on transcendental meromorphic or entire functions sharing at least two values with their derivatives or linear differential polynomials have been studied and many results on this topic have been obtained. In this paper, we study a transcendental entire function f (z) that shares a non-zero polynomial a (z) with f′(z), together with its linear differential polynomials of the form: L[f] = a2(z)f″(z) + a3 (z)f′′′(z) + … + am (z)f(m) (z) (am (z) $\not\equiv$ 0), where the coefficients ak (z) (k = 2, 3, ..., m) are rational functions.

The study of the dynamics of polynomials is now a major field of research, with many important and elegant results. The study of entire functions that are not polynomials – in other words transcendental entire functions – is somewhat less advanced, in part due to certain technical differences compared to polynomial or rational dynamics.In this paper we survey the dynamics of functions in the Eremenko-Lyubich class,B\mathcal {B}. Among transcendental entire functions, those in this class have properties that make their dynamics most “similar” to the dynamics of a polynomial, and so particularly accessible to detailed study. Many authors have worked in this field, and the dynamics of classB\mathcal {B}functions is now particularly well-understood and well-developed. There are many striking and unexpected results. Several powerful tools and techniques have been developed to help progress this work. There is also an increasing expectation that learning new results in transcendental dynamics will lead to a better understanding of the polynomial and rational cases.We consider the fundamentals of this field, review some of the most important results, techniques and ideas, and give stepping-stones to deeper inquiry.

We introduce a new technique that allows us to make progress on two long standing conjectures in transcendental dynamics: Baker's conjecture that a transcendental entire function of order less than 1/2 has no unbounded Fatou components, and Eremenko's conjecture that all the components of the escaping set of an entire function are unbounded. We show that both conjectures hold for many transcendental entire functions whose zeros all lie on the negative real axis, in particular those of order less than 1/2. Our proofs use a classical distortion theorem based on contraction of the hyperbolic metric, together with new results which show that the images of certain curves must wind many times round the origin.

The link on extraneous non-repelling cycles of Schröder's methods of the first and second kind

we use symbolic dynamics to describe the set of allowable itineraries of orbits of the complex exponential family λexp(z). First, we show that the set of allowable itineraries is the same for every member of this family. We then show that the set of itineraries is the same for every map of finite exponential order. In addition, we study other transcendental entire functions, and show that they also have the same set of itineraries. Finally, we give an example of a class of functions with a different set of itineraries.

Let f and F be transcendental entire functions. We are concerned with a growth estimate of F ∘ f when F satisfies the condition $$\log M(r,F)=K(\log r)^p(1+O(1)),$$ where K is a positive constant and p > 1. It is shown that $$\log\log M(r,F(f))=p\log\log M(r,f)(1+O(1)).$$ We give an application to a certain functional equation.

In this paper, we study the uniqueness questions of finite order transcendental entire functions and their difference operators sharing a set consisting of two distinct entire functions of finite smaller order. Our results in this paper improve the corresponding results from Liu (2009) and Li (2012).

Dealing with a question initiated by Liu [Meromorphic functions sharing a set with applications to difference equations, J. Math. Anal. Appl., 2009], we have investigated the situation when a finite order entire function and its shift differential operator share two sets of small functions. Our result has improved and extended the results of Chen-Chen [Entire functions sharing sets of small functions with their difference operators or shifts, Math. Slovaca, 2013] and Cui-Chen [The conjecture on unity of meromorphic functions concerning their differences, J. Difference Equ. Appl., 2016]. We have exhibited several examples relevant to the content of the paper.

A classic theorem of Polya shows that 2 z is, in a strong sense, the “smallest” transcendental entire function that is integer valued on ℕ. An analogous result of Gel’fond concerns entire functions that are integer valued on the setX a={a n:n ∈ ℕ}, wherea ∈ ℕ,|a|≥ 2. LetX=ℕ orX=X a andκ ∈ ℕ orκ=∞. This paper pursues analogous results for entire functionsf having the following property: on any finite subsetD ofX with#D≤κ+1, the valuesf(z),z ∈D admit interpolation by an element of ℤ[z]. The results obtained assert that if the growth off is suitably restricted then the restriction off toX must be a polynomial. WhenX=X a andκ<∞ a “smallest” transcendental entire function having the requisite property is constructed.

This article concerns the iteration of quasiregular mappings on Rd and entire functions on C. It is shown that there are always points at which the iterates of a quasiregular map tend to infinity at a controlled rate. Moreover, an asymptotic rate of escape result is proved that is new even for transcendental entire functions. Let f:Rd→Rd be quasiregular of transcendental type. Using novel methods of proof, we generalise results of Rippon and Stallard in complex dynamics to show that the Julia set of f contains points at which the iterates fn tend to infinity arbitrarily slowly. We also prove that, for any large R, there is a point x with modulus approximately R such that the growth of |fn(x)| is asymptotic to the iterated maximum modulus Mn(R,f).

We give a method for constructing transcendental entire functions with good control of both the singular values of f and the geometry of f. Among other applications, we construct a function f with bounded singular set, whose Fatou set contains a wandering domain.

We prove that any subset of $\overline {\mathbb {Q}}^m$ (closed under complex conjugation and which contains the origin) is the exceptional set of uncountably many transcendental entire functions over $\mathbb {C}^m$ with rational coefficients. This result solves a several variables version of a question posed by Mahler for transcendental entire functions [Lectures on Transcendental Numbers, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, 546 (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1976)].

It is known that, if f is a hyperbolic rational function, then the Hausdorff, packing and box dimensions of the Julia set J(f) are equal. It is also known that there is a family of hyperbolic transcendental meromorphic functions with infinitely many poles for which this result fails to be true. In this paper, new methods are used to show that there is a family of hyperbolic transcendental entire functions fK, K ∈ N, such that the box and packing dimensions of JfK are equal to two, even though as K → ∞ the Hausdorff dimension of JfK tends to one, the lowest possible value for the Hausdorff dimension of the Julia set of a transcendental entire function. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 30D05, 37F10, 37F15, 37F35, 37F50.

Let f be a transcendental entire function, and let {U,V subset mathbb{C}} be disjoint simply-connected domains. Must one of {f^{-1}(U)} and {f^{-1}(V)} be disconnected? In 1970, Baker implicitly gave a positive answer to this question, in order to prove that a transcendental entire function cannot have two disjoint completely invariant domains. (A domain {Usubset mathbb{C}} is completely invariant under f if {f^{-1}(U)=U}.) It was recently observed by Julien Duval that Baker's argument, which has also been used in later generalisations and extensions of Baker's result, contains a flaw. We show that the answer to the above question is negative; so this flaw cannot be repaired. Indeed, for the function {f(z)= e^z+z}, there is a collection of infinitely many pairwise disjoint simply-connected domains, each with connected preimage. We also answer a long-standing question of Eremenko by giving an example of a transcendental meromorphic function, with infinitely many poles, which has the same property. Furthermore, we show that there exists a function f with the above properties such that additionally the set of singular values S(f) is bounded; in other words, f belongs to the Eremenko–Lyubich class. On the other hand, if S(f) is finite (or if certain additional hypotheses are imposed), many of the original results do hold. For the convenience of the research community, we also include a description of the error in Baker's proof, and a summary of other papers that are affected.