\(\cos \pi\rho\) theorems for \(\delta\)-subharmonic functions (Q1884401)

Given \(r> 0\) and \(\phi: \mathbb{C}\to [-\infty,+\infty]\), let \(A(r,\phi)= \inf_{|z|= r}\phi(r)\), \(B(r,\phi)= \sup_{|z|= r}\phi(r)\) and \(N(r,\phi)= (2\pi)^{-1} \int_{[0,2\pi]}\phi(re^{i\theta})\,d\theta- \phi(0)\). This paper concerns functions of the form \(\phi= u-v\), where \(u\) and \(v\) are subharmonic on the plane and \(u\) is non-constant. One of the main results is as follows. Suppose that \(0<\rho\leq{1\over 2}\) and \(0\leq k\leq\cos\pi\rho\), and that \(B(r,u)= o(r^\rho)\), \(B(r,v)= o(r^\rho)\) and \(N(r,v)\leq kN(r,u)+ O(1)\) as \(r\to\infty\). Then there are numbers \(\lambda_r\), with \(\lambda_r\to\infty\) as \(r\to\infty\), such that \(A(r,\phi)\geq \kappa B(r,\phi)+ \lambda_r\) for arbitrarily large values of \(r\), where \(\kappa= (\cos\pi\rho- k)/(1- k\cos\pi\rho)\). The growth restriction imposed on \(B(r,u)\) and \(B(r,v)\) here is sharp. A question left open is the form this result should take for other values of \(\rho\) and \(k\).