On Nevanlinna's inverse problem of finite order (Q1099294)

This paper considers the problem of constructing meromorphic functions of a fixed order \(\lambda\), \(0<\lambda <\infty\), with \(\sum_{a}\delta (a)^{1/3}\) as large as possible. This problem is discussed by \textit{W. K. Hayman} [Meromorphic functions (1964; Zbl 0115.062)] and formally proposed as problem 1.29 of the Canterbury collection [``Research problems in function theory'' in Symp. Complex Analysis: Canterbury, 1973, Cambridge U.P. (1974)]. Unfortunately the contribution here is fatally flawed, as the authors do not use single-valued functions. There are also several misspellings, and the citation given for the problem is incorrect. While the problem discussed herein in its most exact form is thus open, we recall that \textit{A. E. Eremenko} [Sib. Mat. Zh. 27, No.3(157), 87-102 (1986; Zbl 0609.30031)] has shown that given \(\{\delta_ n\}\), \(0\leq \delta_ n\leq 1\), \(\sum \delta_ n\nleq 2\), \(\sum \delta_ n^{1/3}<\infty\), and a sequence \(\{a_ n\}\) of complex numbers, then there exists a meromorphic f(z) function of some finite order \(\delta (a_ n,f)=\delta_ n\).