A note on a unicity theorem of K. Tohge. (Q1872581)

The following unicity result for meromorphic functions will be proved in this paper: Given two distinct meromorphic functions \(f\), \(g\) sharing \(0, 1, \infty\), counting multiplicities, and \(a\in\mathbf{C}\) non-zero, if \(f'\), \(g'\) share \(a\), again counting multiplicities, then either (i)~\(f=Ae^{a\omega z}\), \(g=\frac1Ae^{-a\omega z}\) with \(\omega^2=-1\), \(A\neq0\), or (ii)~\(f=1+Ae^{a\omega z}\), \(g=1+\frac1Ae^{-a\omega z}\), \(\omega^2=-1\), \(A\neq0\), or (iii)~\(f=\frac1{c-1}(Ae^{a(c-1)\omega z}-1)\), \(g=\frac c{c-1}(1-\frac1Ae^{-a(c-1)\omega z})\) with \(A\neq0\), \(c\neq0,1\), \(\omega^2=1/c\). This is an improvement of a previous result due to \textit{K. Tohge}, see [Kodai Math. J. 11, 249--279 (1988; Zbl 0663.30024)]. The present proof makes standard use of the Nevanlinna theory, relying in a series of recent lemmas from the theory of shared values.