On the derivative of meromorphic functions with multiple zeros. (Q1874550)

A result of \textit{W. K. Hayman} [Ann. Math. (2) 70, 9--42 (1959; Zbl 0088.28505)] states that if \(F\) is a transcendental meromorphic function and \(c \in \mathbb C \setminus \{0\}\), then \(F'F^n-c\) has infinitely many zeros for \(n \geq 3\). For \(n=2\) this was proved by \textit{E. Mues} [Math. Z. 164, 239--259 (1979; Zbl 0402.30034)] and the case \(n=1\) was settled by \textit{W. Bergweiler} and \textit{A. Eremenko} [Rev. Mat. Iberoam. 11, No. 2, 355--373 (1995; Zbl 0830.30016)], \textit{H. Chen} and \textit{M. Fang} [Sci. China, Ser. A 38, 789--798 (1995; Zbl 0839.30026)] and L. Zalcman in an unpublished manuscript. If \(n \in \mathbb N\) and \(f:=\frac{1}{n+1}\,F^{n+1}\), then \(f'=F'F^n\), and \(f\) has only multiple zeros and poles. It turns out that some results concerning functions of the form \(F'F^n\) hold more generally for derivatives of functions with multiple zeros. For example, \textit{W. Bergweiler} and \textit{A. Eremenko} [Rev. Mat. Iberoam. 11, No. 2, 355--373 (1995; Zbl 0830.30016)] proved that if \(f\) is a meromorphic function of finite order, \(c \in \mathbb C \setminus \{0\}\), and if \(f\) has infinitely many multiple zeros, then \(f'-c\) has infinitely many zeros. Further results in this direction were obtained by \textit{Y. Wang} and \textit{M. Fang} [Acta Math. Sin., New Ser. 14, No. 1, 17--26 (1998; Zbl 0909.30025)]. In this paper the authors replace the constant \(c\) by a rational function and prove the following results Theorem 1. Let \(f\) be a transcendental meromorphic function, and let \(R\) be a rational function with \(R \not\equiv 0\). Suppose that all zeros and poles of \(f\) are multiple, except possibly finitely many. Then \(f'-R\) has infinitely many zeros. Theorem 2. Let \(f\) be a transcendental meromorphic function of finite order, and let \(P\) be a polynomial with \(P \not\equiv 0\). Suppose that all zeros of \(f\) are multiple, except possibly finitely many. Then \(f'-P\) has infinitely many zeros. The main tool of the proof is a version of the non-normality criterion of \textit{L. Zalman} [Am. Math. Mon. 82, 813--817 (1975; Zbl 0315.30036)] which is due to \textit{H. Chen} and \textit{Y.-X. Gu} [Sci. China, Ser. A 36, 674--681 (1993; Zbl 0777.30018)]. The authors conjecture that Theorem 1 holds without the assumption that the poles are multiple.