A strong form of Plessner's theorem (Q2214103)

The authors strengthen classical results on boundary behavior of holomorphic and harmonic functions. Denote \(\mathbb D=\{z\in\mathbb C:|z|<1\}\), \(\mathbb T=\partial\mathbb D\), \(C_{w,r}=\{z\in\mathbb C:|z-w|=r\}\), \(w\in\mathbb C\), \(r>0\), and \(\lambda_n\) the Lebesgue measure on \(\mathbb R^n\), \(n\geq1\). A Stolz angle at \(\zeta\in\mathbb T\) is an open triangular subset of \(\mathbb D\) that has a vertex at \(\zeta\) and is symmetric about the the diameter of \(\mathbb D\) through \(\zeta\). The main result of the paper is presented in the following theorem. Theorem 1. Let \(f\) be a holomorphic function on \(\mathbb D\). Then, for \(\lambda_1\)-almost every point \(\zeta\in\mathbb T\), either \(f\) has a finite nontangential limit at \(\zeta\), or for every Stolz angle \(S\) at \(\zeta\), \[\int_{S\cap f^{-1}(C_{w,r})}|f'(z)||dz|=\infty\] for \(\lambda_1\)-almost every \((w,r)\in\mathbb C\times(0,\infty)\). Theorem 1 is generalized to meromorphic functions. The authors prove an analogue of Theorem 1 for harmonic functions on the halfspace \(\mathbb H=\{(x_1,\dots,x_N)\in\mathbb R^N:x_N>0\}\), \(N\geq2\). A Stolz domain at \(y\in\partial\mathbb H\) is a truncated cone in \(\mathbb H\) that meets \(\partial\mathbb H\) at its vertex \(y\) and with its axis normal to \(\partial\mathbb H\). Theorem 4. Let \(h\) be a harmonic function on \(\mathbb H\). Then, for \(\lambda_{N-1}\)-almost every point \(y\in\partial\mathbb H\), either \(h\) has a finite nontangential limit at \(y\), or for every Stolz domain \(S\) at \(y\), \[\int_{S\cap h^{-1}(\{t\})}x_N^{2-N}\|\nabla h(x)\|d\sigma(x)=\infty\] for \(\lambda_1\)-almost every \(t\in\mathbb R\), where \(\sigma\) is the surface area measure on level sets of (nonconstant) harmonic functions.