A characterization of orthogonal convergence in simply connected domains (Q2332272)

The authors give a necessary and sufficient condition characterizing the orthogonal convergence in plane domains. A sequence \(\{\zeta_n\}\) in the unit disk \(\mathbb D=\{\zeta\in\mathbb C:|\zeta|<1\}\) converges orthogonally to a point \(\sigma\in\partial\mathbb D\) when \(\lim_{n\to\infty}\zeta_n=\sigma\) and \(\lim_{n\to\infty}\arg(1-\overline{\sigma}\zeta_n)=0\). A continuous curve \(\gamma:[0,\infty)\to\mathbb D\) converges orthogonally to \(\sigma\) provided for every sequence \(\{t_n\}\subset[0,\infty)\) converging to \(+\infty\), \(\{\gamma(t_n)\}\) converges orthogonally to \(\sigma\). For a prime end \(\underline y\) of a simply connected domain \(U\) in \(\mathbb C\), \(U\neq\mathbb C\), let \(f:\mathbb D\to U\) be a Riemann map such that 1 corresponds to \(\underline y\) under \(f\). The horocycle \(E_{z_0}^U(\underline y,R)\) centered at \(\underline y\), with the base point \(z_0=f(0)\) and radius \(R>0\), is given by \(f(E(1,R))\), where \(E(1,R)=\{z\in\mathbb D:|1-z|^2<R(1-|z|^2)\}\) is a classical horocycle in \(\mathbb D\). Denote by \(\partial_CU\) the set of prime ends of \(U\) and let \(U\cup\partial_CU\) be endowed with the Carathéodory prime ends topology, or Carathéodory topology of \(U\). For \(z=f(0)\), \(f'(0)>0\), and \(v\in\mathbb C\), \(\kappa_U(z;v)=|v|/f'(0)\) is the infinitesimal metric in \(U\). The hyperbolic distance \(\kappa_U\) in \(U\) is defined for \(z,w\in U\) as \[\kappa_U(z;w):=\inf\int_0^1\kappa_U(\gamma(t);\gamma'(t))dt,\] the infimum is taken over all piecewise smooth curves \(\gamma:[0,1]\to U\) such that \(\gamma(0)=z\), \(\gamma(1)=w\). The hyperbolic length of a piecewise \(C^1\)-smooth curve \(\gamma:[a,b]\to U\), \(-\infty<a<b<\infty\), in \(U\) between \(s\) and \(t\) is given by \[\ell_U(\gamma;[s,t]):=\int_s^t\kappa_U(\gamma(p);\gamma'(p)dp,\;\;\;a\leq s\leq t\leq b.\] A \(C^1\)-smooth curve \(\gamma:[a,b]\to U\), \(\gamma'(t)\neq0\) for \(t\in(a,b)\), is called a geodesic of \(U\) if for every \(a<s\leq t<b\), \(\ell_U(\gamma;[s,t])=\kappa_u(\gamma(s);\gamma(t)).\) The main result is the following theorem. Theorem 1.1. Let \(\Delta\) be a simply connected domain in \(\mathbb C\), \(\Delta\neq\mathbb C\), \(f:\mathbb D\to\Delta\) a Riemann map. Let \(\{z_n\}\subset\Delta\) be a sequence with no accumulation points in \(\Delta\). Then there exists \(\sigma\in\partial\mathbb D\) such that \(\{f^{-1}(z_n)\}\) converges orthogonally to \(\sigma\) if and only if there exist a simply connected domain \(U\) in \(\mathbb C\) (\(U\neq\mathbb C\)), \(z_0\in U\), \(\underline y\in\partial_CU\) and \(R>0\) such that \(E_{z_0}^U(\underline y,R)\subset\Delta\subseteq U\) and \(\lim_{n\to\infty}\kappa_U(z_n;\gamma([0,+\infty)))=0\) where \(\gamma:[0,+\infty)\to U\) is any geodesic for the hyperbolic distance in \(U\) such that \(\lim_{t\to+\infty}\gamma(t)=\underline y\) in the Carathéodory topology of \(U\). In particular, \(\gamma(t)\) is eventually contained in \(\Delta\) and \(f^{-1}(\gamma(t))\) converges orthogonally to \(\sigma\) as \(t\to+\infty\). The result is applied to the slope problem for continuous semigroups of holomorphic self-maps of \(\mathbb D\).