The second derivative of a meromorphic function (Q2758142)

Let \(f\) be a meromorphic function of finite order in the plane and \(k\varepsilon\mathbb{N}\), \(k\geq 2\). Six years ago the author conjectured, that \(f\) has finitely many poles if \(f^{(k)}\) has finitely many zeros only. In the paper under review the author shows that the conjecture is true if either (i) \(f\) has order less than \(1+\varepsilon\) for some positive absolute constant \(\varepsilon\), or (ii) \(f^{(m)}\), for some \(0\leq m<k\), has few zeros away from the real axis. More than that he also gives an estimate for the frequency of distinct poles of \(f\). Remark: Meanwhile the author showed that the conjecture is true without any additional condition.