Extending a theorem of Bergweiler and Langley concerning non-vanishing derivatives (Q558487)

\textit{W. Bergweiler} and \textit{J. K. Langley} [J. Anal. Math. 91, 353--367 (2003; Zbl 1071.30031)] define a differential operator \(\Psi_{k}(F)\) for a positive integer \(k\) as follows \[ \Psi_{1}(F) = F \;\;\text{and} \;\;\Psi_{k+1}(F) = F\Psi_{k}(F) + \left( \Psi_{k}(F)\right)'. \] If \(k \geq 3\) is an integer and \(F\) is a nonconstant meromorphic function in the plane such that \(\Psi_{k}(F)\) has no zero and residue of \(F\) at any simple zero is not equal to any one of \(1, 2, \ldots , k - 1\) then Bergweiler and Langley prove that \(F\) is a rational function of a special form. The author extends the above result by allowing some zeros of \(\Psi_{k}(F)\) and considering an annular region. In fact, the author considers a more general differential operator \(\Lambda_{k}(F)\) defined as \[ \Lambda_{k}(F) = \Psi_{k}(F) + a_{k-1}\Psi_{k-1}(F) + \cdots + a_{1}\Psi_{1}(F) + a_{0}, \] where \(a_{0}, a_{1}, \ldots , a_{k-1}\) are analytic functions of restricted growth. It is also shown by an example that the result of the paper does not hold if one considers meromorphic \(a_{0}, a_{1}, \ldots , a_{k-1}\).