Hyperbolic convexity of holomorphic level sets (Q6850293)

A set \(\Omega\) of the unit disk \(\mathbb{D}\) is said to be hyperbolically convex if for every two distinct points \(z_1,z_2\in \Omega\), the hyperbolic geodesic segment joining \(z_1\) to \(z_2\) lies entirely in \(\Omega\). If, in addition, every hyperbolic geodesic intersects \(\partial \Omega\) in at most two points, then \(\Omega\) is said to be strictly hyperbolically convex.\N\NLet \(f\) be a holomorphic self-map of \(\mathbb{D}\) and let \(k_{\mathbb{D}}\) denote the Poincaré distance in \(\mathbb{D}\). If \(z_0,w_0\in \mathbb{D}\), we consider the sets\N\[\N\mathcal{D}_{\mu}(f)=\{z\in\mathbb{D}:k_{\mathbb{D}}(z,z_0)-k_{\mathbb{D}}(f(z),w_0)<\mu\},\quad\mu \in \mathbb{R},\N\]\Nand\N\[\N\Omega_{\lambda}(f)=\left\{z\in\mathbb{D}:\frac{1-|f(z)|^2}{1-|z|^2}<\lambda\right\},\quad\lambda>0.\N\]\N\textit{A. Yu. Solynin} [Zap. Nauchn. Semin. POMI 337, 238--252 (2006); translation in J. Math. Sci., New York 143, No. 3, 3153--3160 (2007; Zbl 1122.30018)] proved that the set \(\mathcal{D}_{0}(f)\) is either empty or hyperbolically convex. In the paper under review, the authors extend this result to the families \(\mathcal{D}_{\mu}(f)\) and \(\Omega_{\lambda}(f)\) for \(\mu<0\) and \(\lambda>1\). In particular, they prove that if \(\mu \le 0\) then the set \(\mathcal{D}_{\mu}(f)\) is either empty or strictly hyperbolically convex. Moreover, they show that if \(\lambda> 1\) then the set \(\Omega_{\lambda}(f)\) is a strictly hyperbolically convex domain containing the origin. In the case \(\lambda=1\) the same conclusion holds under the additional assumptions that \(f(0)\neq 0\) and that \(f\) is not an automorphism of \(\mathbb{D}\). The results are sharp and also resolve a question posed by \textit{J. Arango} et al. [Monatsh. Math. 190, No. 3, 413--423 (2019; Zbl 1432.31001)]. The paper concludes with several interesting questions for further research in more general settings.