A formula for analytic separation capacity (Q752879)

For a compact set E of the complex plane the analytic capacity \(\gamma\) (E), the analytic capacity \(c_ E(a)\) at \(a\in {\mathbb{C}}\setminus E\), and the analytic separation capacity \(\delta\) (E,a,b) at a,b\(\in {\mathbb{C}}\setminus E\), \(a\neq b\), are defined as the suprema of the numbers \(\lim_{z\to \infty}| z(f(\infty)-f(z))|\), \(| f'(a)|\) and, respectively, \(| f(b)-f(a)|\) where f runs through the analytic functions in the complement of E with \(| f| \leq 1\). These concepts are related by \[ \gamma (E)=\lim_{b\to \infty}| b| \delta (E,\infty,b)\text{ and } c_ E(a)=\lim_{b\to a}\delta (E,a,b,)/| b-a|. \] If E is contained in a finite union of mutually disjoint analytic arcs, the author proves that \[ \delta (E,a,b)=| b-a| (a_{23}a_{31}-a_{21}a_{33})/\det A, \] where \(A=(a_{ij})\) is a complicated (3,3)-matrix whose entries involve certain Cauchy transforms, for example. This leads to some interesting formulas for the analytic separation capacity of sets on the real axis and the unit circle. The proofs are very technical and complicated.