A fundamental inequality and its application (Q793863)

Generalizing a result of \textit{W. K. Hayman} [Ann. Math., II. Ser. 70, 9--42 (1959; Zbl 0088.28503)], the author estimates the characteristic function \(T(r,f)\) of a meromorphic function \(f(z)\) by a linear combination of \(N(r,1/f)\) and \(\bar N_{\tau -1}(r,1/(f^{(k)}(z)-1))\), where \({\bar N}_{\tau -1}\) counts the number of distinct poles of \(f(z)\) of multiplicity \(<\tau\). As an application he proves: The family of functions \(f(z)\) meromorphic in \(| z|<1\) and satisfying \(f(z)\neq 0\), \(f^{(k)}(z)-1\) without zeros of multiplicity less than \(k+4+[2/k]\) is normal. This generalizes a result of \textit{Ku Yunghsing} (Ku, Yongxing) [Sci. Sin., Special Issue 1, 267--274 (1979)].