On the meromorphic solutions of linear differential equations on the complex plane (Q847059)

The authors study the growth of solutions of the linear differential equation \[ f^{(k)}+ A_{k-1} f^{(k-1)}+\cdots + A_0f= 0,\quad k\geq 2\tag{1} \] where \(A_0,\dots, A_{k-1}\) are meromorphic functions on the complex plane and \(A_0\not\equiv 0\). The iterated \(n\)-th-order \(\sigma_n(f)\) of a meromorphic function \(f\) is defined by \[ \sigma_n(f):= \limsup_{r\to\infty} {\log^+_nT(r, f)\over\log r}\quad (n\in\mathbb{N}). \] The growth index of the iterated order of a meromorphic function \(f\) is defined by \[ i(f)= \begin{cases} 0 &\text{if }f\text{ is rational},\\ \min\{n\in\mathbb{N}:\sigma_n(f)< \infty\} &\text{if }\text{ is transcendental and }\sigma_n(f)<\infty\text{ for some }n,\\ \infty\;&\text{if }\sigma_n(f)= \infty\text{ for all }n\in\mathbb{N}.\end{cases} \] Let \(i_\lambda(f)\) denote the growth index of the iterated convergence exponent of the sequence of zero points of a meromorhic function \(f\), \(\lambda_n(f)\) the iterated \(n\)-th-order convergence exponent of the sequence of zero points of a meromorphic function \(f\). The authors prove the following theorem: Theorem 2.1. Let \(A_j\), \((j= 0,\dots,k- 1)\) be meromorphic functions, and let \(i(A_0)= p\) \((0< p<\infty)\). Assume that either \(i_\lambda({1\over A_0})< p\) or \(\lambda_p({1\over A_0})< \sigma_p(A_0)\), and that either \(\max\{i(A_j): j= 1,\dots, k-1\}< p\) or \[ \max\{\sigma_p(A_j): j= 1,\dots, k-1\}\leq\sigma_p(A_0)= \sigma \qquad (0<\sigma<\infty), \] \[ \max\{\tau_p(A_j): \sigma_p(A_j)= \sigma_p(A_0)\}<\tau_p(A_0)= \tau\qquad (0< \tau< \infty). \] Then every meromorphic solution \(f\not\equiv 0\) whose poles are uniformly bounded multiplicities of (1) satisfies \(i(f)= p+1\) and \(\sigma_{p+1}(f)=\sigma_p(A_0)\). The authors also investigate the case of nonhomogeneous differential equations.