Some remarks on results of Mues about deficiency sums of derivatives (Q912237)

Let f(z) be a transcendental meromorphic function and \(a_ 1,a_ 2,...,a_ q\) be distinct complex constants. Mues' inequalities in Nevanlinna theory state that \[ (1)\quad \sum^{q}_{j=1}\delta (a_ j,f^{(k)})\leq (k^ 2+5k+4)/(k^ 2+4k+2)\quad for\quad all\quad k\in {\mathbb{N}}, \] further if \(N_ 1(r,f)=o(N(r,f))\), then \[ (2)\quad \sum^{q}_{j=1}\delta (a_ j,f^{(k)})\leq 1\quad for\quad all\quad k\geq 2. \] It is shown that there is an upper bound more precise than in (1), that is, \(1+(1/(2k+1))\). It is also shown that if for some \(\ell\) (\(\geq 2)\) \(N_{\ell}(r,f)=o(N(r,f))\), then (2) holds for all \(k\geq \ell\), and in particular \(N_ 1(r,f)+m(r,f)=S(r,f)\), then \[ (3)\quad \sum^{q}_{j=1}\delta (a_ j,f^{(k)})\leq (2/(k+1))\quad for\quad all\quad k\in {\mathbb{N}}. \] The inequality (3) is sharp for \(k\in {\mathbb{N}}\).