Schwarzian derivatives and uniform local univalence (Q934522)

A positive continuous even function \(p(x)\) on the interval \((-1,1)\) is called a Nehari function if \((1-x^2)^2p(x)\) is nonincreasing on \([0,1)\) and no nontrivial solution \(u\) of the differential equation \(\frac{d^2u}{dx^2}+pu=0\) has more than one zero in \((-1,1)\). The paper deals with a topic which was started in a classical theorem by \textit{Z. Nehari} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 5, 700--704 (1954; Zbl 0057.31102)] that gives a general criterion for univalence of a function in terms of its Schwarzian derivative \(\mathcal Sf =(\frac{f''}{f'})' -\frac12(\frac{f''}{f'})^2\). The classical Nehari theorem can be stated as follows: Theorem A. Let \(f\) be analytic and locally univalent in the unit disk \(\mathbb D\), and suppose its Schwarizian derivative satisfies \(|\mathcal Sf(z)|\leq 2p(|z|)\), \(z\in\mathbb D\) for some Nehari function \(p(x)\). Then \(f\) is univalent in \(\mathbb D\). As special cases Nehari's Theorem A includes two criteria \(|\mathcal Sf(z)|\leq 2(1-|z|^2)^{-2}\) and \(|\mathcal Sf(z)|\leq\frac{\pi^2}{2}\) obtained by \textit{Z. Nehari} [Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 55, 545--551 (1949; Zbl 0035.05104)], as well as the criterion \(|\mathcal Sf(z)|\leq 4(1-z^2)^{-1}\) obtained by \textit{V. V. Pokornyi} [Dokl. Akad. Nauk SSSR, n. Ser. 79, 743--746 (1951; Zbl 0045.35901)]. The main results of the paper are the following three theorems: Theorem 1. Let \(f\) be analytic and locally univalent in the unit disk \(\mathbb D\), and suppose its Schwarzian derivative satisfies \(|\mathcal Sf(z)|\leq C\), \(z\in\mathbb D\) for some constant \(C>\frac{\pi^2}{2}\). Then \(|\alpha-\beta|\geq\sqrt{2/C\pi}\) for any pair of points \(\alpha, \beta\in\mathbb D\) where \(f(\alpha)=f(\beta)\). Consequently, \(f\) has finite valence and assumes any given value at most \((1+\sqrt{2C}/\pi)^2\) times. Theorem 2. Let \(f\) be analytic and locally univalent in \(\mathbb D\), and suppose its Schwarzian derivative satisfies \(|\mathcal Sf(z)|\leq\frac{2C}{1-|z|^2}\), \(z\in\mathbb D\) for a constant \(C>2\). Then \(f\) has finite valence \(N=N(C)\leq AC\log C\), where \(A\) is some absolute constant. Theorem 3. Let \(f=h+\bar g\) be an orientation-preserving harmonic mapping whose dilatation \(\omega=g'/h'\) is the square of an analytic function in the unit disk. Then \(\|\mathcal Sf\|<\infty\) if and only if \(f\) is uniformly locally univalent. Other results are developed from the above-mentioned theorems.