Can an entire function with a specific limit at infinity be non-constant?

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SUMMARY

If \( f \) is an entire function satisfying the condition \( \lim\limits_{z\to \infty} \dfrac{\operatorname{Re}f(z)}{z} = 0 \), then \( f \) must be a constant function. This conclusion is derived from Liouville's theorem, which states that a bounded entire function is constant. The limit condition implies that the real part of \( f(z) \) does not grow faster than linear, thus bounding \( f \) and confirming its constancy.

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  • Understanding of entire functions in complex analysis
  • Familiarity with Liouville's theorem
  • Knowledge of limits in the context of complex functions
  • Basic concepts of real and imaginary parts of complex functions
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  • Study Liouville's theorem in detail to understand its implications for entire functions
  • Explore the properties of limits involving complex functions
  • Investigate other conditions under which entire functions can be constant
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Here is this week's POTW:

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Show that if $f$ is an entire function with $\lim\limits_{z\to \infty} \dfrac{\operatorname{Re}f(z)}{z} = 0$, then $f$ is constant.

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Congratulations to Janssens for his correct solution, which is posted below.
Instead of the Cauchy integral formula (used for the Liouville Theorem), we invoke (a corollary of) the Poisson integral formula for harmonic functions (Bak and Newman, Complex Analysis, 2010, Theorem 16.9). Namely, writing $f = u + i v$ with $u := \Re{f}$ and $v := \Im{f}$, we have
$$
f(z) = \frac{1}{2\pi}\int_0^{2\pi} u(R e^{i\theta})\frac{R e^{i\theta} + z}{R e^{i\theta} - z}\,d\theta + i v(0),
$$
for all $z \in \mathbb{C}$ and $R > |z|$. This is useful, because it enables reconstruction of $f$ from its real part. So, for any fixed $z \in \mathbb{C}$ and arbitrary $R > |z|$,
\begin{align*}
|f(z) - f(0)| &\le \frac{1}{2\pi}\int_0^{2\pi} |u(R e^{i\theta})| \frac{2|z|}{|R e^{i\theta} - z|}\,d\theta\\
&= \frac{1}{\pi} \int_0^{2\pi} \frac{|u(R e^{i\theta})|}{|R e^{i\theta}|} \frac{|z|}{|1 - \frac{z}{R}e^{-i\theta}|}\,d\theta.
\end{align*}
By the reverse triangle inequality,
$$
\left|1 - \frac{z}{R}e^{-i\theta}\right| \ge \left|1 - \frac{|z|}{R}\right|,
$$
so
$$
|f(z) - f(0)| \le \frac{|z|}{\pi|1 - \frac{|z|}{R}|}\int_0^{2\pi} \frac{|u(R e^{i\theta})|}{|R e^{i\theta}|} \, d\theta.
$$
Now, by the definition of the complex limit, the remaining integrand tends to zero as $R \to \infty$, uniformly for $\theta \in [0,2\pi]$. Hence the integral tends to zero as well. Also, the factor in front of the integral remains bounded, so this gives the result.
 

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