Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2009
An asymptotic tract of a real function u harmonic and non-constant in ℂ is a component of the set {z:u(z)≠c}, for some real number c; a quasi-tractT(≠ℂ) is an unbounded simply-connected domain in ℂ such that there exists a function u that is positive, unbounded and harmonic in T such that, for each point ζ∈∂T∩ℂ,
and a ℱ-tract is an unbounded simply-connected domain T in ℂ whose every prime end that contains ∞ in its impression is of the first kind.
The authors study the growth of a harmonic function in one of its asymptotic tracts, and the question of whether a quasi-tract is an asymptotic tract. The branching of either type of tract is also taken into consideration.