An Inductive Julia-Carathéodory Theorem for Pick Functions in Two Variables

Abstract

Abstract Classically, Nevanlinna showed that functions from the complex upper half plane into itself which satisfy nice asymptotic conditions are parametrized by finite measures on the real line. Furthermore, the higher order asymptotic behaviour at infinity of a map from the complex upper half plane into itself is governed by the existence of moments of its representing measure, which was the key to his solution of the Hamburger moment problem. Agler and McCarthy showed that an analogue of the above correspondence holds between a Pick function f of two variables, an analytic function which maps the product of two upper half planes into the upper half plane, and moment-like quantities arising from an operator theoretic representation for f . We apply their ‘moment’ theory to show that there is a fine hierarchy of levels of regularity at infinity for Pick functions in two variables, given by the Löwner classes and intermediate Löwner classes of order N , which can be exhibited in terms of certain formulae akin to the Julia quotient.