 Great Picard theorem

Let $f$ be a holomorphic function on $0<|z-a|<R$, and suppose $a$ is an isolated essential singularity. There is a set $E\subseteq \mathbb{C}$ with at most one element such that, for every $w\notin E$ and every $0<r<R$, the equation $f(z)=w$ has infinitely many distinct solutions with $0<|z-a|<r$. Thus each nonexceptional value has preimages accumulating at $a$ in every punctured neighbourhood. The same possible exception works for all these neighbourhoods; it need not be a completely omitted value, since it could be attained only finitely often near $a$. ^[ref]

The basic example is $f(z)=e^{1/z}$ at $a=0$. It is a holomorphic function for $z\ne 0$, and its Laurent serieshas infinitely many nonzero negative-power terms, making zero an essential singularity. Its sole omitted value is zero. For the value one, its preimages are exactlyThey satisfy $e^{1/z_k}=1$ and $|z_k|=1/(2\pi |k|)\to 0$. For any $r>0$, every integer $k$ with $|k|>1/(2\pi r)$ therefore supplies a distinct solution inside $0<|z|<r$.

The diagram displays only finitely many preimages; the formula and its limit, rather than the finite picture, establish that infinitely many occur in every punctured neighbourhood. More generally, for any $w\ne 0$, choose an argument $\theta$ of $w$. All its preimages arewith any zero denominator excluded. Such an exclusion occurs only for $w=1$, with exactly one excluded integer $k$ for the chosen argument. The remaining preimages are distinct and tend to zero as $|k|\to \infty$.

The isolated essential singularity hypothesis is crucial. The function $f(z)=z^{-1}$ has a pole at zero; on $0<|z|<r$ its image is only $\{w:|w|>1/r\}$. It omits every value in the closed disc $|w|\le 1/r$, and each attained value has just one preimage. A pole therefore has entirely different local behaviour from an essential singularity.

The Casorati-Weierstrass theorem says that the image near an essential singularity is a dense subset of the complex plane. The Great Picard theorem replaces arbitrary approximation by exact attainment, and then repeats that attainment infinitely often. This is useful when a local restriction on the image can rule out an essential singularity and reduce the possibilities to a pole or a removable singularity. For a meromorphic function viewed as a holomorphic map into the Riemann sphere, the corresponding statement has at most two exceptional sphere values, including infinity in the count; it applies when the map has an isolated essential singularity, even if poles accumulate there. Picard's 1880 memoir proves the local result in section 15, treating the cases with and without accumulating poles separately. ^[ref]

The Great Picard theorem also explains the Little Picard theorem. For a nonconstant polynomial, every value is attained by the fundamental theorem of algebra. For an entire function which is not a polynomial, the function $g(\zeta )=f(1/\zeta )$ has an essential singularity at zero: a removable singularity would force $f$ to be constant by the Liouville theorem, and a pole would force $f$ to be a polynomial. Applying the Great Picard theorem to $g$ leaves at most one finite omitted value for $f$.