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Set $v(z)=\mathrm{Im}{g}_K(z)$, a positive harmonic function on $D$. First justify its boundary behavior. For $z_n\to p\in \partial D$ with $p$ finite, part (c) makes $g_K(z_n)$ bounded. Any subsequential limit $w$ lies in $\overline{\mathbb{H}}$. If $\mathrm{Im}w>0$, continuity of the inverse inside $\mathbb{H}$ would give $p=g_K^{-1}(w)\in D$, a contradiction. ThusThis boundary degeneration under a mapping-out function is valid without a smooth or locally connected hull boundary.

The harmonic function $u(z)=v(z)-\mathrm{Im}z$ consequently has nonpositive finite-boundary values. Its value tends uniformly to zero at infinity, by the Laurent series. On the bounded domain $D\cap \{|z|<R\}$, the maximum principle for harmonic functions bounds $u$ by $\max (0,{\epsilon }_R)$, where ${\epsilon }_R={\sup }_{D\cap \{|z|=R\}}|g_K(z)-z|\to 0$. Let $R\to \infty$ with $z$ fixed. We obtainThis is the height contraction of a hydrodynamically normalized mapping-out function. The exhaustion controls infinity explicitly, which is necessary when using a maximum principle on an unbounded domain.

Put $u(z)=\mathrm{Im}(z-g_A(z))$ on $D_A$. This is a harmonic function, tends to zero at infinity, and is bounded. To justify the boundary behavior without requiring a locally connected space as its boundary, let $f_A=g_A^{-1}$. Its expansion at infinity implies that bounded $z$ cannot have $|g_A(z)|\to \infty$. If $z_n$ approaches a finite point of $\partial D_A$ and $g_A(z_n)$ had a subsequential limit inside $\mathbb{H}$, continuity of $f_A$ would force that point to lie inside $D_A$, a contradiction. Thus boundary degeneration under a mapping-out function gives $\mathrm{Im}{g}_A(z_n)\to 0$. Consequently $u$ extends continuously to the finite boundary with value $\mathrm{Im}z$.

Let $B$ be planar Brownian motion started at $z\in D_A$, and $\tau$ its Brownian exit time from $D_A$. This time is finite almost surely: it is at most the first time the imaginary coordinate, a one-dimensional Brownian motion, hits zero. By the Itô formula, $u(B_{t\wedge \tau })$ is a bounded martingale. The optional stopping theorem and dominated convergence theorem therefore giveBoundedness is important here: directly stopping the unbounded imaginary-coordinate martingale would require an unjustified uniform integrability assertion.

At $z=iy$, the Laurent series gives $u(iy)=a/y+O(y^{-2})$. HenceThe sign follows because the exit point lies on $\partial D_A\subseteq \overline{\mathbb{H}}$. This proves the Brownian representation of half-plane capacity.