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Write $g_t=g_{K_t}$ and, for $s<t$, let $K_{s,t}$ be the filled image hull $g_s(K_t\setminus K_s)$. The half-plane-capacity composition rule givesThe Loewner local growth property says that these mapped increments shrink uniformly on bounded time intervals: for every $A<\infty$,Using diameter instead of radius is equivalent, since a nonempty compact H-hull has its closure meeting the real axis. This is a condition on the increments after mapping out the past, not merely on the Euclidean size of $K_t\setminus K_s$ in the original domain.

For fixed $t$, the nonempty compact sets $\overline{K_{t,t+h}}$, $h>0$, are nested as $h$ decreases. Their diameters tend to zero by Loewner local growth property. The nested-compact-set property gives a single intersection point, and its imaginary part is zero because $K_{t,t+h}$ lies in a real-centred disc of radius tending to zero. Define the Loewner transform byOne may restrict the intersection to sufficiently small $h$. Every point of $K_{t,t+h}$ is within $2{\omega }_A(h)$ of ${\xi }_t$ when $t+h\le A$.

Here is a direct proof of continuity, using the permitted displacement estimate. Fix $s<t$ and put $\delta =t-s$. Take $0<h\le \delta$ and a point $v\in K_{t,t+h}$. Set $z=g_{K_{s,t}}^{-1}(v)$. The hull composition rule puts $z\in K_{s,t+h}$, while the displacement estimate givesSince $z$ is within $2{\omega }_A(\delta +h)$ of ${\xi }_s$, let $h\downarrow 0$, taking $v\to {\xi }_t$, to obtainUse a slightly larger fixed time interval if $t$ is its endpoint. Both terms tend to zero with $\delta$. This proves continuity from both sides, and indeed uniform continuity on every compact time interval. The real boundary value is obtained as a limit; evaluating the displacement estimate directly on a possibly rough boundary is unnecessary.

The Loewner correspondence theorem states that a capacity-$2t$ increasing hull family with Loewner local growth property has the unique continuous real Loewner driving function just defined, and its mapping-out functions solve the Chordal Loewner equationFor each $z\in \mathbb{H}$, this solution is taken up to its maximal lifetime; $\mathbb{H}\setminus K_t$ is precisely the set of points whose lifetimes exceed $t$. Conversely a continuous real driver gives such a hull family through this ordinary differential equation. A continuous driver alone need not have a continuous Loewner trace; that additional assertion is part of the trace theory of SLE, not of the deterministic correspondence theorem.

A continuous process $\gamma :[0,\infty )\to \overline{\mathbb{H}}$ is chordal Schramm–Loewner evolution with parameter $\kappa$ from $0$ to infinity when ${\gamma }_0=0$, its filled past generates these capacity-$2t$ hulls, and their Loewner driving function iswith $B$ standard real Brownian motion. The filling includes bounded components cut off from infinity. Equivalently its Loewner trace is the continuous extension of ${\gamma }_t={\lim }_{y\downarrow 0}{g}_t^{-1}({\xi }_t+iy)$. This last boundary limit is the trace-existence input for SLE.

Fix $r>0$ and scale space and time together:The half-plane capacity of ${\hat{K}}_t$ is $2t$ by part (a). Differentiation givesBy Brownian scaling, $r^{-1}{B}_{r^{2}t}$ is again standard Brownian motion, so the new driver has the same law as the old one. Uniqueness of the Chordal Loewner equation transfers this equality to the hulls and their continuous Loewner traces. ThusThis is capacity-parametrized scale invariance of a Loewner chain. It includes $\kappa =0$, when the driver is zero and the trace is the deterministic vertical slit ${\gamma }_t=2i\sqrt{t}$.

Take increasing to mean strict growth on every nonempty time interval; otherwise a constant family has no uniquely determined driving point. The half-plane-capacity parameterization imposed below guarantees strict growth. For $s<t$, define the increment hull in the mapped domain byThis definition includes filling and boundary conventions automatically. Its mapping-out function is $g_{s,t}=g_t\circ g_s^{-1}$. The Loewner local growth property meansfor every finite $T$ within the parameter range. Equivalently, the mapped increments have uniformly vanishing diameter on compact time intervals.

For fixed $t$, the nonempty compact Euclidean closures ${\overline{K}}_{t,t+h}$ are nested as $h$ decreases. Their diameters tend to zero, so their intersection is a singleton. Its point lies on the real axis: the imaginary part of any point in a hull is at most its enclosing radius. Define the Loewner transform bySince ${\xi }_t$ lies in each closure, every point of $K_{t,t+h}$ is at distance at most $2\mathrm{rad}(K_{t,t+h})$ from it.

To prove continuity, choose $z\in K_{t+2h}\setminus K_{t+h}$ and write $w=g_t(z)$, $w^{\prime }=g_{t+h}(z)$. Then $w\in K_{t,t+2h}$, $w^{\prime }\in K_{t+h,t+2h}$ and $w^{\prime }=g_{t,t+h}(w)$. The continuity estimate from part (i) givesThe right-hand side tends to zero uniformly on compact time intervals. Applying the same inequality with the earlier time as the base proves left continuity as well. Thus the Loewner transform is continuous.

Now impose $\mathrm{hcap}(K_t)=2t$. The half-plane-capacity composition rule follows by composing Laurent expansions at infinity and givesFor a point not yet swallowed, put $z_s=g_s(z)$ and $r_{s,t}=2\mathrm{rad}(K_{s,t})$. The increment is contained in the half-disc of radius $r_{s,t}$ centred at ${\xi }_s$. The continuity estimate first proves continuity of $s\mapsto g_s(z)$: its increment is bounded by $3\mathrm{rad}(K_{s,t})$. The differentiability estimate for a mapping-out function then gives, when $t-s$ is small enough,On a compact interval before swallowing the denominator stays away from zero. Divide by $t-s$ and let $t\downarrow s$. The local-growth property makes the error tend to zero. The analogous backward quotient has the same limit, using continuity of $g_s(z)$ and ${\xi }_s$. Thus the Chordal Loewner equation follows:The initial value follows from $\mathrm{hcap}(K_0)=0$, hence $K_0=\varnothing$. Without the capacity parameterization, the same argument gives $d{g}_t(z)=d\mathrm{hcap}(K_t)/(g_t(z)-{\xi }_t)$, interpreted with the capacity clock.

Suppose $A\subseteq B$. Map out $A$ and let $C$ be the relatively closed image hull corresponding to $g_A(B\setminus A)$, with bounded complementary components filled if needed. Then $g_A$ maps $\mathbb{H}\setminus B$ onto $\mathbb{H}\setminus C$. Uniqueness of the mapping-out function of a compact H-hull gives $g_B=g_C\circ g_A$. Comparing their Laurent series yields the half-plane-capacity composition ruleThe Brownian representation of half-plane capacity makes the last term nonnegative, proving monotonicity of half-plane capacity:

With the normalization used in the Chordal Loewner equation, half-plane-capacity parameterization meansThus $K_0$ is empty and the half-plane-capacity composition rule gives $\mathrm{hcap}(K_{s,t})=2(t-s)$. The factor two produces ${\partial }_t{g}_t(z)=2/(g_t(z)-U_t)$. A convention using half-plane capacity $t$ instead changes that coefficient to one and rescales time; the convention must be kept consistent.

There is a small closure issue in the printed set: the unit disc is open, so its half-disc is not relatively closed in $\mathbb{H}$. As written, the set is not a compact H-hull. We compute the intended half-plane capacity after taking its relative closure in $\mathbb{H}$.

First remove the closed unit half-disc $K$. Its mapping-out function of a compact H-hull is the Joukowski mapFor $z=iy$ on the remaining portion of the vertical slit, $1<y\le 2$,Thus the image of the remaining slit is $(0,3i/2]$. By the half-plane capacity of a vertical slit, its capacity is $(3/2{)}^2/2=9/8$. The half-plane-capacity composition rule givesAs a direct check, composing with the slit map gives $g_A(z)=\sqrt{(z+z^{-1}{)}^2+9/4}$, with the branch asymptotic to $z$. Its $z^{-1}$ coefficient is $17/8$.

Work with a locally growing Loewner chain started at $0$, with $A_0=\varnothing$ and the half-plane-capacity parameterization $\mathrm{hcap}(A_t)=2t$. The Conformal Markov property of SLE combines invariance under conformal changes of the marked domain with restarting after an initial hull has been removed.

In the half-plane this means, first, that $(r^{-1}{A}_{r^{2}t}{)}_{t\ge 0}$ has the same law as $(A_t{)}_{t\ge 0}$ for every $r>0$. Second, conditionally on ${\mathcal{F}}_t$, the future hulls mapped by $g_t-U_t$,with the usual hull closure, have the original law and are independent of ${\mathcal{F}}_t$. Their capacity is $2s$ by the half-plane-capacity composition rule. One may require the same restarting property at finite stopping times.

Equivalently, the driver has the scaling law and conditional increment lawThe conformal invariance clause matters: the restarting property alone would also allow a Brownian driver with deterministic drift.

Map out $A$ first. The imagewith its bounded filling is a compact H-hull, and uniqueness of hydrodynamic normalization givesComparing the coefficients of $1/z$ at infinity yields the half-plane-capacity composition ruleThus half-plane capacity is monotone under inclusion.