A function f defined on the complex plane is said to be of exponential type if there exist constants M and α such that in the limit of. Here, the complex variablez was written as to emphasize that the limit must hold in all directions θ. Letting α stand for the infimum of all such α, one then says that the function f is of exponential type α. For example, let. Then one says that is of exponential type π, since π is the smallest number that bounds the growth of along the imaginary axis. So, for this example, Carlson's theorem cannot apply, as it requires functions of exponential type less than π.
Ψ type
Bounding may be defined for other functions besides the exponential function. In general, a function is a comparison function if it has a series with for all n, and Comparison functions are necessarily entire, which follows fromthe ratio test. If is such a comparison function, one then says that f is of Ψ-type if there exist constants M and τ such that as. If τ is the infimum of all such τ one says that f is of Ψ-type τ. Nachbin's theorem states that a function f with the series is of Ψ-type τ if and only if
Borel transform
Nachbin's theorem has immediate applications in Cauchy theorem-like situations, and for integral transforms. For example, the generalized Borel transform is given by If f is of Ψ-type τ, then the exterior of the domain of convergence of, and all of its singular points, are contained within the disk Furthermore, one has where the contour of integration γ encircles the disk. This generalizes the usual Borel transform for exponential type, where. The integral form for the generalized Borel transform follows as well. Let be a function whose first derivative is bounded on the interval, so that where. Then the integral form of the generalized Borel transform is The ordinary Borel transform is regained by setting. Note that the integral form of the Borel transform is just the Laplace transform.
Nachbin resummation
Nachbin resummation can be used to sum divergent series that escape to the usual Borel summation or even to solve integral equations of the form: where f may or may not be of exponential growth and the kernel K has a Mellin transform. The solution can be obtained as with and M is the Mellin transform of K. An example of this is the Gram series in some cases as an extra condition we require to be finite for and different from 0.
Collections of functions of exponential type can form a complete uniform space, namely a Fréchet space, by the topology induced by the countable family of norms