Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 January 2016
An entire function F(z) = f(g(z)) is said to have f(z) and g(z) as left and right factors respe2tively, provided that f(z) is meromorphic and g(z) is entire (g may be meromorphic when f is rational). F(z) is said to be prime (pseudo-prime) if every factorization of the above form implies that one of the functions f and g is bilinear (a rational function). F is said to be E-prime (E-pseudo prime) if every factorization of the above form into entire factors implies that one of the functions f and g is linear (a polynomial). We recall here that an entire non-periodic function f is prime if and only if it is E-prime [5]. This fact will be useful in the sequel.