A counterexample to an open problem of Dorff

Abstract

The classical P\'olya-Schoenberg conjecture, proved by Ruscheweyh-Sheil-Small, asserts that the convolution of two normalized convex univalent functions is again convex. This property fails to carry over to planar harmonic mappings. In 2001, Dorff posed the open problem whether the self-convolution of a normalized convex harmonic mapping with bounded image must remain in the same class. We construct a normalized sense-preserving harmonic diffeomorphism that maps the unit disk onto an ellipse; its self-convolution has vanishing Jacobian at some interior point of the unit disk, which provides a negative answer to Dorff's open problem.