Holomorphic Extendibility and Mapping Degree

Abstract

Let D be a bounded, finitely connected domain in the complex plane without isolated points in the boundary and let f be a continuous function on the boundary bD. Let F be a continuous extension of f to the closure of D. We prove that f extends holomorphically through D if and only if the degree of F+h is nonnegative for every holomorphic function h on D such that F+h is bounded away from zero near bD.