Fatou’s web

Abstract

Let $f$ be Fatou's function, that is, $f(z)= z+1+e^{-z}$. We prove that the escaping set of $f$ has the structure of a `spider's web' and we show that this result implies that the non-escaping endpoints of the Julia set of $f$ together with infinity form a totally disconnected set. We also give a well-known transcendental entire function, due to Bergweiler, for which the escaping set is a spider's web and we point out that the same property holds for families of functions.