Complex Difference Equations of Malmquist Type

In a recent paper [1], Ablowitz, Halburd and Herbst applied Nevanlinna theory to prove some results on complex difference equations reminiscent of the classical Malmquist theorem in complex differential equations. A typical example of their results tells us that if a complex difference equation y(z + 1) + y(z − 1) = R(z, y) with R(z, y) rational in both arguments admits a transcendental meromorphic solution of finite order, then degyR(z, y) ≤ 2. Improvements and extensions of such results are presented in this paper. In addition to order considerations, a result (see Theorem 13) is proved to indicate that solutions having Borel exceptional zeros and poles seem to appear in special situations only.