Geometric properties of basic hypergeometric functions

In this paper we consider basic hypergeometric functions introduced by Heine. We study mapping properties of certain ratios of basic hypergeometric functions having shifted parameters and show that they map the domains of analyticity onto domains convex in the direction of the imaginary axis. In order to investigate these mapping properties, few useful identities are obtained in terms of basic hypergeometric functions. In addition, we find conditions under which the basic hypergeometric functions are in $q$-close-to-convex family.