We study linearization models for continuous one-parameter semigroups of parabolic type. In particular, we introduce new limit schemes to obtain solutions of Abels functional equation and to study asymptotic behavior of such semigroups. The crucial p
oint is that these solutions are univalent functions convex in one direction. In a parallel direction, we find analytic conditions which determine certain geometric properties of those functions, such as the location of their images in either a half-plane or a strip, and their containing either a half-plane or a strip. In the context of semigroup theory these geometric questions may be interpreted as follows: is a given one-parameter continuous semigroup either an outer or an inner conjugate of a group of automorphisms? In other words, the problem is finding a fractional linear model of the semigroup which is defined by a group of automorphisms of the open unit disk. Our results enable us to establish some new important analytic and geometric characteristics of the asymptotic behavior of one-parameter continuous semigroups of holomorphic mappings, as well as to study the problem of existence of a backward flow invariant domain and its geometry.
