Functions of a Complex Variable

By Sammy Gillespie

Table of Contents
1 The complex plane..................................................................................................................1 1.1 The complex plane..........................................................................................................1 Extended complex plane............................................................................................2 1.2 Elementary functions on complex sets...........................................................................3 Functions as mappings...............................................................................................3 1.3 Point sets in the complex plane.......................................................................................4 Open, closed and other sets........................................................................................5

1 The complex plane

A complex number is a number that can be written as a combination of it's real and imaginary parts.
z=a+ib

(1.1)

Where a and b are both real, i 2=1 , a=(z ) and b=( z) .

1.1 The complex plane Im(z)

Complex numbers can also be represented in the two-dimensional complex plane. This can be visually shown on an argand diagram as shown in Illustration 1. When presented in this way the horizontal axis represents the real part of z , and the vertical axis represents the imaginary part of z . From Illustration 1, it is possible to see that the Re(z) complex number can be written in polar coordinates. This is achieved by writing a=sin () and b= sin() .

a Illustration 1: Argand Diagram

By combining these two equations the following can be found: p= a 2+b 2=z (1.2)

=tan 1

( b )=arg (z ) a

(1.3) (1.4) (1.5)

z=(cos ()+i sin())=e i z * =( cos()i sin( ))= ei

Extended complex plane

The extended complex plane is the complex plane which includes a definition for z= . This can be written as Extended =={z =} . Using the extended complex plane is done by mapping every point on the complex plane onto 1 1 a Riemann sphere. This is achieved by defining a sphere at point (0, 0, ) with radius . 2 2

Illustration 2: Riemann sphere

A line is then drawn connecting z with the point (0, 0,1) on the Riemann sphere. The point at which this line intersects the sphere is the new point in this stereographic projection.
i

z=r e =

r cos () r sin () r 2 , , 1+r 2 1+r 2 1+r 2

(1.6)

By using Equation (1.6) it can be seen that lim =(0, 0, 1) . This allows z= to be mapped
r

to a single point which would be impossible when in it's Cartesian form.

1.2 Elementary functions on complex sets

Some functions that should be known are: Complex polynomials and rational functions defined by algebraic operations in Complex exponential: e z=e x e iy =e x (cos( x)+i sin ( y)) this includes complex trigonometric and hyperbolic functions in terms of e iz +eiz exponentials: e.g. cos( z )= 2 Complex logarithms: ln z=ln z+i (+2 n) multi-valued including complex powers: z =e ln z where is complex

Functions as mappings
Functions can be used to map one set of complex variables onto alternate axis. For example: w= f (z )=e z (1.7)

As shown earlier e z =e x e iy . Using this and knowing that w=e i it can easily be seen that =e x and = y . Understanding this allows us to see that horizontal lines in the z plane (i.e. y is fixed while x can vary) map to a fixed , and thus map to rays in the w plane. Furthermore, when x is fixed and y varies (as per vertical lines in the z plane) the result is a mapped circle in the w plane. This is illustrated in Illustration 3.

Illustration 3: A box mapped onto the w plane (radii are a1 and a2)

1.3 Point sets in the complex plane

Let us define a neighbourhood as a small, circular area around a given point. This neighbourhood can become infinitely small allowing certain definitions to be made. Furthermore, let S be a set of points for which z is defined. e.g. S :{z<1}

Illustration 4: Neighbourhood of points around z0

z 0 is an isolated point of S if there exists a neighbourhood which contains no other points belonging to S. i.e. there are no other points connecting to z 0 . Example 1: S :{z<1} No isolate points i Example 2: S :{z = , n=1, 2, 3...} All points are isolated n

z 0 is a limit point if every possible neighbourhood of z 0 contains at least one other element of S.

Example 1: S :{z<1} All points are limit points i Example 2: S :{z = , n=1, 2, 3...} Limit point at the origin n Note that, in this case, the origin is not part of the original set. However, as the points become infinitely close to the origin, it is a limit point. z 0 is an interior point of S if there exists a neighbourhood in which all points belong to S. i.e. it is surrounded by other points z 0 is a boundary point of S if every possible neighbourhood contains both points belonging and not belonging to S. i.e. it is on the edge of a set of points

z 0 is a exterior point of S if there exists a neighbourhood in which no points belong to S. z 0 is an exterior point if it is neither an interior or boundary point.

Open, closed and other sets

An open set is one in which all points are interior points A closed set is on which contains all of its limit points Example 1: S :{z<1} This is an open set as the limit z=1 is not included in the set i Example 2: S :{z = , n=1, 2, 3...} Limit point at the origin n This is neither open nor closed. It is not open as all its points are isolated and not interior points. It also does not contain the limit (0,0) and therefore is not closed. A set is bounded is there exists a constant M such that z<M for any z in S. A set is compact if it is both bounded and closed.