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ComplexanalysisWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Complexanalysis
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

"Complexanalytic"redirectshere.Fortheclassoffunctionsoftencalled"complexanalytic",see
Holomorphicfunction.
Complexanalysis,traditionallyknownasthetheoryof
functionsofacomplexvariable,isthebranchofmathematical
analysisthatinvestigatesfunctionsofcomplexnumbers.Itis
usefulinmanybranchesofmathematics,includingalgebraic
geometry,numbertheory,appliedmathematicsaswellasin
physics,includinghydrodynamicsandthermodynamicsandalso
inengineeringfieldssuchasnuclear,aerospace,mechanicaland
electricalengineering.
MurrayR.Spiegeldescribedcomplexanalysisas"oneofthe
mostbeautifulaswellasusefulbranchesofMathematics".
Complexanalysisisparticularlyconcernedwithanalytic
functionsofcomplexvariables(or,moregenerally,meromorphic
functions).Becausetheseparaterealandimaginarypartsofany
analyticfunctionmustsatisfyLaplace'sequation,complex
analysisiswidelyapplicabletotwodimensionalproblemsin
physics.

Plotofthefunction

f(x)=(x21)(x2i)2
/(x2+2+2i).Thehuerepresents
thefunctionargument,whilethe
brightnessrepresentsthemagnitude.

Contents
1History
2Complexfunctions
3Holomorphicfunctions
4Majorresults
5Seealso
6References
7Externallinks

History
Complexanalysisisoneoftheclassicalbranchesinmathematicswithrootsinthe19thcenturyandjust
prior.ImportantmathematiciansassociatedwithcomplexanalysisincludeEuler,Gauss,Riemann,
Cauchy,Weierstrass,andmanymoreinthe20thcentury.Complexanalysis,inparticularthetheoryof
conformalmappings,hasmanyphysicalapplicationsandisalsousedthroughoutanalyticnumber
theory.Inmoderntimes,ithasbecomeverypopularthroughanewboostfromcomplexdynamicsand
thepicturesoffractalsproducedbyiteratingholomorphicfunctions.Anotherimportantapplicationof
complexanalysisisinstringtheorywhichstudiesconformalinvariantsinquantumfieldtheory.

Complexfunctions
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Acomplexfunctionisoneinwhichtheindependentvariableandthedependentvariableareboth
complexnumbers.Moreprecisely,acomplexfunctionisafunctionwhosedomainandrangearesubsets
ofthecomplexplane.
Foranycomplexfunction,boththeindependentvariableandthedependentvariablemaybeseparated
intorealandimaginaryparts:

z=x+iyand
w=f(z)=u(x,y)+iv(x,y)
wherex,yandu(x,y),v(x,y)arerealvaluedfunctions.
Inotherwords,thecomponentsofthefunctionf(z),

u=u(x,y)and
v=v(x,y)
canbeinterpretedasrealvaluedfunctionsofthetwo
realvariables,xandy.
Thebasicconceptsofcomplexanalysisareoften
introducedbyextendingtheelementaryreal
functions(e.g.,exponentialfunctions,logarithmic
functions,andtrigonometricfunctions)intothe
complexdomain.

Holomorphicfunctions

TheMandelbrotset,afractal.

Mainarticle:Holomorphicfunction
Holomorphicfunctionsarecomplexfunctions,definedonanopensubsetofthecomplexplane,thatare
differentiable.Complexdifferentiabilityhasmuchstrongerconsequencesthanusual(real)
differentiability.Forinstance,holomorphicfunctionsareinfinitelydifferentiable,whereassomereal
differentiablefunctionsarenot.Mostelementaryfunctions,includingtheexponentialfunction,the
trigonometricfunctions,andallpolynomialfunctions,areholomorphic.
Seealso:analyticfunction,holomorphicsheafandvectorbundles.

Majorresults
Oneofthecentraltoolsincomplexanalysisisthelineintegral.Thelineintegralaroundaclosedpathof
afunctionthatisholomorphiceverywhereinsidetheareaboundedbytheclosedpathisalwayszero,
whichiswhattheCauchyintegraltheoremstates.Thevaluesofsuchaholomorphicfunctioninsidea
diskcanbecomputedbyapathintegralonthedisk'sboundary,asshownin(Cauchy'sintegralformula).
Pathintegralsinthecomplexplaneareoftenusedtodeterminecomplicatedrealintegrals,andherethe
theoryofresiduesamongothersisapplicable(seemethodsofcontourintegration).A"pole"(orisolated
singularity)ofafunctionisapointwherethefunction'svaluebecomesunbounded,or"blowsup".Ifa
functionhassuchapole,thenonecancomputethefunction'sresiduethere,whichcanbeusedto
computepathintegralsinvolvingthefunctionthisisthecontentofthepowerfulresiduetheorem.The
remarkablebehaviorofholomorphicfunctionsnearessentialsingularitiesisdescribedbyPicard's
Theorem.Functionsthathaveonlypolesbutnoessentialsingularitiesarecalledmeromorphic.Laurent
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seriesarethecomplexvaluedequivalenttoTaylorseries,butcanbeusedtostudythebehaviorof
functionsnearsingularitiesthroughinfinitesumsofmorewellunderstoodfunctions,suchas
polynomials.
AboundedfunctionthatisholomorphicintheentirecomplexplanemustbeconstantthisisLiouville's
theorem.Itcanbeusedtoprovideanaturalandshortproofforthefundamentaltheoremofalgebra
whichstatesthatthefieldofcomplexnumbersisalgebraicallyclosed.
Ifafunctionisholomorphicthroughoutaconnecteddomainthenitsvaluesarefullydeterminedbyits
valuesonanysmallersubdomain.Thefunctiononthelargerdomainissaidtobeanalyticallycontinued
fromitsvaluesonthesmallerdomain.Thisallowstheextensionofthedefinitionoffunctions,suchas
theRiemannzetafunction,whichareinitiallydefinedintermsofinfinitesumsthatconvergeonlyon
limiteddomainstoalmosttheentirecomplexplane.Sometimes,asinthecaseofthenaturallogarithm,it
isimpossibletoanalyticallycontinueaholomorphicfunctiontoanonsimplyconnecteddomaininthe
complexplanebutitispossibletoextendittoaholomorphicfunctiononacloselyrelatedsurface
knownasaRiemannsurface.
Allthisreferstocomplexanalysisinonevariable.Thereisalsoaveryrichtheoryofcomplexanalysis
inmorethanonecomplexdimensioninwhichtheanalyticpropertiessuchaspowerseriesexpansion
carryoverwhereasmostofthegeometricpropertiesofholomorphicfunctionsinonecomplex
dimension(suchasconformality)donotcarryover.TheRiemannmappingtheoremabouttheconformal
relationshipofcertaindomainsinthecomplexplane,whichmaybethemostimportantresultintheone
dimensionaltheory,failsdramaticallyinhigherdimensions.

Seealso
Complexdynamics
Listofcomplexanalysistopics
Realanalysis
Runge'stheorem
Severalcomplexvariables
Realvaluedfunction
Functionofarealvariable
Realmultivariablefunction

References
Ahlfors,L.,ComplexAnalysis,3ed.(McGrawHill,1979).
StephenD.Fisher,ComplexVariables,2ed.(Dover,1999).
Carathodory,C.,TheoryofFunctionsofaComplexVariable(Chelsea,NewYork).[2volumes.]
Henrici,P.,AppliedandComputationalComplexAnalysis(Wiley).[Threevolumes:1974,1977,
1986.]
Kreyszig,E.,AdvancedEngineeringMathematics,10ed.,Ch.1318(Wiley,2011).
Markushevich,A.I.,TheoryofFunctionsofaComplexVariable(PrenticeHall,1965).[Three
volumes.]
Marsden&Hoffman,BasicComplexAnalysis.3ed.(Freeman,1999).
Needham,T.,VisualComplexAnalysis(Oxford,1997).
Rudin,W.,RealandComplexAnalysis,3ed.(McGrawHill,1986).
Scheidemann,V.,Introductiontocomplexanalysisinseveralvariables(Birkhauser,2005)
Shaw,W.T.,ComplexAnalysiswithMathematica(Cambridge,2006).
Spiegel,MurrayR.TheoryandProblemsofComplexVariableswithanintroductionto
ConformalMappinganditsapplications(McGrawHill,1964).
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Stein&Shakarchi,ComplexAnalysis(Princeton,2003).

Externallinks
ComplexAnalysistextbookbyGeorgeCain

WikimediaCommonshas
mediarelatedtoComplex
analysis.
Lookupcomplexanalysis
inWiktionary,thefree
dictionary.

(http://www.math.gatech.edu/~cain/winter99/complex.html)
Complexanalysiscoursewebsite(http://www.ima.umn.edu/~arnold/502.s97/)byDouglasN.
Arnold
Exampleproblemsincomplexanalysis
(http://www.exampleproblems.com/wiki/index.php/Complex_Variables)
Acollectionoflinkstoprogramsforvisualizingcomplexfunctions(andrelated)
(http://www.usfca.edu/vca/websites.html)
ComplexAnalysisProjectbyJohnH.Mathews(http://math.fullerton.edu/mathews/complex.html)
HansLundmark'scomplexanalysispage(manylinks)(http://www.mai.liu.se/~halun/complex)
WolframResearch'sMathWorldComplexAnalysisPage
(http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ComplexAnalysis.html)
Complexfunctiondemos(http://www.bigsigma.com/en/demo/tag/complexfunctions)
ApplicationofComplexFunctionsin2DDigitalImageTransformation(http://vadim
kataev.livejournal.com/135060.html)
ComplexVisualizerJavaappletforvisualizingarbitrarycomplexfunctions
(http://www.saunalahti.fi/mattpaa/complex/complex.html)
ComplexMapiOSappforvisualizingcomplexfunctionsanditerations
(http://complexmap.tinkatinka.com)
JavaScriptcomplexfunctiongraphingtool(http://www.fortwain.com/complex.html)
EarliestKnownUsesofSomeoftheWordsofMathematics:Calculus&Analysis
(http://www.economics.soton.ac.uk/staff/aldrich/Calculus%20and%20Analysis%20Earliest%20Us
es.htm)
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