Samples of solving

COMPLEX LINE INTEGRAL

EXAMPLE 1: Evaluate the integral  z 2 dz along the curve L having the form of
L

a) a straight line connecting the points z1  0 and z2  1  2i .

b) an arc of the parabola y  2 x 2 between the points z1  0 and z2  1  2i .
2
 z dz   z  x  iy     x  iy 
2
d ( x  iy ) 
y  Im z L L

z2  1  2i    x 2  2ixy  (iy ) 2 ( dx  idy ) 

2 L

f ( z)  2 x2    ( x 2  y 2 )  2ixy ( dx  idy ) 
L

z1 1   ( x 2  y 2 ) dx  2 xy dx  ( x 2  y 2 ) dy .
xy dy  i  2
0 x  Re z      
L u v L v u

a) The straight line, connecting the points z1  0 and z2  1  2i ,

is described by the equation y  2 x . Then

2 2  y  2 x,  dy  2dx 
 z dz   ( x  y 2 )dx  2 xydy  i  2 xydx  ( x 2  y 2 )dy   
L L L  x :0  1 
1 1
  ( x 2  (2 x ) 2 )dx  2 x (2 x )2 dx  i  2 x (2 x ) dx  ( x 2  (2 x) 2 )2dx 
0 0

1 1 1 1
  ( 3 x  8 x ) dx  i  (4 x  6 x ) dx   ( 11x )dx  i  ( 2 x 2 )dx 
2 2 2 2 2

0 0 0 0

3 1 3 1
11x 12 x 11 2
 i  i .
3 0
3 0
3 3

b) Integration along the arc of parabola y  2 x 2 between the points z1  0 and z2  1  2i :

2 2 2 2 2  y  2 x 2 ,  dy  4 xdx 
L z dz  L ( x  y ) dx  2 xydy  i L 2 xydx  ( x  y ) dy   
 x :0  1 
1 1
  ( x 2  (2 x 2 ) 2 ) dx  2 x(2 x 2 )4 xdx  i  2 x(2 x 2 ) dx  ( x 2  (2 x 2 ) 2 )4 xdx 
0 0

1 1
  ( x 2  4 x 4  16 x 4 )dx  i  (4 x 3  4 x 3  16 x 5 )dx 
0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1
COMPLEX LINE integral. – I. Dzenite „Samples of Solving”
 1 1 1 1
2 4 3 x 3 20 x 5 
5  8 x 4 16 x 6 
  ( x  20 x )dx  i  (8 x  16 x )dx     i  
0 0  3 5  0  4 6  0
1  8 11 2
  4  i2     i .
3  3 3 3

This example proves the following theorem.

THEOREM: If the function f ( z ) is analytic along the curve L (i.e. differentiable at every
point on L ), and F ( z ) is the primitive function of f ( z ) (i.e. F ( z )  f ( z ) ),
then a line integral does not depend on an integration path so that the
Newton-Leibnitz’s formula holds:
z2

 f ( z)dz  F ( z )  F ( z ) .
z1
2 1

Thus, since the function f ( z )  z 2 ( it can be proved by using Cauchy –Riemann equations ),
the previous example could be also solved as
1 2 i 1 2 i
2 2 z3 (1  2i )3 1  12  6i  8i 11 2
 z dz   z dz      i .
L 0
3 0
3 3 3 3

EXAMPLE 2: Evaluate the line integral  | z | dz , where L is a circle’s arc between

L

the points A(2,0) and B(0,2) , with the centre at the coordinates origin.

 x  2 cos t 
The given circle’s parametric equation has the form  , where t  0,  .
 y  2sin t  2

Then z (t )  2 cos t  2i sin t , dz  ( 2sin t  2i cos t )dt , | z | (2cos t )2  (2sin t ) 2  2 , and

  
2 2 2
 /2  /2
 | z | dz   2  (2sin t  2i cos t )dt  4  sin tdt  4i  cos tdt  4cos t
L 0 0 0
0
 4i sin t 0 

       
 4  cos    cos 0   4i  sin    sin 0   4  4i .
 2   2 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2
COMPLEX LINE integral. – I. Dzenite „Samples of Solving”