PMAT 31303 - Complex Variables

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva

Department of Mathematics
University of Kelaniya
Kelaniya
[email protected]

March 25, 2025

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 1 / 35

Goal: Understand De Moivre’s theorem and be able to use it to find the
roots of a complex number.

z n = {r (cos θ + i sin θ)}n = r n cos(nθ) + i sin(nθ)

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 2 / 35

Roots of Complex Numbers

Consider now a point z = re iθ , lying on a circle centered at the origin

with radius r .
As θ is increased, z moves around the circle in the counterclockwise
direction. When θ is increased by 2ϕ, we arrive at the original point;
and the same is true when θ is decreased by 2ϕ.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 3 / 35

 Two nonzero complex numbers z1 = r1 e iθ1 and z2 = r2 e iθ2 are equal
iff r1 = r2 and θ1 = θ2 + 2kπ where k is some integer.
This observation, together with the expression z n = r n e inθ is useful in
finding the nth roots of any nonzero complex number z0 = r0 e iθ0 ,
where n has one of the values n = 2, 3, ....
The method starts with the fact that nth root of z0 is a nonzero
number z = re iθ such that z n = z0 , or

r n e inθ = r0 e iθ0

. Then
r n = r0 andnθ = θ0 + 2kπ,
where k is any integer(k = 0, ±1, ±2, ...)
Thus the complex numbers

θ0 2kπ
 
1/n
z = r0 exp i +
n n

are nth root of z0 .

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 4 / 35
Hence, nth roots of z0 can be written
 θ 
1/n 2πk 
0
θ
0 2πk 
c k = r0 cos + + i sin + , k = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n − 1.
n n n n

1/n
The number r0 is the length of each of the radius vectors
representing the n roots. The first root c0 has argument θ0 /n; and
the two roots when n = 2 lie at the opposite ends of a diameter of
1/n
the circle |z| = r0 , the second root being −c0 .
When n ≥ 3, the roots lie at the vertices of a regular polygon of n
sides inscribed in that circle.
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 5 / 35
Example
Find the three cube roots of i. In other words find all z such that z 3 = i.
Solution:

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 6 / 35

Example
Find the fourth roots of w = 6(cos(π/6) + sin(π/6)).

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 7 / 35

The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions
Sol: The fourth roots of z are the complex numbers
  π/6 2πk   π/6 2πk 
1/4
6 cos + + i sin +
4 4 4 4
for k = 0, 1, 2, 3. The list becomes
when k = 0,
 π  π 
1/4
z1 = 6 cos + i sin
24 24
when k = 1,
  13π   13π 
1/4
z2 = 6 cos + i sin
24 24
when k = 2,
  25π   25π 
1/4
z3 = 6 cos + i sin
24 24
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 8 / 35
The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions
Sol (cont.): when k = 3,
  37π   37π 
1/4
z4 = 6 cos + i sin
24 24

Example
Find the cube roots of -1 and plot them.

Sol: First we write the complex number z = −1 in trigonometric form

z = −1 + 0i = cos π + i sin π.

The third roots of z = −1 = cos π + i sin π are the complex numbers

 π + 2πk   π + 2πk 
cos + i sin ,
3 3
for k = 0, 1, 2.
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 9 / 35
The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions
Sol (cont.): The three complex numbers are
π  π  √
1 3
z1 = cos + i sin = + i,
3 3 2 2
 π + 2π   π + 2π 
z2 = cos + i sin = −1 + 0i,
3 3
 π + 4π   π + 4π  1 √3
z3 = cos + i sin = − i.
3 3 2 2
Figure shows the graph of the three cube roots z1 , z2 , and z3 . They are
evenly spaced (with distance of 2π/3 radians) around the unit circle.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 10 / 35

The nth Roots of Unity

The solution of the equation z n = 1 where n is a positive integer are called

the nth roots of unity and are given by

2kπ 2kπ
z = cos + i sin = e 2kπi/n
n n

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 11 / 35

The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions
Example
Find the eighth roots of unity.

Sol: First we write the complex number z = 1 in trigonometric form

z = 1 + 0i = cos 0 + i sin 0.
The eighth roots of z = 1 + 0i = cos 0 + i sin 0 are complex numbers
 0 + 2πk   0 + 2πk 
cos + i sin ,
8 8
for k = 0, 1, 2, . . . , 7.

z1 = cos 0 + i sin 0 = 1 + 0i
√ √
π π 2 2
z2 = cos + i sin = + i
4 4 2 2
π π
z3 = cos + i sin = 0 + i
2 2
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 12 / 35
The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions

Sol (cont.):
√ √
3π 3π 2 2
z4 = cos + i sin =− + i
4 4 2 2
z5 = cos π + i sin π = −1 + 0i
√ √
5π 5π 2 2
z6 = cos + i sin =− − i
4 4 2 2
3π 3π
z7 = cos + i sin =0−i
2 2 √ √
7π 7π 2 2
z8 = cos + i sin = − i
4 4 2 2

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 13 / 35

The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions
Figure shows the eight points. They are spaced π/4 radians apart.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 14 / 35

Example
√
Find the two values ck (k = 0, 1) of ( 3 + i)1/2 .

Example
Find the nth roots of the complex number for the specified value of n.
i. 1 + i, n = 4 ii. −2 + 2i, n = 4 iii. −2i, n = 6

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 15 / 35

Example
1 Solve the quadratic equation az 2 + bz + c = 0, a ̸= 0.
2 Solve the equation z 2 + (2i − 3)z + 5 − i = 0.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 16 / 35

The Complex Valued Functions

♠ Complex-Valued Functions
♢ A complex function is a function from complex numbers to complex
numbers.
Definition
A complex function is a map f : C → C,

z = x + iy 7→ w = u(x, y ) + iv (x, y ),

where u(x, y ) and v (x, y ) are continuous functions of x and y .

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 17 / 35

The Complex Functions
♢ Real-valued functions of real variable can be visualized by graphing
them in the plane R2 .
♢ However, the graph of a complex-valued function f of a complex
variable z requires four (real) dimensions.
♢ Therefore, we want to develop some techniques for visualizing and
understanding functions of a complex variable. The following approaches
can be used:
♣ Graph the modulus of the function |f (z)| as a surface in
three-dimensional space R3 .
♣ Graph separately the real and imaginary parts of f (z) in R3 .
♢ We create two planes, one for the domain space and other one for
the range space, namely, z-plane and w − plane, respectively.
♣ Let f (z) be a mapping from the z-plane to the w -plane.
♣ We now analyze how various geometric configurations in the
z-plane are mapped by w = f (z) to the w-plane.
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 18 / 35
The Complex Functions

♣ Let f (z) be a mapping from the z-plane to the w -plane.

♣ We now analyze how various geometric configurations in the

z-plane are mapped by w = f (z) to the w-plane.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 19 / 35

The Square Functions

♠ Let us consider the square function w = z 2 .

♢ Using polar coordinates, we have w = z 2 = r 2 e 2iθ . This yields

|w | = |z|2 ,
argw = 2 argz.

♢ Using above expressions, we have the following properties:

♣ The circle |z| = r0 in the z-plane is mapped to the circle |w | = r02
in the w -plane.
♣ The angular velocity of the image is double the angular velocity of
the z. That is, as z makes one complete loop, the image w makes two
complete loops around the image circle.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 20 / 35

The Square Functions
♣ A ray {argz = θ0 } issuing from the origin in the z-plane is mapped
to a ray in the w -plane of twice the angle.

Example
Find the image of the region 1/2 ≤ x ≤ 1 under the transformation
w = z 2.
Sol:
Example
Sketch the following curves and its image under w = z 2 .
i. |z − 1| = 1 ii. y = 1
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 21 / 35
The Square Function
Sol: i.

ii.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 22 / 35

The Square Function

Example
Sketch the following curves and its image under w = z 2 .
i. x = 1 ii. y = x + 1

Sol: LTS

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 23 / 35

The Inverse Function of x 2

♡ Finding an Inverse Function for w = z 2

♠ Every point w ̸= 0 is given by exactly two values of z, the square
√
roots ± w .
♠ To define an inverse function, we must restrict the domain in the
z-plane so that values w are hit by only one z.
♠ As rays sweep out the open right half of the z-plane, with the angle
of the ray increasing from − π2 to π2 , the image rays under w = z 2 sweep
out the entire w -plane except for the negative axis, with the angle of the
ray increasing from −π to π.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 24 / 35

The Inverse Function

♠ This gives us a slit, or branch cut, in the w -plane along the negative
axis from −∞ to 0.
♢ Define the inverse function on the slit plane C\(−∞, 0].
♣ Every value w in the slit plane is the image of exactly two
z-values, one in the (open) right half-plane {Re(z) > 0}, the other in the
left-half {Re(z) < 0}.
♣ There are two possibilities for defining a (continuous) inverse
functions on the slit plane.
♣ Each determination of the inverse function is referred as a branch
of the inverse.
♣ f1 (w ) be one branch of the inverse function, and f1 (w ) is the value
z such that Re(z) > 0 and z 2 = w .
♣ f1 (w ) maps the slit plane C\(−∞, 0] onto the right half-plane
{Re(z) > 0}, and it forms an inverse for z 2 on that half-plane.
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 25 / 35
The Inverse Function of x 2
♣ Explicitly
√
f1 (w ) = ρe iψ/2 , w = ρe iψ , −π < ψ < π.
√
♣ The function f1 (w ) is called the principal branch of w.

♣ The branch cut (−∞, 0] in the w -plane can be regarded as having

two edges, and the function f1 (w ) extends continuously to each edge.
♣ The top edge, labeled ” + ” in the figure, is mapped to the
positive imaginary axis by f1 (w ), and the bottom edge, labeled ” − ”, is
mapped to the negative imaginary axis by f1 (w ).
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 26 / 35
Example
Prove the image of the circle |z = 2| is an ellipse under the transformation
1
w =z+ .
z
Sol:

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 27 / 35

The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions

The value of log z are precisely the complex numbers w such that e w = z.
Let w = log |z| + iArg(z) + 2πim, then

e w = e log |z| e iArg(z) e 2πim

= |z|e iArg(z) = z.

On the other hand, assume that w = u + iv is an arbitrary complex

number such that e w = z. Then the polar representation of z is z = re iv ,
where r = |z| = e u . Thus u = log |z|, and v is a value of arg(z) so that
v = Arg(z) + 2πm for some integer m.
We define the principal value of log z ̸= 0 be

Logz = log |z| + iArg(z), z ̸= 0.

Once we know the principal value of log z, we obtain all values by
log z = Logz + 2πim, m = 0, ±1, ±2, . . .

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 28 / 35

The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions
Example
Find the values of log(1 + i)

Sol: We may write

log(1 + i) = log |z| + iarg(1 + i)
√ π
= log 2 + i + 2πim, m = 0, ±1, ±2, . . .
4
The principal value is
√ π
Log(1 + i) = log 2 + i .
4

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 29 / 35

The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions
Now we regard w = log z as a map from the slit z-plane C\(−∞, 0]
to the w -plane. As the exponential function maps horizontal lines to
rays issuing from the origin, its inverse, the logarithm function, maps
rays issuing from the origin to horizontal lines. In fact, the ray
{Arg(z) = θ0 } is mapped onto the horizontal line {Im = θ0 }. As z
traverses the ray from θ to ∞, the image w traverses the entire
horizontal line from left to right.
As θ0 increases between −π and π, the rays sweep out the slit plane
C\(−∞, 0], and the image lines fill out a horizontal strip
{−π < Imw < π} in the w -plane.
Similarly, the image of a punctured circle {|z| = r , −π < arg(z) < π}
is the vertical interval {Rew = log |z|, −π < Im(z) < π}, where the
vertical line {Rew = log |z|}, meets the horizontal strip.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 30 / 35

The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions

Example
Find and plot log z for the following complex numbers z. Specify the
principal value.
i.2 ii.1 + i

Sol:

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 31 / 35

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 32 / 35
The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions
If we solve the equations
e iθ = cos θ + i sin θ,
e −iθ = cos θ − i sin θ
for cos θ and sin θ, we obtain
e iθ + e −iθ
cos θ = ,
2
e iθ − e −iθ
sin θ = .
2i
This motivates us to extend the definition of cos z and sin z to complex
numbers z by

e iz + e −iz
cos z = , z ∈C
2
e iz − e −iz
sin θ = , z ∈ C.
2i
Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 33 / 35
The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions

This definition agrees with the usual definition when z is real. Evidently,
cos z is an even function,

cos(−z) = cos z, z ∈ C,

while sin z is an odd function,

sin(−z) = − sin z, z ∈ C.

As function of a complex variable, cos z and sin z are periodic, with period
2π,

cos(z + 2π) = cos z, z ∈ C,

sin(z + 2π) = sin z, z ∈ C.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 34 / 35

The Complex Plane and Elementary Functions

The hyperbolic functions cosh x = (e x + e −x )/2 and sinh x = (e x − e −x )/2

are also extended to the complex plane in the obvious way, by

e z + e −z
cosh z = , z ∈ C,
2
e z − e −z
sinh z = , z ∈ C.
2
Both cosh z and sinh z are periodic, with period 2πi,

cosh(z + 2πi) = cosh z, z ∈ C,

sin(z + 2πi) = sinh z, z ∈ C.

Dr.(Mrs.) Mihiri De Silva (KLN) Chapter 01 - II March 25, 2025 35 / 35