Complex

Functions
 Complex Functions and
Mappings
2
Book: A First Course in Complex Analysis with Applications by Dennis G. Zill and
Patrick D. Shanahan.
Multiple-Valued Functions
 • We saw that a nonzero complex number has distinct th roots in the complex plane.
• This means that the process of “taking the th root” of a complex number does not
define a complex function because it assigns a set of complex numbers to the
complex number .
• Similarly, the represent the set consisting of the th roots of .
• A similar type of process is that of finding the argument of a complex number .
Because the symbol represents an infinite set of values, it also does not represent a
complex function.
• These types of operations on complex numbers are examples of multiple-valued
functions.
• This term often leads to confusion since a multiple-valued function is not a function; a
function, by definition, must be single-valued. However, the term multiple-valued
function is a standard one in complex analysis and so we shall use it from this point
on.
Notation: Multiple-Valued Functions
 • We will adopt the following functional notation for multiple-valued functions.

• When representing multiple-valued functions with functional notation, we will use

uppercase letters such as or . Lowercase letters such as and will be reserved to
represent functions.

• This notation will help avoid confusion associated to the symbols like . For example,
we should assume that refers to the principal cube root function whereas, represents
the multiple-valued function that assigns the three cube roots of to the value of .
2.6 Branches
 •
A multiple-valued function assigns a set of complex numbers to the input .
Examples of multiple-valued functions include , which assigns to the input the
set of th roots of , and , which assigns to the input the infinite set of
arguments of .

• In practice, it is often the case that we need a consistent way of choosing just
one of the roots of a complex number or, maybe, just one of the arguments of a
complex number. That is, we are usually interested in computing just one of the
values of a multiple-valued function.

• If we make this choice of value with the concept of continuity in mind, then we
obtain a function that is called a branch of a multiple-valued function.
 

 In
𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬
practice, we are usually interested in computing just one of the values of a multiple-
valued function. If we make this choice of value with the concept of continuity in mind,
then we obtain a function that is called a branch of a multiple-valued function. In more
rigorous terms:
“A branch of a multiple-valued function is a function that is continuous
on some domain and that assigns exactly one of the multiple values of to
each point in that domain.”
In some books the notion of branch is defined as:
“A branch of a multiple-valued function is any single-valued function that
is analytic in some domain at each point of which the value is one of the
values of .

Notation: When representing branches of a multiple-valued function , we will use

lowercase letters with a numerical subscript such as and so on.
 
Branches
 The requirement that a branch be continuous means that the domain of a branch is
different from the domain of the multiple-valued function.
The multiple-valued function that assigns to each input the set of two square roots of is
defined for all nonzero complex numbers . Even though the principal square root function
does assign exactly one value of to each input (namely, it assigns to the principal square
root of ), is not a branch of . The reason for this is that the principal square root function is
not continuous on its domain. is discontinuous at every point on the negative real axis.
Therefore, in order to obtain a branch of that agrees with the principal square root
function, we must restrict the domain to exclude points on the negative real axis. This gives
the function:

The domain of the function is the set defined by

We call the function the principal branch of .
 
,
 • The choice of branch for any multiple-valued function is not unique. We can make the
multiple-valued function a single-valued in other regions of the complex plane by
choosing a different branch for the given function.

• A branch cut for a branch of a multiple-valued function is a portion of a curve that is

excluded from the domain of so that is continuous on the remaining points.

• Any point that is common to all branch cuts of is called a branch point.
 
𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 :
 Although the multiple-valued function is defined for all nonzero complex numbers , the
principal branch

is defined only on the domain . The non-positive real axis together with the point , is a branch
cut for the principal branch . A different branch of F with the same branch cut is given by:

These branches are distinct because for, say, we have but .

 Notice that if we set then the branch can be expressed as:

Thus, we have shown that . We can think of these two branches of

as being analogous to the positive and negative square roots of a
positive real number.
 Other branches of can be defined in a similar manner by using any ray emanating from
the origin as a branch cut. In general

defines a branch of . The branch cut for is the ray which includes the origin.
For example,

defines a branch of . The branch cut for is the ray together with the point .

For the present case is the branch point of since it is on the branch cut of every branch.
 Elementary Functions
4
Book: A First Course in Complex Analysis with Applications by Dennis G. Zill and
Patrick D. Shanahan.
Elementary Complex Analytic Functions
• Complex Exponential and Logarithmic Functions

• Complex Powers

• Trigonometric and Hyperbolic Functions

Complex Exponential Function
 • The function defined by:

is called the complex exponential function.

• The exponential function is analytic everywhere and its derivative is given by:

Examples: Find the derivative of each of the following functions:

(a)
(b)
Modulus, Argument, and Conjugate
 Themodulus, argument, and conjugate of the exponential function are easily determined
from If we express the complex number in polar form:

then we see that and for Because is the modulus and is an argument of , we have:

and
We know from calculus that for all real , and so it follows that This implies that for all
complex . Moreover, for all complex , we have:
 
Algebraic Properties of
 
Periodicity of
 The most striking difference between the real and complex exponential functions is the
periodicity of The complex exponential function is periodic with a pure imaginary period
i.e., for the function we have:

for all . Since holds for all values of we also have . This fact combined with implies that .
Now by repeating this process we find that for Thus, and so on, are also periods of .
Furthermore, if the complex exponential function maps the point onto the point , then it
also maps the points and so on, onto the point . Thus, the complex exponential function is
not one-to-one, and all values are assumed in any infinite horizontal strip of width in the
plane. That is, all values of the function are assumed in the set where is a real constant. If
the point is
in the infinite horizontal strip , then the values:

and so on are the same.

 
fundamental region of
 The infinite horizontal strip defined by:

is called the fundamental region of the complex exponential function. All values of the
complex exponential function are assumed in the fundamental region.
The basic property satisfied by a fundamental region of a
periodic function is that if one knows the behaviour of the
function on the fundamental region, one can use the
periodicity to find out the behaviour of the function
everywhere, and that it is the smallest region with that
property.
The Exponential Mapping Properties
The Exponential Mapping
The Exponential Mapping
Example: Exponential Mapping of a Grid
  Find the image of the grid shown in figure under .
 Solution: The grid in figure consists of the vertical line segments and and the horizontal line
segments Using the property of the exponential mapping, we have that the image of the
vertical line segment is the circular arc: .
In a similar manner, the segments and map onto the arcs and , , respectively.

 By property of the exponential mapping, the horizontal line

segment maps onto the portion of the ray emanating from the
origin defined by . This image is the line segment from to on the
axis. The remaining horizontal segments and map in the same way
onto the segments defined by: , , , and arg(w)=2, , respectively.
Example: Exponential Mapping of a Grid
 Therefore, the vertical line segments shown in color in figure map onto the circular arcs
shown in black in figure with the line segment mapping onto the arc with radius . In
addition, the horizontal line segments shown in color in the figure map onto the black line
segments in figure with the line segment mapping onto the line segment making an angle
of radians with the positive axis.
 Practice Questions
• Exercise 4.1:
Q-1 to Q-20
Complex Logarithmic Function
 In real analysis, the natural logarithm function is often defined as an inverse function of
the real exponential function . Because the real exponential function is one-to-one on its
domain , there is no ambiguity involved in defining this inverse function. The situation is
very different in complex analysis because the complex exponential function is not a one-
to-one function on its domain . In fact, given a fixed nonzero complex number , the
equation has infinitely many solutions. To see why the equation has infinitely many
solutions, in general, suppose that is a solution of . Then we must have and . From and ,
it follows that and Therefore, given a nonzero complex number we have shown that:
If , then
Because there are infinitely many arguments of , gives infinitely many solutions to the
equation . The set of values given by defines a multiple-valued function which is called
the complex logarithm of and denoted by
Complex Logarithmic Function
 Thus, the multiple-valued function defined by:

is called the complex logarithm.

Note: Hereafter, we will use the notation to represent the real logarithm and the notation
will always be used to denote the multiple-valued complex logarithm. By switching to
exponential notation in , we obtain the following alternative description of the complex
logarithm:

From we see that the complex logarithm can be used to find all solutions to the
exponential equation when is a nonzero complex number.
Example: Find all complex solutions to each of the following equations:
(a)
(b)
(c)
 
Algebraic Properties of
Principal Value of a Complex Logarithm
 It
is interesting to note that the complex logarithm of a positive real number has infinitely many
values. For example, the complex logarithm is the set of values where is any integer, whereas
the real logarithm has a single value: . The unique value of corresponding to is the same as the
value of the real logarithm . In general, this value of the complex logarithm is called the principal
value of the complex logarithm . It is denoted by the symbol and is defined as:

The principal value of the complex logarithm can also be given by:

Example: Compute the principal value of the complex logarithm Ln z for

(a) (b) (c)
Note: The expression defines a function, whereas, defines a multiple-valued function.
Moreover, the algebraic properties of are not necessarily satisfied by For example, it is not
true that for all complex numbers and (although it may be true for some complex
numbers).
Branches of
 

 Theprincipal value of the complex logarithm is discontinuous at the point and at every
point on the negative real axis. However, it is continuous on the set consisting of the complex
plane excluding the nonpositive real axis. The function defined by:

is continuous on the domain where and . Since the function agrees with the principal value
of the complex logarithm , it follows that is the principal branch of the multiple-valued
function . The nonpositive real axis is a branch cut for and the point is a branch point.
The principal branch is just one of many possible branches of the multiple-valued function .
We can define other branches of by simply changing the interval defining to a different
interval of length . For example, defines a branch of whose branch cut is the nonpositive
imaginary axis. In general

represents any branch of the multiple-valued function and the branch cut is the ray which
includes the origin.
Analyticity of the Logarithm
 Any branch of is analytic on its domain, and its derivative is given by:

Since is the principal branch for each point in the domain and
, it follows that is differentiable in this domain, and

as an Inverse Function of
 

 If
the complex exponential function is defined on the fundamental region then is one-to-
one and the inverse function of is the principal value of the complex logarithm
Logarithmic Mapping
 The complex logarithmic mapping can be understood in terms of the exponential mapping since
these functions are inverses of each other. For example, because maps the fundamental region
in the plane onto the set in the plane, it follows that inverse mapping maps the set in the plane
onto the region in the plane. Other properties of the exponential mapping can be similarly
restated as properties of the logarithmic mapping. The following summarizes some of these
properties.
Example: Logarithmic Mapping
 Find the image of the annulus under the logarithmic mapping .
 Solution: From property of logarithmic mapping, the boundary circles and of the annulus map
onto the vertical line segments and , , respectively. In a similar manner, each circle maps on to a
vertical line segment . Since the real logarithmic function is increasing on its domain, it follows
that takes on all values in the interval when . Therefore, the image of the annulus is the
rectangular region:
 Practice Questions
• Exercise 4.1:
Q-21 to Q-49, Q-51 to Q- 56
Complex Powers
 Complex powers, such as defined in terms of the complex exponential and logarithmic
functions. If is a complex number and , then the complex power is
defined to be:

In general, gives an infinite set of values because the complex logarithm is a

multiple-valued function. Thus, defines a multiple-valued function. However, when is an
integer, the expression in is single-valued in agreement with fact that (special power
functions) is a function when is an integer.

Example: Find the values of the given complex power:

(a) (b) .
Principal Value of a Complex Power
 If is a complex number and , then the function defined by:

is called the principal value of the complex power .

Example: Find the principal value of each complex power:

(a) (b) .
Complex Trigonometric Functions
 The complex sine and cosine functions are defined as:
and .
The complex sine and cosine functions agree with the real sine and cosine functions for real
input. Analogous to real trigonometric functions, we can define the complex tangent,
cotangent, secant, and cosecant functions using the complex sine and cosine. These
functions also agree with their real counterparts for real input.

Periodicity
 The complex sine and cosine are periodic functions with a real period of i.e.,
and
The identities and can be used to show that the complex tangent and cotangent are
periodic with a real period of .
Complex Hyperbolic Functions
 The complex hyperbolic sine and hyperbolic cosine functions are defined by:
and .
The complex hyperbolic functions agree with the real hyperbolic functions for real input.
However, unlike the real hyperbolic functions the complex hyperbolic functions are periodic
and have infinitely many zeros. The complex hyperbolic tangent, cotangent, secant, and
cosecant can be defined in terms of and

Periodicity
 Asfunctions of a real variable , and are not periodic. In contrast, the complex hyperbolic
functions and are periodic. and are periodic with fundamental period and is periodic with
period
Relation between trigonometric and hyperbolic functions
 Thehyperbolic functions are closely related to the trigonometric functions. Relationship
between the complex trigonometric and hyperbolic functions is given as:
and
and
Relations between the other trigonometric and hyperbolic functions can now be derived
from and .

Trigonometric Equations
 We now turn our attention to solve simple trigonometric equations. Since, the complex
sine and cosine functions are periodic, there are always infinitely many solutions to
equations of the form or
Example: Determine all complex values satisfying the given equation:
(a) (b) (c)
Modulus of trigonometric & Hyperbolic functions
 The modulus of a complex trigonometric function can also be helpful in solving
trigonometric equations. To find a formula in terms of and for the modulus of the sine
and cosine functions, we first express these functions in terms of their real and imaginary
parts. If we replace the symbol with the symbol in the expression for and , then we
obtain:

and
Thus, the modulus of the complex sine and cosine functions are respectively given as:

and

Note: one can easily derive similar expressions for hyperbolic functions as well.
Zeros of trigonometric functions
 •A zero of a function satisfies
• We are now interested in finding zeros of trigonometric functions. One way of
obtaining these zeros is to solve the trigonometric equations and By solving these
equations, we have already seen that like their real counterparts, the zeros of are and
the zeros of are where is any integer.
• A different method for determining the zeros of these functions involves recognizing
that a complex number is equal to if and only if its modulus is . Thus, solving the
equation is equivalent to solving the equation . Thus, by using the formulas derived
for the modulus of the complex sine and cosine functions one can easily obtain the
zeros of the required functions.
• Thus, the zeros of complex sine and cosine functions are:

and
Zeros of hyperbolic functions
 •It is well known that for any real only when i.e., real hyperbolic sine function has
only one zero. While the real hyperbolic cosine function has no zeros.
• In contrast to this complex hyperbolic sine and hyperbolic cosine functions have
infinitely many zeros.
• To find the zeros of we observe that

Hence, and must satisfy and thus giving and

for . . On the similar lines one can obtain zeros of
• Thus, the zeros of complex hyperbolic sine and hyperbolic cosine are:

and
for
Analyticity of trigonometric functions
 The complex sine and cosine functions are entire functions, since they are linear combinations
of the entire functions and However, and are not entire; they are analytic except at the points
where is zero. Similarly, and are analytic except where is zero. Since,

and
for . Thus, from and it follows that the and have singularities at for whereas the and have
singularities at for
Analyticity of hyperbolic functions
 The complex hyperbolic sine and hyperbolic cosine functions are entire functions, since they
are linear combinations of the entire functions and However, and are analytic except at the
points where is zero. Similarly, and are analytic except where is zero. Since,

and
for . Thus, from and it follows that the and have singularities at for whereas the and have
singularities at for
Identities
 • Most of the familiar identities for real trigonometric functions hold for the complex
trigonometric functions.

• However, it is important to recognize that some properties of the real trigonometric

functions are not satisfied by their complex counterparts. For example, and for all real ,
but these inequalities, in general, are not satisfied for complex input. Thus, we
conclude that unlike the real sine and cosine functions, the complex sine and cosine
functions are no longer bounded.