(EMS Textbooks in Mathematics) Joaquim Bruna, Julia Cufi - Complex Analysis-European Mathematical Society (2013) PDF

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Joaquim Bruna
Julià Cufí
Complex Analysis
Translated from the Catalan
by Ignacio Monreal
Authors:
Joaquim Bruna and Julià Cufí

Department of Mathematics
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Campus de Bellaterra
08193 Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona
Catalonia, Spain
E-mail: b
runa@mat.uab.cat
jcufi@mat.uab.cat
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 30-01, 31-01
Key words: Power series, holomorphic function, line integral, differential form, analytic function,
zeros and poles, residues, simply connected domain, harmonic function, Dirichlet problem, Poisson
equation, conformal mapping, homographic transformation, meromorphic function, infinite product,
entire function, interpolation, band-limited function
ISBN 978-3-03719-111-8
The Swiss National Library lists this publication in The Swiss Book, the Swiss national bibliography,
and the detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://www.helveticat.ch.
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permission of the copyright owner must be obtained.
© European Mathematical Society 2013
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Preface
Our original purpose in writing this book was to provide a brief manual, perhaps
more aptly called a guide book, that would cover the contents of a basic one-semester
course in complex analysis as described in most university curricula. The result,
however, has been a more extended text that does not fit into a semester course but is
rather appropriate for a variety of advanced courses. It also contains some material
that is not usually found in the textbook literature of complex variables. For this
reason we hope it will prove to be a good complement to many of the references
that are commonly used by both students and teachers.
We wrote this book because we wanted to provide something new, not only in
presentation but also in content, when compared with the long and still growing list
of complex variable textbooks, many of which have become classics. The starting
point was to frame complex analysis within the general framework of mathematical
analysis. Although it is possible to present – as many texts do – the complex variable
as an isolated branch of study in analysis, we have chosen a different option, namely
to seek a maximum number of points of contact with other parts of analysis. This
has resulted in the inclusion of some sections that are not common in other texts
and a new formulation of some classical results. We highlight a few of them below.
In Chapter 3 we give a real version of the theorems of Cauchy and Cauchy–
Goursat. The result is a version of Green’s formula with very weak regularity
assumptions, which serves also for classical theorems of vector calculus. In the
same chapter, the presentation of Cauchy’s theorem in the context of vector analysis
allows us to formulate an approach to the concept of a holomorphic function from a
real variable viewpoint, in terms of fields that are simultaneously conservative and
solenoidal. The concept of a harmonic function then naturally appears.
Chapter 6 provides a homological version of Green’s formula that can be inter-
preted as a Green’s formula with multiplicities. With the help of this formula and a
standard process of regularization, a question by Ahlfors is answered affirmatively,
about the possibility of modifying the proof of Cauchy’s theorem to cover also the
case of any locally exact differential form.
Chapter 7 systematically studies harmonic functions and the Laplace operator in
the context of real variables in Rn , with emphasis on the special case of dimension
2 and the relation with holomorphic functions. The study includes in detail the
properties of the Riesz potential of a measure and its importance in solving Poisson’s
equation and the Dirichlet and Neumann non-homogeneous problems.
Chapter 9 examines the relationship between Green’s function and conformal
mapping, which allows one to prove Riemann’s theorem using the solution of the
Dirichlet problem; we also present Koebe’s proof based on the properties of normal
vi Preface
families. The existence of solutions to the Dirichlet problem is proved by Perron’s

method, which is generalizable to any dimension.
In an analogous way to the Poisson equation, which is the inhomogeneous
case of the Laplace equation, Chapter 10 deals with the inhomogeneous Cauchy–
Riemann equations. The solution in the general case is obtained using the Runge
approximation theorem and is applied to study the Dirichlet problem for the @N
operator.
Chapter 11 is devoted to the study of zero sets of holomorphic functions, and
clearly shows the relationship between this topic and the Poisson equation. This
allows us to analyze the distribution of zeros of a holomorphic function in terms of
their growth.
Finally, the link between real and complex variables also appears in Chapter 12
with the complex Fourier transform or Laplace transform. We provide a proof of
the Shannon–Whittaker theorem, well known in information theory, using methods
in Chapter 10 on the decomposition of meromorphic functions in simple elements.
To read this text, it is sufficient to have a good knowledge of the topology
of the plane and the differential calculus for functions of several real variables.
From there, the book is self-contained and gives rigorous proofs of all statements,
including a few issues that tend in many books to be treated somewhat superficially.
In this regard we emphasize the study, in Chapter 1, of plane domains with regular
boundary, including a treatment of the orientation of the border. This study allows
us to formulate a precise version of the classic theorems of complex analysis for
domains with regular boundary, which are the most used in applications. However,
in Chapter 6, we also give the homological version of the fundamental theorems
along the line initiated by Ahlfors, which is more general and relates to topological
properties of the domain.
The length and structure of the text allows the reader to pursue a variety of paths
through it, and to follow a route at different levels. For example, one can follow a
basic course in complex variables with Chapters 1 and 2, Chapter 3, Sections 3.1
to 3.5 and Chapters 4, 5 and 8, without the later Sections 8.8 and 8.9. Another
possibility is to use, totally or partially, the contents of Chapters 9, 10, 11 and 12
for an expanding course in complex variables.
Given the initial goal of providing maximum interconnection with other parts
of analysis, we have put great emphasis on the role of harmonic functions. We have
devoted Chapter 7 to them, which is the longest chapter of the book and can be
used as an introduction to potential theory. This chapter can be read independently
knowing only the content of Chapter 3; on the other hand, Sections 7.7 to 7.12
may require a level of maturity in mathematics a little higher than the preceding
chapters.
In general we have devoted much attention to the details of the proofs. However,
in some sections of Chapters 7, 10, 11 and 12 the level of precision is lower than
for most of the chapters and this can make reading them a little harder.
Preface vii
Each chapter is divided into sections, each section into subsections. All state-
ments (theorems, propositions, lemmas and corollaries), and also examples, are
numbered consecutively within each chapter, only observations are numbered sep-
arately. The last section of each chapter contains statements of exercises.
Needless to say, in preparing this book we benefited from the work and experi-
ence of previous authors. We express our debt to Ahlfors [1], Burckel [3], Gamelin
[7], and Saks–Zygmund [11]. We are grateful to Juan Jesús Donaire for his reading
of the original, to Lluís Bruna and Miquel Dalmau who read various parts and to
Mark Melnikov who provided us with some exercises. They all have made valuable
suggestions. We also thank Ignacio Monreal for the translation into English of the
Catalan original text.
Finally, the book would not exist without the excellent typographical work of
Raquel Hernández, Maria Julià and Rosa Rodríguez. Our thanks to all of them.
Contents
Preface v
1 Arithmetic and topology in the complex plane 1

1.1 Arithmetic of complex numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Analytic geometry with complex terminology . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.3 Topological notions. The compactified plane . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4 Curves, paths, length elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.5 Branches of the argument. Index of a closed curve with respect
to a point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.6 Domains with regular boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.7 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2 Functions of a complex variable 39

2.1 Real variable polynomials, complex variable polynomials,
rational functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.2 Complex exponential functions, logarithms and powers.
Trigonometric functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3 Power series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.4 Differentiation of functions of a complex variable . . . . . . . . . 59
2.5 Analytic functions of a complex variable . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.6 Real analytic functions and their complex extension . . . . . . . 76
2.7 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3 Holomorphic functions and differential forms 85

3.1 Complex line integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
3.2 Line integrals, vector fields and differential 1-forms . . . . . . . 88
3.3 The fundamental theorem of complex calculus . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.4 Green’s formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.5 Cauchy’s Theorem and applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.6 Classical theorems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.7 Holomorphic functions as vector fields and harmonic functions . 124
3.8 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4 Local properties of holomorphic functions 136

4.1 Cauchy integral formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
4.2 Analytic functions and holomorphic functions . . . . . . . . . . . 140
4.3 Analyticity of harmonic functions. Fourier series . . . . . . . . . 145
x Contents
4.4 Zeros of analytic functions. Principle of analytic continuation . . 148

4.5 Local behavior of a holomorphic function. The open mapping
theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
4.6 Maximum principle. Cauchy’s inequalities. Liouville’s theorem . 156
4.7 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
5 Isolated singularities of holomorphic functions 164

5.1 Isolated singular points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
5.2 Laurent series expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
5.3 Residue of a function at an isolated singularity . . . . . . . . . . 174
5.4 Harmonic functions on an annulus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
5.5 Holomorphic functions and singular functions at infinity . . . . . 180
5.6 The argument principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
5.7 Dependence of the set of solutions of an equation with respect
to parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
5.8 Calculus of real integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
5.9 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
6 Homology and holomorphic functions 207

6.1 Homology of chains and simply connected domains . . . . . . . 207
6.2 Homological versions of Green’s formula and Cauchy’s theorem . 211
6.3 The residue theorem and the argument principle in a homological
version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
6.4 Cauchy’s theorem for locally exact differential forms . . . . . . . 220
6.5 Characterizations of simply connected domains . . . . . . . . . . 223
6.6 The first homology group of a domain and de Rham’s theorem.
Homotopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
6.7 Harmonic functions on n-connected domains . . . . . . . . . . . 229
6.8 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
7 Harmonic functions 236

7.1 Problems of classical physics and harmonic functions . . . . . . 236
7.2 Harmonic functions on domains of Rn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
7.3 Newtonian and logarithmic potentials. Riesz’ decomposition
formulae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
7.4 Maximum principle. Dirichlet and Neumann homogeneous
problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
7.5 Green’s function. The Poisson kernel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
7.6 Plane domains: specific methods of complex variables. Dirichlet
and Neumann problems in the unit disc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
7.7 The Poisson equation in Rn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Contents xi
7.8 The Poisson equation and the non-homogeneous Dirichlet

and Neumann problems in a domain of Rn . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
7.9 The solution of the Dirichlet and Neumann problems in the ball . 302
7.10 Decomposition of vector fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
7.11 Dirichlet’s problem and conformal transformations . . . . . . . . 314
7.12 Dirichlet’s principle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
7.13 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
8 Conformal mapping 326

8.1 Conformal transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
8.2 Conformal mappings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
8.3 Homographic transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
8.4 Automorphisms of simply connected domains . . . . . . . . . . . 343
8.5 Dirichlet’s problem and Neumann’s problem in the half plane . . 347
8.6 Level curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
8.7 Elementary conformal transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
8.8 Conformal mappings of polygons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
8.9 Conformal mapping of doubly connected domains . . . . . . . . 368
8.10 Applications of conformal mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
8.11 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
9 The Riemann mapping theorem and Dirichlet’s problem 383

9.1 Sequences of holomorphic or harmonic functions . . . . . . . . . 383
9.2 Riemann’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
9.3 Green’s function and conformal mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
9.4 Solution of Dirichlet’s problem in an arbitrary domain . . . . . . 403
9.5 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
10 Runge’s theorem and the Cauchy–Riemann equations 415

10.1 Runge’s approximation theorems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
10.2 Approximation of harmonic functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
10.3 Decomposition of meromorphic functions into simple elements . 425
10.4 The non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equations in the plane.
The Cauchy integral . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
10.5 The non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equations in an open set.
Weighted kernels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
10.6 The Dirichlet problem for the @N operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
10.7 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455
xii Contents
11 Zeros of holomorphic functions 460

11.1 Infinite products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
11.2 The Weierstrass factorization theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 466
11.3 Interpolation by entire functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
11.4 Zeros of holomorphic functions and the Poisson equation . . . . 477
11.5 Jensen’s formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
11.6 Growth of a holomorphic function and distribution of the zeros . 484
11.7 Entire functions of finite order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
11.8 Ideals of the algebra of holomorphic functions . . . . . . . . . . 494
11.9 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
12 The complex Fourier transform 504

12.1 The complex extension of the Fourier transform.
First Paley–Wiener theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504
12.2 The Poisson formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 509
12.3 Bandlimited functions. Second Paley–Wiener theorem . . . . . . 512
12.4 The Laplace transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
12.5 Applications of the Laplace transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
12.6 Dirichlet series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
12.7 The Z-transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
12.8 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 550
References 555
Symbols 557
Index 559
Chapter 1
Arithmetic and topology in the complex plane
In this chapter the features of the complex plane are studied, attending to its field
structure as well as its topological properties. Even though most of them are already
known by students of Complex Analysis, a review of the arithmetic of complex num-
bers and the topology of the complex plane is done, stressing the study of plane
domains and regular boundaries. The benefits of complex notation in considering
some questions on analytic geometry are also highlighted, such as orthogonal map-
pings, that will be considered later. Furthermore, the branches of the argument
and the notion of index of a plane curve are studied in detail. These questions,
even though essentially topological, have great implications for the behavior of
holomorphic functions.
1.1 Arithmetic of complex numbers

1.1.1 Arithmetic operations, modulus and argument
The field of complex numbers C is the result of joining to the field of real numbers
R an imaginary unit i such that i 2 D 1. Then the general expression of a complex
number is z D x C iy, with x; y 2 R; x is called the real part of z, x D Re z, and
y the imaginary part of z, y D Im z. Associating to z the point of the plane with
coordinates .x; y/, with respect to a fixed reference system, C is identified with R2
and one may speak of the Argand–Gauss complex plane. The first coordinate axis
is named the real axis and the second one the imaginary axis.
The number zN D x iy is called the conjugate of z; the mapping z ! zN is a
reflection with respect to the real axis. So one has the relations
1 1
Re z D .z C zN /; Im z D .z z/:
N
2 2i
The sum of the complex numbers z D a C i b, w D c C id , that is, z C w D
.a C c/ C i.b C d /, may be visualized with the parallelogram law of the sum
of vectors, identifying z with the vector that begins at the origin of the coordinate
system and ends in z, and similarly for w (Figure 1.1).
In order to visualize geometrically the product
zw D .ac bd / C i.ad C bc/
one needs first to talk about the polar representation of complex numbers, so the
modulus and the argument of a complex number are now introduced.
2 Chapter 1. Arithmetic and topology in the complex plane
z +w
Figure 1.1
pmodulus of zpD x C iy is the distance to the origin of the point .x; y/,
The
jzj D x 2 C y 2 D z z.
N The triangular inequality is easily checked:
jz C wj jzj C jwj;
ˇXn ˇ X n
ˇ ˇ
ˇ zi ˇ jzi j;
iD1 iD1
which implies
jjzj jwjj jz˙wj;
as well as the equalities
jzwj D jzjjwj;
jz1 z2 zn j D jz1 jjz2 j jzn j;
for z; w; z1 ; : : : ; zn 2 C.
With the sum and the product defined above, the complex plane C is a commu-
tative field in which the inverse of a number z ¤ 0 is z 1 D z1 D jzjzN 2 .
Recall that, by definition, 2 is the length of the circumference with radius 1
(consequently a circle of radius r has length 2 r). The geometric definition of the
trigonometric functions sine and cosine may be stated as follows: if one travels
counterclockwise along the circle centered at the origin and with radius 1 a distance
t 0 starting at the point 1, one ends up in a point denoted by 1 t ; by definition, the
real and the imaginary part of this point are, respectively, cos t and sin t ; for t < 0
one does the same, but clockwise (Figure 1.2).
Thus, 1 t D cos t C i sin t, and the definition of given above is equivalent
to define 2 as the first positive zero of the cosine function. The sine and cosine
functions are 2 periodic; moreover, the cosine is an odd function and the sine is
even. From previous definitions all the well-known properties of these functions
could be proved. In particular, these are functions infinitely differentiable with
1.1. Arithmetic of complex numbers 3
1t
t
sin t
cos t
Figure 1.2
respect to the real variable t such that .sin t /0 D cos t , .cos t /0 D sin t . The
addition formulae
cos.t C s/ D cos t cos s sin t sin s;
(1.1)
sin.t C s/ D sin t cos s C cos t sin s
may also be geometrically justified. Figure 1.3 is a proof of the second formula of
(1.1). The equality
1 t 1s D 1 tCs ;
which is a consequence of the previous formulae, tells that the mapping
t ! 1 t
is a homomorphism from the additive group of the real numbers onto the multi-
plicative group T of complex numbers of modulus 1, with kernel 2Z, where Z
represents the ring of integers. In particular de Moivre’s formula holds: .cos t C
i sin t/n D cos.nt /Ci sin.nt /. The classical double or triple angle formulae for the
sine and cosine may be deduced from this one. For example, if n D 2, considering
separately the real and the imaginary parts in both sides of de Moivre’s relation,
one has
cos 2t D cos2 t sin2 t I
sin 2t D 2 sin t cos t:
Doing the same for n D 3, it turns out that
cos 3t D cos3 t 3 cos t sin2 t I
sin 3t D sin3 t C 3 cos2 t sin t:
N
C
AC D MN D sin.t C s/;
t AC D AB C BC;
AB D OB sin t D cos s sin t;
s
B
BC D BN cos t D sin s cos t:
t
O M A
Figure 1.3
Example 1.1. From the previous formulae and using that sin 2 D 1, sin D 1,
etc. (which is a consequence of the definition of ) we obtain the well-known
trigonometric relations:
p
1 3 1
sin D cos D p I sin D D cos I cos D D sin :
4 4 2 3 2 6 3 2 6
Observe that if z is a complex number, z ¤ 0, then z=jzj 2 T , which implies
z=jzj D 1 with 2 R.
Definition 1.2. The argument of z 2 C, z ¤ 0, denoted by arg z, is any number
2 R such that jzj
z
D 1 .
Sometimes the notation arg z is used to refer to the set of all the arguments of z.
Note that if is an argument of z, then arg z D f C 2k; k 2 Zg. Formally, arg z
is then an equivalence class of R=2Z; informally, one says that arg z is determined
except for an integer multiple of 2. This notation and equation (1.1) lead to
1
arg zw D arg z C arg w; arg D arg zN D arg z:
z
By definition, the angle between z and w, where z; w ¤ 0, or the angle that goes
from z to w is arg w arg z D arg w zN D arg wz . These are oriented angles; so then,
the angle that goes from w to z, arg z arg w is the opposite to the one between z
and w.
Definition 1.3. Among all the arguments of z 2 C; z ¤ 0, the only one that belongs
to the interval .; is called the principal argument of z and is denoted by Arg z.
If z D x C iy with x > 0, then Arg z D arctan yx (recall that the inverse tangent
function, denoted by arctan, is the inverse of the function tan x D cossin x
x
and it is

continuous and bijective from R to 2 ; 2 ). In the other quadrants the principal
argument is not arctan yx . If z D iy, y > 0, then Arg z D 2 ; in the second
quadrant, z D x C iy with x < 0, y > 0, Arg z D arctan yx C ; if z D x < 0,
then Arg z D ; in the third quadrant, z D x C iy, x; y < 0, Arg z D arctan yx
and finally, when z D iy, y < 0, it is Arg z D 2 .
The expression z D jzj1 , in terms of the modulus and an argument, is called
the polar representation of z; one may also use the notation z D r , where r D jzj.
A notation based on the exponential function will be introduced later. Multiplica-
tion by z may be now visualized easily as a transformation in the complex plane:
multiplying by the positive number jzj is a dilation, and multiplying by 1 consists
of a rotation of an angle .
1.1.2 Powers and n-th roots

An important property of C is that it is an algebraically closed field. This means
that every polynomial P of degree n and with complex coefficients has exactly n
roots ˛1 ; ˛2 ; : : : ; ˛n , and P factorizes as
P .z/ D A.z ˛1 / .z ˛n /;
where A is a constant. This result is also called the Fundamental Theorem of

Algebra; a proof of this will be presented later on. In particular, every complex
number z ¤ 0 has n distinct n-th roots, that is, there are exactly n solutions of the
equation w n D z. Of course this can be proved directly using polar coordinates as
follows. Writing z D jzj1 and w D jwj1˛ , this equation is equivalent to
jwjn 1n˛ D jzj1 ;
which imposes jwjn D jzj and n˛ D C 2k, k integer. Now one checks
immediately that the solutions
wk D jzj1=n 1 C 2 k for k D 0; 1; 2; : : : ; n 1
n n
are all different and that any other solution is one of these. Any of the n-th roots of z
1
will be denoted by z n . Observe that the n-th roots of a complex number correspond
to points located in the vertices of a regular polygon with n sides.
Example 1.4. Calculating the cube roots of i, one finds
i D 1 2 ; wk D 1 C 2 k ; k D 0; 1; 2;
6 3
which correspond to the points of the Figure 1.4

w1 w0
p
w0 D 3=2 C i=2;
p
w1 D 3=2 C i=2;
w2 D i:
w2
Figure 1.4
The n-th roots of 1 are called the n-th roots of unity and they form a multiplicative
group of order n. The number w D 12=n is called the n-th primitive root, so that
all the n-th roots of unity are 1 D w 0 ; w; w 2 ; p : : : ; w n1 . If x is a positive real
number, its positive square root is denoted by x. Let us extend p this notation.
Considering the two square roots of z 2 C, z ¤ 0, the notation z will designate
the root either with positive real part or in the positive imaginary half-axis; in polar
representation, p
p
z D jzj1 Arg z :
2
p
The function
p z is called the principal branch of the square root. Similarly, the
notation n z is reserved for the determination of the n-th root that is in the sector
n < Arg w n .
Example 1.5. Consider a polynomial of degree 2, P .z/ D Az 2 C Bz C C , A ¤ 0.

B 2
The equation P .z/ D 0 may be written, completing squares, as z C 2A D
B2
4A2
C
A
. So the formula
p
B˙ B 2 4AC
zD
2A
holds for both solutions of P .z/ D 0, with A, B, C complex numbers.
Powers with integer exponent have an unambiguous definition,
z n D zz :::…
„ ƒ‚ z;
n times
z n D „
z 1 z 1ƒ‚: : : z 1
…:
n times
1
If the exponent q is rational and q D m n
, then z q is defined as z q D .z m /n . This
coincides with .z n /1=m and does not depend on the expression of q. If z D r1
is the polar representation of z and q D m n
is the reduced form of q, z q is the set
formed by the m distinct numbers
p n
m
jzj 1 n Ck 2 n ; k D 0; : : : ; m 1:
m m
Briefly, if is the reduced form of q and z ¤ 0, there are m distinct values of z q .

n
m
m
If w is one of these values, then w n represents a set of n numbers, one of which is
z; therefore, one has to be very careful with equations like
n m
.z m / n D z;
which is not correct, because the left-hand side denotes a set of n complex numbers,
while the term on the right-hand side is just one of these numbers. The definition
of z w for any complex numbers z and w will be given later on.
1.1.3 Field structure

The plane R2 is identified with C, so it has a field structure. However, it is well
known that it is not an ordered field, as R is.
Theorem 1.6. In the field C it is not possible to define a total order compatible
with the sum and the multiplication operations.
Proof. Let us suppose that there exists an order for the complex numbers such that
the following properties hold: 1. Given two distinct points z, w, either z < w or
w < z. 2. If z < w, then z C h < w C h for all h. 3. If z; w > 0, then zw > 0
(these three properties imply all the usual arithmetic rules). The number i is then
positive or negative; let us suppose i > 0. Hence 1 D i 2 > 0, and summing 1, we
obtain 0 > 1. On the other hand, since 1 > 0, we have that 1 D .1/.1/ > 0.
We conclude then that 0 > 1 and 1 > 0 at the same time, which is absurd. We may
also arrive at a contradiction starting from i < 0.
On the other hand, it is quite natural to inquire if Rn , for n > 2, could have a
field structure with C D R2 as a subfield. The answer is negative and the situation
is described in the following theorem:
Theorem 1.7. No space Rn with n > 2 has a commutative field structure which
extends the field structure of C. In the space R4 one may define a non-commutative
field structure, the field of quaternions, which is an extension of C. One may also
define in the space R8 a non-associative field structure, the field of octonions, also
an extension of C.
Proof. We will see that one cannot define any commutative field structure extension
of C in R3 , and then we will define the quaternions. Represent the vectors of R3 as
a C bi C cj (that is, the vector .1; 0; 0/ is identified with 1, i is the vector .0; 1; 0/
and j is the vector .0; 0; 1/), and suppose that there is a multiplication extending
the one in C. Observe that any multiplication with these features is completely
determined by stating the value of ij . Indeed, applying the associativity of the
product, it turns out that
j D .i 2 /j D i.ij /; j 2 D .ij /2 :
Hence, setting ij D a C bi C cj with a; b; c 2 R, we obtain
j D ai b C c.ij / D ai b C c.a C bi C cj /:
Now, equating coefficients, one may gather that c 2 D 1, contradicting that c 2 R.
The idea leading to the quaternions is that, even though it is not possible to define
ij as an element of R3 , it could be possible if one had more space, for example,
in R4 . This is feasible if one gives up the requirement for the new product to be
commutative. Setting k for the vector .0; 0; 0; 1/ and
ij D j i D k; ki D i k D j; j k D kj D i;
i D j D k D 1;
2 2 2
one may check that R4 has (non-commutative) field structure.
1.2 Analytic geometry with complex terminology

1.2.1 Lines and circles
It is convenient to state the usual geometric or metric notions of R2 in complex
notation. For this purpose, the complex number z D x C iy and the point .x; y/ of
the plane, and also the vector from the origin to z, are identified.
The Euclidian scalar product between z D a Ci b and w D c Cid is ac Cbd D
x Hence Re z w=jzjjwj
Re z w. x is the cosine of the angle between z and w. Since
x
iw is perpendicular to w, .Im z w/=jzjjwj D Re zi w=jzjjwj
x D Re ziw=jzjjwj
is the cosine of the angle between z and iw and also the sine of the angle between
z and w.
zN zN
Make the change of variables x D zC 2
, y D z
2i
in the linear equation Ax C
By C C D 0. It turns out that the general equation of a straight line is of type
xz C˛ zN Cm D 0, with ˛ 2 C, m 2 R. Varying m, one obtains all the perpendicular
˛
lines to ˛. In parametric form, the equation of the straight line passing through z1
and parallel to the direction z2 , z2 ¤ 0 is z.t / D z1 C t z2 , t 2 R.
1.2. Analytic geometry with complex terminology 9
The general equation of a conic is P .x; Py/ D 0, where P is a polynomial of

degree 2 with real coefficients: P .x; y/ D kCl2 ak;l x k y l , ak;l 2 R. Replacing
x D .z C z/=2,
N y D .z z/=2i
N leads to an expression of type
X
P .z/ D ˛k;l z k zN l ;
kCl2
where the quantities ˛k;l are complex numbers such that ˛l;k D ˛k;l . In general, a
polynomial in z, zN of degree n,
X
P .z/ D ˛k;l z k zN l ;
kCln
takes real values if and only if ˛l;k D ˛k;l . This is obtained imposing the condition
Px .z/ D P .z/ and equating coefficients. Returning to the case n D 2, the general
expression of the conics may be rewritten as
N 2 C ˇ zN 2 C njzj2 C ˛
ˇz xz C ˛ zN C m D 0;
with m; n 2 R and ˛; ˇ 2 C. For a circle of center ˛ and radius r, the equation

reads
.z ˛/.zN ˛
x/ r 2 D jzj2 ˛ zN ˛
xz r 2 C j˛j2 D 0:
That is, the circles correspond to ˇ D 0, n ¤ 0 and m
n
j˛j2 < 0, in the equation
of conics.
1.2.2 Conformal and anticonformal linear mappings

The plane R2 D C is an R-vector space. Hence we can consider the mappings
T W C ! C which are R-linear, that is, the ones such that T .1 z C 2 w/ D
1 T .z/ C 2 T .w/ if 1 ; 2 2 R, z; w 2 C. It is common to work with them using
the matrix of T with respect to the basis .1; 0/ D 1, .0; 1/ D i ,

a b
T D ; a; b; c; d 2 R;
c d
T
so that .x; y/ 7! .ax C by; cx C dy/, T .1/ D .a; c/ D a C ci , T .i / D .b; d / D
b C id . In terms of z D x C iy, the expression is T .z/ D ax C by C i.cx C dy/ D
˛z C ˇ z,N with ˛ D 12 .a C d i b C i c/, ˇ D 12 .a d C i c C i b/. This means
that T .z/ D ˛z C ˇ z, N where ˛; ˇ 2 C are arbitrary, is the general expression of
an R-linear mapping. It is immediate to prove that
det T D ad bc D j˛j2 jˇj2 ;

and hence T is invertible when j˛j ¤ jˇj. In this case one can express the inverse
mapping T 1 in complex notation solving the system in z, z,
N
˛z C ˇ zN D w;
N C˛
ˇz xzN D w;
x
which gives z D T 1 .w/ D j˛j2 jˇ1

j2
˛ w ˇ w/.
.x x
On the other hand, C is also a (1-dimensional) C-vector space. So we can
consider the mappings T W C ! C, which are C-linear, that is, the ones such that
T .1 z1 C 2 z2 / D 1 T .z1 / C 2 T .z2 /, where now 1 ; 2 2 C. Obviously, in this
case T is completely determined by ˛ D T .1/, because T .z/ D ˛z. Of course,
C-linear mappings are also R-linear, characterized in this case by the condition
ˇ D 0 if T z D ˛z C ˇ zN . It is also easy to see that an R-linear mapping T is
C-linear if and only if it commutes with the multiplication by i (a 90ı rotation):
T .iz/ D iT .z/. Analytically, if T .z/ D ˛z C ˇ zN , the condition
˛iz C ˇ.iz/ D T .iz/ D iT .z/ D i.˛z C ˇ z/

N
implies ˇi zN D iˇ z,
N for all z, and so ˇ D 0.
Definition 1.8. An R-linear and invertible mapping T from C to C is called confor-
mal if it preserves the size and the orientation of angles, that is, if for any z; w 2 C
the angle between z, w is the same as the angle between T z, T w. Analytically, T
is such that
arg T z arg T w D arg z arg w; z; w 2 C:
Clearly this is the same as imposing that arg T z arg z D arg T w arg w, for
all z; w. So, the function arg T z arg z is constant with respect to z when looking
at its values in R=2Z. Since arg Tzz D arg T z arg z, this means exactly that all
the points Tzz , z ¤ 0, are in a fixed half-line that contains the origin. However, if
T z D ˛z C ˇ zN , in varying z ¤ 0 the quantity
Tz zN
D˛Cˇ
z z
covers the circle centered in ˛ and with radius jˇj. Hence it is clear that it only may
be included in a ray if jˇj D 0. Thus the following proposition is proved:
Proposition 1.9. Let T be an invertible R-linear mapping from C to C. Then the
following conditions are equivalent:
a) T is conformal.
b) T may be written as T z D ˛z, with ˛ 2 C, that is, T is C-linear.
c) T consists of a rotation of angle Arg ˛ followed by a dilation by the factor j˛j.
1.2. Analytic geometry with complex terminology 11
In terms of the matrix of T , the condition ˇ D 0 is equivalent to d a D i.bCc/,

that is, a D d , b D c. This reads either

a c
T D ;
c a
or T z D ˛z with ˛ D a C i c. Similarly, the mappings T .z/ D ˇ zN are exactly

the ones which preserve the size of the angles but change the orientation. These
are called either anticonformal or C-antilinear mappings, and their matrices are of
type T D . ac a
c
/.
If one specifies either a conformal T z D ˛z or an anticonformal mapping
T z D ˇ zN to preserve the distances, then jT zj D jzj, that is, either j˛j D 1 or
jˇj D 1. It turns out that a2 C c 2 D 1, which means that the matrix of T is an
orthogonal matrix, that is, T 1 D T t .
Definition 1.10. It is said that the R-linear mapping T from C onto C distorts the
distances in a constant factor m > 0 if jT z T wj D mjz wj, that is, if and only
if jT zj D mjzj for any z.
This is equivalent to the fact that Tzz D ˛ C ˇ zzN has constant modulus m, which
may happen only if either ˛ D 0 (and then m D jˇj), or if ˇ D 0 (and then
m D j˛j). So the following has been proved:
Proposition 1.11. An invertible R-linear mapping T from C onto C distorts the

distances in a constant factor m if and only if it is either C-linear or C-antilinear.
In the case m D 1 the mapping is a rotation or a rotation followed by a reflection.
We have shown that the R-linear mappings from R2 onto R2 that preserve the size
of angles are the C-linear and the C-antilinear ones. How do these transformations
behave in the case of the space Rn ? The following result answers the question:
Proposition 1.12. An invertible R-linear mapping T W Rn ! Rn preserves the

size of the angles if and only it may be written T D O with O an orthogonal
transformation and > 0.
Recall that a transformation is orthogonal if it is given in the canonical basis by

a matrix O such that OO t D O t O D I, where O t is the transpose matrix of O and
I is the identity. We will use the notation jxj to denote the norm of the vector x of
Rn and hx; yi will be the scalar product of the vector x; y 2 Rn .
Proof. Preserving the size of the angles amounts to preserving the cosines of these
angles, that is,
hT u; T vi hu; vi
D ; u; v 2 Rn :
jT ujjT vj jujjvj
If O is orthogonal, then it preserves both the scalar product and the norm; thus, if
T D O then
hT u; T vi h2 Ou; Ovi hOu; Ovi hu; vi
D 2 D D :
jT ujjT vj jOujjOvj jOujjOvj jujjvj
Conversely, let us suppose that T preserves the size of angles and let e1 ; e2 ; : : : ; en
be the canonical basis of Rn . Then the vectors T e1 ; T e2 ; : : : ; T en are pairwise
orthogonal. Let O be the linear transformation defined by Oei D jTT eeii j ; since it
maps an orthonormal basis into an orthonormal basis, then O is an orthogonal trans-
formation. Besides O 1 T D R is another invertible linear transformation which
preserves angles and Rei D ci ei , i D 1; : : : ; n, where ci D jT ei j. Supposing now
that
hRu; Rvi hu; vi
D
jRujjRvj jujjvj
with u D ei C ej and v D ej , one finds that
.ci ei C cj ej / cj ej 1
Dp :
.ci2 C cj2 /1=2 cj 2
Thus 2cj2 D ci2 C cj2 and therefore ci D cj D . This means that R D I,

so then T D O. Conformal transformations correspond to det O D C1, and
anticonformal ones, to det O D 1.
Therefore the situation is the same as the 2-dimensional one, in the sense that
angle-preserving linear transformations are orthogonal transformations followed by
dilations, that is, are similarities.
1.3 Topological notions. The compactified plane

We will consider the complex plane C with the usual topology, that is, a basis of
neighborhoods of each point a 2 C is the family of open discs, D.a; r/ D fz 2
C W jz aj < rg, for r > 0. We will also use the notation Dr .a/ for these discs,
and C.a; r/ or Cr .a/ will denote the corresponding boundary, that is, the circle
centered at a with radius r. In general, @E will denote the topological boundary
of the set E. The disc D.0; 1/ will be called the unit disc and will be represented
by D. It is convenient, however, to embed the space C in a wider compact space,
obtained by adding the point at infinity.
We will denote by C the compact space obtained by adding to C the point
at infinity, 1. A basis of neighborhoods of 1 consists of the complements of
discs centered at the origin, fz W jzj > rg [ f1g. Consider a sequence of complex
numbers .zn / with limn!1 zn D 1. This means that for every r > 0 one has
jzn j > r for n big enough, that is, jzn j ! C1 when n ! 1. Thus, an open set
1.3. Topological notions. The compactified plane 13
in C which contains 1 has to contain the set fz W jzj > rg for a certain r > 0.
For example, the half plane fz W Re z > ag has 1 as a closure point and the set
fz W Re z > 0g [ f1g is not an open set of C . Any sequence .zn / of points in C
has a subsequence which converges to a point in C ; if the sequence is bounded,
then it has a subsequence that converges to a point in C, and if it is unbounded, then
there is a subsequence tending to 1.
The stereographic projection sets a homeomorphism between the sphere S 2 D
f.x; y; z/ 2 R3 W x 2 C y 2 C z 2 D 1g, except for the north pole, and the complex
plane. If one considers C as the equator plane of S 2 , the point z of the plane is
associated in S 2 to the intersection point P of S 2 and the ray that joins the north
pole with z. Therefore, the compactified space C is identified with S 2 , and the
north pole with 1 (Figure 1.5). Analytically it may be written as

2x 2y x2 C y2 1
P D ; ; if z D x C iy:
1 C x2 C y2 1 C x2 C y2 1 C x2 C y2
This is the reason why we will refer either to the extended complex plane C or
Riemann sphere S 2 .
S2
P
Figure 1.5
We will often consider functions defined on subsets E of C, open in general,

which take real or complex values. When speaking about, for example, continuous
or differentiable functions, one is considering E as a subset of the plane, with the
usual distance, which in complex notation is nothing but d.z; w/ D jz wj for
z; w 2 C. For example, the fact that a function f defined on E is continuous at
a point z 2 E means that for every " > 0 there exists ı > 0 such that w 2 E,
jw zj < ı implies jf .w/ f .z/j < "; equivalently, for any sequence .zn / of
points of E with limit z, the image sequence .f .zn // has limit f .z/. We will denote
by C.E/ the set of continuous functions on E.
More generally, we may consider continuous functions f W E ! C , where E

is a subset of C and f also take values in C . If 1 2 E the continuity in the point
at infinity means that f .1/ D l 2 C and limjzj!1 f .z/ D l. In other words:
for all " > 0 there exists r > 0 such that either jf .z/ lj < " if jzj > r, when
l ¤ 1, or jf .z/j > 1=" if jzj > r, when l D 1.
Thus, for example, every function defined on C by a polynomial in the complex
variable z, P .z/ D a0 C a1 z C C an z n , with ai 2 C, i D 1; : : : ; n, z 2 C and
P .1/ D 1, is a continuous function on C if n 1. Actually the continuity on
C is evident, and for the point at infinity,
the acondition limjzjD1 P .z/ D 1 is a
consequence of the equality P .z/ D z n zan0 C z n11
C Can , z 2 C. However, the
function defined by a polynomial in two real variables x, y is continuous on C but
it may not be on C . This fact may be seen taking, for example, P .x; y/ D x C y.
Throughout this book the notion of domain will appear often. A domain of the
complex plane (sometimes called a region) is an open connected set in C. Besides
domains, we will also consider arbitrary open or compact sets of C, so we must
review properties of connectivity of these sets, as well as of their complements.
Recall first that the connected components of a set A C are the maximal
connected subsets of A, and that A is the disjoint union of its components. Any
connected component of A is closed in A, and therefore also closed in C if A is
closed in C. The components of A are in general not open in A; if A is open
in C then the connected components of A are open in C and, in particular, there
are at most a countable quantity of them. When A is not open, there may be an
uncountable quantity of connected components. An extreme example is the Cantor
set, which is a perfect (all its points are accumulation points), uncountable and
totally disconnected set. So the connected components of the Cantor set are each
one of its points, which is an uncountable set, and they are not open in R.
Therefore, if K is a compact set of C, the connected components of C n K are
connected open sets of C, that is, a countable quantity of domains of C. Every
component C of C n K satisfies the condition @C K. Among all components of
C n K there is always one and only one unbounded component: it is the one which
contains the points z … K with jzj large enough. All the other possible components
are bounded and, roughly speaking, they represent the “holes” of K. A hole C of K
is then a bounded domain of C n K with @C K, and there is a countable quantity
of them.
If U is an open set in C, then C n U is closed and its connected components
are closed sets in C; their quantity may be not countable. For example this is the
case of U D C n E, where E is the Cantor set. If U is an open set, the boundary
of every connected component C of C n U satisfies @C C , @C \ U D ;
and @C @U . When U is open, it is not possible to talk about the “unbounded
component” of CnU . It could happen that CnU either does not have any unbounded
connected component (for example, if U D C n K, K compact), or has more than
one unbounded connected component (for example, if U is an unlimited band).
1.3. Topological notions. The compactified plane 15
Therefore, the intuitive idea of a “hole” of U corresponds to the bounded connected

components of C n U , and they may even appear in an uncountable quantity, as
seen.
It is immediate to check that a set A C has no bounded connected components
if and only if A [ f1g is connected. Then a compact set K C (respectively an
open set U C) has no “holes” (bounded components of the complement in C) if
and only if C n K (respectively, C n U / is connected. In the case of a compact
set K, C n K connected is equivalent to C n K connected. This is because the
connected components of C n K coincide with the ones of C n K, adding the point
1 to the unbounded component. However, in the case of an open set U , distinct
components of C n U could be connected in C when adding the point 1. For
example, if U is a band, U D fz 2 C W a < Re z < bg with a; b 2 R, U does
not have any hole, C n U has two components (is not connected), but C n U is
connected.
By the above comments, it is more convenient in general to think about the
complement of an open or a compact set of C with respect to the whole extended
plane C .
Definition 1.13. A domain U of the complex plane is called simply connected if

its complement with respect to the extended plane, C n U , is connected.
Intuitively, simply connected means that the domain U does not have “holes”,
that is, C n U does not have bounded components because the only component of
C n U contains 1. The term simply connected is also used for a compact set K
of the plane such that C n K (or C n K/) is connected.
In the case of a domain with holes, it is appropriate to introduce a name for the
domain according to its number of holes.
Definition 1.14. A domain U of the complex plane is called n-connected or having

connection degree n (n 1) if C n U has n connected components. If it has
infinite components one says that U has an infinite degree of connection.
The case n D 1 corresponds to the simply connected domains of Definition 1.13.

In Figure 1.6 there is a bounded domain U with infinite degree of connection,
x n D D.1 1 ; 13 /,
obtained by eliminating from the unit disc the sequence of discs D n n
n 2.
Let us finish this section by showing that any open set of the plane may be
covered by something called an exhaustive sequence of compact sets.
Lemma 1.15. For any open set U in the plane, there exists a sequence of compact
sets Kn U , n D 1; 2; : : : such that:
ı S1
a) Kn K nC1 , n D 1; 2; : : :, and nD1 Kn D U .
b) For each compact set K U there exists n 2 N such that K Kn .

c) For each n 2 N, every bounded component of C n Kn contains at least a
bounded component of C n U .
Proof. Define
˚
x n/:
Kn D z 2 C W d.z; C n U / n1 \ D.0;
It is easy to check a) andS b). To prove c), let C be a bounded component of
CnKn D .Cn D.0; x n//[.
w…U D.w; 1=n//. Each set of this union is connected.
So if one of them intersects C , it will be included in C by the maximality of C (the
union of two connected sets with nonempty intersection is connected). Since C is
bounded, then C cannot intersect C n D.0; x n/ and also it is the union of some discs,
[
C D D.wj ; 1=n/:
wj …U
In particular, C intersects CnU , so there is a component F of CnU which intersects

C . Consequently F is a connected subset of C n U C n Kn which intersects C ,
that is, F C .
The meaning of this lemma is that, although Kn U , and therefore C n Kn is
bigger than C n U , Kn does not have other holes than those of U (a component of
C n Kn may likely contain more than one component of C n U ). On the other hand,
it is clear that any component of C n U is contained in a component of C n Kn , for
all n (Figure 1.6).
U
K3
K2
K1
D1 D2 D3 D4 D5
Figure 1.6
1.4. Curves, paths, length elements 17
1.4 Curves, paths, length elements

1.4.1 Curves and paths
Continuous curves will be used rather often. A continuous curve, or just merely a
curve, in a domain U will be a continuous mapping W Œa; b ! U , where Œa; b is
an interval of R. It is also usual to say that is an arc of a curve or, simply, an arc.
In this context will denote the range of ; it is common to visualize a continuous
curve as a continuous “thread” in U ; but, in fact, may be a more general set. For
example, it may be a whole square.
Example 1.16. The continuous curves that fill up a square are called Peano curves.
One of the first constructions of these curves was done by Hilbert. It is the following:
divide the unit square into four squares numbered consecutively. If one assumes
that the mapping one is looking for has to transform the unit interval Œ0; 1 into the
whole square, it is natural to impose that by breaking Œ0; 1 into four quarters, the
mapping transforms each of these quarters in one of the squares 1, 2, 3, 4. Dividing
again each square in 4, and each quarter of Œ0; 1 in 4 equal pieces, one may keep
demanding that each 1=16 of Œ0; 1 is transformed in one of the 16 new squares.
One keeps doing this process and enumerating the squares of each generation in
such a way that, if one has two consecutive squares of the same generation m, the
last and the first of the generation m C 1 of each one are also consecutive. Then
each point t 2 Œ0; 1 is the limit of the intervals of length 4m containing it, and
to each interval corresponds a square of the m-th generation, which has side length
2m . Associating the point t to the common point of all the squares that correspond
to intervals converging to t , then it is not difficult to check the continuity of the
obtained curve (Figure 1.7).
11 14 21 22
1 2
12 13 24 23
43 42 31 32
4 3
44 41 34 33
Figure 1.7
The curve W Œa; b ! U is closed if .b/ D .a/, and simple (non-self-

intersecting) if .s/ ¤ .t / for all s; t 2 .a; b/, s ¤ t . A simple curve is also
called a Jordan curve or a Jordan arc. The curve is said to be differentiable if for
any value of the parameter t0 there exists the limit
.t / .t0 /
0 .t0 / D lim : (1.2)
t!t0 t t0
In terms of the components of , .t / D x.t / C iy.t /, this is equivalent to saying

that the real functions x.t /, y.t / are differentiable at the point t0 , and then 0 .t0 / D
x 0 .t0 / C iy 0 .t0 /. If 0 .t0 / ¤ 0, this vector is tangent to the curve at the point .t0 /,
that is, the line which contains the point .t0 / and with direction vector 0 .t0 / is
tangent to the curve. If 0 .t / exists for all t and is continuous on Œa; b, one will say
that is of class C 1 . Furthermore, a curve is regular if it is of class C 1 and has
nonzero derivative in each point. If 0 exists and is continuous, except at a finite
number of points, at any of which has lateral derivatives, one will say either that
is piecewise of class C 1 , or that is a path. The concept of a piecewise regular
curve has a similar meaning, so we will use also the term regular path.
The rules for calculating derivatives of sums or products .t / C .t /, .t / .t /
are the usual ones. For example,
..t / .t //0 D 0 .t / .t / C .t / 0 .t / (1.3)
if .t/ and .t/ are differentiable.

Let us study in more detail the example .t / D 1 t D cos t C i sin t , t 2 R.
When t takes values on R, .t / completes the unit circle T infinitely many times
counterclockwise and
0 .t / D sin t C i cos t D i .t /;
which tells us that the tangent vector is the radial vector multiplied by i , that is,
90ı rotated. At this point we will leave the notation 1 t for the point cos t C i sin t ,
introducing the exponential function with a pure imaginary number in the exponent.
Recall that the real Euler number e is characterized as the unique positive real
number a > 0 that satisfies the property that the exponential function of basis a,
t 7! at coincides with its derivative; that is, .at /0 D at if and only if a D e.
This fact is equivalent to the classical definition of e as e D limh!0 .1 C h/1= h .
By means of usual differentiation rules, one has that .e u.t/ /0 D u0 .t /e u.t/ if u is a
differentiable function of t ; in particular, .e ˛t /0 D ˛e ˛t if ˛ 2 R. Since .1 t /0 D i1 t ,
as seen above, the notation 1 t is usually changed by e it , because in this way the
rule .1 t /0 D i1 t is like the previous one with ˛ D i : .e it /0 D i e it . The equation
e it D 1 t D cos t C i sin t
is a definition of e z when z D i t is a pure imaginary number. It is called Euler’s

identity. The inverse of e it coincides with its conjugate and is e it . With this
notation, the trigonometric functions have the following formulation:
1 it
cos t D Re e it D .e C e it /;
2
1
sin t D Im e it D .e it e it /:
2i
For the moment we know the definition of e z for z D x 2 R (from calculus of
one real variable functions) and now the definition for z D i t , a pure imaginary
number. The definition of e z for an arbitrary z 2 C will be given later on.
The curves may be also given in polar coordinates. Considering two continuous
functions R W Œa; b ! RC , W Œa; b ! R, then
.t / D R.t /e i.t/ D R.t /.cos .t / C i sin .t //
is a continuous curve in C n f0g. If R.t /, .t / are differentiable, it is immediate to

check that is a differentiable curve and that
0 .t/ D R0 .t /e i.t/ C R.t /i 0 .t /e i.t/ D .R0 .t / C iR.t / 0 .t //e i.t/ :
Later (Theorem 1.23) it will be proved that every continuous curve .t /, a t b
which does not contain the origin may be written as .t / D R.t /e i.t/ .
Example 1.17. If R.t / is an increasing positive function with lim t!1 R.t / D 0,
lim t!C1 R.t/ D C1, then
.t / D R.t /e it
describes a spiral which expands as it rotates counterclockwise, and we have 0 .t / D

R0 .t/e it C iR.t /e it D .R0 .t / C iR.t //e it (Figure 1.8).
Figure 1.8
It is important not to confuse with , because includes and the way

2
it is travelled. For example, 1 .t / D e 2 it , 2 .t / D e 2 it , 0 t 1 both
describe the unit circle, but with different speeds. This example is a particular
case of change of parametrization. In general, .u/, u 2 Œc; d is obtained from
.t/, t 2 Œa; b by means of a change of parametrization if the new parameter
u and the original parameter t are linked by a relation t D ˆ.u/, where ˆ is a
homeomorphism from Œc; d onto Œa; b and .u/ D .ˆ.u//. Observe that in this
case D . Any homeomorphism between intervals is either strictly increasing
or strictly decreasing; this fact classifies the parametrizations of into two classes,
each one associated intuitively to forward or backward direction. An orientation
of consists in the selection of one of these two classes. A parametrization .t /,
0 t 1 and the parametrization Q .t / D .1 t /, 0 t 1, define opposite
orientations.
As discussed above, may be quite arbitrary and, in particular, it could be a
square. If the curve is piecewise C 1 , the set has a more particular structure.
Indeed, take a neighborhood of any point t0 for which the derivative exists and does
not vanish. Here we can apply the implicit function theorem and the set is, in
the neighborhood of .t0 /, of the form f.u; v/ W v D 0g, where u, v are certain
local coordinates. In this case is a “thread” (Figure 1.9), agreeing with intuition.
Consequently, in this case the set has planar measure zero (see Proposition 1.35).
v
.t0 /
y
vD0
Figure 1.9
1.4.2 Length and arc parameter

We now review the notion of length of a curve .t /, a t b. Consider a polygonal
curve P inscribed in and determined by the points .t0 /; .t1 /; .t2 /; : : : ; .tn /,
with a D t0 < t1 < < tn D b. Then its length is

X
n1 X
n1 p
L.P / D j.tiC1 / .ti /j D .x.tiC1 / x.ti //2 C .y.tiC1 / y.ti //2 :
iD0 iD0
(1.4)
The length of is defined by
L./ D supfL.P / W P is an inscribed polygonal curve in g:
If L./ < C1 one says that is rectifiable. When is piecewise C 1 , applying
the mean value theorem in every difference of (1.4), one finds that
X
n1 p
L.P / D .x 0 . i //2 C .y 0 .
i //2 .tiC1 ti /; (1.5)
iD0
where the points i ,

i are intermediate between ti and tiC1 . Adding points to the
polygonal curve, and taking limits in (1.5), we obtain
Z b
L. / D j 0 .t /j dt:
a
This integral is well defined because by hypothesis Œa; b is decomposed in intervals
where 0 is continuous. The integrand, ds D j 0 .t /j dt , is the element of arc
length of . Obviously, the element of arc length is invariant under changes of
parametrization, whether it is orientation preserving or not. Indeed, if t D ˆ.u/
and .u/ D .ˆ.u//, one has that
j 0 .u/j du D j 0 .ˆ.u//jjˆ0 .u/j du D j 0 .t /j dt D ds:
Given a path , denoting by s.t / the length of the arc of the curve between .a/
and .t/, Z t
s.t / D j 0 .x/j dx;
a
one gets s 0 .t/ D j 0 .t /j > 0; so t ! s.t / is a strictly increasing bijection ‰
from Œa; b onto Œ0; L, where L is the total length of . Considering the inverse
bijection ˆ D ‰ 1 , one may take s as a new parameter, .s/ D .ˆ.s//; since
the length between .0/ and .s/ is s, then j 0 .s/j D 1. This fact may also be
1
checked observing that ds dt
D ds dt
D j 0 .t /j1 and that 0 .s/ D 0 .t / ds
dt
. This
parametrization is called arc length parametrization.
A particular case of a regular curve is the graph of a real-valued function of
a real variable x 2 Œa; b, with continuous
p derivative, .x/ D .x; .x//; in this
0 0 0
case .x/ D .1; .x//, j .x/j D 1 C 02 .x/ and the formula for the length
becomes Z bp
L. / D 1 C 02 .x/ dx:
a
1.4.3 Integration with respect to arc length

If W Œa; b ! C is a piecewise C 1 curve and h is a continuous real-valued
R function
over , one may define the integral of h with respect to arc length ds, h ds, as
Z Z b
h ds D h..t //j 0 .t /j dt:
a
This integral is well defined; in fact, it is the limit of the Riemann sums
X
n1
h..ti //j.tiC1 / .ti /j;
iD0
where t0 < t1 < < tn is a partition of Œa; b.

Once again this notion does not depend on a change of parametrization, whether
it is orientation preserving or not.

Example 1.18. Consider the curve .t / D .t; ch t / D t; 12 .e t C e t / , 0 t 1.
p
The tangent vector is .1; sh t / D 1; 12 .e t e t / which has modulus 1 C sh2 t D
R1
ch t and ds D ch t dt. The length is 0 ch t dt D sh 1 D 12 .e e 1 /. If h.x; y/ D
xy, one has that
Z Z 1 Z 1
1
h ds D h.t; ch t / ch t dt D t .ch t /2 dt D .3 C 2 sh 2 ch 2/:
0 0 8
1.5 Branches of the argument. Index of a closed curve with

respect to a point
1.5.1 Branches of the argument
Recall that to any complex number z ¤ 0 is associated the set arg z of its arguments.
Definition 1.19. If 0 … E C, a continuous branch (or, briefly, a branch) of the

argument in E is a continuous mapping
g W E ! R
such that g.z/ 2 arg z if z 2 E.
This way g chooses continuously one of the possible arguments of each z 2 E.

1.5. Branches of the argument. Index of a closed curve with respect to a point 23
Example 1.20. The principal argument, Arg, is not a branch of the argument in
C n f0g because at a negative real point a is not continuous, since
lim Arg.a C iy/ D D Arg a;

y!0; y>0
lim Arg.a C iy/ D :

y!0; y<0
However, the function Arg is continuous at all the other points, and so it is a
continuous branch of the argument in C n R , which takes values on .; /.
Observe that if g and h are two continuous branches of the argument in E, then
.g h/=2 is a continuous function on E which takes integer values; consequently,
if E is connected, it is a constant function. Hence all the existing continuous
branches of the argument in a connected set differ one by one in a constant which
is an entire multiple of 2. In C n R , Arg z C 2k, k 2 Z are all the possible
branches of the argument.
Sometimes there are no branches of the argument over a set E. For example, in
C n f0g there are none of them. Indeed, suppose that g is a branch of the argument.
Then, as seen above, g.z/ D Arg.z/ C 2k for a k 2 Z in C n R , and g could
not be continuous on the negative real points.
If L is a ray starting at the origin, say L D fz W Arg z D ˛g, ˛ 2 .; , in
C n L there are branches of the argument given analytically by
Arg.z e i.˛/ / C ˛ C 2k; k 2 Z:
Similarly one talks about branches of the n-th root in a set E which does not
contain zero. For example, a branch of the square root is a continuous mapping
h W E ! C such that h.z/2 D z, z 2 E. If h1 , h2 are two branches of the square
2
root, then hh12 D 1, and so, if E is connected either h1 D h2 or h1 D h2 .
p
Observe that if g is a branch of the argument in E, then h.z/ D jzje ig.z/=2 is a
branch of the square root.
More generally, the branches of the argument or the branches of the roots of
nonzero continuous functions f W E ! C are defined as follows: A branch of
the argument of f W E ! C n f0g is a continuous function g W E ! R such that
g.z/ 2 arg f .z/, if z 2 E; a branch of the n-th root of f W E ! C n f0g is a
continuous function h on E such that hn D f . If there is a branch of the argument
of f , say g, it is clear that there is also a branch of the n-th root, just by writing
h D jf j1=n e ig=n . However, there may exist a branch of a root of a function f but
not a branch of the argument of f , as shown by the following example.
Example 1.21. Consider w D f .z/ D z 2 1 D .zC1/.z1/ in E D CnŒ1; C1;
when z describes the circle centered at 0 with radius 2 (z D 2e i ; 0 2),
z 2 1 describes twice the circle centered at 1 with radius 4 so that any branch
p curve a variation of 4,

of the argument will have along this p so it is discontinuous.
Instead, the principal branch of w gives a branch of f . In relation to this
example see Exercise 11 of Section 1.7.
In the definition of branch of the argument of a function f given above, it is
supposed that the domain of f was a part of C, but one may give the same definition
when f is defined on any metric or topological connected space X . Even though
the interest will be specially in the case that X is either an interval of the real line
or a domain of the plane, we give a more general definition.
Definition 1.22. Let X be a connected space and f W X ! C n f0g a continuous
function. A continuous branch (or, briefly, a branch) of the argument of f is
a continuous mapping h W X ! R such that h.x/ 2 arg f .x/, for any x 2 X .
Equivalently, f .x/ D jf .x/je ih.x/ , x 2 X .
Observe that taking X D E C n f0g, f .z/ D z, in the previous definition
one gets the concept of a branch of the argument given in Definition 1.19.
Two possible branches of the argument of f differ on a function that takes values
that are entire multiples of 2. Since X is connected, it must be a constant multiple
of 2.
If there is a continuous branch g.w/ of the argument of the variable w 2 E in
the image set E D f .X /, then h D g B f is a branch of the argument of f . This
condition holds in a neighborhood of each point x 2 X , taking, for example, the
preimage of the disc D.f .x/; jf .x/j/ by f .
Consider the case of a continuous curve W Œa; b ! C which does not contain
zero, .t/ ¤ 0. If we want to write .t / in polar coordinates,
.t / D R.t /e i.t/ ;

p
there is no other option for the term R.t / than R.t / D j.t /j D x.t /2 C y.t /2 ,
if .t/ D x.t/ C iy.t / and R.t / is continuous. However, there are infinitely many
options for .t/ and it is not evident that there exists a continuous selection of .t /.
Nevertheless it is true: clearly the function .t / is just a branch of the argument of
, in the sense of Definition 1.22.
Theorem 1.23. If W Œa; b ! C is a continuous curve which does not contain
the origin, then there exists a branch of the argument of . Denoting it by , then
.t/ C 2k, k 2 Z is the general expression of all the branches of the argument of
. If is differentiable at a point t 2 Œa; b then also the function is differentiable,
0 .t/
and 0 .t/ D Im .t/ .
Proof. Consider a partition a D t0 < t1 < t2 < < tn D b of Œa; b such that
.Œti1 ; ti / is inside a disc Di which does not contain zero; this is possible due to
the continuity of and the compactness of Œa; b. If gi is a branch of arg z in Di ,
then i D gi B is a branch of arg .t / in Œti1 ; ti . At the point ti one has two
arguments of .ti /, which are i .ti / and iC1 .ti /, that differ in a multiple of 2;
adding to iC1 this entire multiple of 2, we get by iteration a global branch .
Let us check now that if is differentiable at a point t , then also the function
0 .t/
is differentiable in t and 0 .t / D Im .t/ . Suppose without loss of generality that
.t/ is in the half plane fz W Re z > 0g. Then, in a neighborhood of t , .t / differs
from the principal branch of Arg .t / by a constant and has the same derivative. If
.t/ D .x.t/; y.t //, x.t / > 0, then
y.t /
Arg .t / D arctan
x.t /
d Arg .t/ 0 .t/
and by differentiating we get that dt
D Im .t/
.
It is important to stress that continuity is required in the parameter t . It has been
proved that a branch of the argument of always exists, even though no branch of
arg z may exist on .
Example 1.24. The curve .t / D e it , 0 t 2, has a branch of the argument
h.t/ D t, but on D T there is no branch of arg z.
If is a branch of the argument of , the quantity .b/.a/ does not depend on
, because two branches differ by a constant. This is called variation of the argument
along and it is represented by arg. In the case of piecewise differentiable
curves, the fundamental theorem of calculus gives
Z b
0 .t /
arg D Im dt;
a .t /
Rb
because .b/ .a/ D a 0 .t / dt, and now Theorem 1.23 may be applied.
1.5.2 Index of a closed curve

Let W Œa; b ! C be a closed curve that does not contain the origin and W Œa; b !
R a branch of the argument along . Then .a/ and .b/ are arguments of the same
point, and so .b/.a/ D arg is an entire multiple of 2. Hence the following
definition makes sense:
Definition 1.25. If is a closed curve that does not pass through the origin, then
1
the integer 2 arg is called the index of with respect to the origin, or also the
winding number of around the origin. It is denoted by Ind.; 0/.
In the case that the closed curve is piecewise of class C 1 , the number Ind.; 0/
may be calculated in the following way: If .t / D R.t /e i.t/ , R.t / D j.t /j,
R0 .t/
then 0 .t/ D .R0 .t / C iR.t / 0 .t //e i.t/ and 0 .t /=.t / D R.t/
C i 0 ; so,
0 0
Re .t/
.t/
D RR.t/
.t/
, which is the derivative of log R.t / D log j.t /j, and it turns out
that
Z b 0 Z b Z b
.t/ 0 .t / 0 .t / j.b/j
dt D Re dt C i Im dt D log C i arg :
a .t/ a .t / a .t / j.a/j
Thus, for a piecewise C 1 closed curve W Œa; b ! C n f0g, one has

Z
1 b
0 .t /
Ind.; 0/ D dt:
2 i a .t /
Roughly speaking, Ind.; 0/ is the number of rotations one would do by tracking

visually from the origin a particle moving over the trajectory .t /. This quantity is
invariant under changes of parametrization which preserves orientation and changes
the sign with non-orientation preserving changes of parametrizations.
Definition 1.26. Let be an arbitrary closed curve and z … . The index of
with respect to z, denoted by Ind.; z/, is defined as Ind. z; 0/.
In the case of a piecewise C 1 closed curve parameterized by Œa; b, one has
Z
1 b
0 .t /
Ind.; z/ D dt: (1.6)
2 i a .t / z
As a function of z, the index is a continuous function in the complement of . This

fact, in the case of a piecewise C 1 curve, which are the ones studied here, may be
proved by using the integral expression (1.6). The proof in the case of a continuous
closed curve is proposed as an exercise (see Exercise 13 of Section 1.7).
If W Œa; b ! C is a closed curve, one knows that the complement of in the
plane, C n , has just one unbounded connected component and a countable set
of bounded connected components. It is important to note the following property:
The index Ind.; z/ as a function of z is constant on each of the con-
nected components of C n and has value zero in the unbounded
component.
Indeed, Ind.; z/ is a continuous function on each component and only takes
integer values, so it must be constant. The assertion about the unbounded compo-
nent is clear intuitively and it may be justified also analytically by observing the
following: Moving the point z one may suppose that there exists a disc D such that
z … D and D. Then one may take on D a branch of the argument of w z
which, composed with , will give a branch of the argument of .t / z, which
clearly will take the same value for t D a and t D b.
Example 1.27. a) If one considers a circle centered at the origin with radius R and
travelled m times,
.t / D Re imt ; 0 t 2
(with m integer) and z 2 C, due to the argument above it turns out that:
If jzj > R, Ind.; z/ D 0.
If jzj < R, Ind.; z/ D Ind.; 0/ and
Z 2
1 miRe imt
Ind.; 0/ D dt D m:
2 i 0 Re imt
If jzj D R, Ind.; z/ is not defined.
b) Consider now that is the edge of a square travelled in a direct sense of ori-
entation (counterclockwise) and z is an interior point of the square. It is intuitively
clear that Ind.; z/ D 1. This may be checked also with the method we will now
describe for the calculation of an index. An analytic proof of this fact using (1.6) is
a bit long and it is proposed as an exercise (see Exercise 12 of Section 1.7).
When calculating the index of a closed curve with respect to a point z … ,
aside from the integral formula (1.6) valid for C 1 curves, there is a very useful
geometric method that is easy to apply. The method is the following:
Consider an arbitrary ray starting at z. One may prove that if is rectifiable,
almost all these rays intersect .t /, t 2 Œa; b a finite number of times. Here “almost
all” is in the sense of the Lebesgue measure, considered on a circle centered at z,
over which one takes the direction of each ray. Fix one of these rays, say L, and
let t1 ; t2 ; : : : ; tn 2 Œa; b be the values of the parameter t for which .t / 2 L. Now
associate to each tj for j D 1; : : : ; n a number j equal to ˙1 according to the
following rule:
j D C1 if crosses L at the point .tj / in a direct sense,

j D 1 if crosses L at the point .tj / in an inverse sense.
Then the equation

X
n
Ind.; z/ D j (1.7)
j D1
holds. It is said that crosses L in a direct sense if it does it in the direction

of increasing arguments, and in an inverse sense if it does it in the direction of
decreasing arguments, assuming that the origin is placed at the point z (Figure 1.10).
The justification of (1.7) is intuitively clear. A rigorous proof is much more subtle
and will not be given here.
Example 1.28. See Figure 1.11.
inverse sense
direct sense
direct sense
direct sense inverse sense
Figure 1.10
z2 Ind.; z1 / D 2I
z4
Ind.; z2 / D 1I
z5
z3 Ind.; z3 / D 0I
z1
Ind.; z4 / D 2I
Ind.; z5 / D 1:
Figure 1.11
1.6 Domains with regular boundary

If U is a domain of the plane, the topological boundary of U , @U , may be unusually
complicated. For this reason, in the study of function theory it is often convenient
to consider domains with regular boundary. The most natural idea is to assume that
the boundary of U is composed by one or several closed curves. In this context the
Jordan curve theorem, which we recall here, is relevant (see [6], p. 261).
Theorem 1.29. If is a closed Jordan curve, then the open set C n has two
connected components, a bounded one and an unbounded one. The bounded com-
ponent is simply connected and is the topological boundary of each one of the
components. Moreover, Ind.; z/ is 0 if z is in the unbounded component and is
either 1 or 1 if z belongs to the bounded component.
1.6. Domains with regular boundary 29
The bounded component of C n is called the interior of , Int. /, and the

unbounded one is the exterior of , Ext. /.
Motivated by this theorem, a Jordan domain will be a domain that is the bounded
connected component of the complement of a closed Jordan curve. Thus, the
boundary of a Jordan domain is a closed Jordan curve. The following statement
asserts that this property of the boundary characterizes Jordan domains. Its proof
is proposed as an exercise.
Proposition 1.30. If U is a bounded domain of the plane such that @U is a closed
Jordan curve, then U is a Jordan domain.
More generally, one can consider domains whose boundary is a 1-dimensional
manifold. Recall that a 1-dimensional manifold or 1-manifold is a separable metric
space M which may be covered by a family of open sets of M such that each of them
is homeomorphic to the unit interval .0; 1/. It is clear that a closed Jordan curve,
which is homeomorphic to the unit circle T , is a 1-manifold. If one considers a
bounded domain U , its boundary @U is a compact set which may not be connected.
If we assume now that @U is a 1-manifold, then any connected component of @U
is also a 1-manifold which, moreover, is connected and compact. It turns out that
each one of these components must be a closed Jordan curve. This is due to the
following well-known fact (see [5], p. 127).
Theorem 1.31. Any compact connected 1-manifold is homeomorphic to T and is
therefore a closed Jordan curve.
So a Jordan domain is exactly a bounded domain of the complex plane whose
boundary is a connected 1-manifold.
Another way for requiring a bounded domain U to have a regular boundary is
supposing that the compact set Ux is a submanifold of R2 with boundary. Recall
that this means that every point z0 2 @U has an open neighborhood V .z0 / of C so
that there is a homeomorphism 'z0 W V .z0 / ! D, from V .z0 / onto the unit disc D,
such that (see Figure 1.12)
a) 'z0 .V .z0 / \ @U / D fz 2 D W Im z D 0g;

(1.8)
b) 'z0 .V .z0 / \ U / D fz 2 D W Im z > 0g:
It is clear that if Ux is a submanifold with boundary, then @U is a 1-manifold.

This hypothesis restricts the number of components of @U :
Proposition 1.32. If U is a bounded domain such that Ux is a submanifold of R2
with boundary, then @U has a finite number of connected components.
The proof is proposed as an exercise. Summarizing, it turns out that if U is a
bounded domain and Ux is a submanifold with boundary, then the boundary of U
V .z0 / 'z 0
z0
0
Figure 1.12
1
2
4
3 5
Figure 1.13
is formed by a finite number of closed Jordan curves (Figure 1.13). It is worth

mentioning that the opposite of this fact is also true, and one has the following
result:
Proposition 1.33. If U is a bounded domain of the plane, then its boundary is the
union of a finite number of pairwise disjoint closed Jordan curves if and only if Ux
is a submanifold of R2 with boundary.
In order to prove it one has to show that if is a closed Jordan curve, then
both the interior of , with the curve itself, and the exterior of , with the curve
itself, are submanifolds with boundary in R2 . This is a consequence of the fact
that every homeomorphism between a Jordan curve and T may be extended to a
homeomorphism from C onto C (theorem of Schöenflies: see [5], p. 153).
So far all our considerations have been topological, in the sense that no differ-
entiability condition, neither on the curves nor on the homeomorphisms, has been
required. But all the equivalences stated remain true if one substitutes Jordan curve
by regular Jordan curve, 1-manifold by C 1 regular 1-manifold, and submanifold

with boundary by submanifold with regular boundary. So one takes as a basic
definition the following.
Definition 1.34. A bounded domain U of the plane is called a domain with regular
boundary (respectively with piecewise regular boundary) if the boundary of U is
composed by a finite number of pairwise disjoint regular closed Jordan curves
(respectively piecewise regular).
Consider that U is a bounded domain such that Ux is a submanifold of R2 with

regular boundary. Then the homeomorphism 'z0 W V .z0 / ! D between a neigh-
borhood of z0 2 @U and the unit disc D which satisfies (1.8) is a diffeomorphism
between V .z0 / and D. A consequence of this fact is that the closed Jordan curves
which compose @U are regular and so U is a domain with regular boundary in the
sense of the Definition 1.34. The converse may be directly proved by using the
inverse function theorem.
Proposition 1.35. Let .t /, 0 t 1 be a regular closed Jordan curve and

z0 D .t0 /, 0 t0 1. Then there exists a neighborhood V .z0 / of the point z0 ,
a disc Dı .t0 / centered at .t0 ; 0/ and a diffeomorphism ' from Dı .z0 / onto V .z0 /
such that
a) '.t; 0/ D .t / for jt t0 j < ı,
b) J' .t0 ; 0/ > 0.
Now writing DıC D Dı .t0 / \ fz W Im z > 0g, Dı D Dı .t0 / \ fz W Im z < 0g, and
V C .z0 / D '.DıC /, V .z0 / D '.Dı /, then either V C .z0 / Int. /, V .z0 /
Ext./ or V C .z0 / Ext. /, V .z0 / Int. / hold (Figure 1.14).
Ext. /
' V .z0 /
V
z0
VC

DıC Int. /
t0
Dı
Figure 1.14
Here J' denotes the Jacobian determinant of the mapping '.

Proof. Let x.t/, y.t / be the components of , that is, .t / D .x.t /; y.t //. Since
is regular, 0 .t0 / ¤ 0 and one may assume, for example, that x 0 .t0 / ¤ 0. Define on
a neighborhood of the point .t0 ; 0/ the function ' by either '.t; s/ D .x.t /; y.t /Cs/
if x 0 .t0 / > 0 or '.t; s/ D .x.t /; y.t / s/ if x 0 .t0 / < 0, so that J' .t0 ; 0/ > 0.
By the inverse function theorem ' is a diffeomorphism of class C 1 from a
neighborhood of .t0 ; 0/, say Dı .t0 /, onto a neighborhood of '.t0 ; 0/ D z0 , say
V .z0 /, and '.t; 0/ D .t /, if jt t0 j < ı. So the points of V .z0 / n are
distributed into two open connected sets denoted by V C .z0 / and V .z0 /, which
are precisely '.DıC / and '.Dı /.
Since V C and V must be each one contained in one connected component of
C n , the statement is proved.
Corollary 1.36. A bounded domain U of the plane is a domain with regular (re-
spectively piecewise regular) boundary if and only if Ux is a submanifold of R2
with regular (respectively piecewise regular) boundary.
Let us study in a little more detail the structure of a domain with regular boundary.
Proposition 1.37. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with regular (or piece-
wise regular) boundary. Then @U D 1 [ 2 [ [ N
, where i , i D 1; 2; : : : ; N
are pairwise disjoint regular (or piecewise regular) closed Jordan curves such that:
a) i Int.1 /, Int.i / Int.1 /, i D 2; 3; : : : ; N .
b) Int.2 /; Int.3 /; : : : ; Int.N / are pairwise disjoint.
c) U D Int.1 / n . Int.2 / [ [ Int.N //.
Proof. We already know that @U is composed by a finite number of pairwise disjoint
regular closed Jordan curves. Suppose now that i , j denote a pair of these curves.
Then the proposition is a direct consequence of the following observations:
1) i Int.j / ) Int.i / Int.j /.
Indeed, the unbounded component of C n j does not meet i , so it must be
contained in a component of Cni which is nothing but the unbounded component;
finally take complements.
2) Int.i / \ Int.j / D ; ) U Ext.i / \ Ext.j / (Figure 1.15).
Obviously, if U was such that U Int.i /, it could not be j @U , and
analogously for U Int.j /.
3) i Int.j / ) U Int.j / n Int.i /.
Indeed we know that Int.i / Int.j /. It is clear that U Int.j / because
i @U and it cannot be U Int.i / because j @U .
From these considerations and from the fact that U is bounded, we can deduce
that there is a Jordan curve and just one of @U which contains U in its interior.
Denoting this curve by 1 , and 2 ; : : : ; N the remainder, it is easy to see that
conditions a), b), c) hold.
i
j
Int.i /
Int.j /
Figure 1.15
Let us finish this section by making some comments about the orientation of the
boundary of a domain with regular boundary. Also let us give a precise definition
of what is meant by orienting the boundary in the positive sense.
Suppose that U is a bounded domain with regular boundary (or piecewise reg-
ular) so that, according to Proposition 1.37, the boundary of U is composed by
the closed Jordan curves 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N

. Consider each of these curves separately
(Figure 1.16). For example, fix 1 .t /, 0 t 1, and for each value t0 of the
parameter consider the point z0 D 1 .t0 / and a diffeomorphism ' like the one in
Proposition 1.35. Thus either V C .z0 / U or V .z0 / U . In the first case one
n1 .t /
' 1
2 10 .t0 /
10 .t / 3 V
VC 5
V
DıC V C
4 n1 .t0 /
t0 Dı V .z0 /
Figure 1.16
chooses the orientation of 1 given by the parametrization 1 .t /, and in the second
one, the opposite orientation given by the parametrization 1 .1 t /, 0 t 1
(see page 20). Similarly one may give an orientation to the curves 2 ; : : : ; N .
The senses of direction when travelling over these curves, 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N

, defined
this way, give an orientation to @U in the positive sense (roughly speaking, the
domain U remains at the left when travelling on). If TÅ is the vector field of tan-
gent vectors to @U given by this orientation (that is, the set of vectors i0 .t / or
i0 .1 t/ for t 2 Œ0; 1, i D 1; 2; : : : ; N ), the vector field NÅ D i TÅ , which
satisfies det.NÅ ; TÅ / > 0, is called normal exterior field in @U .
If is a closed Jordan curve, by Theorem 1.29 either Ind.; z/ D 1, for all
z 2 Int./ or Ind.; z/ D 1, for all z 2 Int. /. In the first case we say that
is positively oriented, and in the second one that it is negatively oriented. Now
it is natural to ask what is the relation between the orientation of @U in the pos-
itive sense and the orientation of the Jordan curves 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N , considered in
Proposition 1.37, in the spirit of the present discussion. The answer depends on the
following lemma:
Lemma 1.38. Let be a piecewise regular closed Jordan curve, and U D Int. /
the Jordan domain defined by . Then the positive orientation of in the sense that
Ind.; z/ D 1; z 2 U;
coincides with the orientation of @U in the positive sense.
Proof. Suppose that is oriented in the positive sense and let us show that there
exists a point z1 2 U with Ind.; z1 / D 1. Let V be a neighborhood of a certain
point of , such as in Proposition 1.35 (with J' > 0), such that V C U and
V Ext./. Take z1 2 V C , z2 2 V ; we know that Ind.; z2 / D 0, Ind.; z1 / D
˙1 and we want to see that Ind.; z1 / D 1. Break the curve into two pieces:
1 D \ V and 2 D n 1 . According to the notation of Subsection 1.5.1,
denote by arg.a/ the variation of the argument along .t / a, where a is a fixed
point. Then by the definition of index,
arg.z1 / D 1 arg.z1 / C 2 arg.z1 / D ˙1;

arg.z2 / D 1 arg.z2 / C 2 arg.z2 / D 0:
Hence, due to the fact that has the orientation induced by the positive one of U ,
it is clear that
1 arg.z1 / > 0; 1 arg.z2 / < 0
and so 2 arg.z2 / > 0.
Finally, as 2 arg.a/ is a continuous function of a, j2 arg.z1 /2 arg.z2 /j
is as small as wanted if z1 and z2 are very close. Therefore one may achieve that
2 arg.z1 / > 0, and so it is arg.z1 / > 0, that is, Ind.; z1 / D 1.
1.7. Exercises 35
Consider now the decomposition @U D 1 [2 [ [N

, under the conditions
of Proposition 1.37. Since U Int.1 / but U Ext.i /, i D 2; : : : ; N , it turns
out from Lemma 1.38, and from its proof, that if @U is positively oriented then 1
is also positively oriented and 2 ; : : : ; N are negatively oriented, that is,
Ind.1 ; z/ D 1 if z 2 Int.1 /I
(1.9)
Ind.i ; z/ D 1 if z 2 Int.i /; i D 2; : : : ; N:
For this reason, from now on we will call positive orientation of the boundary of
a domain U with regular or piecewise regular boundary the one corresponding to
the orientations given by (1.9) for the Jordan curves which form @U . With the
preceding hypothesis, if one writes, by definition,
X
n
Ind.@U; z/ D Ind.i ; z/; z 2 C n @U;
iD1
one obtains the following characterization of the points of U :
U D fz 2 C n @U W Ind.@U; z/ D 1g;
C n Ux D fz 2 C n @U W Ind.@U; z/ D 0g:
1.7 Exercises
1. Let z1 ; : : : ; zN be some points of the complex plane with jzi j D 1 for i D
1; 2; : : : ; N and z1 C C zN D 0. Show that:
a) If N D 3, the three points must be the vertices of an equilateral triangle.

b) If N D 4, the four points must be located pairwise diametrally opposite.
c) If N D 5, there are infinitely many different solutions from the ones
composed by three points forming an equilateral triangle plus two dia-
metrically opposite points.
2. Show that there are some complex numbers z which fulfill the equality
jz aj C jz bj D jcj;
with a; b; c 2 C given, if and only if ja bj jcj. In this case calculate

the maximum and the minimum value of jzj when z belongs to this set of
numbers, and also the points where these values are reached.
3. Find the value of the sums

X
n1 X
n1
jk jk
sin 2 and cos 2
n n
j D0 j D0
when n is a natural number and k is an integer not divisible by n.

4. Prove that the transformation z ! w defined for z 2 C by w D ˛ z, N with
˛ D j˛je i , is the symmetry with respect to the line which passes through
the origin and has slope tg.=2/, followed by a dilation.
5. Find the relation between the coefficients of the equation z 3 Caz 2 Cbz Cc D
0 so that the three solutions form an equilateral triangle.
6. Given three complex numbers u; w; z, consider the numbers D u C w C
2 z and D u C 2 w C z, where D e 2i=3 .
a) How do , transform if a translation, a rotation centered at the origin
or a dilation is applied to u, z, w?
Show that if the numbers = and 0 = 0 associated to the points u, w, z
and u0 , w 0 , z 0 , are equal, then the triangles uwz and u0 w 0 z 0 are similar.
b) Characterize the triangles uwz for which D 0 and D 0.
7. Let z1 , z2 , z3 be three different points of the complex plane and R the radius
of the circle that contains these points. Show the equality
1 X 1
D ;
R2
.z.2/ z .1/ /.z .3/ z.1/ /
where ranges over the group of permutations of the set f1; 2; 3g.
8. Find all the continuous homomorphisms from the additive group of R to the
multiplicative group T .
9. Show that if the mapping ˆ W C ! C satisfies jˆ.z/ ˆ.w/j D mjz wj,
with m > 0, for any pair of points z; w 2 C, then ˆ.z/ D ˛ C T .z/ with
T an R-linear mapping and ˛ 2 C. Thus ˆ is either a conformal or an
anticonformal mapping followed by a translation.
10. If z; w 2 C , denote by d.z; w/ the Euclidian distance in R3 between the
corresponding points to z; w by the stereographic projection onto the sphere
S 2 . Show the following formulae:
2jz wj
d.z; w/ D p if z; w 2 C;
.1 C jzj2 /.1 C jwj2 /
2
d.z; 1/ D p if z 2 C:
1 C jzj2
1.7. Exercises 37
p
11. Show that if there is a branch of z in an open set U of the plane with 0 … U ,
there is also a branch of arg z.
12. If is the boundary of a square ranged counterclockwise and z a point inside

the square, show analytically that Ind.; z/ D 1.
13. Show that if is a closed curve, then Ind.; z/ is a continuous function from
z on each connected component of C n .
14. Let 1 .t/; 2 .t / be two closed curves parameterized in Œa; b which do not
pass through the origin such that
j1 .t / 2 .t /j < j1 .t /j; t 2 Œa; b:
Prove that Ind.1 ; 0/ D Ind.2 ; 0/.
15. Let n .t/, a t b, n D 1; 2; : : : be a sequence of closed curves and .t /,

a t b, another closed curve such that n .t / ! .t / uniformly on
n!1
Œa; b. Show that if z is a point that does not belong to , then
Ind.; z/ D Ind.n ; z/
for n n0 , n0 big enough.
16. Give an example of a closed curve such that Ind.; z/ is a function of z

which is not bounded when z 2 C n .
17. Let .t/, a t b be a closed curve with finite length. Show that there is
a sequence of closed polygonal curves Pn .t /, a t b, n D 1; 2; : : : such
that:
a) Pn .t / ! .t / uniformly on Œa; b.

n!1
b) L.Pn / % L. /.
S1
c) limn Ind.Pn ; z/ D Ind.; z/ if z 2 C n . [ nD1 Pn /.
18. Let .t/, 0 t 2 be a C 1 closed curve such that T , Ind.; 0/ D n

and L./ D 2jnj for an integer n. Prove that if '.t /, 0 t 2, is a
branch of arg 0 .t /, then '.t / is a monotonic function on the interval Œ0; 2,
that is, describes jnj times T forward or backward.
19. Give an example of a closed Jordan curve , with L. / D C1.
20. Let .t/, with a t b, be a regular curve, that is, a curve of class C 1 with
0 .t/ ¤ 0, a t b. Show that:
a) There exist constants m; > 0 and ı > 0 such that
mjt sj j.t / .s/j jt sj if t; s 2 Œa; b and jt sj < ı:
b) There exists a constant K > 0 such that

Z
j 0 .t /j dt Kr
ft W j.t/zj<rg
for z 2 C and r > 0.

21. A bounded domain of the plane with regular boundary which is simply con-
nected is a Jordan domain. Is this statement true for every simply connected
bounded domain?
22. Let U be an open set of the plane such that C n U is connected. Show that
each connected component of U is a simply connected domain.
23. Let ' W Œa; b ! R be a function with continuous derivative. Show that the
subgraph-type domain
U D f.x; y/; a x b; 0 y '.x/g
is a simply connected domain with piecewise regular boundary.

Chapter 2
Functions of a complex variable
The aim of this chapter is to introduce the concept of function of a complex vari-
able and to describe the most common ones, such as exponential, logarithmic and
trigonometric functions. In doing so, we will extend differential calculus to the
complex context. The most important way to define new functions of one complex
variable is by means of power series. This is the reason why complex power series
are studied in detail, stressing the fact that the natural domain of power series, even
real ones, is in the complex plane.
The extension of the notion of derivative to functions of a complex variable
leads to the concept of a holomorphic function, which is considered both from an
analytic and a geometric point of view. Power series define holomorphic functions;
but in fact there is a much deeper connection between holomorphic functions and
power series because, as one will see in Chapter 4, any holomorphic function is
locally the sum of a power series.
The study of functions locally expressed as a sum of a power series, called
analytic functions, is then equivalent to the study of holomorphic functions. The
last sections of this chapter are devoted to the study of both real and complex analytic
functions.
2.1 Real variable polynomials, complex variable polynomials,

rational functions
Usually, complex-valued functions f W U ! C defined on a domain U in the
complex plane will be considered. They may be represented as f D u C iv, where
u D Re f; v D Im f are real-valued functions defined on U .
The simplest functions are the polynomials of the complex variable z, P .z/ D
a0 C a1 z C a2 z 2 C C an z n , with aj 2 C, which are functions defined on the
whole complex plane C. The number n is called the degree of P and is denoted by
deg.P /. Recall that due to the fundamental theorem of algebra we can write
P .z/ D an .z ˛1 /.z ˛2 / .z ˛n /;
where the points ˛i are the zeros of P , counting multiplicities. It is important to

distinguish these polynomials from polynomials with two real variables x and y.
It is clear that if one has a polynomial P .z/ and replaces z by z D x C iy, then
one obtains a polynomial P .x; y/ with variables x, y and complex coefficients; one
may also write P .z/ D P1 .x; y/ C iP2 .x; y/ with P1 , P2 real-valued polynomials;
40 Chapter 2. Functions of a complex variable
for example,
z 2 D .x C iy/2 D x 2 y 2 C i 2xy:
But not every polynomial in x, y with complex coefficients (or equivalently every
polynomial P1 C iP2 with P1 , P2 real-valued) is a polynomial in z; for example,
x 2 C y 2 is not. In fact, one will see below that any polynomial that only takes real
values cannot be a polynomial in z.
How may one recognize if a polynomial P .x; y/ is, in fact, a polynomial P .z/
in z? This question may be solved algebraically, finding P .z/ directly: it is enough
N
to express x, y in terms of z, z,
z C zN z zN
xD ; yD ;
2 2i
substitute these variables in the polynomial P .x; y/, and check that there is no term
N Another answer for this question is the following:
in z.
Let .t/ D x.t / C iy.t / be a complex function of the real variable t . In (1.2)
we have already defined 0 .t /, the derivative of this function, as
.t C h/ .t /
0 .t / D lim
h!0 h
in the points where this limit exists. In this case it reads 0 .t / D x 0 .t / C iy 0 .t /. The
formal properties of the derivative 0 .t / are the same as in the case of real-valued
functions. Hence, for example, if m 2 N then
..t /m /0 D m.t /m1 0 .t /
Pn
which is a consequence of equality (1.3). Then it follows that if P .z/ D lD1 al z l
is a polynomial in z, one has that
X
ŒP ..t //0 D 0 .t / lal .t /l1 :
l
P
If now, as natural, one denotes by P 0 .z/ the polynomial l lal z l1 , one has the
following rule:
ŒP B 0 D 0 P 0 . /:
Pz are the only ones which have this property.

It turns out that the polynomials in
Actually, suppose that P .x; y/ D k;j ak;j x k y j has the property
ŒP B 0 D 0 Q. /;
for some polynomial Q and for all differentiable functions .t /. Taking .t / parallel
to the real axis, .t / D t C i b, b 2 R, one has that @P
@x
D Q. Taking .t / parallel
to the imaginary axis, .t / D a C i t, a 2 R, one has @y D iQ. Then,
@P
@P @P
Di ; (2.1)
@y @x
2.2. Complex exponential functions, logarithms and powers. Trigonometric functions 41
that is, jak;j D i.kC1/akC1;j 1 . Introducing the numbers bk;j D kŠj Šak;j .i /j ,
the previous equation means that bkC1;j 1 D bk;j , that is, by iteration, that bk;j
just depend on the value of k C j D l. Hence, bk;j D bkCj;0 . One then has
kŠj Šak;j D .k C j /ŠakCj;0 i j , that is,

kCj j
ak;j D i akCj;0 ;
k
P
and so P .z/ D l
l al;0 z . Consequently, one has shown analytically that the
0 0
relation ŒP B D Q. / for a polynomial Q and for any .t / holds if and only
if P is a polynomial in z, and in this case Q D P 0 .
The rational functions are those of type
P .z/
R.z/ D ;
Q.z/
where P , Q are polynomials in z. Simplifying the possible reducible common
factors, one may suppose that P , Q have no common zeros; in this case, the
function R is not defined in the set Z.Q/ of the zeros of Q, which are also called
poles of R. Hence, R is a continuous function on CnZ.Q/. Every rational function
R has a unique decomposition as a sum of a polynomial (which only appears in the
case that the degree of P is greater than or equal to the degree of Q) and simple
fractions, that is, of the kind
a
;
.z ˛/k
where ˛ 2 Z.Q/, a is a constant and k is less than or equal to the multiplicity of
˛ as a zero of Q. This result may be proved in a purely algebraic way, but we will
also give an analytic proof later on (see Theorem 5.13).
Observe that any rational function, R D P =Q, defines a continuous function
from C to C taking R.a/ D 1 when a is a pole of R and R.1/ D 1 if deg.P / >
deg.Q/, R.1/ D limjzj!1 R.z/ otherwise (this will be zero if deg.Q/ > deg.P /
and the ratio of the leading coefficients if they are equal).
2.2 Complex exponential functions, logarithms and powers.

Trigonometric functions
2.2.1 The exponential function
The exponential function of a real variable, e x , is familiar from calculus. The
exponential function when the exponent is a pure imaginary number, e iy , has been
defined in Subsection 1.4.1, as
e iy D cos y C i sin y: (2.2)
The natural extension to any complex exponent is the following:
Definition 2.1. For z D x Ciy, the exponential function of z with basis e is defined
as
e z D e x .cos y C i sin y/:
Using the formulae (1.1) for the sine and cosine of a sum, one may check
immediately the following rule:
e zCw D e z e w ; if z; w 2 C:
This relation is the fundamental property of the exponential function. In particular,

one has that e z D 1=e z and e z ¤ 0, for all z 2 C. The equation e z D 1 has
infinite solutions: z D 2ki, k 2 Z. The exponential function is 2 i -periodic:
e zC2ki D e z , k 2 Z. Furthermore, je z j D e Re z , Im z 2 arg e z and e z D e w if
and only if z w is an entire multiple of 2 i.
The exponential map is bijective from the strip B D fz W < Im z g
to C n f0g and so it is also injective in all horizontal strips of width less than 2.
The horizontal line y D y0 is transformed by the exponential function into the
infinite open ray starting at the origin and making an angle y0 with the real axis.
The vertical line x D x0 is transformed into the circle centered at the origin and
with radius e x0 (Figure 2.1).
ex
i.y0 C 2/
e x0 0
y0 e x0
iy0
0 x0 x00
Figure 2.1
A line y D mx with slope m ¤ 0 is transformed into the curve with parametric

equation x ! e x e imx , which is a spiral (Figure 2.2).
2.2.2 Logarithms
As important as the exponential function is its inverse, the logarithm function.
Definition 2.2. For z 2 C, z ¤ 0, the logarithm of z, log z, is any complex number

w such that e w D z.
ez
mx
yD
m>0
Figure 2.2
The real exponential function is a bijection from R onto RC , and so only the
positive real numbers have a real logarithm. This defines the (natural) logarithm
function Log W RC ! R, inverse of the exponential function. In the complex case,
solving the equation e w D z, equivalent to e Re w e i Im w D jzje i arg z , it is seen that
all the logarithms have the same real part, Log jzj, and that its imaginary part is an
argument of z,
log z D Log jzj C i arg z:
Hence two logarithms of z differ in an entire multiple of 2 i .
Definition 2.3. Among all the logarithms of z, the one defined by Arg z is called
the principal logarithm and it is denoted by Log z,
Log z D Log jzj C i Arg z:
When z is a positive real number, this logarithm coincides with the natural
logarithm. Hence Log is a complex function defined in C n f0g and, as in the case
of the principal argument function, it is discontinuous on the negative half of the
real axis. The rule
log zw D log z C log w
is valid if interpreted as equality between sets. But the rule Log zw D Logp
zCLog w
is not; for example, for z D w D 1 i one has Log z D Log w D Log 2 3 4
i,
while for zw D 2i one has Log zw D Log 2 C 2 i .
As done in the case of the argument, one will speak about continuous branches
of the logarithm.
Definition 2.4. A continuous branch of the logarithm in a connected set E C,
not containing zero, is a continuous function g on E such that e g.z/ D z, if z 2 E.
More generally, if f W E ! C is a function defined on any set E and f .z/ ¤ 0 for

z 2 E, then a continuous branch of log f is a continuous function g defined on E
such that e g.z/ D f .z/, z 2 E.
The equivalence between continuous branches of the logarithm and continuous
branches of the argument is obvious, since the argument is the imaginary part of
the logarithm and the real part is completely determined. For example, Log is a
continuous branch of the logarithm in the complement of non-positive numbers.
In the complement of any infinite ray, and in particular, in any disc not containing
zero, there are continuous branches of the logarithm. In Theorem 1.23 the case of
curves has been examined, that is, when E is an interval. Also, as a consequence
of Theorem 1.23 there is a continuous branch h.t / of the logarithm of .t / for all
continuous curves avoiding the origin. Moreover if is differentiable, then h is
also differentiable and h0 .t / D 0 .t /=.t /.
2.2.3 Complex powers

Definition 2.5. Given z; w 2 C, z ¤ 0, we define z w as the set of complex numbers
z w D e w log z where log z is any logarithm of z: (2.3)
When log z is the principal branch, e w Log z is called the principal branch of z w . In
general, if f W E ! C is a function defined on a connected set E with f .z/ ¤ 0,
z 2 E, and w 2 C, a continuous branch of f w is a continuous function g W E ! C
such that g.z/ 2 Œf .z/w ; z 2 E.
Clearly if there is a continuous branch h of log f , then g.z/ D e wh.z/ is a
continuous branch of f w . Since two logarithms of z differ on an entire multiple of
2 i, two possible values of z w differ on a factor e 2k iw , k 2 Z and have, then, the
same modulus, which is jzjw , if w is a real number. If w is an integer m, all these
factors are 1. In this case the set of powers is reduced either to the unique value
z m D z z (m times) if m > 0, or z m D z 1 z 1 if m < 0. If w is rational
n
with irreducible expression m , then Definition 2.5 coincides with the one given in
n=m
Subsection 1.1.2 and z is a finite set of m numbers. If w is irrational, then
z w D e w Log jzj e iw Arg z e 2k iw ; k 2 Z;
which is a dense sequence of points in the circle centered at 0 with radius jzjw . If
w D it is pure imaginary, one has
z w D e it Log jzj e t Arg z e t2k ; k 2 Z:
Example 2.6. 1w is the set of complex numbers e 2 ikw , k 2 Z, and if w D i t ,

this set is formed by the real numbers e 2 tk , k 2 Z.
Observe that, in general, one has log z w D w log z C 2Zi , understood as an

equality of sets. Arithmetic rules such as
.z w / D z w (2.4)
must be properly interpreted. The left-hand side term is ˛ , with ˛ D z w ; hence,
.z w / D e log ˛ D e .w log zC2Zi/ D e w log zC2Zi :
From here it is deduced that the set .z w / contains the set z w , and they are the
same only if
is an integer. Only if w,
are both integers, (2.4) is a valid equality
for numbers. Applying it in other cases may lead to absurd conclusions. For
example: assume z ¤ 0; then z D e w for a certain w; let
D w=2 i . Then
z D e w D e 2 i D .e 2 i / D 1 D 1ŠŠ
2.2.4 Trigonometric functions

From Euler’s identity (2.2) it follows that
e ix C e ix e ix e ix
cos x D ; sin x D :
2 2i
So the extension of these functions to the complex field is naturally defined by
e iz C e iz e iz e iz
cos z D ; sin z D ; z 2 C: (2.5)
2 2i
It easily follows that cos z, sin z are 2-periodic, that is, cos.z C 2k/ D cos z and
sin.z C 2k/ D sin z, k 2 Z. It is also immediate to check
cos.z C w/ D cos z cos w sin z sin w;
z; w 2 C; (2.6)
sin.z C w/ D sin z cos w C cos z sin w;
as well as the fundamental relation
cos2 z C sin2 z D 1; z 2 C:
Unlike the real case, the functions sin z, cos z are not bounded functions. For
x x
example, cos ix D e 2Ce ! 1 when x ! ˙1.
2.2.5 Hyperbolic functions

In a similar way we can also consider the hyperbolic functions of a complex vari-
able z, defined by
e z C e z e z e z
ch z D ; sh z D ; z 2 C:
2 2
These functions are linked to trigonometric functions by the relations
ch z D cos iz; sh z D i sin iz; z 2 C; (2.7)
and satisfy the equality ch2 z sh2 z D 1. The addition formulae
ch.z C w/ D ch z ch w C sh z sh w;
z; w 2 C;
sh.z C w/ D sh z ch w C ch z sh w;
are also valid. Applying addition formulae (2.6) to cos z D cos.x Ciy/ and keeping
in mind the relations (2.7), one has that
Re cos.x C iy/ D cos x ch y; Im cos.x C iy/ D sin x sh y;
Re sin.x C iy/ D sin x ch y; Im sin.x C iy/ D cos x sh y:
Now one may calculate j cos zj and j sin zj. Writing always z D x C iy it turns out
that j cos zj2 D .cos x ch y/2 C .sin x sh y/2 D ch2 y sin2 x.ch2 y sh2 y/ D
ch2 y sin2 x. That is,
q q
j cos zj D ch y sin x D cos2 x C sh2 y;
2 2
and analogously,
q q
j sin zj D sh2 y C sin2 x D ch2 y cos2 x:
From these equalities we get the estimates
j sh yj j cos zj ch y;
j sh yj j sin zj ch y;
which show that j cos zj; j sin zj ! 1 when jyj ! 1, that is, when one travels
away from the real axis. One may also deduce that the growth of j cos zj, j sin zj is
faster than the one of j sh yj and slower than the one of j ch yj.
2.3 Power series

A very important way of defining new functions is using power series of the complex
variable z. The natural domain of definition of power series, including the ones of
a real variable, is in the complex plane, as will be seen.
2.3. Power series 47
2.3.1 Series of complex numbers

P
The series 1 nD0 zn with general term zn 2 C is said to be convergent with sum S
PN
if the partial sums nD0 zn have limit S, when N ! 1. If zn D xn C iyP n and
S
P D A C iB, this is equivalent to the fact that the series of real numbers xn ,
n yn are convergent
P with sums A, B, respectively.
P The series zn is said to be absolutely convergent if the series of modulus
jzn j converges; once again this is equivalent to the series of real and imaginary
parts being absolutely convergent.
P P .1/n n
Example 2.7. Consider the series 1 .1/n
nD1 nCi . Its real part is 1Cn2
, an al-
ternating series whose general term has modulus decreasing to zero, whence con-
vergent; the modulus of the general term is comparable to n1 , and so the real part
P 1
is not absolutely convergent. The imaginary part is 1Cn2
, with positive general
1
term comparable to n2 , and so absolutely convergent. Then, the complex series is
convergent, but not absolutely convergent.
The following result dealing with the different ways of summing a series will
be used later on.
Proposition 2.8. a) A series of complex terms is absolutely convergent with sum S

if and only if all its rearrangements are convergent with the same sum S .
b) An absolutely convergent series may be summed in blocks arbitrarily.
The meaning of this proposition is that if one has a countable family fz˛ g,
˛ 2 A such that, in a certain
P order, their moduli have finite sum, then this family
has a well-defined sum ˛2A z˛ , independently of the ordering used (it is said to
be a summable family). Furthermore, one may calculate the sum using P arbitrary
blocks;
P P that is, if A is the disjoint union of the sets Ai , i 2 I , then ˛2A z˛ D
i2I ˛2Ai ˛z .
P
Proof. In part a) it will be only shown that if zn is absolutely convergent with sum
S, then any rearrangement is also absolutely convergent with the same sum. The
converse for real series may be found in [10], P p. 76, and follows for complex series
separating real and imaginary parts. Let
P wn be a rearrangement Pnof the series
Pn zn , supposed absolutely convergent with sum S, and
Pnwrite S n D kD1 zk , Tn D
P m
PkD1 w k . If S m contains
P all the terms of T n , then kD1 jw k j kD1 jzk j
1
kD1 jzn j < C1, so w n is also absolutely convergent. Now, given " > 0,
choose n 2 N in such a way that
1
X
jS Sn j jzk j < ":
kDnC1
If Tm contains all the terms of Sn and r m, one has
jTr Sn j < "
and finally,
jS Tr j jS Sn j C jSn Tr j < 2" if r m;

P
that is, wn D S. P
For part b), start observing that, since
P the complete series ˛2A z˛ is absolutely
convergent,P it is clear that each block ˛2AiP z˛ is also absolutely convergent. Write
now Si D ˛2Ai z˛ if i 2 I ; the series i2I Si is also absolutely convergent
because if the indexes of I are rearranged in some way, say i1 ; i2 ; : : : ; in ; : : : and
one takes a finite sum, then
X
n X X X
jSik j jz˛ j C C jz˛ j jz˛ j < C1:
kD1 ˛2Ai1 ˛2Ain ˛2A
Order now the indexes of A in the sequence f˛1 ; ˛2 ; : : : ; ˛n ; : : : g, and given " > 0,
choose N such that X
jz˛n j < ":
n>N
Now one can find a finite set of indexes i1 ; i2 ; : : : ; ir0 of I such that f˛1 ; : : : ; ˛N g
Ai1 [ [ Air0 . Then for any r r0 one has
ˇ X ˇ ˇ X ˇ
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇSi1 C C Sir z˛n ˇ ˇSi1 C C Sir z˛n ˇ
n nN
ˇX X ˇ
ˇ ˇ
Cˇ z˛ n z˛n ˇ < 2":
nN n
P P P P
This means that ˛2A z˛ D i2I Si D i2I ˛2Ai z˛ .
P To illustrate how to apply these properties consider now the double series
n;m2N zn;m . The numbers fzn;m g may be thought as the entries of an infinite
matrix, with n representing the index for rows and
P m for columns. One possibility
is to sum the terms ofPthePmatrix first by rows, m zn;m , and after that, to sum up
the results obtained, n m zn; . Alternatively, one may sum first by columns and
then sum up the results. In general both are not equal, that is, the identity
XX XX
zn;m D zn;m (2.8)
n m m n
is not true; it could happen that one term makes sense but not the other one, or even
that both make sense but have different values. For example, taking zn;m D 1 if
n D m C 1, zn;m D 1 if n D m 1 and zmn D 0 in other cases, it turns out
P P1 P P1
that 1 mD1 zn;m D 1 but 1 nD1 zmn D 1. From Proposition 2.8 it
nD1 P P P P
mD1
follows that if either n m jzn;m j or m n jzn;m j is finite, then both members
of (2.8) make sense and are equal. This statement is, in fact, Fubini’s theorem for
series. As an application of this result the multiplication of series of complex terms
will be studied now:
P P
Proposition 2.9. Suppose that n an and n bn are absolutely convergent with
P P
respective sums A and B. Then the series k ck , where ck D knD0 an bkn , is
absolutely convergent with sum AB.
P P P P
Proof. Obviously
P k jck j n;m jan jjbm j D . n jan j/. m jbm j/ < 1, so
the series
P ck is absolutely convergent. This shows also that the double series
n;m an bm is summable (absolutely convergent); summing first in m and then in
n wePget AB, and grouping an bm in blocks defined by n C m D k, k fixed, we
get ck .
P
ThePseries kP ck of the previous proposition is called Cauchy’s product of the
series n an and n bn .
2.3.2 Function series

P
We will need uniform convergence criteria for function series n fn .p/, where the
functions fn are defined on an arbitrary set X . Recall that the concept of uniform
convergence is the one that guarantees the continuity of the sum in the case that a
topology is defined on X and that each function fn is continuous on X .
Theorem
P P If jfn .p/j Mn , for all p 2 X , n 1 and
2.10 (Weierstrass M -test).
n Mn < C1, then the series n fn .p/ is uniformly convergent on X .
Proof. We can check that Cauchy’s uniform convergence criterion is satisfied. In-
deed, if m > n then for a fixed " > 0,
ˇXm ˇ X m 1
X
ˇ ˇ
ˇ fk .p/ˇ jfk .p/j Mk < "
n n kDn
P
for n big enough, because Mn < C1.
P1
For example, with this criterion one can see that the series nD0 an cos.b n x/
with a; b 2 R and 0 < a < 1 is uniformly convergent on R, and so it defines a
continuous function on the real line. Weierstrass used the previous series with b an
odd integer and ab > 1 C 3=2 to give an example of a continuous function on R,

not differentiable at any point.
Abel’s summation by parts formula is needed to establish a couple of conver-
gence criteria.
Lemma 2.11. Let .an /, .bn / be two sequences of complex numbers and write
An D a1 C a2 C C an . Then
X
n X
n
ak bk D An bnC1 Ak .bkC1 bk /; n 2 N: (2.9)
kD1 kD1
Proof. Setting A0 D 0, one has
X
n X
n
ak bk D .Ak Ak1 /bk
kD1 kD1
X
n X
n1 X
n
D Ak bk Ak bkC1 D Ak .bk bkC1 / C An bnC1 :
kD1 kD1 kD1
Abel’s summation by parts formula is the discrete version of integration by parts

formula. It may be better seen writing it in terms of An and bn , as in the previous
proof, that is,
X
n X
n
.Ak Ak1 /bk D An bnC1 Ak .bkC1 bk /:
kD1 kD1
This equality corresponds to the formula

Z b ˇb Z b
ˇ
A0 .x/b.x/ dx D A.x/b.x/ˇ A.x/b 0 .x/ dx;
a a a
if we consider the sequences .Ak Ak1 / and .bkC1 bk / as the derivatives of

the sequences .Ak / and .bk /, respectively.
P
Theorem 2.12 (Dirichlet’s test). Consider a function series n fn .p/gn .p/ where
the functions fn .p/ are complex-valued andPthe functions gn .p/ are real-valued
n
P p 2 X, n 1. Denote by Fn .p/ D
for kD1 fk .p/ the n-th partial sum of
fn .p/ and suppose that there is a constant M 0 such that jFn .p/j M ,
for n 1; p 2 X . Suppose also that the sequence .gn .p// is monotonically
decreasing, gn .p/ gPnC1 .p/, p 2 X , n 1 and that converges uniformly to zero
on X. Then the series n fn .p/gn .p/ is uniformly convergent on X .
Proof. Fix " > 0. By (2.9), if n < m, one has

X
m X
m m X
X k
fk .p/gk .p/ D fk .p/ gmC1 .p/ f` .p/ .gkC1 .p/gk .p//
kDn kDn kDn `Dn
(2.10)
and this expression has its modulus dominated by
X
m
2M gmC1 .p/ C 2M .gk .p/ gkC1 .p// D 2M gn .p/
kDn
and then is smaller than ", for any p 2 X , if n is big enough.

Example 2.13. Summing up a geometric sequence and applying the expression of
sin x from (2.5) it turns out immediately that
X
n
1 e i nx sin.nx=2/ i.nC1/x=2
e ikx D e ix D e :
1e ix sin.x=2/
kD1
Now taking 0 < ı < , it follows that

ˇXn ˇ
ˇ ˇ 1 1
ˇ e ikx ˇ if ı x 2 ı:
j sin.x=2/j sin ı=2
kD1
Choosing fn D e i nx and gn D 1
n
Dirichlet’s test guarantees that the series
X1
e i nx
nD1
n
converges uniformly on Œı; 2 ı, for any ı > 0, ı < P . Observe that the
Weierstrass M -test cannot be applied, since je i nx j D 1 and 1
n
D C1.
P
Theorem 2.14 (Abel’s test). Consider a function series n fn .p/gn .p/ P where
the functions fn .p/ and gn .p/ are complex-valued, and suppose that n fn .p/
is uniformly convergent on X and that there is a number M 0 such that, for
p 2 X, X
jg1 .p/j C jgn .p/ gnC1 .p/j M:
n1
P
Then the series n fn .p/gn .p/ converges uniformly on X .
ˇP ˇ
Proof. Given " > 0, one has ˇ m ˇ
kDn fk .p/ ", if m > n are big enough, for
p 2 X . Now the modulus of (2.10) is bounded by
X
m
"jgmC1 .p/j C " jgk .p/ gkC1 .p/j 2"M;
kDn
because jg` .p/j M , for all ` 2 N, p 2 X , as may be seen by writing g` .p/ D

P
g1 .p/ C `1mD1 .gmC1 .p/ gm .p// and taking absolute value.
The hypothesis on the sequence .gn / in Abel’s test is satisfied when it is a
monotone uniformly bounded sequence of real-valued functions on X .
Clearly, when X is a point, the previous tests become tests for convergence of
P series. For example, the result according to which an alternating series
numerical
of type n .1/n an , with an & 0 is convergent, may be seen as a consequence
of Dirichlet’s test. More generally, if .fn / is a decreasing
P sequence of functions
with uniform limit 0 on X , then the alternating series n .1/n fn .p/ converges
uniformly on X .
2.3.3 Domain of convergence of a power series

A specially important type of function series are the power series.
Definition 2.15. A power series centered at a point a 2 C is a function series of
the form
C1
X
cn .z a/n ; cn 2 C:
nD0
P
So, a power series is a function series n fn .z/ with fn .z/ D cn .z a/n a
monomial of degree n, and the series may be seen as an “infinite degree polynomial”.
For each value of z 2 C one has a complex number series. Beyond formal aspects,
the interesting feature is how to find the domain of convergence of the power series,
˚ P
E D z 2 C W the series n cn .z a/n is convergent ;
P
and the properties of the function f defined on E by f .z/ D n cn .z a/n . So,
P
z 2 E if the sequence of partial sums N nD0 cn .z a/ is convergent in C. Only
n
in particular cases may the partial sums be calculated explicitly and the set E may
be obtainedPfrom the definition. For example, for the geometric series centered at
the origin, n z n , one has
X
N
1 z N C1
zn D if z ¤ 1;
nD0
1z
and if z D 1, the sum is N C 1. Hence, the series is convergent if and only if z N C1

is convergent, that is, if jzj < 1. So, E D D and the value of the sum is 1=.1 z/.
Some information about the structure of E is given in the following theorem.
Recall that the upper limit of a sequence .xn / of real numbers is defined as
D inf supkn xk D lim supkn xk

n n
where D C1 if the sequence is not bounded from above. We will write D

lim supn xn . When it is finite, is the unique number with the two following
properties:
1) For each " > 0, infinitely many terms xn of the sequence are greater than
".
2) For each " > 0, all the terms of the sequence after one of them are smaller
than C ".
It turns out that is the maximum of the set of cluster points of the sequence .xn /,
that is, in the set of the numbers m C1 for which there is a partial sequence .xkn /
convergent to m, when kn ! 1. If the sequence .xn / is convergent to m C1,
then D m; if the sequence is the finite union of convergent subsequences, is the
biggest of the respective limits.
P
Theorem 2.16. If n cn .z a/n is a power series and one writes R D 1 where
1
D lim supn jcn j n (interpreting that R D 0 if D C1 and R D C1 if D 0),
then the series converges uniformly on compact sets of the open disc D.a; R/,
converges absolutely at each point z 2 D.a; R/ and diverges out the closed disc
x R/. Hence, D.a; R/ E D.a;
D.a; x R/ and the interior of the domain of
convergence E is D.a; R/.
Proof. If jz aj > R, then jz aj1 < , and by property 1) of the upper limit,
1
there are infinitely many terms jcn j n which are greater than jz aj1 . That is,
there are infinitely many values of n such that jcn .z a/n j > 1; so the sequence
.cn .z a/n / cannot be convergent to zero and z … E. Let us show now that the
x r/, r < R: if jz aj r,
series converges uniformly on every closed disc D.a;
then jcn .z a/n j jcn jr n D Mn , and by property 2) of the upper limit one has
1 1
< r 0 < 1 for a number r 0 and a certain value of n. Then, by the root
Mnn D jcn j n r P
test, the series n Mn is convergent and the Weierstrass M -test assures uniform
x r/.
convergence of the power series on D.a;
The number R is called the radius of convergence of the power series, and
1
D.a; R/ is the disc of convergence (Figure 2.3). The equality R1 D lim supn jcn j n
is called Hadamard’s formula.
In the expression ofP R, cn is by definition the coefficient of .z a/n ; hence,
for example, the series m z 2m has cn D 1 if n is even and cn D 0 if n is odd,
1 1
limn jcn j n does not exist and lim supn jcn j n D
P1, so nthe radius of convergence is
1. In general, observe that if a power series n cn z has P radius of convergence
R and one does the change z D w k , the obtained series, n cn w k n , has radius of
1
convergence R k . Remark also that
˚ P
R D sup r > 0 W n cn .z a/ converges for z 2 D.a; r/
n
˚ P (2.11)
D sup r > 0 W n jcn jr < 1 :
n
Divergence
r
Uniform
a R
convergence
Absolute convergence
Convergence or divergence
Figure 2.3
The following fact for sequences .xn /, xn > 0, is often useful: if there exists
x
L D lim nC1xn
C1, then also lim xn1=n D L. This implies the equality R D
limn jcjcnC1
nj
j
, provided that this limit exists.
It is worth mentioning that, in general, the convergence of the power series P is not
uniform on the whole disc D.a; R/. For example, the geometric series z n does
not converge uniformly on D because otherwise it would define a bounded function
on D, which is not the case. The disc D.a; R/ is the biggest open P set where the
series is convergent. In this disc, the series defines a function f .z/ D cn .z a/n ;
obviously f is continuous at every point z of the open disc D.a; R/, since the
convergence is uniform on every closed disc with radius r < R. It is not possible
to give a more precise result about the domain of convergence E of a power series.
P
Example 2.17. The geometric series n z n has radius of convergence 1 and domain
P n
of convergence E D D; the series n1 zn2 also has radius of convergence 1 and
ˇ ˇ P 1
converges uniformly on D x by Weierstrass’ test, because ˇˇ z n2 ˇˇ 12 and
n n n n2 <
C1. Hence, in this case E D D. x
These are the two extremal cases; in general, the domain of convergence E
consists of the open disc D.a; R/ and a subset of the circle C.a; R/.
P n
Example 2.18. The series n1 zn , which has radius of convergence 1, gives the
harmonic series at the point z D 1, and hence is divergent, while at z D 1 it gives
an alternating convergent series. We will now prove that at any other point z ¤ 1
of modulus 1 it is convergent; indeed, this series converges uniformly on compact
sets of type K D fz W jzj 1, jz 1j "g, " > 0, as it may be seen applying
Dirichlet’s test with fn .z/ D z n , gn .z/ D n1 . Actually, if z 2 K, then the partial
P N C1
sums N nD1 z D .1 z
n
/=.1 z/ are bounded by 2" , and on the other hand
it is clear that gn & 0 uniformly (it converges to zero and does not depend on z).
x n f1g, which will be
In particular, this series defines a continuous function on D
determined below.
2.3.4 Operations with power series

As
P for polynomials,P one may perform some operations with P power series: nif
n .cn Cdn /.za/ ,
n n
n cn .za/ , n dn .za/ are two power series,Pthe sum is
while the product, as for polynomials, is the series n en .z a/n , where the coef-
ficients en are
Xn
en D ck dnk
kD0
that is, Cauchy’s

P P computed for each z 2 C. For example, the product of
product
the series n 2n z n , n 3n z n has the coefficients
X
n n k
X 2 1 .2=3/nC1
en D k nk
2 3 D3n
D 3n D 3nC1 2nC1 :
kD0 kD0
3 1 23
P P
If one has two power series n cn .z an /, n dn .z a/n both centered at the
point a with respective radius of convergence R1 , R2 , it is clear using (2.11) that
the sum of the two series has radius of convergence, at least, R D min.R1 ; R2 /
and, obviously, it defines a function which is the sum of the functions defined by
each series. A similar statement is true for the product. If jz aj < R, both series
are absolutely convergent at z so Cauchy’s product is, by Proposition 2.9. Hence,
the product series has convergence radius greater than or equal to jz aj; since z
is an arbitrary number with jz aj < R, one obtains that the radius of convergence
of the product is also, at least, R D min.R1 ; R2 /.
P
Example 2.19. Cauchy’s product of the geometric series n0 z n by itself has
n C 1 as coefficient of z n , and then
X 2
1
.n C 1/z D
n
:
n
1z
Another important operation with power series is complex differentiation, which

will be treated below.
2.3.5 The exponential function as a complex power series

Recall (by Definition 2.1) that e z D e x .cos y C i sin y/ if z D x C iy. Hence, the
function z 7! e z extends to the whole plane C the exponential function x 7! e x of
the real variable x. Now it will be seen that e z is also, for any z 2 C, the sum of
the power series
X1
zn
:
nD0
nŠ
First of all, it is clear that the radius of convergence of this power series is C1,
since
.n C 1/Š
D n C 1 ! C1:
nŠ
P n
For the time being, let us denote its sum by E.z/ D n znŠ . Applying Proposi-
tion 2.9, it turns out that
X zn X wm
E.z/E.w/ D
n
nŠ m mŠ
X 1 X kŠ n m X .z C w/k
D z w D D E.z C w/:
kŠ nŠmŠ kŠ
k nCmDk k
In particular, E.z/ D E.x/E.iy/ D e E.iy/ if z D x C iy, and it remains to

x
check that E.iy/ D cos y C i sin y. Now, in the expression

X i nyn
E.iy/ D
n
nŠ
the even terms, n D 2k, give rise to the real part of E.iy/, and the odd terms,
n D 2k C 1, give rise to the imaginary part. Consequently,
1
X y 2k
Re E.iy/ D .1/k D cos y;
.2k/Š
kD0
X1
y 2kC1
Im E.iy/ D .1/k D sin y;
.2k C 1/Š
kD0
and finally
1
X zn
E.z/ D D e x .cos y C i sin y/ D e z ; z 2 C;
0
nŠ
as had been stated.

From definitions (2.5) the development in power series of the complex trigono-
metric functions follows:
1
X 1
X
z 2n z 2nC1
cos z D .1/n ; sin z D .1/n :
nD0
.2n/Š nD0
.2n C 1/Š
2.3.6 Convergence at the boundary

P
Let n0 cn .z a/n be a power series with radius of convergence R. Denote by
S the set of points z such that jz aj D R and the power series converges at z, that
is, S D E \ C.a; R/. If S is non-empty and m > 1 is a real number, consider the
set
Sm D fz W jz aj < R; d.z; S / m.R jz aj/g;
where d.z; S / is the distance from z to S. If S has only a point w, the set Sm has,
in a neighborhood of w, the shape of an angle with vertex w and measure strictly
smaller than , depending on m, called a Stolz angle (Figure 2.4).
b
w
a
Sm
Figure 2.4
For a general S , Sm is the union of all Stolz angles with vertex at the points
of S .
Theorem 2.20 (Abel).P With the previous notations, suppose that S is non-empty
and that the series n cn .z a/n converges uniformly on S. Then the convergence
of the series is also uniform on the set Sm , for all m > 1. In particular, the sum
function is continuous on Sm and one has
X X
lim cn .z a/n D cn .w a/n ; w 2 S:
z!w; z2Sm
n n
Proof. The proof is done only in the case S is a point w; without loss of generality,
one may suppose a D 0, R D 1 and w D 1. Apply Abel’s P test (Theorem 2.14)
taking fn .z/ PD cn , gn .z/ D z n . By hypothesis, the series n cn is convergent so
that trivially n fn converges uniformly (on any set). Let us check now that the
condition on jgn j is satisfied on Sm D fz W jzj < 1; jz 1j m.1 jzj/g; actually,
one has
X X j1 zj
1C jz n z nC1 j D 1 C j1 zj jzjn D 1 C 1 C m:
n0 n0
1 jzj
P
If f .z/ D n cn .z a/ and w 2 S, the previous theorem says that
n
limz!w f .z/ D f .w/, if z approaches to w inside Sm . In particular, this is true if

z tends to w radially, that is, limr!1 f .rw/ D f .w/. If w is interior to S , that is,
if there is an arc centered at w contained in S, then f is continuous at w (since a
whole neighborhood of w contained in D.a; x R/ is inside Sm ). In particular, if S is
the whole circle C.a; R/, f is continuous on the whole closed disc.
Abel’s TheoremP gives a method for summing series when applied in the following
way. Suppose that cn is a convergent P numerical series and we want to compute
its sum; consider the power series cn z n . Since it converges for z D 1, this series
has radius of convergence R 1 and one has
X X
lim cn r n D cn :
r!1; r<1
n n
In the case that R > 1 this is true because the sum function is continuous on the
open disc of convergence, P and if R D 1, it is guaranteed by Abel’s
PTheorem. The
problem of computing cn has become the problem of evaluating cn r n and then
computing a limit. At first glance we have made it more complicated.
P However, the
point is the fact that it could be much easier to compute cn z n for jzj < 1, using
the resources of complex differentiation, which willPbe shown later, and general
operations with power series,
P instead of computing
P cn . Observe, however, that
n
there may exist limr!1 cn r even when cn is not convergent. For example,
if cn D .1/n we have
1
X 1 1
lim cn r n D lim D :
r!1
nD0
r!1 1Cr 2
P n
Example 2.21. The series n1 .1/ n
is convergent because it is an alternating
series with the absolute value of its general term decreasing to zero. Consider the
P .1/n n
power series n
z ; in Example 2.34, using complex differentiation, it will be
proved that its sum is Log.1 C z/ when jzj < 1. Now, by Abel’s Theorem, one
has
X .1/n X .1/n
D lim r n D lim Log.1 C r/ D Log 2:
n1
n r!1
n1
n r!1
P .1/n
At a point z ¤ 1, jzj D 1, the series n
z n is also convergent according to
Dirichlet’s test, because
ˇXn ˇ ˇˇ z .1/nC1 z nC1 ˇˇ
ˇ k kˇ 2
ˇ .1/ z ˇ D ˇˇ ˇ
ˇ :
1Cz j1 C zj
kD1
2.4. Differentiation of functions of a complex variable 59
Hence, Abel’s Theorem gives

X1
.1/n n
z D Log.1 C z/; jzj D 1; z ¤ 1:
nD1
n
That is, if 2 Œ0; 2, ¤ and z D e i , we obtain the formulae

X1 p
.1/n cos n
D Log j1 C zj D Log 2 C 2 cos ;
nD1
n
X1
.1/n sin n
D Arg.1 C z/ D Arg.1 C e i / D :
nD1
n 2
For the particular value D

2
, (z D i), the second formula becomes the equality
X1
.1/m
D :
mD0
2m C 1 4
2.4 Differentiation of functions of a complex variable

For a better knowledge of the properties of functions of a complex variable, one
needs to extend differential calculus to the complex field. This is done next.
2.4.1 Holomorphic functions

Definition 2.22. Let U be an open set in the plane and f a complex function defined
on U and a 2 U . One says that f is C-differentiable at the point a if there exists
the limit
f .z/ f .a/ f .a C h/ f .a/
lim D lim D f 0 .a/:
z!a; z2U za h!0 h
The complex number f 0 .a/ is called the (complex) derivative of f at the point a.
The definition is, then, analogous to the case of functions of a real variable and
f 0 .a/ has the same meaning: it measures the variation of f in a neighborhood
of the point a. It is worth mentioning, however, that now the increment h takes
complex values. In other words, the fact that f is C-differentiable at a means that
there is a complex number ˛ such that the increments f .a C h/ f .a/ may be
approximated to the first order by ˛h, that is,
o.h/
f .a C h/ f .a/ D ˛h C o.h/; lim D 0: (2.12)
h!0 h
In particular, it turns out that if f is C-differentiable at the point a, f is continuous

at a.
Definition 2.23. If the function f is defined on the open set U and it is C-differ-
entiable at all points of U , it is said that f is holomorphic on U . We will denote
by H.U / the set of all holomorphic functions on U . The functions which are
holomorphic on the whole complex plane are called entire functions.
If f 2 H.U /, then we define on U the (complex) derivative function of f ,
denoted by f 0 , with value f 0 .z/ at each point z 2 U . For example, if n is natural,
then the function f .z/ D z n is C-differentiable at any point a, with derivative
f 0 .a/ D nan1 because
z n an
D z n1 C z n2 a C z n3 a2 C C zan2 C an1
za
has limit nan1 when z ! a. The function f .z/ D zN is not C-differentiable at
any point because
f .z/ f .a/ zN aN hN
D D ;
za za h
and if z approaches a horizontally, that is, z D a C h, h 2 R, then the quotient has
value 1, while if z approaches a vertically, that is, z D a C ih, h 2 R, then the
previous quotient takes the value 1. In the case of the function f .z/ D jzj2 , the
incremental quotient is
ja C hj2 jaj2 hN N
D aN C a C h:
h h
If h is real-valued, its limit when h ! 0 is aN C a, and aN a if h is pure imaginary;
if f is C-differentiable at the point a, these values must coincide and consequently
a D 0. Since at a D 0 the previous limit vanishes when h ! 0, one may conclude
that the function is C-differentiable only at the point a D 0.
This example shows the difference between the real and the complex cases. In
the complex case, setting the existence of the limit which defines the derivative is
something really restrictive, since there are infinitely many ways of approaching
a: by horizontal, vertical or sloping lines, along a spiral or any curve which ends
at a. This will induce holomorphic functions on a domain to behave much better
than their real analogues, functions of a real variable which are differentiable on a
certain interval.
Example 2.24. The exponential function e z is holomorphic and coincides with its
derivative. This is immediate from the definition, since
e zCh e z eh 1
lim D e z lim D ez :
h!0 h h!0 h
It is an entire function which extends the real exponential function to the whole
plane. Considering the definitions (2.5) and the fact that the usual rules of derivatives
are also valid in the complex case, it turns out that the functions sin z, cos z are also
entire functions, and .sin z/0 D cos z, .cos z/0 D sin z.
Compare now the definition of C-differentiable function with the one of dif-
ferentiable function, considering f W U ! R2 as a function of two real variables.
Recall that f is differentiable at the point a if there is an R-linear mapping from
R2 to R2 – the differential df .a/ – such that
f .a C h/ f .a/ D df .a/h C o.h/; a; h 2 R2 ' C:
Comparing with (2.12), it turns out that f is C-differentiable at a if and only
if it is differentiable in the real sense and the differential df .a/ is of the form
df .a/.h/ D ˛h with ˛ 2 C. But, as seen in Proposition 1.9, the R-linear mappings
from R2 to R2 which are of this type are exactly the C-linear ones. Hence, the first
part of the following theorem is proved:
Theorem 2.25. The function f , defined on a neighborhood of the point a 2 C, is
C-differentiable at a if and only if it is differentiable at a and the differential df .a/
is C-linear. If f D u C iv with u and v real-valued and f is differentiable at the
point a, then f is C-differentiable at a if and only if the following equations hold
at this point:
ux D vy ;
(2.13)
uy D vx :
The equations (2.13), in which the notation ux D @u
@x
, uy D @u
@y
, vx D @v
@x
and
vy D @v
@y
is used, are called Cauchy–Riemann equations.
Proof. It has been shown, after Proposition 1.9, that a matrix A D .aij /i;j D1;2 is
the matrix of a C-linear mapping, that is, a mapping of type h ! ˛h, ˛ 2 C, if
and only if
a11 D a22 ;
a12 D a21 ;
and then it is ˛ D a11 C i a21 . In the case of the mapping df .a/, with f D u C iv,
its matrix is the Jacobian matrix of f , that is, a11 D ux , a21 D vx , a12 D uy ,
a22 D vy .
A different way to deduce Cauchy–Riemann equations is the following one: the
limit of the incremental quotient must be f 0 .a/ for all directions. If the increment
h is real, the limit
f .a C h/ f .a/
lim
h!0 h
@f
is @x
.a/ D ux .a/ C ivx .a/, while if the increment h is pure imaginary, h D iy, it
is
f .a C iy/ f .a/ @f
lim D i .a/ D i.uy .a/ C ivy .a//:
y!0 iy @y
Equating now real and imaginary parts, Cauchy–Riemann equations may be de-
duced. Observe that we have also shown that if f is C-differentiable at a, then
@f @f
f 0 .a/ D ux .a/ C ivx .a/ D .a/ D i .a/:
@x @y
This way, if Jf is the Jacobian matrix of f , it turns out that
det.Jf .a// D ux .a/2 C vx .a/2 D jf 0 .a/j2 :
Looking again at the example of the function f .z/ D jzj2 D x 2 C y 2 , one has
that f is differentiable at any point, but Cauchy–Riemann equations give 2x D 0,
2y D 0, and so they hold only at the origin.
Note that if f is holomorphic on a domain U and f 0 .z/ D 0, for all z 2 U ,
then f must be constant on U because f is differentiable with df .z/ D 0, z 2 U .
This fact is the basis of the following statement:
Proposition 2.26. If a real function f is C-differentiable at a point a, then df .a/ D
0, and so every real holomorphic function on a domain is constant. Every holo-
morphic function f D u C iv on a domain is completely determined by its real
part, except for an additive pure imaginary constant.
Proof. If v D 0, the Cauchy–Riemann equations imply ux .a/ D vy .a/ D 0,
uy .a/ D vx .a/ D 0, and then df .a/ D 0.
The second assertion of the previous proposition means exactly that if f D
u C iv; g D u C iw are holomorphic functions on a domain with the same real
part, then f D g C i c, with c 2 R.
As a corollary of Theorem 2.25, it turns out that if f D u C iv has partial
derivatives ux , uy , vx , vy on a neighborhood of the point a which are continuous at
a (so that f is differentiable at a) and Cauchy–Riemann equations hold at a, then
f is C-differentiable at a.
2.4.2 Holomorphic functions and conformality

We begin this paragraph with a review of the geometric meaning of the differential
of a differentiable mapping f W U ! Rn on an open set U Rn , n 2. Recall
that the differential of f at the point a, df .a/, satisfies
jf .a C h/ f .a/ df .a/.h/j
lim D 0:
h!0 jhj
If W I ! U , where I is an interval of R, is a differentiable curve (with tangent at all

points) which contains a, write a D .0/, the composition f B is a differentiable
curve which contains f ..0// D f .a/; its tangent vector at this point is
ˇ X ˇ
d ˇˇ
n
@f 0 ˇ
ˇ .f B /.t / D ..t // i .t / ˇ D df .a/. 0 .0//:
dt tD0 @xi tD0
iD1
That is, df .a/ is a mapping that makes a correspondence between each tangent
vector to a curve at the point a and the tangent vector to the image curve at the point
f .a/.
Definition 2.27. A differentiable mapping f W U ! Rn is conformal at the point
a 2 U if df .a/ is invertible and preserves oriented angles.
This means that the linear mapping df .a/ is conformal in the sense of Defini-
tion 1.8 (extended to Rn ). Bearing in mind the geometric meaning of df .a/, the
fact that f is conformal at a means that if two curves 1 , 2 intersect at a with an
angle ˛, then the image curves f B 1 , f B 2 intersect at f .a/ also with an angle ˛
(Figure 2.5), understanding that the angle between two curves at a common point
is the angle between their tangents at this point.
f
˛ 2
f .2 /
˛
1 f .1 /
Figure 2.5
In the case n D 2, Proposition 1.9 tells us that f is conformal at a if and only

if it is C-differentiable at a and f 0 .a/ ¤ 0. So if the curve has tangent vector
0 .0/ 2 C at a D .0/, the tangent vector of f B at f .a/ is
.f B /0 .0/ D f 0 .a/ 0 .0/;
obtained from 0 .0/ multiplying by f 0 .a/ D jf 0 .a/j e i , that is, rotating an angle
and making a dilation of factor jf 0 .a/j. If all tangent vectors rotate similarly,
then oriented angles are clearly preserved. Analytically, for two curves 1 , 2 , the
equality
.f B 1 /0 .0/.f B 2 /0 .0/ D jf 0 .a/j2 10 .0/ 20 .0/
represents the invariance of angles.
Example 2.28. Consider the transformation f .z/ D e z ; since f 0 .z/ D e z ¤ 0,
f is conformal at any point. The horizontal line y D y0 is mapped onto the ray
x 7! e x e iy0 , the vertical line x D x0 onto the circle centered at 0 and with radius
e x0 . Horizontal and vertical lines meet at right angles, as do their images. A line
with slope m, y D mx, which meets horizontal lines at an angle ˛ D arctan m,
becomes the curve x 7! e x e imx , which is a spiral (Figure 2.6). At a point P D
e x e imx D f ..1 C i m/x/, the spiral has tangent .1 C i m/e x e imx , which meets the
ray starting at the origin and also containing P at an angle ˛.
˛
P
˛
Figure 2.6
The mappings that preserve the size of the angles but change their orientation
are called anticonformal mappings.
According to Proposition 1.12, one may say now that if f W U ! Rn is differ-
entiable on the open set U of Rn , then f is conformal or anticonformal on U if
and only if for each x 2 U , one has df .x/ D .x/O.x/ with O.x/ an orthogonal
matrix and .x/ > 0. Taking determinants it turns out that
det.Jf .x// D det df .x/ D .x/n det O.x/ D ˙.x/n
and so, automatically, .x/ D jdetJf .x/j1=n .

Besides linear transformations T of type O, with O an orthogonal transfor-
mation, the main examples of conformal and anticonformal mappings on Rn are
the inversions with respect to spheres, which will be discussed in Chapter 8 in the
case of the plane. In dimension n D 2, it has been seen that any transformation
given by a holomorphic function, for example e z , cos z, sin z; : : : is conformal.

So there are a huge quantity of conformal transformations if n D 2, beyond linear
transformations, inversions and their compositions. However, if n > 2, there are
only these ones.
Theorem 2.29 (Liouville). If U is a domain in Rn with n 3 and the function
f W U ! Rn is C 1 and preserves the size of the angles, then f is the restriction to
U of a transformation from Rn into itself which consists of a finite composition of
orthogonal transformations, translations, dilations and inversions.
This is a theorem difficult to prove. For a function f with more regularity, for
example if f has third-order continuous partial derivatives, one may find a proof
in [2], p. 105.
2.4.3 Complex differentiation and antidifferentiation rules

Using only the definition of derivative, as in the case of a function of a real variable,
it is easy to check that the usual rules of differentiation of sums, products and
quotients hold. Hence, if f , g have complex derivatives at the point a, also the
functions f C g, fg and the quotient f =g, when g.a/ ¤ 0, are C-differentiable
functions, and one has
.f C g/0 .a/ D f 0 .a/ C g 0 .a/;

.fg/0 .a/ D f 0 .a/g.a/ C f .a/g 0 .a/;
0
f f 0 .a/g.a/ f .a/g 0 .a/
.a/ D :
g g.a/2
The chain rule also holds: .f Bg/0 .a/ D f 0 .g.a//g 0 .a/, when g is C-differentiable
at a and f is also C-differentiable at g.a/. Observe that the chain rule may be also
deduced from the general chain rule for differentiable functions in the real sense,
because the composition of linear mappings which consist of multiplying by g 0 .a/
and f 0 .g.a// is the mapping consisting of multiplying by f 0 .g.a//g 0 .a/.
Hence, every polynomial P .z/ D c0 C c1 z C c2 z 2 C C cn z n of the variable
z is an entire function and P 0 .z/ D c1 C 2c2 z C C ncn z n1 . Every rational
function of the variable z, R.z/ D P .z/=Q.z/ is holomorphic at all the points
which are not zeros of Q (supposing the expression of R is irreducible).
Moreover, as in the real case, it may be proved that if f is C-differentiable
at the point a, bijective on a neighborhood of a, with f 1 continuous at the point
f .a/ and f 0 .a/ ¤ 0, then the inverse function f 1 is C-differentiable at f .a/ with
derivative f 01.a/ (later on it will be proved that if f is bijective on a neighborhood
of a, automatically f 0 .a/ ¤ 0). In particular, it turns out that if g is a continuous
branch of the logarithm on a neighborhood of the point b, then g is C-differentiable
at b and its derivative is g 0 .b/ D b1 . The proof for this case is the following: if
a D g.b/, z is close to b, and w D g.z/, one has that b D e a , z D e w and the
incremental quotient my be written as
g.z/ g.b/ 1
D e w e a
;
zb wa
which has limit e1a D b1 when z ! b (w ! a).

Locally, every branch of the logarithm of a function f which does not vanish on
an open set U (see Definition 2.4) may be obtained by composing f with a branch of
the logarithm in the image of f . Consequently, one may deduce from the previous
rule and the chain rule that if f is holomorphic and non-vanishing on U and there
exists a branch h of the logarithm of f , then h is also holomorphic on U and has
0
derivative h0 D ff . Similarly, every branch g of a power f ˛ is also holomorphic
and has derivative g 0 D ˛f 0 g=f (that is dangerous to write as ˛f 0 f ˛1 ).
As in real differential calculus, we can consider also the notion of antiderivative
or complex primitive. If h is a continuous function defined on an open set U ,
a holomorphic antiderivative or holomorphic primitive of h is any holomorphic
function f on U such that f 0 .z/ D h.z/ if z 2 U . This relation will be studied
in detail later on; in particular, it will be proved that only holomorphic functions
may have holomorphic primitives (that is, if h D f 0 with f holomorphic, then
h is holomorphic). Meanwhile we just state some derivation/antiderivation rules
between elementary functions. Evidently, the first relations one has to point out are
f 0 .z/ D 0 if and only if f .z/ D c, c constant,

f 0 .z/ D g 0 .z/ if and only if f .z/ D g.z/ C c, c constant,
if the equalities hold for any point z of a domain in the plane. This means that if h
has a holomorphic primitive on U , f , f .z/ C c is the general expression of all the
holomorphic primitives of h on U .
The expression Z
h dz D f .z/ C c
will denote the general holomorphicR primitive of h without specifying the domain.
The reason for the integral notation will be explained in the next sections. Hence,
one may write
Z
z nC1
z n dz D C c ” .z nC1 /0 D .n C 1/z n ;
nC1
Z
e z dz D e z C c ” .e z /0 D e z ;
Z Z
sin z dz D cos z C c; cos z dz D sin z C c; etc.
Each differentiation rule may be rewritten as an antidifferentiation rule. The

differentiation rule of the product is equivalent to the antidifferentiation by parts
formula Z Z
f 0 g dz D fg fg 0 dz:
For example,
Z Z
Log z dz D z Log z z.Log z/0 dz D z Log z z C c:
The change of variable formula

Z Z
f .z/ dz D .z D g.w// D f .g.w//g 0 .w/ dw
corresponds to the chain rule. For example,

Z Z
w2 1 z 1 1 2
we dw D .z D w / D 2
e dz D e z C c D e w C c:
2 2 2
2.4.4 The operators @ and @N

In Section 2.1 we asked how one may recognize if a polynomial in the variables
x, y, with complex coefficients, is a polynomial in z. One may use now Cauchy–
Riemann equations to answer this question. First let us introduce the differential
operators @ D @z
@
and @N D @@zN defined by

@ 1 @ @ @ 1 @ @
D i ; D Ci ;
@z 2 @x @y @zN 2 @x @y
which may be applied to any function f with partial derivatives of first order.
Observe that @f D @fN if f is real. Writing dx, dy in terms of dz D dx C i dy and
d zN D dx i dy, these operators are the coefficients of dz and d zN in the differential
of a function
@f @f
df D dz C d zN ;
@z @zN
an equality which may be obtained by substitution of dx D 12 .dz C d z/, N dy D
@f @f
1
2i
.dz d N
z / in df D @x
dx C @y
dy. It is easy to check that, conversely, the
operators of partial differentiation @x and @y are expressed in terms of @ and @N by
@ @
means of
@ @ @ @ @ @
D C ; Di i :
@x @z @zN @y @z @zN
The main reason why these operators are defined is that Cauchy–Riemann equations
may be condensed in a unique equation (with complex coefficients), which is
@f
D 0: (2.14)
@zN
This may be checked immediately because writing f D u C iv and supposing f
differentiable, the equations (2.13) are equivalent to
@f @f @f @f @f
Di ” Ci D0” D 0:
@y @x @x @y @zN
Hence the function f , supposed differentiable, is C-differentiable at the point a if
and only if it satisfies @f
@zN
.a/ D 0, and then f 0 .a/ D @f
@z
.a/.
The formalism obtained using these operators is as if z, zN were another coor-
dinate system. Then holomorphic functions are the ones which do not depend on
zN and, in this case, their complex derivatives are the derivatives with respect to z.
Hence, for example, if one makes a composition of two differentiable functions
f .z/; g.w/ (not necessarily holomorphic) and puts h D g B f , it turns out that
@h @g @f @g @fN @h @g @f @g @fN
D C ; D C :
@z @w @z x @z
@w @zN @w @zN x @zN
@w
When f and g are both holomorphic, these equations become clearly the chain rule
h0 .z/ D f 0 .z/g 0 .w/. If .t / is a differentiable curve and taking h.t / D f ..t //
with f differentiable, the chain rule may be expressed as
@f @f
h0 .t / D ..t // 0 .t / C ..t // 0 .t /:
@z @zN
In particular, h0 .t / D f 0 ..t // 0 .t / if f is holomorphic. Now one has:
Theorem 2.30. Given a polynomial P .x; y/ the following are equivalent:
a) P is a polynomial in z.
b) P is an entire function.
c) The equation @P
@zN
D 0 holds on C.
Proof. It is sufficient to comment on the implication c) ) a). Consider the aux-
iliary
zCwpolynomial
Q.z; w/ of two formal variables z, w defined by Q.z; w/ D
P 2 ; 2i . Observe that the change w D zN gives the expression of P in terms
zw

N By the chain rule, one has @Q
of z, z. @w
D 12 @P
@x
C i @P
@y
D @P
@zN
. If c) holds, then Q
does not depend on w, and so P is a polynomial in z.
Observe that Cauchy–Riemann equations for P have already appeared in (2.1).
2.5. Analytic functions of a complex variable 69
2.5 Analytic functions of a complex variable

2.5.1 Differentiation of power series
P
Consider a power series n cn .z a/n centered at the point a 2 C and radius of
convergence R > 0. The disc D.a; R/ isP the biggest open set on which the series
is convergent, and the function f .z/ D n cn .z a/n is a continuous function
on this disc. We will show that f .z/ is holomorphic on the disc D.a; R/ and that
f 0 .z/ is also the sum of a power series, namely of the derivative power series of
P
n cn .z a/ , which is obtained by differentiating each of its terms, that is,
n
X
ncn .z a/n1 :
n
Observe that this derivative series has also radius of convergence equal to R, because
lim sup.njcn j/1=n D lim sup jcn j1=n ;

n n
since limn n1=n D 1.

P
Theorem 2.31. If the power P
series n cn .za/n has radius of convergence R > 0,
.z/ D
then the function fP n cn .z a/ is holomorphic on D.a; R/ and has
n
0
derivative f .z/ D n ncn .z a/ n1
in this disc.
Proof. Fix z 2 D.a; R/. Given " > 0, one has to show that
f .w/ f .z/ X
ncn .z a/n1 (2.15)
wz n
has modulus smaller than " for w close enough to z. Taking N (to be chosen later),
P P
break f .z/ D SN .z/ C RN .z/ D N nD0 cn .z a/ C
n
n>N cn .z a/ and write
n
the expression (2.15) as the sum of three terms, I C II C III,

X
SN .w/ SN .z/ X
N
RN .w/ RN .z/
ncn .z a/ n1
ncn .z a/n1 C :
wz nD0
wz
n>N
The last term, III, is

X
cn ..w a/n1 C .w a/n2 .z a/ C C .w a/.z a/n2 C .z a/n1 /:
n>N
If jz P
aj < < R and supposing also that jw aj < , one obtains that
jIIIj n>N njcn j n1 ; since this sum is the tail of a convergent series, one may
choose N such that jIIIj < 3" (whether w is close to z or not; it is enough that
jw aj < ). One may assume also that N is big enough so that jIIj < 3" , because
it is also the tail of a convergent series.
Finally, one may get jIj < 3" for w close enough to z, because this is simply the
derivative of a polynomial.
Applying iteratively Theorem 2.31, one gets that in fact f is indefinitely holo-
morphic, that is, has complex derivatives of any order on the open disc D.a; R/.
Denoting by f .n/ the n-th complex derivative of f and taking z D a in the ex-
pression
P of f .n/ .z/ obtained by differentiating n times, term by term, the series
cn .z a/n , it turns out that f .n/ .a/ D nŠcn . A fortiori, the development of f
in power series is
X f .n/ .a/
f .z/ D .z a/n ; jz aj < R;
n0
nŠ
which is, formally, equal to the Taylor series. Hence the following statement is
proved.
Proposition 2.32. Let f W D.a; R/ ! C. If there exists a power series
1
X
cn .z a/n ;
nD0
convergent on this disc, such that

1
X
f .z/ D cn .z a/n ; jz aj < R;
nD0
then this series is unique. Indeed, f is indefinitely holomorphic and the coefficients
cn are determined by f by means of the relations
f .n/ .a/
cn D ; n D 0; 1; 2; : : : :
nŠ
If the hypothesis of Proposition 2.32 holds, it is said that f has a power series
expansion on the disc D.a; R/, with respect to the center a. Proposition 2.32 means
that given an equality of power series the coefficients can be identified, as in the
case of polynomials: if the equality
c0 C c1 .z a/ C c2 .z a/2 C C cn .z a/n C
D d0 C d1 .z a/ C d2 .z a/2 C C dn .z a/n C
holds for z in a neighborhood of the point a, then cn D dn for n D 0; 1; 2; : : : .

P
If f has a power
P series expansion, f .z/ D n cn .z a/n , this holds also for
f 0 and f 0 .z/ D 1 nD1 ncn .z a/
n1
. In the converse sense, if f is holomorphic
0
on D.a; R/ and f has a power series expansion,
1
X
f 0 .z/ D dn .z a/n ; jz aj < R;
nD0
then f may be represented as

X1
dn
f .z/ D f .a/ C .z a/nC1 ; jz aj < R:
nD0
n C 1
Actually, the right-hand term P of this equality defines a holomorphic function g on

dn
D.a;
P R/ (because the series nC1
.z a/nC1 has the same convergence radius
as dn .z a/ ) which has the same derivative as f , g 0 D f 0 , and that satisfies
n
g.a/ D f .a/; consequently, g.z/ D f .z/, if z 2 D.a; R/.

Differentiating or antidifferentiating power series, one may compute the sum of
some power series or even find the power series expansion of certain functions.
P
Example 2.33. The series n1 n2 z n has radius of convergence 1 and we want P to
compute its sum. It may be done by using the sum of the geometric series z n ,
1
which is 1z , and noting that
X X
n2 z n D .n.n 1/ C n/z n
n1 n1
X X
D z2 n.n 1/z n2 C z nz n1
n2 n1
00 0
1 1
D z2 Cz
1z 1z
2z 2 z z.1 C z/
D C D :
.1 z/ 3 .1 z/ 2 .1 z/3
P
Similarly one could compute the sum of the series P .n/z n in the case that P .n/
is a polynomial in the variable n.
Example 2.34. The function Log.1 z/ that, as already known, is well defined if
1 z is not a real negative number, that is, if z is not real and greater than or equal
to 1, has a power series expansion in a neighborhood
P of the origin. Its derivative is
1=.1 z/, which has series expansion n0 z n for jzj < 1 and, then, it turns
out that
X z nC1 X zn
Log.1 z/ D D ; jzj < 1:
n0
nC1 n1
n
(Figure 2.7).
Log.1 z/
z
1
D
R
Figure 2.7
P
Example 2.35. Consider now the power series 1 z nC1
nD1 n.nC1/ , which converges on
x If f .z/ is the sum of this series, one has that
the closed unit disc D.
X1
zn
f 0 .z/ D ; jzj < 1:
nD1
n
Bearing in mind Example 2.34 we have f 0 .z/ D Log.1 z/. Calculate now the
antiderivatives of Log.1 z/, integrating by parts,
Z Z
Log.1 z/ dz D Log w dw .w D 1 z/
D w Log w w C c
D .1 z/ Log.1 z/ C z C c:
Then, f .z/ D .1 z/ Log.1 z/ C z C c. Taking z D 0 we obtain c D 0 and so

1
X z nC1
D .1 z/ Log.1 z/ C z; jzj < 1: (2.16)
nD1
n.n C 1/
By Abel’s Theorem (Theorem 2.20), since the series is convergent at every point z
such that jzj D 1, writing z D e i , one has that
X1
e i.nC1/
D lim Œ.1 re i / Log.1 re i / C re i :
nD1
n.n C 1/ r!1
If z ¤ 1, this limit is .1 z/ Log.1 z/ C z. If z D 1, .1 r/ Log.1 r/ ! 0

when r ! 1 and P the limit is 1. Hence, equality (2.16) holds for jzj 1, z ¤ 1. If
z D 1 it gives 1 nD1 n.nC1/ D 1, which is evident, since n.nC1/ D n nC1 .
1 1 1 1

2.5.2 Analytic functions

The idea of power series expansion is the basis for the notion of an analytic function.
Definition 2.36. A function f W U ! C, defined on an open set U of the plane, is

said to be analytic on U if, locally, it has a power series expansion, thatPis, for each
point a 2 U thereP is a disc D.a; ı/ U , ı > 0, and a power series 1 nD0 cn z
n
1
such that f .z/ D nD0 cn .z a/ if z 2 D.a; ı/.
n
P
Observe that both the radius ı and the series n cn z n may depend on the
point a. By Theorem 2.31 an analytic function on U is indefinitely holomorphic
and each of its derivatives f .n/ , n D 1; 2; : : : , is also analytic on U . Later on
(Theorem 4.9) it will be shown that, conversely, any holomorphic function on an
open set U is analytic on U and, then, indefinitely holomorphic. In Definition 2.36,
the disc D.a; ı/ may be arbitrarily small, but it will be proved that the power series
expansion holds in the biggest disc centered at a and inside U , which has radius
ı.a/ D dist.a; C n U /.
Example 2.37. A rational function R D P =Q is an analytic function on U D

C n Z.Q/, where Z.Q/ is the set of the poles of R (the zeros of Q). Actually, R
is the finite sum of a polynomial in z and simple fractions of type ˛ .z b/k ,
where b is one of the poles of R, k 2 N and ˛ is a constant. A proof of this fact
may be found in Theorem 5.13. Hence, it is enough to expand .z b/k around a
point a … Z.Q/. Put r D ja bj > 0. If jz aj < r, using the geometric series
we can write
X1
1 1 1 .z a/n
D D za D :
zb z a .b a/ ba
1 .b a/ nD0
.b a/ nC1
Differentiating successively this expansion and using Theorem 2.31, we obtain, for
k > 1, that
X1
1 n .z a/nk
D .1/k
.z b/k nD0
k 1 .b a/nC1
X1
nCk .z a/n
D .1/k
:
nD0
k 1 .b a/nCkC1
If b1 ; : : : ; bM are the poles of R, the expansion of R around a will hold in the

disc with radius ı.a/ D minfja bj j; j D 1; : : : ; M g, the distance from a to
C n U D Z.Q/.
Sometimes it is advisable, in order to expand in power series a certain function,

to compute first the power series expansion of its derivative.
Example 2.38. The function f .z/ D Log.1 z/ is analytic on U D C n Œ1; C1/.

To see this, first consider f 0 .z/ D z1
1
, the power series expansion around 0 of
which is known. Around any point a, a … Œ1; C1/, one has
X1
1 1 .z a/n
D D ; jz aj < j1 aj: (2.17)
z1 z a .1 a/ nD0
.1 a/nC1
In the disc D.a; j1 aj/ there exist as many branches of log.1 z/ as branches of
log w in D.1 a; j1 aj/; any of these branches, g, will have an expansion that
will be determined by integrating (2.17):
1
X X1
1 .z a/nC1 .z a/n
g.z/ D g.a/ D g.a/ :
nD0
n C 1 .1 a/ nC1
nD1
n.1 a/n
Consider the branch g which has at a the value Log.1 a/. Then
X1
.z a/n
g.z/ D Log.1 a/ ; jz aj < j1 aj:
nD1
n.1 a/n
Write now ı.a/ D dist.a; Œ1; C1/; observe that ı.a/ D j1 aj, if Re a 1 and
ı.a/ D jIm aj j1 aj if Re a > 1. Then Log.1 z/ and g are branches of
log.1 z/ a D.a; ı.a// which coincide at a and so they are equal and
X1
.z a/n
Log.1 z/ D Log.1 a/ ; jz aj < ı.a/;
nD1
n.1 a/n
that is, Log.1z/ may be expanded as a power series around a. Observe that, when
Re a > 1, the series which gives the expansion of Log.1 z/ in jz aj < ı.a/
converges on a bigger disc, the one centered at a with radius j1 aj. If jz aj <
P
j1aj, the series 1 .za/n
nD1 n.1a/n converges to the sum Log 1 1a D Log 1a
za 1z
(Example 2.34 changing z by 1a ). But Log.1 a/ C Log 1a is not always equal
za 1z
to Log.1 z/ if Re a > 1; for example, if a D 2 C i , z D 2 C "i , one has

1z
1a
D 1"i
1i
D 1C"i
1Ci
D .1C"/Ci."1/
2
, which has principal argument close to 4 .
Since Arg.1 a/ D 4 , the imaginary part of Log.1 a/ C Log 1a
3 1z
is close to
. However, the imaginary part of Log.1 z/, Arg.1 z/ D Arg.1 "i /, is
near only if " > 0, because for " < 0 it is close to (Figure 2.8).
PN
For a polynomial in z, P .z/ D 0 cn .z a/n , it is a trivial algebraic fact that P
is also a polynomial in .z b/, for b 2 C; simply write .z a/n D .z b C b a/n
and use Newton’s binomial theorem. There are no matters on convergence
P because
the sum is finite. However, if one has a power series f .z/ D 1 nD0 nc .z a/n
with radius of convergence R > 0 and b 2 D.a; R/, it is not immediate to prove
i a
ı.a/
1 2
z D 2 C "i; " < 0
ı.a/ < j1 aj
Figure 2.8
that f has a power series

P expansion in a neighborhood of b, that is, that f may be
expressed as f .z/ D n dn .z b/n around the P point b. In other words it is not
evident that the sum of the power series f .z/ D n cn .z a/n , z 2 D.a; R/, is
an analytic function on D.a; R/, the disc of convergence of the series. This result
holds and is the content of the following statement.
P
Theorem 2.39. If f .z/ D 1nD0 cn .z a/ on D.a; R/ and b 2 D.a; R/, the
n
P1 f .n/ .b/
series nD0 nŠ .z b/n has radius of convergence greater than or equal to
R ja bj and
X1
f .n/ .b/
f .z/ D .z b/n if jz bj < R ja bj:
nD0
nŠ
Proof. First note that
X1
.n C m/Š
f .n/
.b/ D cnCm .b a/m ; (2.18)
mD0
mŠ
X1
.n C m/Š
jf .n/ .b/j jcnCm jjb ajm (2.19)
mD0
mŠ
(the power series of f is absolutely convergent on D.a; R/). Choose r such that
jb aj r < R. Then, using (2.19) and summing up by blocks (Proposition 2.8),
it turns out that

X1 ˇ .n/ ˇ
X1
ˇ f .b/ ˇ .n C m/Š
ˇ ˇ.r jb aj/n jcnCm jjb ajm .r jb aj/n
ˇ ˇ
nD0
nŠ n;mD0
mŠnŠ
1
X X .n C m/Š 1
X
D jck j jb ajm .r jb aj/n D jck jr k < C1:
mŠnŠ
kD0 mCnDk kD0
This shows that the Taylor series of f centered at b has radius of convergence
greater than or equal to r jb aj; since r is arbitrarily close to R, this radius is
greater than or equal to Rjb aj. Take now a point z such that jz bj r jb aj
with r < R. The same computation just done shows that the double series
1
X .n C m/Š
cnCm .b a/m .z b/n
n;m
mŠnŠ
converges absolutely and, by Proposition 2.8, the terms of the series may be grouped
arbitrarily to compute the sum. Making groups for m C n D k, as before, we get
P 1
kD0 ck .z a/ D f .z/, while summing up first in m and using (2.18) we get
k
P1 f .n/ .b/
the series nD0 nŠ .z b/n .
This theorem is also a consequence of the result which says that every holomor-
phic function on an open set U is analytic on U (Theorem 4.9).
2.6 Real analytic functions and their complex extension

The concept of power series and the associated notions (domain of convergence,
operations with power series, etc.) may be set out in the context of one real variable
motivated, in this case, by approximation by Taylor polynomials. Recall first that
a function of one or several real variables is called a C r function, 1 r C1,
on a domain if it has there continuous r-th order partial derivatives.
If f is a C N function on an open interval I R and a 2 I , Taylor’s formula
reads
XN
f .k/ .a/
f .x/ D .x a/k C RN .x/
kŠ
kD0
where RN .x/ D o.jx ajN /, for x ! a, is the remainder term of order N . When
f is C N C1 , there are explicit expressions of RN .x/, as Lagrange’s formula,
f .N C1/ . /
RN .x/ D .x a/N C1 ;
.N C 1/Š
2.6. Real analytic functions and their complex extension 77
with intermediate between a and x. The crux of the matter is that f .x/ may
P f .n/ .a/
be approximated by the Taylor polynomial N nD0 nŠ
.x a/n and that the
remainder, RN .x/, becomes small as N increases. Naturally, for f a C 1 function
one may ask if RN .x/ ! 0 when N ! 1, that is, if the following equality holds:
X
N 1
X
f .k/ .a/ f .k/ .a/
f .x/ D lim .x a/k D .x a/k : (2.20)
N !0 kŠ kŠ
kD0 kD0
P
This leads to consider power series in one real variable x, 1 nD0 cn .x a/ . For
n
these series, definitions and statements of Subsections 2.3.3 and 2.3.4 hold, and
also
P the corresponding version of Theorem 2.31. This means that for the series
n c n .x a/n
a radius of convergence R is defined so that the series
Pconverges on
the interval fx W jx aj < Rg and there it defines a function f .x/ D n cn .x a/n ,
which has infinite derivatives with respect to the real variable x. Moreover one must
.n/
have cn D f nŠ.a/ , and then, the only way of expressing f .x/ as a sum of a power
series is by means of its Taylor series (2.20).
If the function f is defined on an open interval I R, it is said that f is a real
analytic function on I if the version of Definition 2.36 for a real variable holds.
This means that for each point a 2 I there exists a ı.a/ > 0 such that (2.20) holds
in the interval fx W jx aj < ı.a/g. In particular, if f is analytic on I , f is C 1
on I .
In calculus, using Lagrange’s formula for the remainder RN .x/, the following
equalities are proved:
X1 1
X 1
X
xn x 2nC1 x 2n
ex D ; sin x D .1/n ; cos x D .1/n :
nD0
nŠ nD0
.2n C 1/Š nD0
.2n/Š
These expansions hold on the whole real line R. But the Taylor series of a function
f is not always convergent for every real number, even when f is C 1 on R. For
example, the equality
X1
1
D .1/n x 2n
1 C x2 nD0
1
holds only for jxj < 1, even though the function 1Cx 1
2 is C on R.
All these considerations may be, as said, confined to the context of real variables.
But,
P1 associating an interval of convergence .a R; a C R/ to a real power series
nD0 cn .x a/n
, with a 2 R, cn 2 R, is an unnecessary
P1 limitation. Actually,
what has been established by now ensures
P1 that if nD0 c n .x a/n converges for
jx aj < R, then the complex series nD0 cn .z a/ converges for z 2 D.a; R/.
n
This means that the natural domain of definition of power series are the discs, not the
intervals. The same way, the natural domain of definition of real analytic functions
are not the intervals I R, but the symmetric domains U C with respect to
the real axis. A precise statement of this fact will be given in Theorem 4.28. This
natural extension of real analytic functions to a complex domain has already been
treated in someP examples. Indeed, the complex extension of the real exponential
function e x D 1 xn
0 nŠ has been defined as
1
X zn
e z D e x .cos y C i sin y/ D
0
nŠ
if z D x C iy (Subsection 2.3.5). Similarly, for the trigonometric functions, one

has
1
X .1/n z 2n
e iz C e iz
cos z D D I
2 0
.2n/Š
1
X
e iz e iz z 2nC1
sin z D D .1/n ;
2i 0
.2n C 1/Š
which are analytic functions on C, by Theorem 2.39.

P .x/
Let us start now, for example, from a rational function R.x/ D Q.x/ where
P and Q are polynomials in x so that R.x/ is analytic on R n Z0 .Q/, where
Z0 .Q/ are the real zeros of Q.x/. Then its complex extension is the rational
P .z/
function R.z/ D Q.z/ which is analytic on C n Z.Q/ where Z.Q/ is the set of all
(complex) zeros of Q in which P .z/ has a zero of smaller order than the one of Q
(or does not have any zero).
Furthermore, the complex point of view is useful for a better understanding of
some features which may not be completely explained from the real analysis point
of view. For example, consider the two expansions
X1 X1
1 1
D xn and D .1/n x 2n ;
1x nD0
1 C x2 nD0
which hold if jxj < 1. In the first case the fact that the domain of convergence is
.1; 1/ may not be surprising here because the function, which has a singularity at
x D 1, is only defined on the open set U D R n f1g, and the radius of convergence
is the distance from zero to U c D f1g. Instead, in the second case, the function is
defined on the whole line R but its expansion holds only on .1; 1/. Now, thinking
1
about it in terms of complex extension 1Cz 2 , it is better understood: there are
singularities at the points z D ˙i , the distance of which to 0 is 1. This explains that
here the radius of convergence is 1. With this complex point of view other questions
are also clarified. For example, in which intervals does the power series expansion
2 around a point a 2 R converge? The answer is the interval centered at
1
of 1Cx
2.6. Real analytic functions and their complex extension 79
p
a and with radius 1 C a2 , which is the distance from a to the poles ˙i of the
1
function 1Cz 2.
The last example consists of the function
1
f .x/ D ;
.1 C x 2 /.4 x2/
which is real analytic on the interval I D .2; 2/, but has a power series expansion
around 0 convergent only on .1; 1/, and not on the whole interval I . This last one
is the biggest interval centered at 0 contained in the domain I where the function
is analytic. The reduction is due, once again, to the complex singularities of the
1
factor 1Cx 2.
The sense of all these comments is that analyticity is genuinely a concept of com-
plex variable theory. In the setting of real variables, the notions of R-differentiable
function, of indefinitely R-differentiable function and real analytic function are
different. There are R-differentiable functions which are not indefinitely R-differ-
entiable, for example jxjx, and there are C 1 functions which are not real analytic,
for example ´ 2
e 1=x if x ¤ 0;
f .x/ D
0 if x D 0:
Instead, in the case of a complex variable, it will be seen in Chapter 4 that the
three correspondent concepts, C-differentiable (holomorphic) function, indefinitely
holomorphic function and complex analytic function, are exactly the same. Due
to an abuse of language, when talking about functions of a complex variable, one
often refers to analytic functions, and similarly when talking about the complex
extensions of a function f .x/, defined for real values of the variable x, one refers
to the extensions F .z/ (that is, F .z/ D f .x/ if z D x 2 R) which are analytic.
Extending a function f .x/ to a function F .z/ without this requirement of analyticity
is trivial, just by taking
F .x C iy/ D f .x/:
Moreover, there are countless different ways of extending f ; for example, one may
also use F .x C iy/ D f .x/ C iG.y/ with G.0/ D 0. However, if f .x/ is real
analytic the extension of f to a complex analytic function is unique.
There is still another notion of analytic function, which is the one of analytic
function of two real variables. A complex- or real-valued function f defined on an
open set U R2 Š C is called an analytic function of two real variables on U if
for any pointP z0 D .x0 ; y0 / 2 U there exists a disc D.z0 ; r/ U and a double
power series n;m cn;m x n y m such that
1
X p
f .x; y/ D cn;m .x x0 /n .y y0 /m if .x x0 /2 C .y y0 /2 < r:
n;mD0
Once more, in this case f is C 1 and the expansion, which is unique, must be its
Taylor series for functions in two variables, that is,
1 @nCm f
cn;m D .x0 ; y0 /:
nŠmŠ @x n @y m
Clearly, if f is analytic in the variable z D x C iy, then it is also analytic in the
variables x, y. However, in the same way that not every polynomial in x, y is a
polynomial in z, the converse is not true. For example, 1Cx 21Cy 2 is an analytic
function of x, y on the whole plane, and is not analytic in z on any open set in C
(since being a non-constant real-valued function, it cannot be holomorphic on any
domain, according to Proposition 2.26).
2.7 Exercises
1. Prove that the equality limn!1 .1C nz /n D e z holds for any complex number
z, using the identity:
n n
X
z 1 p 1 zp
1C D1CzC 1 1 :
n pD2
n n pŠ
2. Show that the function cos z maps the strip B D fz W 0 < Re z < g onto the
domain U D C n fx 2 R W jxj 1g conformally and injectively. Express its
inverse function in terms of the logarithmic function.
3. Show that the complex numbers z ¤ 0 such that z z takes only real values are
all contained in a countable set of lines which are parallel to the imaginary
axis, and that there are infinitely many numbers with this property on each
line.
4. If .t/ D re it , 0 t 2, r > 0, and hw .z/ D Log jz wj, show the
equality Z
hw ds D 2 r Log.max.r; jwj//:

5. Let f be the holomorphic function defined on the unit disc D by f .z/ D

P1 z 2n1
nD1 2n1 . Show that f is injective on D and f .D/ D fz 2 C W =4 <
Im z < =4g.
6. Compute, for t 2 Œ; , the sum of the following series:
X1
sin nt
a) ;
nD1
n
2.7. Exercises 81
1
X cos nt
b) .1/n .
nD2
n2 1
7. Given a; b; c 2 R consider P .z/ D ax 2 C 2bxy C cy 2 where z D x C iy.

Determine the conditions that a, b, c must fulfill so that there exists an entire
function f satisfying P .z/ D Re f .z/, z 2 C. Find all the entire functions
which satisfy it.
P
8. Let f .z/ D n cn z n be the sum of a power series with radius of convergence
R > 0 and f 0 .0/ D c1 ¤ 0. Prove the equality
ˇX1 ˇ
ˇ ˇ
jf .z/ f .w/j D jz wj ˇ cn .z n1 C z n2 w C C zw n2 C w n1 /ˇ
nD1
for all z; w 2 D.0; R/ and, consequently, that f is injective on the disc

D.0; r/ if 0 < r < R, and that the following inequality holds:
1
X
njcn jr n1 < jc1 j:
nD2
P
9. Let f .z/ D n cn z n be the sum of a power series with radius of convergence
R > 0 and 0 < r < R. Show:
a)
Z 2 X
1
jf .re it /j2 dt D jcn j2 r 2n :
2 0 n
Use this equality to deduce that a bounded holomorphic function on the

whole plane must be constant (Liouville’s Theorem).
b) “
1 X
jf 0 .z/j2 dx dy D njcn j2 r 2n ;
D.0;r/ n
where z D x C iy. If in addition f is injective, then the previous

expression is the area of f .D.0; r//.
10. Find the expression of Cauchy–Riemann equations in polar coordinates.

P
11. If f .z/ D n cn z n , jzj < R and 0 < r < R, let L.r/ be the length of the
image curve by f of the circle fre it W 0 t 2g. Show the inequality
L.r/ 2 rjc1 j:
P
12. Let f .z/ D n cn z
n
with radius of convergence R > 1 and z D x C iy.
Prove:
a) “ X jcn j2
jf .z/j2 dx dy D :
D n
nC1
b) “ X 2
jf .z/j4 dx dy D jcn j2 :
D n
13. a) Show that the function arctan z D tan1 z with tan z D cos
sin z
z
has a holo-
morphic branch on the unit disc and find all its holomorphic branches.
b) Find the power series expansion around the origin of the function
p
f .z/ D z arctan z Log 1 C z 2
and its radius of convergence; here arctan indicates a branch of tan1 ,

and also the principal branch of the square root is taken.
c) Study the behavior of the series in b) at the boundary of its disc of
convergence, and explain the relation between the sum of this series and
P
the function f . Compute 1 .1/nC1
nD1 2n.2n1/ .
14. For each a 2 D define fa .z/ D 1 za x

. Show that fa is one-to-one on D,
N
az
x x
holomorphic on a neighborhood of D and satisfies fa .D/ D D, fa .D/ D D x
1
and fa D fa , on D.
P
15. If f .z/ D n cn z n for jzj < R, show that, for 0 < r < R,
M.r/
jcn j ; n D 0; 1; 2; : : :
rn
where M.r/ D supfjf .z/j W jzj D rg (Cauchy’s inequalities).
Deduce
P from these inequalities that in the case R D C1 one has that
jc
n n jr n
2M.2r/ for all r > 0.
p
16. Show that the function f .z/ D jxyj, z D x C iy, satisfies the Cauchy–
Riemann equations at the origin but is not C-differentiable at this point.
17. Show that if P is a polynomial, then the zeros of the derivative P 0 are all in
the convex hull of the set of zeros of P . As a hint prove that if all the zeros
of P are in a half plane, then the zeros of P 0 are also in the same half plane.
2.7. Exercises 83
18. For any ˛ 2 C the function f .z/ D .1 C z/˛ has a holomorphic branch on
D such that f .0/ D 1. Show that, for this branch, the equality
X1
˛ n
f .z/ D z ; jzj < 1
nD0
n
holds and study the behavior of the series when jzj D 1.

P
19. Let f .z/ D 1 n
0 cn z be the sum of a power series with radius of convergence
R > 0 and suppose that there is a k 2 N and a function g defined on D.0; Rk /
such that f .z/ D g.z k / if jzj < R. Prove that the function g is the sum of
a power series with radius of convergence Rk and that cn D 0 if n is not a
multiple of k.
P
20. Consider the polynomial P .z/ D 1 N nD1 ˛n z with ˛1 ; : : : ; ˛N 2 R
n
and suppose that the function f .z/ D P .z/ has as power series expansion
1
P
f .z/ D 1 n
nD0 cn z around the origin. Show that the coefficients cn satisfy
P
the relations c0 D 1, cn D jND1 ˛j cnj if n 1, understanding that ck D 0
if k < 0.
Show now that, defining the sequence .cn / recursively by means of the pre-
vious relations starting from ˛1 ; : : : ; ˛N 2 R, there exists a constantPM > 0
such that jcn j M n , for n 0. Consequently the power series n cn z n
has a radius of convergence R > 0 and defines a function f .z/ on the disc
D.0; R/. Check now that f .z/P .z/ D 1 and that R D min.jˇ1 j; : : : ; jˇN j/,
where ˇ1 ; : : : ; ˇN are the zeros of the polynomial P .
P n
21. Show that the power series n zn2 has radius of convergence equal to 1 and
that it converges uniformly on the closed disc D. x Show now that the sum
f .z/ of this series satisfies the equation
1
f 0 .z/ D Log.1 z/; jzj < 1:
z
Deduce from here that on the domain U D fz W jzj < 1; jz 1j < 1g one has
f .z/ C f .1 z/ D c Log z Log.1 z/

P1
with c D 1
nD1 n2 . Use the previous equation to compute the value of
P1 1
nD1 n2 2n .
P1
22. Let f; g 2 H.D/
P1 haventhe power series expansions f .z/ D P1 nD1 cn zn
n
g.z/ D nD1 dn z for jzj < 1. Show that the series nD1 cn g.z /
and P
and 1 n x
nD1 dn f .z / are uniformly convergent on each compact disc D.0; r/,
0 < r < 1, and they define the same holomorphic function on D.
P P1 P1
Put now F .z/ D 1 nD1 cn g.z / D
n n
nD1 dn f .z / and let
n
nD1 hn z be a
third convergent power series on D. Prove the equality
1
X 1
X
hn F .z n / D cn dm hk z nmk ; jzj < 1:
nD1 n;m;kD1
Chapter 3
Holomorphic functions and differential forms
In calculus of one real variable, a basic result is the fundamental theorem of cal-
culus, which sets a link between the concepts of differentiation and integration:
any continuous function has an antiderivative, and this is given by means of the
indefinite integral, up to additive constants. In this chapter this kind of questions
for one complex variable functions will be studied. To this end, it is convenient to
use the language of vector fields and differential 1-forms. The role of indefinite
integrals now will be played by line integrals of fields or forms along paths of the
complex plane.
A fundamental result for developing the theory of holomorphic functions is
Cauchy’s Theorem on cancellation of line integrals of holomorphic functions along
closed paths. This result will be presented as a particular case of a version of
Green’s formula with very weak hypotheses on regularity, which are also valid for
the classical theorems of vector calculus.
The second part of the chapter is stated in a real variables context to see that the
notion of a holomorphic function corresponds to the notion of a locally conservative
solenoidal vector field. Here appears naturally the Laplace operator and the concept
of a harmonic function: locally conservative solenoidal fields are locally gradients
of harmonic functions. One reaches this way the notion that, from a real variable
point of view, generalizes the concept of a holomorphic function to functions defined
on open sets of Rn .
3.1 Complex line integrals
The definition of a complex line integral entails complex integration over intervals
of R of functions which take complex values. If f .t / D u.t /Civ.t / is a continuous
function for t 2 Œa; b, with u, v real-valued, one writes
Z b Z b Z b
f .t/ dt D u.t / dt C i v.t / dt:
a a a
With this definition, the linearity property holds:

Z b Z b Z b
.˛f .t / C ˇg.t // dt D ˛ f .t / dt C ˇ g.t / dt;
a a a
86 Chapter 3. Holomorphic functions and differential forms
where f , g are continuous on Œa; b and ˛, ˇ are complex constants. It also holds
that
ˇZ b ˇ Z b
ˇ ˇ
ˇ f .t/ dt ˇˇ jf .t /j dt: (3.1)
ˇ
a a
Rb
To prove this inequality, let be a number with jj D 1 such that a f .t / dt 0;
Rb
that is, if a f .t / dt D re i , r ¤ 0, we put D e i (if this integral is zero, there
is nothing to prove). Then,
ˇZ ˇ Z b Z b
ˇ b ˇ
ˇ ˇ
f .t/ dt ˇ D f .t/ dt D Re f .t / dt
ˇ
a a a
Z b Z b
D Re f .t / dt jf .t /j dt:
a a
Definition 3.1. If .t /, a t b, is a C 1 curve on the complex plane

R and f is
a complex-valued continuous function on , the complex line integral f .z/ dz
of f along is
Z Z b
f .z/ dz D f ..t // 0 .t / dt:
a
Formally z is replaced by .t / and dz by 0 .t / dt. Observe that the function

to be integrated over Œa; b is a complex-valued function, product of f ..t // and
0 .t/, and the result will be a complex number. The integral is well defined here
because by hypothesis the integrand is continuous on Œa; b. Identically Rto the case
of integrals of real functions or integrals with respect to the arc length ds, f .z/ dz
is the limit of the complex Riemann sums
X
f .zi /.ziC1 zi /;
i
where zi D .ti / are the vertices of a polygonal line inscribed

R on . Replacing
.ziC1 zi / by jziC1 zi j, the corresponding limit is f .z/ ds, as explained in
Subsection 1.4.3. For this reason, it is usually written jdzj instead of ds; hence
Z Z b
f .z/ jdzj D f ..t //j 0 .t /j dt:
a
With the given definition of complex line integral, one obviously has
Z
dz D .b/ .a/:

3.1. Complex line integrals 87
R
Example 3.2. If .t / D e it , 0 t 2, and f .z/ D z1 we have f .z/ dz D
R 2 iei t R R 2
0 dt D 2 i. However, f .z/jdzj D 0 edti t D 0. If .t / D .t; t 2 / D
ei t R R1
t C it 2 , 0 t 1, and f .z/ D zN 2 , then f .z/ dz D 0 .t i t 2 /2 .1 C 2i t / dt D
R1 4
0 .3t C t / 2i t dt D 14 3i .
2 5
15
Look now at the behavior of the complex line integral with a change of para-
metrization: t D ˆ.u/, c u d , .u/ D .ˆ.u//. Applying the definitions it
turns out that Z Z d
f .z/ dz D f ..u// 0 .u/ du; (3.2)
c
and since 0 .u/ D 0 .ˆ.u//ˆ0 .u/, the integral of (3.2) is
Z d
f ..ˆ.u/// 0 .ˆ.u//ˆ0 .u/ du:
c
Applying now the change of variable t D ˆ.u/, when the reparametrization is

orientation preserving, that is, when ˆ is increasing and ˆ.c/ D a, ˆ.d / D b, we
get
Z Z b Z
0
f .z/ dz D f ..t // .t / dt D f .z/ dz:
a
R
If the reparametrization
R changes the orientation, we obtain for f .z/ dz the op-
posite value of f .z/ dz.
If is a piecewise C 1 curve and 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; n are the pieces with continuous
derivative so that the ending point of i is the beginning of iC1 , a situation that
will be denoted by D 1 C 2 C C n , then we will write
Z X n Z
f .z/ dz D f .z/ dz:
iD1 i
Since the integrals do not depend on parametrizations if they are orientation pre-
serving, there is no need for the parameters of the pieces i to vary on disjoint
intervals, so it is usual to work with each of them separately.
Example 3.3. The integral of the function z 2 along the path that consists of 1 ,
which is the arc of the parabola y D x 2 that goes from the origin to the point
R segment 2 , which goes from 1 C i to 1,
.1; 1/ D 1 C i, followed by the vertical
has two parts: in order to compute 1 we use the parametrization z D t C i t 2 ,
R1
0 t 1, dz D .1 C 2i t / dt and so we have 0 .t C i t 2 /2 .1 C 2i t / dt D
R1 2 R
0 .t 5t C 2i t .2 t // dt D 3 .i 1/; to compute 2 we can use the
4 3 2 2
parametrization z D 1 C .1 t /i, dz D i dt , 0 t 1; this is the same

as using z D 1 C t i, dz D i dt, where t goes from 1 to 0: it turns out that
R0 R
1 .1 t C 2it /.i dt / D 1 3 i . Hence, 1 C2 z dz D 3 .
2 2 2 1
In the estimations of complex line integrals the following inequality will be

often used: ˇZ ˇ Z
ˇ ˇ
ˇ f .z/ dz ˇ jf j ds;
ˇ ˇ

which is an immediate consequence of the definitions and of (3.1). In particular, if
f satisfies the bound jf .z/j M on , one has
ˇZ ˇ
ˇ ˇ
ˇ f .z/ dz ˇ ML. /: (3.3)
ˇ ˇ

To finish this section, observe that the index of a path with respect to a point
z … , given by (1.6) of Subsection 1.5.2, may be written as a complex line
integral
Z b Z
1 0 .t / 1 dw
Ind .; z/ D dt D : (3.4)
2 i a .t / z 2 i w z
This expression will be very useful from now on. For example, using the inequality
(3.3), one finds
L. /
j Ind .; z/j ;
2 d.z; /
where d denotes the Euclidian distance, and then it is clear that the index converges
to zero when z tends to infinity. This fact implies that it is necessarily zero in the
unbounded component
P of C n .
If a series n fn .t / of real- or complex-valued continuous functions on an
interval Œa; b converges uniformly on Œa; b, then its sum is a continuous function,
P Rb
the numerical series n a fn .t / dt is convergent and
Z b X XZ b
fn .t / dt D fn .t / dt:
a n n a
Combining this fact with Definition 3.1 we get the following property:
Proposition 3.4. If is a path on thePcomplex plane and .fn / is a sequence of
continuous
P R functions on such that n fn .z/ converges uniformly on , then
n fn .z/ dz is convergent and
Z X XZ
fn .z/ dz D fn .z/ dz:
n n
3.2 Line integrals, vector fields and differential 1-forms

Complex line integrals are a particular case of line integrals or circulations of vector
fields along curves or, equivalently, of the integrals of differential 1-forms (when
3.2. Line integrals, vector fields and differential 1-forms 89
complex values are allowed). A review of these concepts in their natural context,
the domains of Rn , will be done in this section.
A continuous vector field XÅ on a domain U of Rn is simply a continuous
mapping XÅ W U ! Rn that makes a correspondence between a point x 2 U and a
Å
vector X.x/, placed with the origin at the point x. Velocity fields and force fields
are typical examples of vector fields. More generally we can consider vector fields
Å t/ which depend also on time, examples of which will be seen in Chapter 7.
X.x;
However, in the following paragraphs only vector fields that are independent of
time will be dealt with, known also as stationary vector fields.
In the complex plane, with the usual identification, a vector field on a domain
U is the same as a complex function defined on U . Sometimes it is convenient to
look at complex functions as vector fields.
Example 3.5. The function f .z/ D z defines a radial field. The function e z , which
is 2 i periodic, defines the vector field in Figure 3.1.
Figure 3.1
An important concept associated to a vector field XÅ is the one of integral curves

or orbits of the field. They are C 1 curves which at each point .t / have tangent
vector equal to XÅ..t //. Analytically, this is expressed as
0 .t / D XÅ..t //;
or in coordinates, writing XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn / and .t / D .x1 .t /; x2 .t /; : : : ;

xn .t//, by the differential equations system
dxi
D Xi .x1 .t /; x2 .t /; : : : ; xn .t //; i D 1; 2; : : : ; n:
dt
Example 3.6. The orbits of the field f .z/ D zN are the solutions of x 0 D x,
y 0 D y, that is x.t / D c1 e t , y.t / D c2 e t . They are hyperbolas. The orbits of
f .z/ D iz are the circles x.t / D r cos t , y.t / D r sin t . The orbits of the field
f .z/ D z1N D xxCiy
2 Cy 2 are the solutions of the system
x
x0 D ;
x2 C y2
y
y0 D :
x2 C y2

These equations imply that dt d
arctan yx D 0, that is, arctan yx must be constant
on each orbit. The orbits are located then over rays starting at the origin of coordi-
nates. In order to find the parametrization one would better use polar coordinates
p
x.t/ D r.t/ cos .t /, y.t / D r.t / sin .t /. Then it turns out that r.t / D 2t ,
.t/ D constant (Figure 3.2).
c1 < 0 c1 > 0
c2 > 0 c2 > 0
c1 < 0 c1 > 0
c2 < 0 c2 < 0
f .z/ D zN f .z/ D 1
zN
Figure 3.2
A continuous vector field XÅ on a domain U of Rn gives rise to two important
notions: circulations and flows. The concept of flow will be introduced in the next
section. The circulation of XÅ along a regular curve is, by definition, the sum of
the tangential components of the vector field XÅ over , that is, if TÅ is the unitary
tangent vector to , the circulation is
Z
h XÅ; TÅ i ds;

where h ; i is the scalar product in Rn . Analytically, in terms of a parametrization

0
.t/; a t b, since TÅ ..t// D j 0 .t/
.t/j
and ds D j 0 .t /jdt (Subsection 1.4.3),
the circulation turns out to be

Z b
h XÅ..t /; 0 .t / i dt:
a
This integral makes sense more generally for a piecewise C 1 -curve . When XÅ is
a force field, the circulation is the work done by the field to move the unit mass
along the orbit. In terms of the components one has
Z Z b

Å TÅ i ds D
h X; X1 ..t //x10 .t / C X2 ..t //x20 .t / C C Xn ..t //xn0 .t / dt;
a
for what reason the following notation is also used:

Z Z
Å Å
h X ; T i ds D X1 dx1 C X2 dx2 C C Xn dxn :

Remark 3.1. The notions of regular curve, path, tangent vector to a curve or
integration with respect to the arc length have been given in Section 1.4 in the
case of curves in a domain U of the plane. It is clear that the same notions have
identical sense for curves in a domain of Rn .
The expression ! D !XÅ D X1 dx1 C X2 dx2 C C Xn dxn , that is, what
one integrates over to get the circulation, is called a differential 1-form. Vector
fields and differential 1-forms are, then, equivalent concepts. The circulation of the
field XÅ along is, by definition, the line integral of the form !XÅ along and it is
R R R
represented by ! .D !XÅ D hXÅ; TÅ ids/.
R
Consider now a complex line integral f .z/ dz. If f D u C iv and .t / D
x.t/ C iy.t/, one has
Z Z b
f .z/dz D f ..t // 0 .t /dt
a
Z b
D .u.x.t /; y.t // C iv.x.t /; y.t //.x 0 .t / C iy 0 .t //dt (3.5)
a
Z b Z b
D .ux 0 vy 0 /dt C i .uy 0 C vx 0 /dt;
a a
which may be written as

Z Z Z
f .z/ dz D .udx vdy/ C i .udy C vdx/:

R
In terms of the vector field fN D .u; v/ this last equality means that f .z/ dz
has the circulation of fN along as its real part, and the circulation of ifN as its
imaginary part.
One way of handling simultaneously complex line integrals and vector field
circulations is considering differential 1-forms
! D P .x; y/ dx C Q.x; y/ dy;
where P , Q are complex-valued functions. Vector fields that correspond to these

forms will have complex components. So, the integrand of a complex line integral
may be written ! D f .z/ dz D f .z/ dx C if .z/ dy, that is, ! D P dx C Qdy,
with P D f; Q D if . This will be the point of view from now on.
The following theorem may be seen as an n-dimensional version of the funda-
mental theorem of calculus.
Theorem 3.7. Let .t /, a t b, be a path in the open set U Rn with
origin A D .a/ and ending point B D .b/, h a C 1 function on U (real- or
complex-valued ) and let XÅ D rhÅ be the gradient vector field of h. Then
Z
h XÅ; TÅ i ds D h.B/ h.A/;

where TÅ is the unitary tangent vector to .

Proof. If xi .t/ are the components of .t /, the circulation is
Z b X
n Z b
@h 0 d
..t //xi .t / dt D .h B / dt D h..b// h..a//:
a @xi a dt
iD1
So the gradient vector field XÅ D rh,

Å with h of class C 1 on U , briefly h 2
C 1 .U /, has the property that the circulation along a curve depends only on the
origin and the ending point of the curve.
Definition 3.8. A continuous vector field XÅ on a domain U of Rn is called con-

servative if the circulation along any curve in U depends only on the origin and
the ending point of . More explicitly, if 1 , 2 are two paths in U with the same
origin and the same ending point, it holds that
Z Z
h XÅ; TÅ i ds D h XÅ; TÅ i ds:
1 2
One may also say that the circulation of the vector field XÅ does not depend on the
path in U between two given points.
If 1 and 2 are two paths with the same origin and ending point and is the
path which consists of travelling on 1 followed by the opposite path to 2 (that
is, travelled in the opposite direction), then the circulation of a conservative vector
field along is zero. Therefore, the integrals of a field are independent of the path
in U if and only if its circulation is zero along every closed path in U . Observe
that it is a global concept.
So Theorem 3.7 says that a gradient vector field is a conservative vector field.
The opposite is also true.
Theorem 3.9. A continuous vector field XÅ on a domain U of Rn is conservative
on U if and only if it is a gradient vector field.
Proof. One has only to show that if XÅ is conservative, then there is a function
h 2 C 1 .U / such that XÅ D rh.
Å Fix a point x0 2 U ; given x 2 U consider any
path x in U which starts at x0 and ends at x (a path like these exists because U is
arc connected) and define
Z
h.x/ D h XÅ; TÅ i ds:
x
By hypothesis, the integral does not depend on the chosen path, and so h is well
defined. Let us check now that @x @h
i
D Xi if XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn /. This means
that
h.x C t ei / h.x/
lim D Xi .x/;
t!0 t
where he1 ; e2 ; : : : ; en i is the canonical basis of Rn . Among the paths going from
x0 to x C tei consider x , which goes from x0 to x, followed by the segment
which joins x with x C t ei . The incremental quotient is then
Z Z 1
1
h XÅ; TÅ i ds D Xi .x C st ei / ds;
t 0
and it is clear that the limit when t ! 0 is Xi .x/.

Observe that the previous theorem, in the case n D 1, is no more than the
fundamental theorem of calculus, and it establishes that any continuous function on
an interval has an antiderivative which is its indefinite integral. The function h such
that XÅ D rh
Å is called a potential function of the vector field XÅ and it is completely
determined up to constants.
All these notions may be expressed in terms of 1-forms associated to vector
P
fields. If ! D Å
i Xi .x/ dxi , where X D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn / is a conservative
vector field on U with potential function h, XÅ D rh, Å then the 1-form ! is said to
be exact on U and it is written ! D dh. Theorem 3.9 may be reformulated saying
that a continuous 1-form on U is exact if and only if it has line integral zero along
all closed curves in U .
A domain U is a star-like domain with respect to one of its points p if, given
x 2 U , the segment which joins p with x is contained in U . Obviously, a convex
domain is star-like with respect to any of its points. When U is star-like, the proof
of Theorem 3.9 may be adapted to obtain the following result:
Theorem 3.10.
R In a star-like domain U of Rn a continuous 1-form ! is exact if
and only if @4 ! D 0 for any triangle 4 U , and a continuous vector field is
conservative if and only if it has circulation zero along the boundary of any triangle
contained in U .
It is understood that @4 is the positively oriented piecewise regular closed Jordan

curve which bounds the triangle 4.
The proof is the same as in Theorem 3.9, but now the chosen path x for defining
the potential function h at x, which goes from x0 to x, is the segment joining both
points.
Definition 3.11. A 1-form ! is locally exact (equivalently, the associated vector

field XÅ has locally a potential function) on a domain U of Rn if for every a 2 U
there is a ball B.a; r/ U , r > 0 and a function h 2 C 1 .B.a; r// such that
! D dh (or XÅ D rh)Å in B.a; r/.
As usual we write B.a; r/ D Br .a/ D fx 2 Rn W jx aj < rg, with j j for the

norm in Rn .
Considering that balls are star-like domains and using Theorem 3.10 and a
decomposition of a triangle into enough smaller triangles, we get the following
result.
R 3.12. In a domain U R a continuous 1-form ! is locally exact if and

Corollary n
only if @4 ! D 0 holds for any triangle 4 U . A continuous vector field has

locally a potential function if and only if its circulation is zero along the boundary
of any triangle inside U .
3.3 The fundamental theorem of complex calculus

Now these considerations will be particularized to dimension two and the case of
! D f .z/ dz. It is worth recalling the notations

@f 1 @f @f @f 1 @f @f
D Ci ; D i ;
@zN 2 @x @y @z 2 @x @y
dz D dx C i dy; d zN D dx i dy:
The differential dh of a differentiable function h (real- or complex-valued) may be

expressed as
@h @h
dh D dz C N
d z:
@z @zN
3.3. The fundamental theorem of complex calculus 95
A 1-form ! D P dx C Q dy may be also written ! D A dz C B d z, N with A D

1
2
.P iQ/, B D 1
2
.P C iQ/. That is, z and N
z , @
@z
and @
@zN
, dz and d zN work as if
they formed a system of coordinates.
Let us now see when a form of type ! D f .z/ dz is exact on a domain U
supposing only that f is continuous on U . There must be a function h 2 C 1 .U /
such that dh D !, that is,
@h @h
dz C d zN D f .z/ dz:
@z @zN
This means that @h@zN
D 0, that is, h is holomorphic and h0 D f on U . This way one
sees that f .z/ dz is exact on U if and only if f has a holomorphic antiderivative
h, in the sense that h has complex derivative h0 .z/ D f .z/, z 2 U .
Theorem 3.9 gives, as a particular case, the following result. However it is worth
repeating the proof for this special case.
Theorem 3.13 (Fundamental theorem of complex calculus). Let f be a continuous
function
R on a domain U of the complex plane. Then the complex line integral
f .z/ dz does not depend on the path in U if and only if f has a holomorphic
antiderivative F , F 0 D f , on U . In this case one has
Z Z
f .z/ dz D F 0 .z/ dz D F .B/ F .A/;

where A, B are, respectively, the beginning and the end of the path .
Proof. Fix z0 2 U and for each z 2 U choose any path z which goes from z0 to
z and put Z
F .z/ D f .w/ dw:
z
Observe that F .z/ is well defined, supposing that the line integral of f does not
depend on the path. Therefore, F is, by definition, the indefinite integral of f . To
prove that F 0 .z/ D f .z/, remark that the incremental quotient F .zCh/F .z/
at a
R h
fixed point z is exactly h f .w/ dw, where is the segment from z to z C h. So
1
R be seen that this quantity has limit f .z/ when h ! 0, or equivalently, using
it must
that dw is h, Z
1
lim .f .w/ f .z// dw D 0:
h!0 h
However, by (3.3), the previous integral is bounded in modulus by

1
supfjf .w/ f .z/j W w 2 gL. / supfjf .w/ f .z/j W w 2 g;
jhj
a quantity which converges to zero with h due to the continuity of f .
Conversely, if f D F 0 and is given by .t /, a t b, then f ..t // 0 .t / D

F ..t// 0 .t/ coincides with .F B /0 .t / and so one has
0
Z Z b Z b
f .z/ dz D f ..t // 0 .t / dt D .F B /0 .t / dt
a a
D .F B /.b/ .F B /.a/:
Theorem 3.10 corresponds to the following one.

Theorem 3.14. Let f be a continuous function on a star-like domain U of the
complex plane. Then f has a holomorphic antiderivative F , F 0 D f , on U if and
only if Z
f .z/ dz D 0
@
for every triangle inside U .

Thus the parallelism with the real version of the fundamental theorem of calculus
is clear. The difference is that, on the real line, to go from x0 to x there is just one
path, up to reparametrizations which conserve the value of the integral, while in
the complex plane there are a lot of them. Therefore, while in a real variable every
continuous function has an antiderivative (the indefinite integral), in one complex
variable not every continuous function has a holomorphic antiderivative. Only
functions with a well-defined indefinite integral have it.
Example 3.15. For fixed a 2 C and m 2 N, the function F .z/ D m 1
.z a/m is
0
R and has derivative F .z/ D .z a/
m1
holomorphic in the whole complex plane
C. Hence, .z a/k dz D 0 if k is a non-negative integer (k D m 1) for any
closed path , that is, the form .z a/k dz has integrals which do not depend on
the path.
Considering F .z/ D m 1
.z a/m but now with m a negative integer, F is
holomorphic
R on U D C n fag and has derivative F 0 .z/ D .z a/m1 . Hence, it is
also .z a/k dz D 0 if k is a negative integer k ¤ 1 (k D m 1) and a … .
However, if k D 1, it is already known that
Z
dz
D 2 i Ind .; a/;
za
which may be different from 0. Therefore the function .z a/1 does not have a
holomorphic antiderivative on C n fag
Example 3.16. The computation of the integral of z 2 along the arc of the parabola
from 0 to 1 C i followed by the segment from 1 C i to 1 is done in Example 3.3,
and the result is 13 , which coincides with the integral along the segment from 0 to 1,
easier to compute.
3.3. The fundamental theorem of complex calculus 97
The complex fundamental theorem of calculus, exactly as in the real case, al-
lows us to reduce the computation of certain line integrals to the computation of
R1 2
antiderivatives. In one real variable, in order to evaluate for example 0 e x dx,
one has to use the definition as a limit of Riemann sums and one may only obtain
an approximated value. But the fundamental theorem of calculus may be used for
functions which have antiderivatives. It is the same in the complex case; according
to Theorem 3.13 one has
Z
F 0 .z/ dz D F .B/ F .A/ (3.6)

if is a path from the points A to B, inside an open set U on which F is a

holomorphic function.
R
Example 3.17. In order to compute sin z dz where is the arc of the curve
y D x 3 , which goes from .0; 0/ to .1; 1/ D 1 C i , the definition is not applied;
just observe that sin z is the derivative of cos z, and then the previous integral has
value cos.1 C i / C cos 0 D 1 cos.1 C i /.
Recall that to compute complex antiderivatives we may use analogue rules to the
ones for the real case, as explained in Subsection 2.4.3. For example, the integration
by parts formula sets the equality
Z Z
f 0 .z/g.z/ dz D f .B/g.B/ f .A/g.A/ f .z/g 0 .z/ dz

if goes from A to B inside U and f; g 2 H.U /. It is no more than the rule of the
derivative of a product, using (3.6) for F D f g.
R
Example 3.18. In order to compute z sin z dz, when is a path joining the points
A and B,Rtake u D z, dvRD sin z dz; then du DR dz, v D cos z, and the indefinite
integral u dv is uv v du D z cos z C cos z dz D z cos z C sin z. The
defined integral is, therefore, sin B sin A B cos B C A cos A.
R Similarly,0 the change of variable formula establishes that if in the integral

f .g.z//g .z/ dz one makes the substitution w D g.z/ and F .w/ is an an-
tiderivative of f .w/, then
Z Z
f .g.z//g 0 .z/ dz D f .w/ dw D F .g.B// F .g.A//;
g. /
where goes from A to B and g. / is the path defined by the mapping g B .
R z
Example 3.19. Compute 1Cz 2 dz, where is the line segment from 0 to
R 1
p .1 C i/. Making the change of variable w D z 2 we obtain 1
1
dw, where
2 2 1Cw
is the image of this segment by the mapping z ! z 2 ; it is the segment starting at 0

1
and ending at i; in a neighborhood of this segment 1Cw has antiderivative F .w/ D
Log.1 C w/ (in fact, the branch of F .w/ is defined outside the ray .1; 1); the
proposed integral equals 12 .Log.1 C i / Log 1/ D 14 Log 2 C i 8 .
The existence of holomorphic antiderivatives and of branches of the logarithm
are two deeply related matters:
Proposition 3.20. If f is a holomorphic function without zeros on a domain U ,
then there is a branch of the logarithm of f in U if and only if the function f 0 =f
has a holomorphic antiderivative on U .
Proof. It has been observed in Subsection 2.4.3 that if h is a branch of log f , then
h is holomorphic and h0 D f 0 =f . Conversely, suppose that h is holomorphic on U
with h0 D f 0 =f and consider the function F D e h f , the derivative of which is
F 0 D e h h0 f C e h f 0 D 0:
Therefore, F is a constant c ¤ 0, and if c D e ˛ ; ˛ 2 C, then f D e hC˛ and h C ˛
is a continuous branch of log f in U .
Proposition 3.21. Let K be a compact set of C. The following assertions hold:
a) If ˛ 2 V1 , the unbounded component of C n K, then there exists a branch of
log.z ˛/ on a neighborhood of K.
b) If ˛, ˇ belong to the same bounded component of C n K, then there exists a
z˛
branch of log zˇ on a neighborhood of K.
Proof. Suppose that V is a bounded component of C n K and that ˛; ˇ 2 V .
Consider a relatively compact neighborhood U of K such that ˛, ˇ are both in
the same component of C n Ux (for example, join ˛, ˇ by means of a polygonal
curve V and if " D d.K; /, put U D fz W d.z; K/ < "g). The function
f .z/ D .z ˛/=.z ˇ/ will have a branch of the logarithm in U if f 0 =f has an
antiderivative, that is, if
Z Z Z
f 0 .z/ dz dz
0D dz D
f .z/ z˛ zˇ
for any closed path inside U . Now,

Z Z
dz dz
D 2 i ŒInd.; ˛/ Ind.; ˇ/ :
z˛ zˇ
Since U , it turns out that ˛, ˇ must be in the same component of C n and,

as a consequence, Ind .; ˛/ D Ind .; ˇ/.
R dz
In the case that ˛ 2 V1 , one has z˛ D 2 i Ind .; ˛/ D 0, following a
similar argument.
3.4. Green’s formula 99
3.4 Green’s formula
The following theorem has a main role in the development of Cauchy’s local theory
of holomorphic functions.
Theorem 3.22 (Green’s formula). Let U be a bounded domain of the complex

plane with positively oriented piecewise regular boundary and let TÅ be the unitary
tangent vector to @U . Let XÅ D .P; Q/ be a vector field with components P , Q
differentiable functions on a neighborhood of Ux such that the function @Q
@x
@P
@y
is
x
continuous on U . Then the following identity holds:
Z Z “
Å TÅ i ds D @Q @P
hX; P dx C Q dy D dx dy:
@U @U U @x @y
@Q @P
Observe that it is not required that the functions ,
@x @y
be continuous.
It is convenient to make precise the meaning of the integral of the form P dx C
Qdy along @U . Recall (Section 1.6) that @U is composed of a finite number of
Jordan curves 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N . Then, by definition, it is
Z N Z
X
P dx C Qdy D P dx C Qdy;
@U iD1 j
understanding that each curve j is described by a parametrization which orientates

1 positively and 2 ; : : : ; N negatively, if 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N are as in Proposition 1.37.
Intuitively, when travelling each j the set U must be on the left. Likewise, the
0 .t/
unitary tangent vector at the point i .t / 2 @U , i D 1; : : : ; N , is TÅ D i0 ji .t/j
every time that i0 .t / ¤ 0. Concerning the double integral over U of the function
Qx Py , note that it is taken with respect to Lebesgue measure on the plane,
represented either by dxdy or by d m.z/, if z D x C iy.
The proof of Theorem 3.22 will be done in three steps. The first step corresponds
to the particular case in which the domain U is a rectangle. It is worth noting that
the proof of Green’s formula for a rectangle, let Ux D Œa; b Œc; d , is very easy
if P , Q are C 1 in a neighborhood of Ux , because then the functions @P ; @Q are
@y @x
continuous and an application of the fundamental theorem of calculus and Fubini’s
Theorem gives
Z
.P dx C Q dy/
@U
Z b Z d Z b Z d
D P .x; c/dx C Q.b; y/dy P .x; d /dx Q.a; y/dy
a c a c
Z b Z d
D .P .x; c/ P .x; d // dx C .Q.b; y/ Q.a; y// dy
a c
Z b Z d Z d Z b
@P @Q
D .x; y/ dx dy C .x; y/ dy dx
a c @y c a @x
Z
@Q @P
D dx dy:
Œa;bŒc;d @x @y
In the general case, where nothing about each function @P , @Q is assumed, it is

@y @x
necessary to find a different kind of proof. The one given here is inspired by a proof
of the basic fact, in calculus of one real variable, stating that if f is a differentiable
function on an open interval I and f 0 .x/ D 0, for all x 2 I , then f is constant on
I . It is a direct proof, which only uses the definition of the derivative:
One may suppose Œa; b I and prove that f .a/ D f .b/. Put I0 D Œa; b. If
c is the middle point of Œa; b, one has
def
I0 .f / D jf .b/ f .a/j jf .b/ f .c/j C jf .c/ f .a/j
def
D Œc;b .f / C Œa;c .f /:
From the two intervals Œa; c, Œc; b, let I1 be the one on which the absolute value
of the variation of f is bigger so that
jf .b/ f .a/j 2I1 .f /:
Repeat the process indefinitely and find a sequence of intervals I0 I1
In , each of them a half of the previous one, with length jIn j D 2n .b a/
and
jf .b/ f .a/j 2n In .f /:
The intersection of all the intervals In is a point x0 2 Œa; b. Given " > 0, there
exists a ı > 0 such that
f .x/ D f .x0 / C f 0 .x0 /.x x0 / C R.x/.x x0 / D f .x0 / C R.x/.x x0 /
with jR.x/j ", if jx x0 j ı. If n is big enough, any interval In is inside the
interval Œx0 ı; x0 C ı and then
In .f / "jIn j D "2n .b a/:
With this jf .b/ f .a/j ".b a/, for any " > 0 and f .b/ D f .a/.
Rb
The same proof, working with f .b/ f .a/ a f 0 .x/ dx as a functional of
the interval Œa; b, proves the fundamental theorem of calculus, that is,
Z b
f .b/ f .a/ D f 0 .t / dt; if f 2 C 1 .Œa; b/:
a
This is, essentially, the proof done next in dimension 2.
Proof of Theorem 3.22.

First step. The domain U is a rectangle with sides parallel to the axis. Writing
@P
@x
D Px , @P
@y
D Py and similarly for Q, put
Z “
I D I.U / D .P dx C Q dy/ .Qx Py / dx dy:
@U U
This notation will be used for any rectangle. Divide the rectangle U into
Pnfour equal
rectangles (Figure 3.3) U , i D 1; 2; 3; 4, such that one has I.U / D iD1 I.U i /,
i
and let U1 be the one of the four rectangles U i for which jI.U i /j is maximum.
Therefore,
jI j 4jI.U1 /j:
< <
U1 U2
<
<
U3 U4
<
<
< <
Figure 3.3
With I1 D I.U1 / one repeats now the process and so on, so one finds rectangles
U Ux1 Ux2 Uxn ; : : : , each of which is a quarter of the previous one, and
x
jI j 4n jI.Un /j: (3.7)

The intersection of these rectangles Uxn is a point z0 2 Ux . Given " > 0 we can
write
P .x; y/ D P .z0 / C Px .z0 /.x x0 / C Py .z0 /.y y0 / C R1 .z/;
Q.x; y/ D Q.z0 / C Qx .z0 /.x x0 / C Qy .z0 /.y y0 / C R2 .z/;

where z0 D x0 C iy0 ; z D x C iy, with jR1 .z/j; jR2 .z/j "jz z0 j, if jz z0 j
ı D ı."/. By the continuity of Qx Py one may suppose that
.Qx Py /.z/ D .Qx Py /.z0 / C R3 .z/
with jR3 .z/j ", if jz z0 j ı. For n big enough, it is Uxn D.z0 ; ı/, and if one
assumes that Uxn D Œan ; bn Œcn ; dn , one has
Z
.P dx C Q dy/
@Un
Z bn Z dn
D P .x; cn / dx C Q.bn ; y/ dy
an cn
Z bn Z dn
P .x; dn / dx Q.an ; y/ dy
an cn
D Py .z0 /.cn y0 /.bn an / C Qx .z0 /.bn x0 /.dn cn /

Py .z0 /.dn y0 /.bn an / Qx .z0 /.an x0 /.dn cn / C Rn
D .bn an /.dn cn /.Qx .z0 / Py .z0 // C Rn ;
where
Z bn Z dn
Rn D ŒR1 .x; cn / R1 .x; dn /dx C ŒR2 .bn ; y/ R2 .an ; y/dy:
an cn
Observe that R1 ; R2 are continuous functions and, therefore, integrable.

Now if z 2 @Un , it is jz z0 j Ln , where Ln is the length of the diagonal of
Un . Hence, if Pn is the perimeter of Un , it turns out that, for n big enough,
jRn j "Ln Pn :
But if L, P are the diagonal and the perimeter of U , respectively, it is Ln D 2n L,

Pn D 2n P , so that
jRn j "4n LP:
One has as well
“
zn ;
.Qx Py / dx dy D .Qx Py /.z0 /.bn an /.dn cn / C R
Un
for a certain function Rzn which satisfies jRzn j "4n A, where A is the area of
U and n is big enough. Hence one has that the two previous integrals has the same
principal part, so there is a cancellation and one finds
jI.Un /j "4n .LP C A/:
Finally, by (3.7) it turns out that jI j ".LP C A/, for all " > 0 and consequently,
I D 0. This finishes the proof of the first step.
Remark 3.2. a) The same procedure may be used in the case of a triangle 4
breaking it into the three triangles determined by the vertices and the barycenter
of 4.
b) The arguments used above also prove that the result holds if Ux is a finite
union of rectangles with pairwise disjoint interiors.
c) Also a more general version than the one just proved is valid, supposing only
that the functions P and Q are continuous on Ux , differentiable on U and that the
function Qx Py is integrable on U . (See: P. J. Cohen, On Green’s theorem, Proc.
Amer. Math. Soc. 10 (1959) 109–112.)
Second step. The domain U is of subgraph type, that is,
U D f.x; y/ W a x b; 0 y '.x/g
is a domain limited by three segments and by the graph of the function ' W
Œa; b ! R which is supposed to be C 1 (Figure 3.4).
y D '.x/
a b a x 1 x2 xn1 b
Figure 3.4 Figure 3.5
The idea in this case is, simply, approximating U by a union of rectangles, as

it is done in the definition of the integral with Riemann sums. Given a partition
a D x0 < x1 < x2 < < xn D b of Œa; b, formed by n C 1 equidistant
points, let mi D inff'.x/ W xi1 x xi g D '.i / with i 2 Œxi1 ; xi for
i D 1; 2; : : : ; n, 0 D x0 ; nC1 D xn . Now consider the domain Rn union of the
rectangles f.x; y/ W xi1 x xi ; 0 y mi g, i D 1; : : : ; n (Figure 3.5).
Clearly Rn Ux and
“ “
.Qx Py / dx dy ! .Qx Py / dx dy
n!1
Rn U
because the function Qx Py is continuous, and therefore integrable on Ux . Fur-

thermore since Rn is the union of adjacent rectangles it turns out, according to the
first step, that
“ Z
.Qx Py / dx dy D P dx C Q dy:
Rn @Rn
R R
The difference between @U P dx C Q dy and @Rn P dx C Q dy is, up to the
sign,
Z b
.P .x; '.x// C Q.x; '.x//' 0 .x// dx
a
n Z
X xi n Z
X '.i C1 /
P .x; '.i // dx Q.xi ; y/ dy
iD1 xi 1 iD0 '.i /
Z b n Z
X xi
D P .x; '.x// dx P .x; '.i // dx

a iD1 xi 1
Z b n Z
X '.i C1 /
Q.x; '.x//' 0 .x/ dx

def
C Q.xi ; y/ dy D I C II:
a iD0 '.i /
It is clear that I converges to 0 when n ! 1, by the uniform continuity of P .x; y/

on Ux . The change of variable y D '.x/ makes each of the integrals of the second
term of II become Z i C1
Q.xi ; '.x//' 0 .x/ dx
i
and then II ! 0 with n ! 1, by the uniform continuity of Q.x; '.x//' 0 .x/.

With this,
Z Z
.P dx C Q dy/ D lim .P dx C Q dy/
@U n @Rn
“ “
D lim .Qx Py / dx dy D .Qx Py / dx dy;
n
Rn U
which finishes the proof of the second step.

Naturally, the same result holds permuting the roles of x, y, that is, if U is a
subgraph domain of a function x D '.y/.
Third step. Let now U be a bounded domain with piecewise regular positively
oriented boundary, formed by Jordan curves 1 ; : : : ; N , where each i is piecewise
regular.
First fix a point z0 2 @U and suppose that z0 2 1 with 1 .t / D .x.t /; y.t //,
1 .t0 / D z0 . If z0 is a regular point, it is 10 .t0 / ¤ 0 and one may assume, for
example, x 0 .t0 / ¤ 0. Then in a neighborhood of x0 D x.t0 / the variable t may be
written as a function of x, t D t .x/, and therefore, y D y.t / D y.t .x// D '.x/,
that is, 1 is the graph of the function ' on a neighborhood of .x0 ; y0 /. Taking
now a rectangle R small enough surrounding this point, the graph of ' breaks R
into two regions
RC D f.x; y/ 2 R; y > '.x/g and R D f.x; y/ 2 R; y < '.x/g;
and necessarily either R \ U D RC or R \ U D R (Figure 3.6).
y D '.x/
y
C
R
y0 1 .t0 / D z0
R
x0 x
x0 ı x0 C ı
Figure 3.6
Hence there exists a neighborhood R of z0 such that R \ Ux is either the sub-

graph type region
R \ Ux D fx0 ı x x0 C ı; a y '.x/g with ı > 0; a 2 R;
which has positively oriented boundary, or the result of rotating by 180ı a region
of this type. If the proof started from y 0 .t0 / ¤ 0, one would find a neighborhood
R of z0 such that R \ Ux is a subgraph type region, with x D '.y/. Observe that
for any of these regions Green’s formula holds, according to the second step. If the
point z0 2 @U is not regular, then z0 has a neighborhood V such that V \ Ux is the
union of two adjoint subgraph regions because 1 .t / is regular for t < t0 and for
t > t0 , and then Green’s formula also holds on V \ Ux (Figure 3.7).
Now, due to the compactness of the boundary of U , it may be covered by
a finite number of open rectangles R1 ; : : : ; Rk so that every region Ri \ Ux is
of subgraph type (as in the second step). The part of Ux which is not covered
z0
V \ Ux
Figure 3.7
by the rectangles Ri , that is, Ux n .R1 [ [ Rk /, is a compact set contained

in U , which may be covered by a union of rectangles with sides parallel to the
axis, contained in U . We may assume that these rectangles have pairwise dis-
joint interiors, because a finite union of rectangles may always be chosen such
that only their boundaries intersect. Let R0 be the union of these rectangles so
that Green’s formula clearly holds for R0 , according to the first step. Finally
consider a C 1 partition of unity f 0 ; 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; k g subordinated to the covering
fR0 ; R1 ; : : : ; Rk g of Ux . To simplify we write ! D P dx C Q dy, !i D i !,
hi D . i Q/x . i P /y ; i D 0; 1; : : : ; k. It turns out that
X
k
! D !0 C !i ;
iD1
where each form !i is differentiable and vanishes outside Ri and hi is continuous.

Therefore Z “ “ Z
!0 D 0; h0 D h0 D !0 D 0
@U U R0 @R0
and, for the forms !i , i D 1; : : : ; k,

Z Z Z “ “
!i D !i D !i D hi D hi :
@U @U \Ri x/
@.Ri \U x
Ri \U U
With this the proof of Green’s formula is complete.

Note that Theorem 3.22 holds if the functions P , Q either are real or complex.
A vector field XÅ D .P; Q/ and its corresponding 1-form ! D P dx C Qdy
will be called differentiable on a domain U if P and Q are differentiable functions
on U .
Corollary 3.23. A differentiable 1-form ! D P dx C Q dy on a domain U of the
plane is locally exact if and only if Py D Qx on U . A differentiable vector field
XÅ D .P; Q/ has a locally potential function if and only if Py D Qx . In a star-like
domain the same statements hold globally on U .
3.5. Cauchy’s Theorem and applications 107
Proof. It is enough to prove the assertion in the case of a star-like domain. If

! D dh then h is twice differentiable and Schwarz’s rule says that hxy D hyx , that
is, Py D Qx . Conversely, this condition implies, according to Green’s formula
Z Z
! D .Qx Py / dx dy D 0;
@

for each triangle U , and by Theorem 3.10, ! is exact.
With the additional hypothesis that P; Q are C 1 the previous corollary may be
proved directly without using Green’s formula (see Remark 3.5). The differentiable
1-forms on a domain U , ! D P dx C Qdy, which satisfy the condition Py D Qx ,
are called closed forms on U .
3.5 Cauchy’s Theorem and applications

In the special case ! D P dx C Qdy is a closed differentiable 1-form on a neigh-
borhood of Ux , the function Qx Py D 0 is automatically continuous and Green’s
formula gives Z
! D 0:
@U
If the function f is differentiable, imposing that the 1-form ! D f .z/ dz D

f .z/ dx C if .z/ dy is closed means that it must satisfy
@f @if @f
D Di ;
@y @x @x
an equality that translates Cauchy–Riemann equations. Therefore, ! D f .z/ dz

is a closed form if and only if f satisfies the Cauchy–Riemann equations @f
@zN
D 0,
that is, if f is holomorphic.
In particular one obtains a basic result of complex analysis:
Theorem 3.24 (Cauchy). If U is a bounded domain of the plane with positively
oriented piecewise regular boundary and f is a holomorphic function on a neigh-
borhood of Ux , then Z
f .z/ dz D 0:
@U
Remark 3.3. a) The particular case of Theorem 3.24 when the domain U is a
rectangle with sides parallel to the axis is known as Cauchy–Goursat’s Theorem.
Note this result only depends on the first step in the proof of Theorem 3.22.
b) It is easy to see that Theorem 3.24 holds just assuming that the function f is
continuous on Ux and holomorphic on U (see Exercise 22 of Section 3.8).
A situation in which Cauchy’s Theorem is often used is the following: assume

that U is the interior of a positively oriented Jordan curve and that this curve is
formed by regular curves 1 ; : : : ; N such that the ending point of i is the starting
point of iC1 ; i D 1; 2; : : : ; N 1, and the ending point of N is the origin of 1 .
Then, if f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux , one has
Z N Z
X
f .z/dz D f .z/dz
1 iD2 i
R
and it is possible that the integrals i f .z/dz turn out to be more easily computed
R
than the integral 1 f .z/dz. This is illustrated in the following example.
R C1 R C1
Example 3.25. In order to compute the integrals 0 cos.t 2 /dt , 0 sin.t 2 /dt
we will show that the following limits exist:
Z R Z R
lim cos.t 2 / dt; lim sin.t 2 / dt;
R!C1 0 R!C1 0
that is, the integrals exist as improper Riemann integrals (however, they are not
2
absolutely convergent). The entire function f .z/ D e iz and the paths 1 , 2 and
3 of Figure 3.8 will be used. By Cauchy’s Theorem one has
Z R Z R Z Z Z
cos t dt C i
2
sin t dt D
2
f .z/ dz D f .z/ dz f .z/dz
0 0 1 2 3
Z R Z
i
4 /2 4 i t /2
D e i.te d.t e i 4 / e i.Re d.Re it /
0 0
Z R Z
t 2 1 4 2 e 2i t
D e p .1 C i / dt e iR Ri e it dt:
0 2 0
2
3
=4
R
1
Figure 3.8
3.5. Cauchy’s Theorem and applications 109
Now take limits when R ! 1. The first of these last integrals converges to
Z 1 p
1 2
p .1 C i / e t dt D p .1 C i /:
2 0 2 2
On the other hand,
ˇZ ˇ Z Z
ˇ 4 iR2 e2it ˇ ˇ iR2 e2i t ˇ

4 4
ˇ e Ri e it
dt ˇR ˇe ˇ dt D R e R
2 sin 2t
dt
ˇ ˇ
0 0 0
Z
4 2 1 2 1
R e R t dt D .1 e 4 R / < ! 0:
0 R R R!1
Therefore, one finally obtains
Z 1 Z 1 p

cos.t /dt D
2
sin.t /dt D p :
2

0 0 2 2
Example 3.26. Theorem 3.24 is used now to prove that the integral
Z C1
2
I.˛/ D e .xCi˛/ dx
1
does not depend on ˛ 2 R. Supposing that this fact holds, and since I.0/ D
R C1 x 2 p R C1 2 2
1 e dx D and I.˛/ D 1 e .x ˛ C2x˛i/ dx, we obtain
Z C1
2 2p
e x e 2x˛i dx D e ˛
1
and, taking real parts,

Z C1
2 2 p
e x cos 2x˛ dx D e ˛ :
1
2
In order to check that I.˛/ is independent from ˛ consider the function f .z/ D e z
and the rectangle with vertices R, CR, R C ˛i , R C ˛i . Cauchy–Goursat’s
Theorem gives
Z CR Z CR Z Z
x 2 .xC˛i/2 2
e e dx D C e z dz;
R R S1 S2
where S1 , S2 indicate the vertical sides of the rectangle. Now, if z D ˙R C i t ,

then one has
2 2/ 2 t 2 / 2 2 2 2
je z j D e Re.z D e .R D e R e t e R e ˛ :
2 2
Hence, both integrals over the vertical sides are bounded by j˛je ˛ e R , a quantity
which converges to zero when R % C1, and it turns out that I.˛/ D I.0/ for all
˛ 2 R.
R C1
Example 3.27. Now the integral I D 1 sint t dt will be computed; this integral
is not absolutely convergent, but it is convergent, and therefore
Z CR
sin t
I D lim dt
R!C1 R t
(see Section 5.8 for a review of types of convergence of the improper integrals).
Consider
e iz 1 Xn
i n z n1
f .z/ D D ;
z n1
nŠ
which is an entire function. Observe that, bearing in mind that the real part of the
following integral is odd, one has
Z CR Z CR Z CR
cos x 1 C i sin x sin x
f .x/ dx D Di dx:
R R x R x
Consider the upper semicircle CR with center at 0 and radius R, that is, CR D
fz W jzj D R; Im z 0g. By Cauchy’s Theorem, one has
Z CR Z
f .x/ dx C f .z/ dz D 0:
R CR
Then,
Z Z i
1 e iz 1 1
e iRe 1
I D lim dz D lim iRe i d
i R!1 CR z i R!1 0 Re i
Z Z
i R
i
D lim e iRe 1 d D lim e iRe d:
R!1 0 R!1 0
i
Now, je iRe j D e R sin and sin 2 for 0 ; so
ˇZ ˇ Z
ˇ ˇ
ˇ e iRe i
d ˇ 2
e R d ! 0; R ! 1
ˇ ˇ
0 0
from which I D .
An important consequence of Cauchy’s Theorem is related with the existence

of holomorphic antiderivatives and branches of the logarithm of functions. The
following corollaries are consequences of Corollary 3.23, Proposition 3.20 and the
fact that the form f .z/ dz is closed exactly when f is holomorphic. In Chapter 6
it will be seen that the statements relative to star-like domains also hold for simply
connected domains.
3.6. Classical theorems 111
Corollary 3.28. If f is a holomorphic function on a domain U of the plane,

then f has locally a holomorphic antiderivative on U . If U is star-like, f has a
holomorphic antiderivative globally.
Corollary 3.29. If f is a holomorphic function without zeros on a domain U of

the plane, then f has a branch of the logarithm locally on U . If U is star-like, f
has a branch of the logarithm globally.
Example 3.30. The form .z a/1 dz is closed on C n fag because .z a/1 is

holomorphic, but is not exact. A function h with dh D .z a/1 dz would be a
holomorphic branch of the logarithm of z a on C n fag, which does not exist. This
happens on C n fag; now, in any smaller open set in which there exists a branch F
of the logarithm of z a (for example, the complement of a ray or an arc that starts
at a and goes to 1) it is known that F 0 D .z a/1 .
The form dz
z
is an example of a non-exact closed form on C n f0g. Separating
real and imaginary parts it turns out that
dz d.x C iy/ dx C i dy
D D
z x C iy x C iy
.x iy/.dx C i dy/ x dx C y dy x dy y dx
D D Ci :
x Cy
2 2 x Cy
2 2 x2 C y2
Observe that the real part does have a potential function:

1 x dx C y dy
d Log.x 2 C y 2 / D :
2 x2 C y2
Therefore, if dz
z
is not exact, it must be due to the imaginary part, which is the form
of Example 3.40.
3.6 Classical theorems

The aim of this section is to introduce the necessary concepts to present an ap-
proximation to holomorphicity from the real variable point of view, in an arbitrary
dimension.
3.6.1 Orientable regular submanifolds

The context is now the Euclidian space of dimension n, Rn . One starts recalling the
concept of regular submanifold of dimension k with boundary or k-submanifold
with boundary, which generalizes the concept of regular curve (k D 1).
A closed and connected set M in Rn is called a regular submanifold of dimension

k with boundary if for any point p 2 M there is a neighborhood U of p in Rn ,
a ball B D B.0; r/ Rk and a mapping W B ! Rn of C 1 class (that is, the
components of are C 1 ), with .0/ D p and differential d .t / of rank k at every
point t D .t1 ; t2 ; : : : ; tk / 2 B so that is a homeomorphism either from B.0; r/
onto U \ M or from B .0; r/ D ft D .t1 ; t2 ; : : : ; tk / 2 B.0; r/ W tk 0g onto
U \ M . In the first case it is said that p is an interior point of M , and in the second
one p is called a boundary point of M . The boundary will be denoted by @M . If
@M is empty, it is said that M is a regular submanifold of dimension k without
boundary. The couple .V; / where V D B.0; r/ is called a parametrization or
local chart of M and .t1 ; t2 ; : : : ; tk / are the parameters or coordinates of the point
.t/; .t/ is analogous to the mapping .t / which parameterizes a curve (k D 1).
In general a collection
S of charts .Vi ; i /i2I will be necessary to cover the whole
set M , M D i i .Vi /, a collection called an atlas of M. In this situation, the
tangent space to M at the point p is the k-linear manifold Tp .M / of Rn which
contains all the tangent vectors to the regular curves that pass through p and are
contained in M . Analytically and using the previous notations, Tp .M / is the image
of Rk by the linear mapping d .0/ and it is, therefore, generated by the vectors
@
@tj
.0/; j D 1; 2; : : : ; k (Figure 3.9).
t2
V D B.0; r/
U M
@
@t2
r
t1 P
@
@t1
Figure 3.9
The definition of regular submanifold with boundary implies that @M is the

topological boundary of M n @M and it is by itself a regular manifold of dimension
k 1: if p 2 @M and is as above, then the restriction C of to ft 2 V W tk D 0g
is a local chart of @M . The .k 1/-manifold @M has no boundary and symbolically
we write @2 M D ;.
Similarly to Theorem 1.31, every regular 1-submanifold with boundary may
be parameterized globally on a closed interval, W Œa; b ! , and then @ consists
of the points .a/; .b/. If has no boundary it is parametrized on the torus
T , W T ! . In the first case one has a simple regular curve in the sense of
Subsection 1.4.1, and in the second case one has a simple closed regular curve
with empty boundary. In other words, simple regular curves correspond to regular
1-manifolds with boundary (eventually empty). The other extreme case is for k D n;
then U D M n @M is an open set of Rn , and M is its closure. In this case we say
that U is an open set with regular boundary.
On every regular k-manifold with boundary M there is a k-dimensional
Lebesgue measure, d mk , which makes it possible to integrate continuous functions
on M and gives the k-dimensional volume of measurable sets of M . With classi-
cal notation in R3 , one usually writes d m1 D ds, d m2 D dA and d m3 D d V .
Here, being located in the space Rn , we will use also the notation d mn D d V ,
d mn1 D dA and V .X /, A.X / for the measure of a set X , with respect to d V ,
dA.
If .V; / is a local chart of M and f is a continuous function on M vanishing
outside .V /, then one has
Z Z
1
f d mk D f . .t // j det G .t /j 2 dt1 dt2 : : : dtk ;
M V
where det G .t/ is the determinant of the Gram matrix of the column vectors of
the matrix of d .t /, that is, the one with entries h @t ; i; i; j D 1; : : : ; k. The
@ @
i @tj
quantity j det G .t /j1=2 is the k-dimensional volume of the parallelepiped generated
@
by the vectors @t i
, column vectors of d .t /.
For k D n 1, the manifolds are called regular hypersurfaces with boundary,
and for k D 2, surfaces. If M is a regular hypersurface with boundary and p 2 M ,
there are two opposite unitary vectors orthogonal to Tp .M /. When it is possible
to choose in each point one of these unitary normal vectors in a continuous way
on M , one says that M is orientable. Every regular curve is orientable, but not
every hypersurface is; for example, the Möbius strip is not orientable. When M is
orientable, then it is so in two different ways, as a curve may be travelled in two
different directions. Choosing a unitary tangent vector (k D 1) or a unitary normal
vector (k D n 1) may be understood as a way of orienting the tangent space
Tp .M /.
In order to formulate the concept of orientation in general it is necessary to define
what orientation means in a linear subspace F of Rn , of dimension k. This may
be done by separating the basis of F into two classes, grouping in the same class
all the basis of F for which the change of basis matrix has positive determinant.
When k D n 1, that is, when F is a hyperplane, an orientation of F corresponds
to choosing N Å , one of the two unitary normal orthogonal vectors to F , declaring
Å is a positive basis of
that a basis uE 1 ; : : : ; uE n1 of F is positive if uE 1 ; : : : ; uE n1 ; N
R when this space is oriented with the canonical basis. Then a regular k-manifold
n
with boundary M is said to be orientable if it is possible to orientate the tangent

spaces Tp .M / in a continuous way. In terms of S local charts it means that there
exists an atlas .Vi ; i / which covers M , M D i .Vi /, so that the mappings
i j1 of changes of coordinates have all positive Jacobian determinants. In this
case, the mappings iC .jC /1 also have positive Jacobian determinants; that is, if
M is orientable, so is @M .
An orientation of M and an orientation of @M are said to be compatible if the
@
basis @tj
.0/; j D 1; : : : ; k of Tp .M / corresponds to the orientation of M , and the
@ C
basis @tj
.0/; j D 1; : : : ; k 1, to the one of @M . There are two particular cases
which may be easily understood. When n D 3 and k D 2, M is a surface of R3
limited by @M , which is a simple closed curve. A sense of travelling on @M and
a selection of normal vector N Å on M are compatible if they fulfill the right-hand
rule: place your right hand on M near a point of @M so that your fingers point in the
direction given by the orientation of @M . Then your thumb points in the direction of
NÅ . The other case is when M is an n-manifold with boundary in Rn ; then M n @M
is an open set, and @M , its boundary, a hypersurface. As said above, an orientation
of @M corresponds to the selection of a unitary vector field normal to @M . When
M has an orientation given by the canonical basis of Rn , the compatible orientation
of @M just defined corresponds to a unitary normal vector field N Å called a normal
exterior vector field on @M . Then a basis uE 1 ; : : : ; uE n1 of Tp .@M / is positive if
Å is positive on Rn .
uE 1 ; : : : ; uE n1 ; N
In this case it is said that U D M n @M is an open set with regular boundary
oriented by the unitary normal exterior vector field N Å.
3.6.2 Flow of a vector field through a hypersurface

Let M be a regular hypersurface oriented by the continuous selection of a unitary
normal vector NÅ at each point of M . If XÅ is a continuous vector field on M , the
flow of X through M is the sum of the normal components of XÅ, that is,
Å
Z
hXÅ; NÅ idA;
M
recalling that dA D d mn1 is the .n 1/-dimensional volume element of M .

When n D 2, both circulations and flows are computed over oriented C 1 curves,
and in fact these two concepts are equivalent due to the following observation.
Denote by J the linear mapping from R2 to R2 given by J v D .y; x/ if v D .x; y/,
which in terms of z D x C iy is written as J z D iz; J is, then, the multiplication
by i . Obviously, J v is orthogonal to v and for two any vectors v1 ; v2 one has
hJ v1 ; J v2 i D hv1 ; v2 i. Then the flow of a vector field XÅ through the curve is
written as Z Z
hXÅ; N
Å ids D hJ XÅ; J N Å ids

Å is a vector TÅ tangent to , one gets that the flow of XÅ is the same as

and, since J N
the circulation of J XÅ (provided that the selection of the normal vector N

Å and the
Å Å Å
tangent T satisfies T D J N ).
This way, Green’s formula applied to the vector field J XÅ gives the following
result.
Theorem 3.31. Let U be a bounded domain in the plane with piecewise regular
positively oriented boundary and let NÅ be the unitary exterior normal vector on
@U . Let XÅ D .P; Q/ be a differentiable vector field on a neighborhood of Ux such
that the function Px C Qy is continuous on Ux . Then
Z “
hXÅ; N
Å i ds D .Px C Qy / dx dy:
@U U
In dimension n > 2 flows are expressed easily in terms of a parametrization

of the hypersurface, as for circulations. Consider first a surface S of R3 . In this
case, a parametrization of S is a mapping W V ! R3 of class C 1 , where V is
an open set of R2 , which is a homeomorphism between V and .V /, so that the
differential d.s; t / at any point .s; t / 2 V has rank 2. The image of d .s; t /, as
a linear mapping from R2 to R3 , is then the tangent plane to S at the point .s; t /.
Typically .V / is the whole S up to some sets of area zero, and one may think that
it gives a global parametrization. In this case the vectors Es D @ @s
; E t D @
@t
are
Å
tangent vectors to S, its cross product Es ^ E t is then normal to S , and N . .s; t // D
Es ^ E t =jE
s ^ E t j is a unitary normal vector. On the other hand, given two vectors of
R3 , the area of the parallelogram they define is also the length of their cross product,
and so the area element dA of S is expressed, in terms of the parametrization, as
dA D jE s ^ E t j ds dt. All this means that if the orientation is the one given by N Å,
the flow of a continuous vector field XÅ through S is
Z
hXÅ. .s; t //; Es ^ E t i dsdt:
S
If .s; t/ D .x.s; t /; y.s; t /; z.s; t //, then Es D .xs ; ys ; zs /, E t D .x t ; y t ; z t /,

so that Es ^ E t has components .ys z t zs y t ; zs x t z t xs ; xs y t x t ys / and the
flow is written, if XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; X3 /, as
Z

X1 .ys z t zs y t / C X2 .zs x t z t xs / C X3 .xs y t x t ys / ds dt;
S
where the functions Xi are evaluated at .s; t /. Observe that the integrand is
formally the result of computing the determinant of the matrix with XÅ in the first
row, Es in the second one and E t in the third.
For the previous flow one uses also the notation
Z
.X1 dy ^ dz C X2 dz ^ dx C X3 dx ^ dy/ ;
S
understanding that, for example, dy^dz is integrated over S making the substitution
dy D ys ds Cy t dt; dz D zs ds Cz t dt and that ds ^ds D dt ^dt D 0; ds ^dt D
dt ^ ds D dsdt.
The expression
XÅ D X1 dy ^ dz C X2 dz ^ dx C X3 dx ^ dy related to the
vector field XÅ – whose integral over S gives the flow – is called a differential 2-form.
The same computation in dimension n for the flow of the vector field XÅ D
.X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn / through the hypersurface M gives
Z X
n
Xi dx1 ^ ^ .dxi / ^ ^ dxn ;
M iD1
where .dxi / means that this term is not there. The expression inside the integral
is called differential .n 1/-form.
The notion of differential k-form, which will not be needed, appears when
generalizing these concepts to k-submanifolds of Rn .
3.6.3 The divergence theorem, the curl theorem and Stokes’theorem

for 1-forms
In this subsection the versions of Theorems 3.22 and 3.31 in dimension n > 2 will be
considered. It will be highlighted how the same procedure to prove Green’s formula
leads to the curl theorem and to the divergence theorem with weaker hypotheses
than in traditional versions. These theorems will allow to interpret holomorphic
functions from the real variable point of view and define a generalization of it to
Rn .
In dimension n > 2 there is no correspondence between the notions of circula-
tion and flow of a vector field and it is necessary to state a different result for each
of these magnitudes.
Let us begin with a study of the flows of a vector field XÅ. In this case one
starts from a bounded domain U in Rn such that its topological boundary @U is a
regular hypersurface. One must evaluate the flow of XÅ through @U . The concept
of divergence of a differentiable vector field is needed.
Suppose that XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn / is a vector field with differentiable compo-
nents Xi (differentiable vector field) on a neighborhood of a point p 2 Rn . Denote
by B" the ball B.p; "/ centered at p with radius " > 0 and compute approxi-
mately the flow of XÅ through @B" when oriented with the unitary exterior normal
NÅ .x/ D 1 .x p/. By Taylor’s formula we can write, for x 2 @B" ,
"
X @XÅ
XÅ.x/ D XÅ.p/ C .p/.xi pi / C o."/:
@xi
i
Next one must consider the normal component of XÅ and integrate it over @B" .
The contribution of the constant vector field XÅ.p/ is zero, because this normal
component is an odd function over @B" ; in other words, it is clear that the flow of
@XÅ
any constant vector field is zero. The contribution of the vector field @xi
.p/xi is
Z
@XÅ xp
.p/.xi pi /; dA:
@B" @xi "
Now, since the function .xi pi /.xj pj / has integral zero if i ¤ j and cnn "nC1
if i D j (where cn is the .n 1/-dimensional measure of the unit sphere), we get
that the previous integral is exactly cnn "n @X
@xi
i
.p/; that is,
Z X @Xi
Å i dA D cn "n
hXÅ; N .p/ C o."n /:
@B" n @xi
i
Bearing in mind that cnn "n is the n-dimensional volume of B" , one finds that at any
point x on a neighborhood of which the vector field XÅ is differentiable, one has
X @Xi Z
1
.x/ D lim hXÅ; N
Å i dA:
@xi "!0 V .B.x; "// @B.x;"/
i
Pn @Xi
The function .x/ is, consequently, a density flow per unit of closed
iD1 @xi
volume and it is called divergence of the vector field XÅ, denoted by div.XÅ/ or by
Å One arrives at the same expression using, for example, cubes instead of
Å Xi.
hr;
balls which contract to x. This definition of div.XÅ/ is equivalent to the following
theorem:
Theorem 3.32 (Divergence theorem). Let U be a bounded domain in Rn with
Å . Let XÅ
regular boundary oriented with the unitary exterior normal vector field N
x Å
be a differentiable vector field on a neighborhood of U with div X continuous on
Ux . Then the flow of XÅ through @U equals the integral of the divergence on the
domain U , that is, Z Z
hXÅ; N
Å i dA D .div XÅ/ d V:
@U U
This theorem is proved with the same method as Green’s formula and also
holds if @U is a piecewise regular hypersurface, that is, a finite union of regular
hypersurfaces with boundary, joined along their boundaries (a cube, for example).
For the proof observe first that, as seen above, if Q is a cube of size " centered at
p, then Z
hXÅ; N
Å i dA V .Q/ div.XÅ/.p/ D o.V .Q//:
@Q
Therefore, if div.XÅ/ is a continuous function on Ux , it is uniformly continuous and

one has Z Z
Å Å
hX ; N i dA div.XÅ/d V D o.V .Q//;
@Q Q
uniformly for all cubes Q U . Then, by consecutive subdivisions (the essence
of infinitesimal calculus!), the divergence theorem is stated for any parallelepiped,
due to the cancellation of the flows through consecutive sides of contiguous cubes.
This would give the equivalent result to the first step of the proof of Theorem 3.22.
The other two steps are proved in a similar way.
2
Example 3.33. Let U be the interior of the ellipsoid of R3 with equation x 2 C y4 C
z2
4
D 1 and consider the vector field XÅ D .x 2 ; y; z C y/. In order to compute the
flow of XÅ through the boundary of U , it is easier to evaluate the volume integral
of the divergence, with div XÅ D 2x C 1 C 1 D 2x C 2. The function 2x has
integral 0 on U because it is odd and by the divergence theorem, the flow will
be twice the volume of U , that is, 32 3
. If we now want to compute the flow
through the part † of the boundary corresponding to z > 0, consider the open set
V D f.x; y; z/ 2 U W z > 0g. Applying the divergence theorem on V , we see that
the flow through † plus the flow through the lower lid of V , which is the interior of
2
the ellipse E in the plane xy with equation x 2 C y4 D 1, equals the volume integral
of the divergence, which is 16
3
. On the lower lid the unitary exterior normal vector
to @U is .0; 0; 1/, the normal component of XÅ is y, and the flow through E is
zero. Therefore, the flow through † is 163
.
The procedure to deal with circulations of a vector field XÅ will be similar,

introducing the concept of circulation density, first in dimension n D 3.
Let vE1 ; vE2 ; vE3 be an orthonormal basis of R3 with vE3 D vE1 ^ vE2 . Let D" be the
disc centered at p 2 R3 with radius " located on the perpendicular plane to vE3 which
contains p, and orient its boundary with the trajectory .t / D p C ".cos t /E v1 C
".sin t/Ev2 , 0 t 2. This orientation of @D" is the one illustrated again with
the right-hand rule: if the fingers of your right-hand point in the direction in which
@D" is travelled, then your thumb points in the direction of vE3 (Figure 3.10). Let
XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; X3 / be a differentiable vector field on a neighborhood of the point
p and compute the circulation of XÅ along @D" using once again Taylor’s formula.
If vEk D .vk1 ; vk2 ; vk3 /; k D 1; 2 and x 2 @D" , one has
X
3
@XÅ
Å
X.x/ D XÅ.p/ C .p/".cos t v1i C sin t v2i / C o."/:
@xi
iD1
Consider the scalar product of XÅ with the tangent vector TÅ D "..sin t /E v1 C

v2 / to @D" and integrate over @D" . The contribution of the constant XÅ.p/ is
.cos t/E
v3
D"
P v2
v1
Figure 3.10
zero, the one corresponding to the linear term is

Z 2 X
3 X
3
@Xj
" 2
..cos t /v2j .sin t /v1j / .p/..cos t /v1i C .sin t /v2i / dt;
0 @xi
j D1 iD1
and the one of the residual term is o."2 /. Each integral

Z 2
..cos t /v2j .sin t /v1j /..cos t /v1i C .sin t /v2i // dt
0
has value .v2j v1i

v1j v2i /, in particular 0 if i D j . Hence one has
Z X @Xj
hX; TÅ i ds D "2 .p/.v2j v1i v1j v2i / C o."2 /
@D" @x i
i;j
X @Xj @Xi

D " 2
.p/ .p/ .v2j v1i v1j v2i / C o."2 /:
@xi @xj
i<j
Now notice that the components of the vector vE3 D vE1 ^ vE2 are precisely the
quantities v2j v1i v1j v2i so that in the previous expression appears the scalar product
of vE3 with the vector

@X3 @X2 @X1 @X3 @X2 @X2
rot XÅ D ; ; ;
@y @z @z @x @x @y
also denoted by rÅ XÅ and called curl of XÅ. So it has been shown that if D" is
a small disc centered at p, located in the perpendicular plane to a direction vE and
oriented according to the right-hand rule, one has
Z
1
lim hX; TÅ i ds D hrot XÅ.p/; vEi:
"!0 "2 @D"
This means that the quantity hrot XÅ.p/; vEi is a circulation density per unit of
closed area. Consequently the vector rot XÅ.p/ gives the axis around which the
orbits of the vector field XÅ have the maximal tendency to rotate. The last equality
is equivalent to the curl theorem stated below which may be proved with the same
method indicated in the case of the divergence theorem, based on the proof of
Theorem 3.22.
Theorem 3.34 (Curl theorem). Let S be a regular surface in R3 with boundary

and let be a regular curve which parameterizes @S in such a way that S and
have compatible orientations. Then, if XÅ is a differentiable vector field on a
neighborhood of Sx with continuous curl on Sx, the circulation of XÅ along coincides
with the flow of the curl of XÅ through S , that is,
Z Z
hXÅ; TÅ i ds D hrot XÅ; NÅ i dA:
S
Example 3.35. Let be the intersection curve of the unit ball in R3 with the plane
with equation x C y C z D 0, oriented according to the right-hand rule when the
plane is oriented by the normal vector .1; 1; 1/. Compute the circulation of the vector
field XÅ D .z; x; xy/ along . The vector field XÅ has a curl given by .x; 1 y; 1/,
the normal component of which at the points of the plane is p1 .2 C x y/. Note
3
that x, y are odd on the disc limited by , and conclude that the flow of XÅ through
this disc and therefore the circulation along is p2
:
3
The consideration noted before Theorem 3.34 tells how to proceed in dimension
n > 3; in this case, for a vector field XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn /, the computation is
exactly the same until getting the expression
X @Xj @Xi

.v2j v1i v1j v2i /
@xi @xj
i<j
as a density that should be integrated over a surface S with boundary D @S in

order to obtain the circulation along . Here vE1 ; vE2 are vectors which generate the
tangent space to S. In terms of a parametrization of S given by .s; t / with domain
of parameters V , it will be vE1 D @
@s
; vE2 D @ @t
, and integrating over V the previous
density, one obtains
“ X
@Xj @Xi @j @i @j @i
. .s; t // ds dt
V @xi @xj @t @s @s @t
i<j
for D .1 ; 2 ; : : : ; n /.
In an intrinsic way this quantity is written as

Z X
@Xj @Xi
dxi ^ dxj ; (3.8)
S @xi @xj
i<j
where the integrand is a differential 2-form in n-variables. Now dxi ^ dxj is

integrated over S making the substitution dxi D @ @s
i
ds C @
@t
i
dt and using the fact
that ds ^ ds D dt ^ dt D 0; ds ^ dt D dt ^ ds D ds dt .
Recall that the vector field XÅ with components X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn is equivalent to
P
the differential 1-form ! D N iD1 Xi dxi . The 2-form raised up in (3.8) is called
the exterior differential of ! and represented by d!. Hence,
X X @X @Xi

j
d Xi dxi D dxi ^ dxj :
@xi @xj
i i<j
With these notations the version of the curl theorem for n > 3 is the following
one:
Theorem 3.36 (Stokes’ theorem for 1-forms). Let S be a regular surface in Rn with
boundary and let be a regular curve that parameterizes @S in such a way that S
and have compatible orientations. Let XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn / beP
a differentiable
vector field on a neighborhood of Sx with associated 1-form ! D i Xi dxi such
that the coefficients of the 2-form d! are continuous functions on Sx. Then
Z Z
hXÅ; TÅ i ds D d !:
S
Remark 3.4. Theorem 3.31 is a particular case of the divergence theorem and
Green’s formula (Theorem 3.22) may be seen as a particular case of the curl theorem
(Theorem 3.34). Understanding that the domain U of the plane is a surface in R3
oriented by the vector NÅ D .0; 0; 1/ and that the vector field XÅ D .P; Q/ is a
vector field in R with the third component zero, one has rot XÅ D .0; 0; Qx Py /
3
Å N
and hrot X; Å i D Qx Py .
3.6.4 Closed 1-forms and exact 1-forms

Theorem 3.9 states that a vector field has a potential function if and only if it is
conservative. Both conditions are of global type. This subsection is devoted to the
study of a local concept weaker than the fact a vector field be conservative or a form
be exact.
Let XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; XnP
/ be a differentiable vector field on a domain U in Rn
with associated 1-form ! D niD1 Xi dxi . If ! is locally exact with ! D dh in
a certain region, then the function h is twice differentiable, and by Schwarz’s rule
2 2 @X
one has @x@i @x
h
j
D @x@j @x
h
i
. Consequently, @Xi
@xj
D @xji i; j D 1; : : : ; n. In terms of
the exterior differential d! it turns out that
X @Xi @Xj

d! D dxi ^ dxj D 0:
@xj @xi
i<j
The differential 1-forms ! on U , with differentiable coefficients, which satisfy the

condition d! D 0 are called closed on U . This is a local concept. Hence, each
locally exact 1-form with differentiable coefficients is closed and the components
of a differentiable and locally conservative vector field XÅ must satisfy the equations
@Xi @X
@xj
D @xji . Here the converse will be shown; first a global type result is given.
Theorem 3.37. In a star-like domain of Rn , a differential 1-form with differen-

tiable coefficients is exact if and only if it is closed. A differentiable vector field
XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn / is conservative if and only if it satisfies @xji D @X
@X
@xj
i
,
i; j D 1; 2; : : : ; n (equations which for n D 3 mean rot XÅ D 0).
Proof. The proof is done in terms of 1-forms. It is enough to see that every closed
form ! is exact; by Theorem 3.10 this is equivalent to
Z
!D0
@
for every triangle included in the domain of !, a fact which is a consequence of

Stokes’ theorem (Theorem 3.36).
In Chapter 6 it will be proved that this result also holds for simply connected
domains of the plane.
Remark 3.5. If the domain U of Theorem 3.37 is star-like with respect to the
origin, the general expression of the potential function of the vector field XÅ is
Z
h.x/ D hXÅ; TÅ i ds C c;

where is the segment going from 0 to x and c is a constant. With the additional
hypothesis that XÅ is C 1 (that is, the components of XÅ are C 1 ) one may directly
prove that h is a potential function: parameterizing the segment leads to
Z 1X
h.x/ D .Xi .tx/xi / dt:
0 i
Hence, Z
@h 1 X @Xi
D .Xj .tx/ C t xi .tx// dt;
@xj 0 @xj
i
and using now the hypothesis one finds

Z 1 X @Xj
@h
D .Xj .tx/ C t xi .tx// dt:
@xj 0 @xi
i
But, the expression inside the integral is f 0 .t / with f .t / D Xj .tx/t , and due to
the fundamental theorem of calculus the integral has value f .1/ f .0/ D Xj .x/.
The same remark is relevant when using other paths to define the potential
function. For example, if XÅ D .P; Q/ is a vector field in the plane satisfying
Qx D Py and one wants to find the potential function h.x; y/, choose .0; 0/ as the
starting point and let the path be the segment starting at .0; 0/ and finishing at .x; 0/
followed by the one starting at .x; 0/ and ending at .x; y/; then
Z x Z y
h.x; y/ D P .t; 0/ dt C Q.x; t / dt:
0 0
Clearly hy D Q by the fundamental theorem of calculus, and furthermore,

Z y Z y
hx .x; y/ D P .x; 0/ C Qx .x; t / dt D P .x; 0/ C Py .x; t / dt
0 0
D P .x; 0/ C P .x; y/ P .x; 0/ D P .x; y/:

In practice, however, it is usual to proceed in the following equivalent way: one
wants to solve the equations @x @h
i
D Xi , i D 1; : : : ; n; integrate the first equation in
x1 , and obtain a constant of integration C.x2 ; : : : ; xn / which depends on x2 ; : : : ; xn ;
later one uses the second equation to determine C.x2 ; : : : ; xn / and so on.
Example 3.38. The form ! D .sin xy C xy cos xy/ dx C .x 2 cos xy C y/ dy is
closed on the whole plane. Integrating hx D sin xy C xy cos xy with respect to x
it turns out that h.x; y/ D x sin xy C C.y/, and using hy D x 2 cos xy C y yields
2
C 0 .y/ D y and h.x; y/ D x sin xy C y2 C C which is the general expression of a
potential function of !.
It is clear that Theorem 3.37 implies:
Theorem 3.39. A differential 1-form with differentiable coefficients on a domain of
Rn is locally exact if and only if it is closed. For a differentiable vector field XÅ D
.X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn / on a domain U Rn , the following properties are equivalent:
, i; j D 1; 2; : : : ; n (rot XÅ D 0 if n D 3) on U .
@Xi @Xj
a) @xj
D @xi
b) XÅ is locally conservative on U .
c) XÅ has, locally, a potential function on U .

In general, however, a closed form is not exact.

Example 3.40. A typical example is the form
y x
!D dx C 2 dy
x2 Cy 2 x C y2
on U D R2 n .0; 0/. A computation shows that d! D 0, but if is Rthe unit circle

travelled in the positive sense – a closed path in U – the line integral ! has value
2. Hence, ! is not exact on U . On the smaller open set V D R2 n f.x; 0/; x 0g
the form ! is exact because the function .x; y/ which measures the angle between
the ray starting at zero and passing by .x; y/ with the positive half axis is a potential
function. Analytically, .x; y/ D arctan yx if x > 0, .x; y/ D arctan yx C if
x < 0, y > 0, .x; y/ D arctan yx if x < 0, y < 0.
In this subsection forms on domains of the complex plane (n D 2 and ! D
f .z/ dz) have been treated as a particular case of forms on domains of Rn (arbitrary
dimension n and complex differential forms). However, later on, it will be seen
that there is a very important difference between the real and the complex case.
In the real case there are functions h of C 1 class exactly, that is, they are C 1 but
do not have second-order derivatives. The antiderivative of a continuous non-
differentiable function is an example in one variable and h.x; y/ D .xy/ is an
example in two variables. Then the form ! D dh has continuous coefficients and,
by definition, has potential function, so it is exact. Therefore, it has integrals not
depending on the path; since it is not differentiable, it makes no sense to ask if it
is closed. Hence, in the real case there are locally exact continuous forms which
are non-differentiable. In the complex case this is not possible because it will
be proved that if the function f has a holomorphic antiderivative, then f is also
holomorphic. Therefore, all continuous forms of type f .z/ dz which are locally
exact are automatically differentiable and closed.
3.7 Holomorphic functions as vector fields and harmonic

functions
3.7.1 Solenoidal vector fields
This subsection starts with similar considerations to the ones in Section 3.2, replac-
ing circulations by flows.
Definition 3.41. A continuous vector field on a domain U of Rn is called solenoidal
if its flow vanishes on each compact hypersurface without boundary contained in U .
Equivalently, a vector field XÅ is solenoidal on U if whenever M1 , M2 are

hypersurfaces on U with the same boundary the flow of XÅ through M1 and through
3.7. Holomorphic functions as vector fields and harmonic functions 125
M2 is the same. In the same way as conservative vector fields coincide with gradient
vector fields, in dimension n D 3 solenoidal vector fields coincide with curl vector
fields:
Theorem 3.42. A continuous vector field XÅ on a domain U of R3 is solenoidal if
and only if there is a vector field YÅ of class C 1 on U such that XÅ D rot YÅ .
Proof. The fact that any curl vector field is solenoidal is an immediate consequence
of the curl theorem, since the flow of rot YÅ through a hypersurface equals the
circulation of YÅ along the boundary. The proof of the converse is quite more
complicated and will not be given here.
The vector field YÅ such that XÅ D rot YÅ is called a potential vector of XÅ and is
determined up to vector fields with null curl.
The analogue of Theorem 3.42Pin dimension n > 3 is better stated in terms of
differential forms: a 2-form ! D i<j Aij dxi ^ dxj continuous on a domain U
of Rn is exact on U , that is, there is a C 1 -class 1-form
on U such that d
D !, if
and only if ! has integral zero on any compact surface without boundary contained
in U . This result holds for arbitrary differential k-forms and it is a consequence of
a deep theorem, de Rham’s theorem (see [13], p. 154).
The concept of solenoidal vector field is a global concept, but we can consider
also the local version: a vector field XÅ is locally solenoidal on a domain U if every
point p 2 U has a neighborhood V U such that XÅ has zero flow through any
regular hypersurface contained in V which is compact and without boundary. The
result corresponding to Theorem 3.39 reads as follows.
Theorem 3.43. For a vector field XÅ D .X1 ; : : : ; Xn / which is differentiable on a
domain U Rn , the following properties are equivalent:
P
a) div XÅ D niD1 @X i
@xi
D 0 on U .
b) XÅ is locally solenoidal on U .
c) If n D 3, a) and b) are equivalent to the fact that XÅ has locally a potential

vector on U .
Proof. The fact that b) implies a) is just a consequence of the definition of divergence
of a vector field (Subsection 3.6.3). Conversely, if XÅ has zero divergence and S
is a compact regular hypersurface without boundary inside a ball contained in U ,
then S is the boundary of an open set G U , and the divergence theorem implies
Z Z
hXÅ; NÅ i dA D div XÅ d V D 0:
S G
Finally, the equivalence with c) is a consequence of Theorem 3.42.

A domain U Rn is called k-simply connected if every k-submanifold without

boundary contained in U is the boundary of a .k C 1/-submanifold in U . It is a
topological concept, equivalent to the cancellation of a certain homology group.
When n D 2, k D 1, it will be seen in Chapter 6 that this is the case of simply
connected domains introduced in Chapter 1; when k D n 1, it is said that U
has no holes. In Theorem 3.43 we have used the intuitive fact that balls have no
holes. On a domain without holes a differentiable vector field XÅ is solenoidal if
and only if div XÅ
0, due to the divergence theorem. The typical example of a
domain with holes is U D R3 n f.0; 0; 0/g. The newtonian vector field XÅ D rrE3 ,
with rE D .x; y; z/ and r D jEr j, has div XÅ D 0 on this domain U , but clearly it has
flow 4 through every sphere centered at the origin.
In dimension n D 3, one may prove the implication a) ) c) of Theorem 3.43
directly, if the additional hypothesis that XÅ is C 1 -class is satisfied. The computation
of the potential vector YÅ of a differentiable vector field XÅ with zero divergence on
a ball can be done by solving the equations
X1 D .Y3 /y .Y2 /z ; X2 D .Y1 /z .Y3 /x ; X3 D .Y2 /x .Y1 /y :
A solution satisfying Y3 D 0, which will be called YÅ0 , will be found. From the
first equation it turns out that
Z z
Y2 .x; y; z/ D X1 .x; y; t / dt C A.x; y/;
0
and from the second one,
Z z
Y1 .x; y; z/ D X2 .x; y; t / dt C B.x; y/:
0
Then the aim is to find the functions A; B such that

Z z Z z
.Y2 /x .Y1 /y D .X1 /x .x; y; t / dt C Ax .X2 /y .x; y; t / dt By
0 0
D X3 .x; y; z/:
Rz
Since div XÅ D 0, the sum of both integrals above is 0 .X3 /z .x; y; t / dt D
R Ax .x; y/By .x; y/ D
X3 .x; y; z/X3 .x; y; 0/, so one wants to find A; B such that
X3 .x; y; 0/. One possibility is A D 0 and B.x; y/ D X3 .x; t; 0/ dt: Once the
solution YÅ0 is founded, the general solution is YÅ D YÅ0 C Z,
Å where ZÅ has zero curl,
so it is a gradient by Theorem 3.37.
3.7.2 Holomorphic vector fields. Harmonic functions

In Section 3.2 it was seen how the idea of complex line integrals naturally leads to
associate the vector field fN D .u; v/ to the function f .z/ D u.z/ C iv.z/. Then
R
if is a path in the plane, the real part and the imaginary part of f .z/ dz are,
respectively, the circulation of the vector field fN and the circulation of the vector
field ifN along ; that is, the circulation of fN and the flow of fN over .
In a natural way there is a relationship between holomorphic functions and
conservative or solenoidal vector fields. Indeed, suppose that f D u C iv is
differentiable as a function of two real variables. According to Theorem 3.39, the
vector field f D .u; v/ is locally conservative if and only if
uy D vx
and, by Theorem 3.43, is locally solenoidal if and only if
ux D vy ;
which is equivalent to J f D .v; u/ being locally conservative. Comparing with
Cauchy–Riemann equations, one reaches the following statement:
Theorem 3.44. A differentiable function f D u C iv on a domain U C is
holomorphic if and only if the vector field fN D .u; v/ is at the same time locally
conservative and locally solenoidal.
This theorem suggests the following definition of holomorphicity from a real
variable point of view.
Definition 3.45. A differentiable vector field XÅ D .X1 ; X2 ; : : : ; Xn /, on a domain
U Rn , is called holomorphic if it is locally conservative and locally solenoidal,
that is, if it satisfies
@Xi @Xj X
n
@Xi
D ; i; j D 1; : : : ; nI div X D D 0 on U:
@xj @xi @xi
iD1
If XÅ is a holomorphic vector field, then XÅ is locally the gradient of a function

. Since XÅ is differentiable, is twice differentiable and it follows that
2 2
Å D @ C C @ D 0:
div XÅ D div.r/
@x12 @xn2
Definition 3.46. A function , twice differentiable on an open set U of Rn , is called
2 2
harmonic if D @@x2 C C @@x2 D 0 on U .
1 n
Hence, one gets the following:

Theorem 3.47. Holomorphic vector fields are exactly the vector fields which are
locally the gradient of a harmonic function. Holomorphic functions are exactly the
functions f which locally satisfy fN D x C i y with harmonic.
The operator in Definition 3.46, called Laplacian or Laplace operator, is
the most important one in mathematical physics. Its properties will be studied in
Chapter 7, as well as the properties of harmonic functions.
3.7.3 Conjugate harmonic functions

Back to the context of the complex plane, let us analyze in detail the relationship
between holomorphic functions and harmonic functions.
Let f be a holomorphic function on a domain U . By Theorem 3.47, locally
there is a real harmonic function such that f D r Å D @ i @ , and this is the
@x @y
local general expression of a holomorphic function.
On the other hand, by Corollary 3.28, f has locally a holomorphic antiderivative
F , and if U is star-like, it is global on U . Which relation is there between F and
? Write the form f .z/ dz in terms of :

@ @ @ @ @ @
f .z/ dz D i .dx Ci dy/ D dx C dy Ci dx C dy :
@x @y @x @y @y @x
The real part of this form is d; the imaginary part,
@ @
d D dx C dy;
@y @x
is called the conjugated form of d. The holomorphic antiderivatives F of f are

defined by the equality dF D f .z/ dz. If F D u C iv, this reads as
du C i dv D dF D f .z/ dz D d C i d :
Therefore,
du D d; dv D d : (3.9)
Conversely, if F D u C iv is differentiable and u, v satisfy (3.9), one may suppose
u D (up to a constant); now, F has real part u D and the imaginary part v
must satisfy dv D d u, that is,
@v @u
D ;
@x @y
@v @u
D ;
@y @x
which are Cauchy–Riemann equations. Hence, F is holomorphic and F 0 D f .

Observe that v is also harmonic.
Definition 3.48. Given a harmonic real function u on a domain U of the plane, it

is said that a function v, differentiable on U , is a harmonic conjugate of u on U if
dv D d u, that is, if the function u C iv is holomorphic on U .
The previous considerations show:

SÅ then
Theorem 3.49. If u is real harmonic on the domain U C and f D ru,
the function u has a harmonic conjugate on U , v, if and only if f has on U a
holomorphic antiderivative F and in this case it is F D u C iv.
In the following chapter it will be proved that every holomorphic function is of
class C 1 . If f D u C iv is holomorphic, one has u; v 2 C 1 , and differentiating
Cauchy–Riemann equations leads to u D v D 0, that is, Re f and Im f are
harmonic, and, therefore, f is harmonic. The fact that a holomorphic function f
is harmonic, with the hypothesis of f being of class C 2 , is also a consequence of
the equality
@2 f
f D 4 (3.10)
@z@zN
between the operator and the operators @z@
, @@zN and the fact that @f
@zN
D 0 when f
is holomorphic. Since every harmonic function has locally a conjugate harmonic
function (because every holomorphic function has locally an antiderivative), then
every harmonic function (in dimension n D 2) is of class C 1 . In Chapter 7 it will
be shown that this holds in any dimension. In particular, a holomorphic vector field
is C 1 .
Observe that a conjugate harmonic function v of u is determined up to a pure
imaginary constant. Note also that the condition dv D d u implies hru; Å rvi
Å D 0,
that is, the gradients of u and of v, and so their level curves, are perpendicular
(Figure 3.11).
Å
ru
Å
rv
u D c1
u D c2
u D c3
v D d1 v D d2
v D d3
Figure 3.11
All the previous considerations prove:

Proposition 3.50. A real harmonic function u on a domain U has a conjugate
harmonic function if and only if the closed form d u is exact on U , that is, if
R
d u D 0 for any closed path inside U , a condition which always locally

holds. If U is star-like, every real harmonic function on U has a conjugate harmonic
function on U .
As said, the statement of Proposition 3.50 is equivalent to the fact that the
holomorphic function f D ux i uy has a holomorphic antiderivative F on U and,
in this case, u D Re F .
In general, there does not exist a conjugate harmonic function of u, that is,
not every real harmonic function on U is the real p part of a holomorphic function
on U . For example, if u.z/ D Log jzj D Log x 2 C y 2 and U D C n f0g, one
has f D ux i uy D xxiy 2 Cy 2 D z , which does not have an antiderivative on U ;
1
therefore, u has no conjugate harmonic R function.

On the other hand, the integral d u admits an interesting interpretation: if
NÅ is the unitary exterior normal vector to .t / D .x.t /; y.t //, N Å D 10 .y 0 ; x 0 /,
j j
then Z Z Z Z
@u @u Å N Å i ds D @u
d u D dy dx D hru; ds:
@x @y @NÅ
R R
So the condition d u D 0 is equivalent, to @uÅ ds D 0 for any closed path
@N
U . That is the integral along of the derivative of u with respect to the normal
on is zero if is closed. In the previous example (u.z/ D Log jzj) taking polar
coordinates one has u D LogRr and for a circle centered at the origin with radius
R, @uÅ D R1 , it turns out that @uÅ ds D 2 ¤ 0.
@N @N
The computation of the conjugate harmonic function v of a given harmonic
function u is equivalent to the computation of the potential function of the form
d u. As seen in Subsection 3.6.4, on a neighborhood of z0 D .x0 ; y0 / one may
either take Z y Z x
@u @u
v.x; y/ D .x; t / dt .t; y0 / dt;
y0 @x x0 @y
or integrate the system vx D uy , vy D ux in steps. The function v may be also
determined computing the holomorphic antiderivative of f D ux i uy .
Example 3.51. The function u D x 2 y 2 is harmonic. The system which must be
solved to find its conjugate harmonic function is vx D 2y, vy D 2x. From the first
equation one has v D 2xy C C.y/ and substituting in the second one, C 0 .y/ D 0;
then, v D 2xy CC is the general solution. The function uCiv D x 2 y 2 C.2xy C
C /i D z 2 C C i is, indeed, holomorphic. In fact: f D ux i uy D 2x C 2iy D 2z,
the antiderivative of which is z 2 .
To finish, let us identify polynomials in the variables x, y that are harmonic
N
functions. A polynomial P .x; y/ is also a polynomial in z, z,
X
P .x; y/ D an;m z n zN m ;
n;m
3.8. Exercises 131
nCm
1 @ P .0;0/
and the coefficients an;m are univocally given by an;m D nŠmŠ @z n @zN m
. The
x
polynomial takes real values if and only if P .x; y/ D P .x; y/ which means, iden-
tifying coefficients, an;m D am;n . By (3.10) this polynomial will be harmonic if
@2 P
and only if @z@ zN
is identically zero, which is the same as nman;m D 0, that is,
an;m D 0 for n; m ¤ 0. In conclusion, if P is real and harmonic, P is of the form
X X
P .x; y/ D a0 C .an z n C an zN n / D a0 C 2 Re an z n ;
n n
P
which gives P as the real part of the holomorphic function F .z/ D a0 C2 n an z n .
Now in the formal expression
X
P .x; y/ D a0 C an .x C iy/n C an .x iy/n ;
n
z P
one can substitute x by z
2
and y by z
2i
to find P ; z
2 2i
D a0 C n an z n , and then

z z
F .z/ D 2P ; a0 :
2 2i
This way, the holomorphic polynomial F having P as its real part may be found
algebraically as well as the conjugate polynomial of P , which will be the imaginary
part of F .
Example 3.52. Consider P .x; y/ D x 3 3xy 2 , which is clearly harmonic. Then
3 z 2
F .z/ D 2 z2 3 z2 2i D z 3 ; the conjugate polynomial is Im F D 3x 2 y y 3 .

As a final comment to this section, observe that there are three properties of a
domain U , each of which implies the next one: a) any closed form on U is exact,
b) any holomorphic function on U has a holomorphic antiderivative on U , c) any
harmonic function on U has a conjugate harmonic function. It has been shown that
starlike domains have these three properties. It will be proved later that, in fact,
these three properties are equivalent and characterize simply connected domains in
the plane.
3.8 Exercises
1. a) Let f 2 C 2 .U /, where U is a domain of the plane. Prove that f is
holomorphic on U if the functions f .z/ and zf .z/ are harmonic on U .
b) Suppose now that u is harmonic on U . Show that if the function
u.x C iy/ x
is harmonic on U then u is of the form u.x C iy/ D ay C b, with
a; b 2 R.
2. Let f be a differentiable function on a neighborhood of the point z0 2 C.

Show that f is C-differentiable on z0 if and only if
Z
1
lim 2 f .z/ dz D 0;
r!0 r Cr
where Cr
Cr .t / D z0 C re it , 0 t 2.
3. Let f be a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of a closed rectan-
ı
gle R except for a finite number of points z1 ; z2 ; : : : ; zN R2 R that satisfy
limz!zj .z zj /f .z/ D 0 for j D 1; 2; : : : ; N . Prove that @R f .z/ dz D 0.
4. Compute the integrals
Z 2
a) e cos sin.n sin / d ;
0
Z 2
b) e cos cos.n sin / d , with n 2 N.
0
5. Prove that if f is a continuous function on an

R open convex set U and holo-
morphic on U n fz0 g, where z0 2 U , then f .z/ dz D 0 for any closed
path with U .
6. Let U be a star-like domain of the plane and f 2 H.U /. Show that there
exists a function F 2 H.U /, unique up to an additive constant, such that for
x r/ U one has
every disc D.a;
Z Z
1 F .w/ 1 f 2 .w/
f .z/ D dw dw;
2 i C.a;r/ .w z/2 2 i C.a;r/ .w z/2
where z 2 D.a; r/.
7. Prove that if u1 , u2 are harmonic functions on a domain U that are equal on
an open subset of U , then u1 and u2 are identical on U .
8. Write the Laplace operator in the plane in polar coordinates. As an application,
prove that if u is harmonic and radial on C, then u.z/ D a Log jzj C b, with
a; b constants. Prove also that if u is harmonic and u.re i / D '.r/ . /,
with '; functions of one real variable, then either u.re i / D a Log r C b,
or u.re i / D r n .a cos n C b sin n / with a; b constants and n 2 N.
9. Let U be an open convex set of the plane, u1 , u2 two harmonic functions on
Å . Show that
U and a closed regular path in U with exterior normal vector N
Z
@u2 @u1
u1 u2 ds D 0:
@NÅ @NÅ
3.8. Exercises 133
10. If D C.0; 1/ and a 2 C with jaj < 1, compute

Z
2 1
dz
za z
and prove the equality

Z 2
.1 r 2 /dt
D 2; for 0 r < 1; 2 R:
0 1 C r 2 2r cos . t /
11. Prove the following inequality:

ˇZ r ˇ
ˇ sin x ˇ
ˇ dx ˇˇ ; r >0
ˇ x r
r
iz 1
integrating the function e z
along the path consisting of Œr; r followed
by t ! re it , 0 t .
12. Let f be a C 2 function on the disc D.z0 ; R/ and 0 < r < R. Show that the
equality
Z 2 “
@f
.z0 C re i /rd D f .z/dxdy
0 @r D.z0 ;r/
holds, with z D x C iy. Deduce the mean value property for harmonic
functions: if u is harmonic on D.z0 ; R/ and 0 < r < R, then
Z 2
1
u.z0 / D u.z0 C re i /d:
2 0
13. A continuous function u on an open set U C is said to be subharmonic on

U if it satisfies Z 2
1
u.z0 / u.z0 C re i / d
2 0
x 0 ; r/ U . Show that a function u of
for z0 2 U and r > 0 such that D.z
class C 2 on U is subharmonic on U if and only if u.z/ 0, z 2 U .
14. Let f be a holomorphic function on an open set U satisfying jf .z/ 1j < 1,

z 2 U . Prove that Z
f 0 .z/
dz D 0
f .z/
holds for any closed path contained in U .

15. If Cr is the circle centered at 0 with radius r > 0 travelled once in the positive
direction, compute
Z Z
dz 1 2n dz
a) ; a 2 CI b) z C ; n 2 N:
Cr jz aj
2 z z
Cr
In particular we can obtain the equality

Z 2
1 .2n/Š
cos2n d D 2n :
2 0 2 .nŠ/2
16. Prove the equality
1
X1
1
D 1 C 2 r n
cos n for 0 r < 1; 2 R
1 2r cos C r 2 1 r2 nD1
and use it to compute

Z
jzj
dz; 0 r < 1;
Cr j1 zj2
where Cr is the circle centered at 0 with radius r > 0 positively oriented.
17. Consider in R3 the vector field XÅ D .x 2 xe xz ; xy cos xyz 2xy; ze xz

xz cos xyz C 3x 2 /. Show that XÅ is solenoidal and that it has a potential
vector of the form YÅ D .sin yz; B; C /, with B, C functions of x; y; z. Find
the flow of XÅ through the surface S D f.x; y; z/ W x 2 C y 2 C 3z 2 D 1g when
S is oriented with the exterior normal.
18. Consider in R3 the vector field XÅ D .x 2 sin2 2 z; y 2 sin 2 z; zCx/. Calculate
the flow of XÅ through the surface S D f.x; y; z/ W z D x 2 C y 2 ; 0 z 1g,
oriented with the exterior normal. How does this result change taking an
arbitrary function of z instead of sin 2 z?
19. Find all the harmonic functions of the form u.x; y/ D g.y=x/ where g has
two continuous derivatives. Determine also the holomorphic functions f
such that u D Re f .
20. If is a closed path of the plane, which does not pass through the point z0 ,
show directly (without using Subsection 1.5.2) that the value of the integral
Z
1 dz
2 i z z0
is an integer.
3.8. Exercises 135
21. Find an entire function f such that Re f D u when

2y2 sin x cos x
a) u.x; y/ D e x sin 2xy; b) u.x; y/ D .
cos2 x C sh2 y
22. Prove that if U is a bounded domain of the plane with positively oriented
piecewise regular boundary
R and f is a continuous function on Ux and holo-
morphic on U , then @U f .z/ dz D 0.
Chapter 4
Local properties of holomorphic functions
The aim of this chapter is to establish the basic properties of holomorphic functions
that are local, that is, that do not depend on the topological properties of the domain
of definition. Among these properties, the one that stands out is the fact that every
holomorphic function can be locally expressed in terms of a power series, which
leads to the fundamental identity between holomorphic functions and analytic func-
tions of a complex variable. In the local theory, a reproducing formula plays a major
role, namely the Cauchy integral formula, deduced directly from a general version
of the Cauchy–Green formula.
Once it is known that holomorphic functions are analytic, the structure of their
zero sets may be studied and the principle of analytic continuation may be stated.
The rest of the chapter is devoted to other properties of holomorphic functions which
are consequences either of the Cauchy integral formula or of the fact that every non
constant holomorphic function is an open mapping.
4.1 Cauchy integral formula

First one needs to recall some basic facts related to integrals, in the sense of
Lebesgue, of functions defined on sets of the plane. We will denote by d m.z/,
or by dxdy if z D x C iy,Rthe Lebesgue measure on the plane and will consider
Lebesgue integrals of type A h.z/ d m.z/ with A C Lebesgue measurable and
h defined on A.
Recall that this integral is defined if:
• h is defined at almost every point of A and is a Lebesgue measurable function.
R
• A jh.z/j d m.z/ < C1.
Always, the functions one deals with are defined and continuous on A except for a
finite or countable quantity of points of A, so that the first condition will automati-
cally Shold. The second one implies that if A is broken into shrinking measure sets,
A D j Aj , choosing zj 2 Aj , the Lebesgue sums
X
h.zj /m.Aj /
R
converge to A h.z/ d m.z/.
An often useful result is the fact that the function gh is integrable when h is
integrable and g is measurable and bounded.
4.1. Cauchy integral formula 137
The following result will be frequently used.
Lemma 4.1. For a 2 C fixed, the function 1

za
is integrable on every subset of C
of finite measure.
R m.z/
Proof. To prove this claim we have to show that A djzaj < C1 if m.A/ < C1.
If B D fz 2 A W jz aj 1g one has
Z Z
d m.z/
d m.z/ D m.B/ m.A/ < C1:
B jz aj B
On the other hand, changing to polar coordinates centered at the point a, z D

a C re i , it is d m.z/ D r dr d and it follows that
Z Z Z 1 Z 2
d m.z/ d m.z/ r dr d
D D 2:
AnB jz aj jzaj1 jz aj 0 0 r
Recall that if f is a differentiable function (in the real sense), the operator
N@ D @ acts on f and gives the function @f N D @f and f is holomorphic when
@zN @zN
N D 0.
@f
Theorem 4.2 (Cauchy–Green formula). Let U be a bounded domain of the plane

with piecewise regular boundary, positively oriented, and let f be a differentiable
N continuous on Ux . Then, for all z 2 U ,
function on a neighborhood of Ux with @f
one has Z Z N
1 f .w/ 1 @f .w/
f .z/ D dw d m.w/: (4.1)
2 i @U w z U wz
This result, which will be shown next, has two evident consequences:
Corollary 4.3 (Cauchy integral formula). If U is a bounded domain of the plane

with piecewise regular boundary, positively oriented, and f is holomorphic on a
neighborhood of Ux , then
Z
1 f .w/
f .z/ D dw; z 2 U: (4.2)
2 i @U w z
Recall that if f is a function defined on Rn , the support of f is the closed set
spt.f / D fx 2 Rn W f .x/ ¤ 0g.
N
Corollary 4.4. If f is a differentiable function on C with compact support and @f
is continuous on C, then
Z N
1 @f .w/
f .z/ D d m.w/; z 2 C:
C wz
138 Chapter 4. Local properties of holomorphic functions
1
Note that the dependence on z is through the kernel wz . The kernel C.w; z/ D
1 1
2 i wz
is called the Cauchy kernel.
Proof of Theorem 4.2. Fix z 2 U , consider " > 0 such that D.z;x "/ U and let
x
U" be the domain U" D U n D.z; "/. The boundary of U" is composed by the
boundary of U and the circle C.z; "/, travelled in the negative sense (Figure 4.1).
U"
"
z
Figure 4.1
So, U" is a bounded domain with piecewise regular boundary, positively oriented.
Now apply Green’s formula (Theorem 3.22) to the 1-form D fwz .w/
dw on the
f .w/ f .w/
domain U" . If w D C i , one has D !z d C i wz d and

@ f .w/ @ f .w/ @ f .w/ @f 1
i D 2i D 2i ;
@ w z @ w z @wx wz x wz
@w
which is a continuous function on Ux" . Therefore Green’s formula gives
Z Z
@f 1
D 2i d m.w/: (4.3)
@U" U" @ x
w w z
Now,
Z Z Z Z Z
f .w/ f .w/
D C D dw dw
@U" @U C.z;"/ @U wz C.z;"/ wz
Z Z 2
f .w/
D dw i f .z C "e i / d
@U wz 0
R f .w/
which converges to @U wz dw 2 if .z/, as " ! 0.
4.1. Cauchy integral formula 139
Finally, according to Lemma 4.1, the function w 7! @@fwx wz

1
is integrable on U ,
so that the integral of the right-hand side of (4.3) converges, when " ! 0, to the
same integral on the domain U , and then (4.1) follows.
Remark 4.1. Corollary 4.4 is based, apparently, on the general Green’s formula
(Theorem 3.22), which leads to the proof of Theorem 4.2. But, in fact, it fol-
lows from the version for rectangles of Green’s formula (first step of the proof
of Theorem 3.22). Just follow the proof of Theorem 4.2 taking as U a rectangle,
U spt.f /, and for z 2 U delete a small rectangle Rz , centered at z. Then U n Rz
is the union of eight rectangles and Green’s formula holds for this domain.
It is important to pay attention to the structure of formula (4.1): it decomposes

a differentiable function f into the sum of two functions, a holomorphic one only
depending on the values of f on @U , and another one which only depends on @f N .
The formula (4.2),
Z
1 f .w/
f .z/ D dw; z 2 U;
2 i @U w z
valid when f is holomorphic, is called a reproducing formula because it gives the

values of f in U just in terms of the values of f on @U . This is radically new in
the sense that there is nothing similar in the case of real differentiable functions.
For example, a consequence of (4.2) is that if two holomorphic functions on a
neighborhood of Ux coincide at the points of @U , then they are identical on the
whole domain U .
Corollary 4.5. If f is an entire function with compact support, then f is identically

zero.
Proof. If D.0; R/ is a disc big enough, one will have that f

0 on @D.0; R/;
therefore, f
0 on D.0; R/. Now let R ! C1.
In contrast, there are differentiable functions, even C 1 functions, with compact

support and not identically zero. For example if K is a compact set of Rn and U an
open neighborhood of K, one may always construct a C 1 function ', 0 ' 1,
with compact support in U and such that '
1 on K.
Example
R 4.6. Let f be a holomorphic function on the unit disc D such that
D jf .z/jd m.z/ < C1. Fix 0 r < 1 and let ' be a C 1 function, with compact
support contained in D.0; r 0 /, r < r 0 < 1, and equal to 1 on a neighborhood of
x r/. The formula (4.1) applied to the function ' f on the disc D.0; r 0 / gives
D.0;
Z
1 N 1
f .z/ D @'.w/ f .w/ d m.w/; jzj r:
D wz
˚
N
Now letting Mr D sup j@'.w/j 1 N
W jzj r; w 2 spt .@'/ , it turns out that
jwzj
N x
Mr < C1 (because spt.@'/ does not intersect D.0; r/), and the inequality
Z
1
supjzjr jf .z/j Mr jf .z/jd m.z/
D
is obtained. For example,
R if .fn / is a sequence of holomorphic functions on D
which satisfies limn D jfn .z/jd m.z/ D 0, then .fn / converges to zero uniformly
x r/ D.
on each compact disc D.0;
It is also interesting to stress the particular case of (4.2) in which U D D.a; r/
and z D a. The parametrization of @U D C.a; r/ is w D a C re i , 0 2,
so that dw D ire i d D i.w a/ d and one obtains
Z 2
1
f .a/ D f .a C re i / d;
2 0
which expresses the fact that f .a/ is the mean value of f on the circle C.a; r/,
x r/.
when f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of D.a;
Definition 4.7. A continuous function ' on a domain U (with real or complex
x r/
values) is said to have the mean value property on U if, for any closed disc D.a;
U , it holds that Z 2
1
'.a/ D '.a C re i / d: (4.4)
2 0
x R/ U and for 0 r R one multiplies (4.4)
If ' is continuous on U , D.a;
by r and integrates from 0 to R, it follows that
Z R Z R Z 2 Z
1 1
'.a/r dr D '.a C re i /rddr D '.z/d m.z/:
0 2 0 0 2 D.a;R/
That is, Z
1
'.a/ D '.z/d m.z/;
R2 D.a;R/
which is the bidimensional version of the mean value property.
As just seen, holomorphic functions on U and so their real and imaginary parts,
which are harmonic functions, have the mean value property on U . Later on it will
be proved that all harmonic functions have this property and, in fact, the mean value
property characterizes them (Theorem 7.7).
4.2 Analytic functions and holomorphic functions

In the second chapter (Definition 2.36) the notion of analytic function of the complex
variable z has been introduced as a function which, locally, is the sum of a power
4.2. Analytic functions and holomorphic functions 141
series of z. It has been seen that these functions are infinitely holomorphic, that
is, they are holomorphic as well as all their derivatives. Next the converse of
this result will be proved and the equivalence between holomorphic function and
analytic functions will be obtained.
Theorem 4.8. IfPthe function f is holomorphic on the disc D.a; R/, then there is
a power series n cn .z a/n , centered
P at a with radius of convergence equal to
or greater than R, such that f .z/ D n cn .z a/n for z 2 D.a; R/.
Proof. For r < R, apply Cauchy integral formula (4.2) to the disc D.a; r/ to obtain
Z
1 f .w/
f .z/ D dw; jz aj < r:
2 i C.a;r/ w z
Now the idea is to expand the Cauchy kernel in a power series.
Fix w with jw aj D r; one asks if wz 1
is the sum of a power series in z,
centered at a, on the disc D.a; r/. This is easy to see, writing
1 1 1
D D
wz w a .z a/ .w a/.1 za
wa
/
jzaj
and using the geometric series with common ratio D za
wa
. Since j j D jwaj
D
P
jzaj
r
< 1, one has .1 /1 D 1 n
nD0 and
X1
1 .z a/n
D :
wz nD0
.w a/nC1
Now fix z with jz aj < r; according to the Weierstrass M -test (Theorem 2.10)
the previous series is uniformly convergent for w 2 C.a; r/ and one may commute
the complex integration with the infinite sum (Proposition 3.4) to obtain
X
f .z/ D cn .r/.z a/n ; jz aj < r;
n
R
with cn .r/ D 21 i C.a;r/ f .w/.w a/n1 dw. For each r, 0 < r < R, one
has a power series with coefficients cn .r/ which depend on r and with radius of
convergence equal to or greater than r (because it is convergent with sum f .z/).
But the uniqueness of the series expansion of f (Proposition 2.32) gives that cn .r/
is, in fact, independent from r; then we can write
Z
1
cn D f .w/.w a/n1 dw; 0 < r < R:
2 i C.a;r/
Now, for every z 2 D.a; R/, one just has P
to consider a number r > 0 such that
jz aj < r < R, to conclude that f .z/ D n cn .z a/n .
From this result one has at once:

Theorem 4.9 (Identification between holomorphic functions and analytic func-
tions). If U is an open set of the complex plane, then a function is holomorphic
on U if and only if it is analytic on U . More precisely, every holomorphic function
f on U is indefinitely holomorphic on U , and for any point a 2 U the Taylor
expansion
1
X f .n/ .a/
f .z/ D .z a/n (4.5)
nD0
nŠ
is valid on the biggest disc centered at a and included in U , that is, on D.a; ı.a//,
where ı.a/ is the distance from the point a to the closed set C n U .
Observe that as established above, this result, together with Theorem 2.31, gives
another proof of Theorem 2.39. On the other hand, Example 2.38 shows that the
series (4.5) may have a radius of convergence greater than ı.a/. As well, now it is
known that if f is holomorphic on U , then f is of class C 1 with respect to real
variables on U , and so f is harmonic on U (see Section 3.7.3).
Once again one can stress Theorem 4.9 in contrast to the real variable case. In the
frame of real variables, not every differentiable function is infinitely differentiable;
for example, xjxj is differentiable at each point and its derivative jxj is not, at x D 0.
For a more extreme example, consider the antiderivative, F , of a continuous function
f which is not differentiable at any point. Then F is a differentiable function such
that F 0 D f is not differentiable at any point. Neither is it true that an infinitely
differentiable function is real analytic; actually, the analytic functions fulfill the
principle of analytic continuation (see Subsection 4.4.2) and, in particular, there
is no analytic function with compact support, not identically zero. Therefore, any
C 1 function with compact support, not identically zero, is not analytic. Another
example, now with non-compact support, is the function
1

f .x/ D e x2 ; f .0/ D 0:
This one is C 1 , analytic on R n f0g, but is not analytic on R, because f .n/ .0/ D 0,
n D 0; 1; 2; : : : (since f .x/ D O.x n /, for all n); hence f cannot be equal to the
sum of its Taylor series at the point 0. The function f is often used to construct
C 1 functions with compact support.
The following result is the case U D C of Theorem 4.9.
.n/ 1
Theorem 4.10. The mapping f 7! f nŠ.0/ nD0 is a bijection between the space
P
of entire functions and the space of sequences .cn /1 nD0 such that the series cn z n
1
has radius of convergence infinite, that is, limn!1 jcn j n D 0.
The result stated below may be considered as a characterization of holomorphic
functions among the class of continuous functions.
4.2. Analytic functions and holomorphic functions 143
Theorem 4.11 (Morera’s Theorem). Let U be an R open set of C. Then a function

f 2 C.U / is holomorphic on U if and only if @
f .z/ dz D 0 for any triangle
U.
R
Proof. If f 2 H.U /, it is known that @
f .z/ dz D 0 when Ris a triangle con-
tained in U , by Cauchy’s theorem (Theorem 3.24). Conversely, if @
f .z/ dz D 0,
for any U , Theorem 3.14 asserts that f has locally (for example on each disc
contained in U ) a holomorphic antiderivative. Now by Theorem 4.9 the derivative
of a holomorphic function is also holomorphic, so then f is holomorphic on any
disc in U , that is, f 2 H.U /.
Example 4.12. Supposing that .fn / is a sequence of holomorphic functions on a

domain U and limn fn .z/ D f .z/, uniformly on any compact subset of U , then we
can deduce that f is also holomorphic on U (see Theorem 9.3). Actually, f will
x r/ U )
be continuous (uniform limit of continuous Rfunctions on anyR disc D.a;
and ifR is a triangle in U , one will have @
f .z/dz D @
limn fn .z/dz D
limn @
fn .z/dz D 0, by uniform convergence over @ and fn being holomor-
phic.
As a consequence of Morera’s theorem we can state the following result about

removable singularities.
Theorem 4.13. If f is a continuous function on an open set U and holomorphic on

U n E, where E is a finite union of points and lines, then f is holomorphic on U .
R
Proof. One must show that @
f .z/ dz D 0 for any triangle U . If does
not contain any point or line of E, Cauchy’s theorem says so. Suppose now that
contains a point a of E. Then, given " > 0, may be decomposed into a union of
triangles D a [ 1 [ [ m in such a way that a 2 a and L.@a / < "
(Figure 4.2) and it follows that
Z Z m Z
X
f .z/ D f .z/ dz C f .z/ dz:
@
@
a j D1 @
j
R
Now @
j f .z/ dz D 0 since a … j and, on the other hand, f being bounded on
because it is continuous on U , we get
ˇZ ˇ
ˇ ˇ
ˇ ˇ .sup
ˇ f .z/ dz ˇ z2
a jf .z/j/ L.@a / ! 0:
@
a "!0
If a line l of E intersects , it is easy to see that the integral over @ may be

decomposed into integrals along triangles with a side on l and each of these is
approximated by triangles which do not intersect l (Figure 4.2).
`
a 2
2

3
4
1 a 5
6 1
3
8 7
Figure 4.2
In the proof of Theorem 4.8 it has been seen that if f 2 H.D.a; R//, then
Z
f .n/ .a/ 1 f .w/
D dw; 0 < r < R: (4.6)
nŠ 2 i C.a;r/ .w a/nC1
This formula is a particular case of the following proposition:
Proposition 4.14. If U is a bounded domain of the plane with piecewise regular
boundary, positively oriented, and f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux , then
Z
nŠ f .w/
f .z/ D
.n/
dw; z 2 U; n D 1; 2; 3; : : : : (4.7)
2 i @U .w z/nC1
Proof. It is enough to differentiate (4.2), n times with respect to z. The reader may
justify that the differentiation under the integral is correct.
R z2 ez
Example 4.15. In order to compute the integral I D jzjD2 .z1/ 3 dz, apply (4.6),
for n D 2, to the function f .z/ D z 2 e z . It turns out that I D if 00 .1/ D 7ei .

R
Example 4.16. Let us compute now I D jzjD2 z 2 .1Cz sin z
2 / dz. Decomposing in
2 / D z 2 2i zi C 2i zCi and applying (4.7) one has

1 1 1 1 1 1
partial fractions z 2 .1Cz
Z Z Z
sin z 1 sin z 1 sin z
I D C
jzjD2 z
2 2i jzjD2 z i 2i jzjD2 z C i
D 2 i cos.0/ sin.i / C sin.i / D i.2 e C e 1 /:
Observe that, applying (4.2) to the n-th derivative f .n/ of f , it follows that
Z
1 f .n/ .w/
f .n/ .z/ D dw; z 2 U; n D 1; 2; : : : : (4.8)
2 i @U w z
The equality between (4.7) and (4.8) comes also from integration by parts,
applied iteratively.
4.3. Analyticity of harmonic functions. Fourier series 145
4.3 Analyticity of harmonic functions. Fourier series

Suppose u is a real harmonic function on a domain U C and for a 2 U fixed,
let D.a; ı.a// be the biggest disc centered at a inside U . By Proposition 3.50, u
is, on this disc, the real part of a holomorphic function f . Consider the expansion
of f in power series given by Theorem 4.8,
X f .n/ .a/
f .z/ D cn .z a/n ; jz aj < ı.a/; cn D :
n
nŠ
Suppose, without loss of generality, that a D 0. Taking real parts in the expression
of f .z/ as a sum of powers of z n , with z D x C iy, one obtains
1
X
u.x; y/ D Re f .z/ D Re.cn z n /
nD0
1
X 1
X
D ReŒcn .x C iy/n D .Re cn /.Re z n / .Im cn /.Im z n /:
nD0 nD0
n
Computing Re zP , Im z n in terms of x, y, one gets formally
an
expression of the
type u.x; y/ D 1 bm;l x m y l , where bm;l D .1/k mCl Re cmCl if l D 2k

m;lD0 m
and bm;l D .1/kC1 mCl m Im cmCl if l D 2k C 1. However, in order to justify
the computation one has to check that the resulting double series is absolutely
convergent, so one may sum it by blocks. Taking " D 2ı with ı D ı.0/ and
assuming jxj; jyj < ", one has jxj C jyj < ı and
1
X 1
X
mCl
jbm;l jjxj jyj
m l
jcmCl j jxjm jyjl
m
m;lD0 m;lD0
1
X X m C l
D jck j jxjm jyjl
m
kD0 mClDk
X1
D jck j.jxj C jyj/k < C1:
kD0
The sum by blocks is then justified (Proposition 2.8) and we obtain

1
X
u.x; y/ D bm;l x m y l ; jxj; jyj < ": (4.9)
m;lD0
So then the following statement is proved:

Theorem 4.17. Any harmonic function on a domain of the plane is an analytic

function of two real variables.
It has been pointed out in Subsection 3.7.3 that if P .x; y/ is a real harmonic
polynomial, the polynomial in z which has P as real part and vanishing imagi-
nary part at the origin is 2P z2 ; 2i
z
P .0; 0/. The previous theorem, saying that
each harmonic function is a polynomial on x, y with infinite degree, allows us to
formulate something similar:
If u is given by (4.9) with jxj; jyj < " D 2ı , the double series
1
X m l
z z
2 bm;l b0;0
2 2i
m;lD0
converges absolutely for jzj < ı and defines a holomorphic function f which has
the harmonic function u as its real part and its imaginary part vanishes at the origin.
Formally it may be written

z z
f .z/ D 2u ; u.0; 0/:
2 2i
Example 4.18. The function u.x; y/ D sin x ch y is harmonic. In this case, taking
f .z/ D 2 sin z2 ch 2i
z
D 2 sin z2 cos z2 D sin z, it is u D Re f and f .0/ D 0.
From the previous considerations it follows that if u is a real harmonic function
on the disc D.0; R/, the expansion (4.9) of u in power series of x, y around the
origin holds for jxj; jyj < R2 . However, there is another more interesting expansion
of u, which holds in the whole disc D.0; R/, related with Fourier series. One
simply takes polar coordinates, z D Px C iyn D re , and writes u D Re f , with f
i
holomorphic on D.0; R/, f .z/ D n cn z , so that
1 X
1 X1
1
u.z/ D .f .z/ C f .z// D cn z n C cNn zN n
2 2 nD0 nD0
1 1
1X 1X
D Re c0 C cn r n e i n C cNn r n e i n :
2 nD1 2 nD1
We get the equality
1
X
u.z/ D dn r jnj e i n ; (4.10)
nD1
which holds for jzj < R, with dxn D dn , d0 2 R. If u is harmonic with complex
values, we write u D u1 C i u2 , where u1 , u2 are real harmonic; then expanding
in the previous way each ui , i D 1; 2 one will obtain an equality such as the one
in (4.10) for u, without the restriction dxn D dn . Hence, the following result has
been proved:
4.3. Analyticity of harmonic functions. Fourier series 147
Theorem 4.19. Any harmonic function u on a disc D.0; R/ has an expansion,

which holds on this disc, of the kind
1
X 1
X 1
X
u.z/ D dn r jnj e i n D d0 C dn z n C dn zN n ; z D re i ; 0 r < R:
nD1 nD1 nD1
P1 P
The series nD0 dn z n is called the holomorphic part of u, and 1 N n is
nD1 dn z
its antiholomorphic part. Both series converge absolutely at each point z 2 D.0; R/
and uniformly on each compact set contained in D.0; R/. Observe that
1 @n u 1 @n u
dn D .0/; dn D .0/:
nŠ @z n nŠ @zN n
A holomorphic function on D.0; R/ is harmonic; in this case, one just has the terms
in z n with n 0 in the expansion given by Theorem 4.19, and there is no term in
zN n , n 1.
Suppose, once again, that u is harmonic on the disc D.0; R/ and fix 0 < r < R.
The function ur . / D u.re i / is continuous in and 2-periodic. The equality
(4.10) gives the expansion of ur ,
C1
X
ur . / D dn r jnj e i n ; (4.11)
nD1
and C.0; r/ being compact, it is uniformly convergent with respect to . The series
(4.11) is the Fourier series of the 2-periodic function ur . /; indeed, multiplying
the equality (4.11) by e im and integrating it yields
Z 2
jmj 1
dm r D u.re i /e im d D uyr .m/; m 2 Z:
2 0
These equalities, in the case that u is real and u D Re f , relate the Fourier coef-
yr .m/, with the Taylor coefficients of f , cm , since dm D 12 cm if
ficients of ur , u
m 1, dm D 12 cm if m 1 and dP 0 D Re.c0 /.
If f is holomorphic and f .z/ D 1 n
nD0 cn z , the Fourier series of the function
fr ./ D f .re / is
i
X1
fr . / D cn r n e i n
0
and the equalities between coefficients may be written
Z 2
f .n/ .0/ 1 1
D cn D n
f .re i /e i n d D n fOr .n/; n 0;
nŠ 2 r 0 r
which are also the ones obtained from (4.6) parameterizing C.0; r/ by w D re i .
P
Example 4.20. If f .z/ D 1 0 cn z is holomorphic on the unit disc D and con-
n
x
tinuous on D, f taken as a function on T D @D has a Fourier series expan-
P O
sion: f . / D C11 f .n/e
i n
. The equalities above applied to the disc D.0; r/,
0 r < 1 and letting r ! 1, give fO.n/ D cn if n 0, fO.n/ D 0 if n < 0.
Hence no continuous function on T may be continuously extended to a holomor-
phic function on D if its Fourier coefficients do not satisfy fO.n/ D 0, n < 0. For
example, the function zN D e i on T has no holomorphic and continuous extension
x
to D.
4.4 Zeros of analytic functions. Principle of analytic

continuation
4.4.1 Structure of the zero sets of holomorphic functions
It has been seen in Theorem 4.9 that the class of holomorphic functions on a domain
U of the plane is exactly the class of analytic functions in the variable z on U .
Everything we will formulate in this section for analytic functions in z may be
applied also to analytic functions of a real variable on an interval I R. Statements
will be given, however, for the complex case.
Lemma 4.21. Let U be a domain of C, f 2 H.U / and a 2 U . Then the following

conditions are equivalent:
a) f .n/ .a/ D 0 for n D 0; 1; 2; : : : .
b) f .z/ D 0 for z on a neighborhood of the point a.
c) f vanishes on U .
Proof. Obviously c) implies a) and b). The fact that a) implies b) is clear, since f
P .n/
being analytic one has f .z/ D n f nŠ.a/ .z a/n on a neighborhood of a. One
just has to prove that b) implies c). Write
A D fz 2 U W f is zero on a neighborhood of zg:
If b) holds, A ¤ ;, and clearly A is open. If we check that A is closed in U , then

U D A, since U is connected, and c) will be proved. Suppose that z0 2 U is a
closure point of A and choose points zm 2 A with limm .zm / D z0 . Since f is
zero on a neighborhood of each point zm , it is f .n/ .zm / D 0, for all n, m, and then
f .n/ .z0 / D limm f .n/ .zm / D 0. Hence f .n/ .z0 / D 0, for all n, and it is already
known that this fact implies f vanishes on a neighborhood of z0 , that is z0 2 A.

4.4. Zeros of analytic functions. Principle of analytic continuation 149
If f is holomorphic on the domain U , denote by Z.f / the zero set of f on U ,
Z.f / D fa 2 U W f .a/ D 0g:
By Lemma 4.21, if a 2 Z.f / and f 6

0 on U , it cannot be f .n/ .a/ D 0, for each
n 2 N. Consequently we can consider the natural number m > 0 defined by
m D m.f; a/ D minfn 2 N W f .n/ .a/ ¤ 0g:
Hence, f .m/ .a/ ¤ 0 while f .i/ .a/ D 0 for i D 0; 1; : : : ; m 1. The number

m.f; a/ is called the multiplicity or order of the point a as a zero of f . At the point
a the expansion of f starts with the term in .z a/m :
X1
f .m/ .a/ f .n/ .a/
f .z/ D .z a/m C D cn .z a/n ; cn D ; jz aj < ı:
mŠ nDm
nŠ
Taking out .z a/m as a common factor in the previous series, we may write
f .z/ D .z a/m g.z/; (4.12)

P P
where g.z/ D 1 nDm cn .z a/
nm
D 1 nD0 cnCm
P.z a/n ; it is evident that this
1
last series has the same radius of convergence as nD0 cn .z a/n and defines g
.m/
as an analytic function on D.a; ı/ with g.a/ D cm D f mŠ.a/ ¤ 0 and g.z/ D
f .z/.z a/m if z ¤ a. Since g.a/ ¤ 0, one has g.z/ ¤ 0 on some disc
D.a; "/ U , " > 0, by continuity. On this disc, the only zero of f is a, due to the
equation (4.12). Hence, it has been proved that all the points of Z.f /, if f 6
0,
are isolated points, that is, Z.f / is a discrete set. On the other hand it is clear that
Z.f / is a closed set in U , because f is continuous. Hence the following result
may be stated:
Theorem 4.22. If f is a holomorphic function on a domain U , f 6
0, then Z.f /
is a discrete and closed subset of U , that is, without accumulation points in U . In
particular, Z.f / is a finite or countable set and on each compact subset of U there
are a finite number of zeros of f .
Example 4.23. A polynomial in z has a finite number of zeros on C. The function
f .z/ D e z has no zeros. The function f .z/ D e z 1 has as zeros on C the points
2ki; k 2 Z. The function f .z/ D sin z D 2i 1
.e iz e iz / has the same zeros as
e 1, that is, k, k 2 Z. The function Log z on U D C n R has a unique zero
2iz
at the point 1.
1Cz
Example 4.24. Consider the function f .z/ D e 1z 1 defined on U D C n f1g.
The zeros .zk / of f are given by 1Cz
1zk
k
D 2ki, that is, zk D 2kiC1
2ki1
D 1 2kiC1
2
,
which is a set that has 1 … U as an accumulation point.
If a is a zero of an analytic function f , f 6

0, on a domain U it has been
just seen that the point a has finite multiplicity m D m.f; a/. In particular f .z/
.m/
behaves as f mŠ.a/ .z a/m when z ! a,
f .z/ f .m/ .a/

lim .m/ .a/
D 1; f .z/ .z a/m :
z!a f mŠ
mŠ
.z a/m
This means that it is not possible for an analytic function to have an order of
cancellation around a zero a which is not an entire power of z a. For example,
there cannot exist any holomorphic function f defined on a neighborhood of 0 such
that jf .z/j jzjj Log jzjj, because jzjj Log jzjj is an infinitesimal when jzj ! 0,
which is not equivalent to jzjm for any value of m. The function f .z/ D z Log z,
which satisfies jf .z/j jzjj Log jzjj (jzj ! 0), is not analytic on any neighborhood
of the origin.
If f 2 H.U /, where U is a domain of C and f is not identically zero, each
point zk 2 Z.f / has associated its multiplicity mk D m.f; zk /, as a zero of f .
Instead of considering separately the sequence .zk / and its corresponding sequence
of multiplicities .mk /, usually one includes in the list of zeros each of them as many
times as its multiplicity. So in the resulting sequence
.z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; : : : ; zk ; : : : /
there may appear repetitions. Hence one obtains the so-called list of zeros of f
counting multiplicities.
Evidently, everything we have said about the zeros of f , which are the roots
of the equation f .z/ D 0, may be applied to the roots of the equation f .z/ D b,
where b is a fixed complex value. Hence, f 1 fbg D Z.f b/ is a discrete and
closed set in U if f is holomorphic and not constant on U .
If Z.f / is not finite, it has accumulation points in C . Since these points cannot
be in U , they must belong to @U ; if U is not bounded, 1 is on the boundary of U in
C and 1 may be an accumulation point of Z.f /. For example, the zeros 2ki ,
k 2 Z of e z 1 in C accumulate at 1; the boundary of the domain U D C n f1g
1Cz
is @U D f1; 1g in C and the zeros of f .z/ D e 1z 1 in U accumulate at 1.
If z1 ; : : : ; zN are the zeros of f in a compact set K U (counting multiplici-
ties), one may repeat the factorization (4.12) to obtain
f .z/ D .z z1 /.z z2 / .z zN /g.z/;
where the function g is holomorphic in U and does not have any zero inside K. Ac-
tually, if zi has multiplicity mi , that is it appears mi times in the list z1 ; z2 ; : : : ; zN ,
.mi /
then g.zi / D f mi Š.zi / ¤ 0; at the other points it is g.z/ ¤ 0 because f .z/ ¤ 0.
This process is called removing the zeros of f in the compact set K.
4.4. Zeros of analytic functions. Principle of analytic continuation 151
4.4.2 The principle of analytic continuation

The following result is a direct consequence of Lemma 4.21 and Theorem 4.22
applied to the difference of two holomorphic functions. As already mentioned when
talking about zeros of holomorphic functions, we again point out that the principle
of analytic continuation also holds for real analytic functions on an interval of the
real line.
Theorem 4.25 (Principle of analytic continuation). Let f , g be holomorphic func-

tions on a domain U . Then f .z/ D g.z/ for all z 2 U if and only if one of the
following equivalent conditions holds:
a) There is a point a 2 U such that f .n/ .a/ D g .n/ .a/, for n 0, that is,
jf .z/ g.z/j D o.jz ajn /, z ! a, n D 0; 1; 2; : : : .
b) There is a set A U with some accumulation point in U and f .z/ D g.z/

for all z 2 A.
c) There is an open set V U such that f .z/ D g.z/ for all z 2 V .
As an example of a set A U with an accumulation point in U we can consider

the set A D fan W n 2 Ng formed by the different terms of a sequence .an / which
converges to a point of U .

Example 4.26. If a function f , holomorphic on the unit disc D, satisfies nf n1 D
1, n D 2;˚3; : : : , then
f .z/ D z, for all z 2 D. Indeed, f .z/
and g.z/ D z coincide
on A D n ; n 2 . However, the function f .z/ D z 1 sin z also satisfies
1

nf n1 D 1 and is not identically z. In this case, f is holomorphic on U D C n f0g
and A has no accumulation point in U .
Next an application of the principle of analytic continuation is given. It is said

that a domain U of the plane is symmetric if for each point z 2 U one has that
zN 2 U . Since U is connected it is evident that, if it is symmetric, then U \ R is a
non-empty open set of R and so it is a countable union of open intervals of R.
Theorem 4.27 (Schwarz’s reflection principle). Suppose that U is a symmetric

domain of the plane, f 2 H.U / and f .x/ is real for x 2 U \R. Then f .Nz/ D f .z/
for all z 2 U .
Proof. Consider g.z/ D f .Nz/ which is a well-defined

P function on U . If on the disc
D.a;N r/ PU , f .z/ is the sum of the series n cn .z a/
N n then g.z/ is, on D.a; r/,
the sum of n cSn .z a/n . Therefore, g is also analytic on U . It may be also seen,
alternately, that g satisfies the Cauchy–Riemann equations. Now, if x 2 U \ R one
has g.x/ D f .x/ D f .x/. Since U \ R ¤ ; is an open set (and therefore it has
accumulation points inside U ) we conclude that g.z/ D f .z/, z 2 U .
Remark 4.2. Another way of interpreting the reflection principle is the following.
Denote by U C D U \ fz W Im z > 0g the part of the symmetric domain U located
in the upper half plane. Suppose that g 2 H.U C / and g has a real limit at the points
x 2 U \ R, also denoted by g: g.x/ D limz!x; z2U C g.z/. Then the function f
defined on U by means of “reflection”,
8
ˆ C
<g.z/ if z 2 U ;
ˆ
f .z/ D g.x/ if x 2 U \ R;
ˆ
:̂g.z/
N if z 2 U ;
is holomorphic on U (it is the only possible continuation of g to U which is holo-

morphic). Indeed, it is clear that f 2 C.U / and that it is holomorphic at all the
points in U n R; then, by Theorem 4.13, one has f 2 H.U /.
The principle of analytic continuation allows us to understand correctly a lot
of identities of real analysis. Suppose, for example, that f1 ; : : : ; fN are entire
functions which satisfy an identity of type P .f1 ; : : : ; fN /.z/ D 0, only for real
values of the variable, where P is a polynomial in N variables. The principle
of analytic continuation asserts then that P .f1 ; : : : ; fN /.z/ D 0 holds identically
in z. Hence, the fact that sin2 x C cos2 x D 1 for x 2 R is read automatically
sin2 z C cos2 z D 1 for z 2 C and, specifying at z D ix with x 2 R, it turns out
that ch2 x sh2 x D 1.
As remarked above, all that has been said works for real analytic functions.
Indeed, with the help of the principle of analytic continuation one may better un-
derstand the relationship between real analytic functions and complex analytic func-
tions, that is, holomorphic functions.
Theorem 4.28. Every real analytic function f W R ! C is the restriction to R of a
holomorphic function F W U ! C defined on a symmetric domain U of the complex
plane, that is R U and f D FjR .
Proof. For each point a 2 R it is known that there exists a radius R.a/ > 0 such
that
X1
f .n/ .a/
f .x/ D cn .x a/n ; cn D ; jx aj < R.a/:
nD0
nŠ
P
The power series 1 nD0 cn .z a/ has radius of convergence , which must satisfy
n
R.a/ and defines a holomorphic function, Fa , on D.a; /. The restriction of

Fa to .a ; a C / is an analytic function on this interval which coincides with f
on .aR.a/; aCR.a// and thus, by the principle of analytic continuation, Fa D f
on the whole interval .a ; a C /. This means that D R.a/. Suppose now that
D.a1 ; R.a1 // \ D.a2 ; R.a2 // ¤ ;, so that both Fa1 and Fa2 are defined on this
intersection; on the part of the intersection that is on R both functions coincide with
4.5. Local behavior of a holomorphic function. The open mapping theorem 153
f and once again by the principle of analytic continuation, one obtains Fa1 D Fa2
on D.a1 ; R.a1 // \ D.a2 ; R.a2 //. This means that on the symmetric domain
[
U D D.a; R.a//;
a2R
the functions Fa allow us to define a function F W U ! C, equal

ˇ to Fa on each disc
D.a; R.a//. By construction F is holomorphic on U and F ˇR D f .
The principle of analytic continuation for analytic functions of two real vari-
ables is stated without giving any proof. This property is applied, in particular, to
harmonic functions.
Theorem 4.29. Let f , g be analytic functions of two real variables on a domain
U R2 . Then f .x; y/ D g.x; y/, for all .x; y/ 2 U , if and only if one of the
following equivalent conditions holds:
@nCm f @nCm g
a) There is a point .x0 ; y0 / 2 U such that .x ; y0 /
@x n @y m p 0
D @x n @y m
.x0 ; y0 /,
for n; m 0, that is, jf .x; y/ g.x; y/j D o. .x x0 / C .y y0 /2 /n ,
2
when .x; y/ ! .x0 ; y0 /, n D 0; 1; 2; : : : .

b) There is an open set V U such that f .x; y/ D g.x; y/ for all .x; y/ 2 V .
In this case, it might hold that f .x; y/ D g.x; y/ for .x; y/ 2 A, where A has
accumulation points in U , but f
g. This is due to the fact that the zero sets of
an analytic function of the variables x, y are not necessarily discrete. For example,
the harmonic function x vanishes on the imaginary axis, and it is not identically
zero.
4.5 Local behavior of a holomorphic function. The open

mapping theorem
Consider a holomorphic function f on a domain U C. Suppose that f has no
zeros in U , and ask whether there is a continuous branch of the logarithm of f on
U . It has been proved in Proposition 3.20 that this is the case if and only if the
function f 0 =f has a holomorphic antiderivative on U . But now it is known that f 0
is a holomorphic function and so is f 0 =f , so that by Corollary 3.28 it follows:
Proposition 4.30. On a convex open set, every holomorphic function without zeros
admits a branch of its logarithm and of its n-th root, for all n 2 N. Every holomor-
phic function without zeros on a domain admits, locally, a branch of its logarithm
and of its n-th root, for all n 2 N.
Corollary 4.31. If f 2 H.U / and f .z/ ¤ 0 for all z 2 U , then the function
Log jf .z/j is harmonic on U .
Proof. One may check directly that Log jf j D 0 using the Cauchy–Riemann
equations. It is also a consequence of Proposition 4.30 because on each disc D U
there is a function h 2 H.D/ such that e h D f and then Log jf j D Re h is
harmonic on D.
Let U be a domain of the plane, a 2 U , f 2 H.U / and b D f .a/. If f .z/ b

has a zero with multiplicity m at the point a, that is, f 0 .a/ D 0; : : : ; f .m1/ .a/ D 0
and f .m/ .a/ ¤ 0, it is said that f takes m times the value b at the point a. Let us
explain the motivation of this definition. We have
f .z/ b D .z a/m g.z/;
where g 2 H.U / and g.a/ ¤ 0. Fix a disc D.a; R/ on which g has no zeros;
by Proposition 4.30, there is a function h 2 H.D.a; R// such that g D hm . This
means that on D.a; R/ we have
def
f .z/ b D Œ.z a/h.z/m D f1 .z/m : (4.13)
Observe that f1 .z/ D .z a/h.z/ satisfies f1 .a/ D 0, f10 .a/ D h.a/ ¤ 0, that
is, f1 vanishes once at a. It is clear, according to (4.13), that the local behavior of
f will be understood if the one of f1 is.
The function f1 is holomorphic on D.a; R/, f1 .a/ D 0 and f10 .a/ D ¤ 0.
One may assert now that f1 is a homeomorphism of a neighborhood of the point
a onto a neighborhood of 0. This fact is a consequence of the inverse function
theorem, but one can provide a direct proof as follows. Assume, without lost of
generality, that a D 0 and D 1, that is, f1 .z/ D z C f2 .z/ with f20 .0/ D 0. Fix
a number 0 < " < 1 and find r < R such that jf20 .z/j < " if z 2 D.0; r/. By the
fundamental theorem of calculus (for example, integrating f20 along the segment
that goes from z to w) one will have
jf2 .z/ f2 .w/j "jz wj; z; w 2 D.0; r/;
and this inequality implies
.1 "/jz wj jf1 .z/ f1 .w/j .1 C "/jz wj; z; w 2 D.0; r/: (4.14)
Let us now prove that if j j is small enough, say j j < s, the equation f1 .z/ D
has a solution on D.0; R/ which by (4.14), will be unique and will depend con-
tinuously on . Notice that the fact that f1 .z/ D means z is a fix point of the
function f2 .z/. Define, as usual, a recurrent sequence .zn /, with z0 D 0 and
znC1 D f2 .zn /. Since jznC1 zn j D jf2 .zn / f2 .zn1 /j "jzn zn1 j, one
will get
jznC1 zn j "n jz1 z0 j D "n j j:
4.5. Local behavior of a holomorphic function. The open mapping theorem 155
P
Therefore, jzn j niD1 jzi zi1 j j j 1"
1
; if j j s D r.1 "/, all the points
zn are indeed in D.0; r/ and converge to a solution of f1 .z/ D .
Hence f1 is a local homeomorphism. In this situation it is known (Subsec-
tion 2.4.3) that f11 is also holomorphic and .f11 /0 .w/ D .f10 .z//1 if w D f1 .z/.
Let now V be a neighborhood of the point a such that f1 is a homeomorphism
of V onto a disc D.0; s/. By (4.13), the image of V by f will be exactly the disc
D.b; s m /. Then the following has been proved:
Theorem 4.32. Let f be a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of a point
a 2 C that takes the value b D f .a/, m times at a. Then there is a neighborhood
V of a and a disc D.b; ı/ such that f .V / D D.b; ı/ and each value 2 D.b; ı/,
¤ b, has exactly m-preimages by f in V (while for D b the m-preimages are
equal to a).
One can even make more precise the situation described by this theorem by
taking the proof up again: given 2 D.b; s m / consider the m-roots of b in
D.0; s/
D b C wim ; i D 1; : : : ; m; wi 2 D.0; s/:
For each of the points wi there is a unique point zi 2 V such that f1 .zi / D wi , and
these values z1 ; : : : ; zm are the m different roots of f .z/ D in V . Since f11 is
holomorphic on D.0; s/, f11 .0/ D a and .f11 /0 .0/ D 1 , we can write
zi D a C 1 wi C o.jwi j/:
The points w1 ; : : : ; wm are uniformly distributed on the angles 2m

k, k D 0; : : : ;
m 1, and so are the points z1 ; : : : ; zm , except for a small error, around a and
rotated according to arg.1 / (Figure 4.3). When ! b, obviously
max jzi aj ! 0;
iD1;:::;m
that is, the points z1 ; : : : ; zm collapse to a.

Theorem 4.33 (Open mapping). If U is a domain of the plane and f is holomorphic
on U and non-constant, then f .U / is an open set of C. If V U is open, f .V /
is also open.
Proof. If f is non-constant, the hypothesis of Theorem 4.32 holds at each point
a 2 U , by the principle of analytic continuation. Then, every point of f .V / has a
neighborhood formed by points which have preimages in V .
Remark that Theorem 4.32 has as a consequence that f is locally injective at
the point a if and only if f 0 .a/ ¤ 0. In the case of a real variable function just one
implication holds, due to the inverse function theorem: if df .a/ is invertible, f is
locally injective at a, but the converse is false. On the other hand, when f 0 .z/ ¤ 0,
z1 w2
a f1
w1 b C w3

0 b
z2
z3
w3
V D.0; s/ D.b; s 3 /
Figure 4.3
for all z 2 U , f is locally injective on U , but it is not necessarily injective on U .

The clearest example is f .z/ D e z .
Observe also that, as a consequence of the open mapping theorem, there cannot
be non-constant holomorphic functions on a domain U which take values in a set
without interior points (lines, regular curves, : : : ). For example, no holomorphic
function f , different from a constant, may satisfy an equation of type
u.Re f .z/; Im f .z// D 0 or v.f .z/; f .z// D 0
with u, v analytic functions in two variables (not identically zero).
4.6 Maximum principle. Cauchy’s inequalities. Liouville’s

theorem
In this section some inequalities related to the absolute value of a holomorphic
function and its derivatives will be obtained.
Theorem 4.34 (Maximum principle). If f is holomorphic and non-constant on a
domain U of the plane, then the function jf j cannot have any local maximum in U .
Proof. Suppose that jf j has a local maximum at a 2 U , that is, there is a disc
D.a; R/ U such that jf .z/j jf .a/j if z 2 D.a; R/. This prevents f .D.a; R//
from being an open set that contains f .a/ and contradicts Theorem 4.33.
Corollary 4.35. Let U be a bounded domain of C and f a holomorphic function
on a neighborhood of Ux or, more generally, f 2 C.Ux / \ H.U /. Let M be the
maximum of jf j in @U . Then one has
jf .z/j M for each z 2 U:
In other words, maxUx jf j D max@U jf j.

4.6. Maximum principle. Cauchy’s inequalities. Liouville’s theorem 157
Proof. Since Ux is a compact set, jf j has a global maximum on Ux which is attained

at some point a 2 Ux . If a 2 U , then it is a local maximum and by the previous
theorem f is constant and the statement is obvious. If a 2 @U , then jf .a/j is also
the global maximum on @U , jf .a/j D M and consequently jf .z/j M , z 2 U .

Example 4.36. The quantity supz2D.1;1/ je z j coincides with maxz2D.1;1/ x je z j,
which, by Corollary 4.35, is maxfje z j W jz 1j D 1g. If z D 1 C e it , 0 t 2,
it turns out that je z j D e Re z D e 1Ccos t and the maximum value is e 2 .
Corollary 4.35 tells us that an inequality jf .z/j M for z 2 @U may be
extended to jf .z/j M for z 2 U when f 2 C.Ux / \ H.U /. As an application
of this fact one gives the following example:
Example 4.37. There exists no sequence of polynomials Pn .z/ which converges
uniformly to 1=z on the unit circle T . Indeed, otherwise one would have
ˇ ˇ
ˇ ˇ
ˇP .z/ 1 ˇ < "; n n0 ; jzj D 1 ." < 1/
ˇ n ˇ
z
and therefore jzPn .z/ 1j < ", n n0 , if jzj D 1. By Corollary 4.35 it would
be jzPn .z/ 1j ", n n0 for jzj 1 and, taking z D 0, one arrives at a
contradiction.
Of course, if f is holomorphic and does not have zeros in U , taking the function
1
f
one obtains that jf j cannot have a local minimum in U . For f 2 C.Ux / \ H.U /
without zeros in Ux , one will have
min jf j D min jf j:
x
U @U
In other words, if m jf .z/j M for z 2 @U and f does not have zeros in Ux ,

then one also has m jf .z/j M for z 2 U .
Consider the particular case of Proposition 4.14 corresponding to U D D.a; R/.
If f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of D.a; x R/, the equation
Z
nŠ f .w/
f .n/ .z/ D dw; z 2 D.a; R/ (4.15)
2 i @D.a;R/ .w z/nC1
holds. The values of f on @D.a; R/ determine f .n/ .z/ on the whole disc by means
of this formula. Cauchy’s inequalities estimate jf .n/ j in terms of jf j.
Theorem 4.38 (Cauchy’s inequalities). If f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of
x R/ and jf .z/j M when z 2 C.a; R/, then the following inequalities
the disc D.a;
hold:
nŠ
jf .n/ .a/j M n for n D 0; 1; 2; : : : : (4.16)
R
Proof. The formula (4.15) for z D a may be written

Z 2
nŠ
f .a/ D
.n/
f .a C Re i /e i n d;
2Rn 0
which implies (4.16) immediately.
Corollary 4.39. If f is holomorphic and bounded on the domain U , jf .z/j M ,
z 2 U , then
nŠ
jf .n/ .z/j M ; z 2 U; n D 0; 1; 2; : : : :
d.z; U c /n
In particular, these inequalities hold if U is bounded, f 2 C.Ux / \ H.U / and
jf .z/j M for z 2 @U .
Proof. Apply Theorem 4.38 to the disc D.z; r/ U , r < d.z; U c / and let r tend
to d.z; U c /.
Cauchy’s inequalities cannot be improved. For example for D, f .z/ D z n and
a D 0, the two terms of (4.16) are equal to nŠ.
Example 4.40. Let f be a holomorphic function on the unit disc D satisfying
the inequality jf .z/j 1jzj
1
, jzj < 1. Taking 0 r < 1 and applying (4.16)
x
to the disc D.a; r/ with a D 0 and M D supfjf .z/j W jzj rg 1r 1
, we
obtain jf .0/j nŠ .1r/r n , 0 r < 1. Now one may compute the minimum
.n/ 1
n for 0 r < 1 and it turns out that this minimum is

1
value of the function .1r/r
.nC1/nC1
attained for r D n
nC1
and has value nn
. We have then found the inequality
.nC1/nC1
jf .n/ .0/j nŠ nn
,nD 1; 2; : : : .
Theorem 4.41 (Liouville’s theorem). If f is an entire and bounded function, then f
is constant. Also, a harmonic and bounded function on the whole plane is constant.
Proof. When f is entire, the result is a direct consequence of Corollary 4.39, for
n D 1, because d.z; U c / D C1 and therefore f 0
0. If u is harmonic on C,
according to Theorem 4.19, and writing z D re i one has
C1
X
u.z/ D dn r jnj e i n
1
where Z 2
1
dn D u.re i /e i n d; n 2 Z:
2 r jnj 0
If juj M on C it turns out that jdn j M r jnj , for all r, and letting r ! 1 we
get that dn D 0 if n ¤ 0, that is u.z/ D d0 for z 2 C.
4.7. Exercises 159
Hence, an entire function, if it is not constant, cannot be bounded on C. How-

ever, its restriction to R can be bounded as for f .z/ D sin z; it can even converge
2
to zero when x ! ˙1, as for example f .z/ D e z .
Liouville’s theorem provides a proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra.
Theorem 4.42 (Fundamental theorem of algebra). Let P .z/ D a0 Ca1 zC Can z n
be a polynomial of degree n, with ai 2 C, i D 0; 1; : : : ; n, n 1. Then P has
1 ; : : : ; ˛n 2 C (some of which may be counted with its multiplicity)
exactly n roots ˛Q
and P .z/ D an niD1 .z ˛i /.
Proof. By iteration it is enough to prove that P has at least one root. Otherwise,
the function f .z/ D 1=P .z/ would be an entire function. Now writing

an1 a0
P .z/ D z n
an C C C n
z z
we see that an z n is the dominating term when jzj ! C1, and therefore jP .z/j !
C1 when jzj ! C1. Hence, limjzj!C1 jf .z/j D 0 and, in particular, f is
bounded. By Liouville’s theorem, f must be constant and then P .z/ would be also
constant, but it has been supposed that deg.P / 1.
It is clear that the corresponding version of Liouville’s theorem in one real

variable is false; there are analytic functions on the whole real line R which are
1
bounded and non-constant: sin x, cos x, 1Cx 2 , etc.
The proof of Theorem 4.42 is applied to any entire function f such that jf .z/j !
C1 when jzj ! C1 and one gets the conclusion that f must have a zero. How-
ever, later on it will be proved that, in this case, f is a polynomial (see Subsec-
tion 5.5.1 and Exercise 20 of Section 4.7).
4.7 Exercises
1. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with positively oriented piecewise
regular boundary and let '.z; w/ be a continuous function with respect to
the two variables for z 2 U and w 2 @U . Suppose, in addition, that ' is
holomorphic as a function of z for each w 2 @U . Show that the function
Z
f .z/ D '.z; w/ dw
@U
is holomorphic on U and
Z
@n '.z; w/
f .n/ .z/ D dw; n D 1; 2; : : : ; z 2 U:
@U @z n
2. Compute
Z ı
Log jx zjdx
ı
for all z 2 C and ı > 0.
3. Let f be a holomorphic function on the disc D.0; R/, 0 < r < R, and
hn 2 C, n D 1; 2; : : : with jhn j < R r and .hn / ! 0. Defining the
n!1
functions 'n by
f .z C hn / f .z/
'n .z/ D ; n D 1; 2; : : : ;
hn
x r/.
show that limn!1 'n .z/ D f 0 .z/ uniformly on the disc D.0;
x R/.
4. Let f , g be two holomorphic functions on a neighborhood of the disc D.a;
Prove the equality
Z Z
1 1
f .z/g 0 .z/ dz D f 0 .z/g 0 .z/ d m.z/:
2 i C.a;R/ D.a;R/
x R//, then
Deduce from it that if, in addition, f is injective and K D f .D.a;
the isoperimetric inequality
4m.K/ L.@K/ d.K/
holds, where L.@K/ is the length of the curve . / D f .a C Re i /, 0

2, and d.K/ is the diameter of K.
x R/.
5. Let f be a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of the disc D.0;
Prove that the integral formula
Z
1 R2 jz0 j2
f .z0 / D f .z/ dz; jz0 j < R
2 i C.0;R/ .z z0 /.R2 zS0 z/
holds and consequently

Z
1 2
R2 r 2
u.re i / D u.Re i' / d';
2 0 R2 2rR cos. '/ C r 2
0 r < R; 0 2
x R/.
if u is harmonic on a neighborhood of D.0;
4.7. Exercises 161
6. Let f be a holomorphic function on a domain U , satisfying

X
n
f .nC1/ .z/ D aj f .j / .z/; z 2 U;
j D0
for n 2 N and a0 ; a1 ; : : : ; an 2 C fixed. Show that f is the restriction to

U of an entire function which is a finite linear combination of exponential
monomials of type z k e z with k 2 N, 2 C. Show also that if in addition
there exists a point a 2 U such that f .a/ D f 0 .a/ D D f .n1/ .a/ D 0,
then f is identically zero on U .
7. Let f be a holomorphic function on D.0; R/ and consider for 1 p 1
the means
Z 2 1=p
1
Mp .f; r/ D jf .re j d
i p
; 0 < r < R; 1 p < 1;
2 0
M1 .f; r/ D supjzjDr jf .z/j; 0 < r < R:
Show that Mp .f; r/ is an increasing function of r for 1 p 1.

Hint: Apply Exercise 12 of Section 3.8 to the function .jf .re i /j2 C "2 /p=2 .
Show also that the means
Z 1=p
1
jf .z/jp d m.z/
r2 D.0;r/
are increasing functions of r for 1 p < 1.

8. Let f be a holomorphic function on a domain U and suppose there is a disc
x r/ U and a number p 1 such that
D.a;
Z 2
1
jf .a/jp D jf .re i /jp d:
2 0
Show that f is constant on U . Reach the same conclusion assuming now that
Z
1
jf .a/jp D jf .z/jp d m.z/:
r 2 D.a;r/
Hint: Reduce to the case p D 2 and use Exercise 12 of Section 2.7.

9. Let f1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fN be holomorphic functions on a domain U and p 2 R,
p 1. Suppose that the function jf1 jp C jf2 jp C C jfN jp has a local
maximum at a point of U . Prove that f1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fN are constant on U .
Hint: Apply Exercise 8 of this section to each fi .
˛
10. If f is entire and the function f .z/e cjzj , with c > 0, ˛ > 0, is bounded
in modulus by a constant M > 0, find the best bound for the function
˛
jf 0 .z/je cjzj .
11. Let f be an entire function which satisfies the estimate jf .z/j D O.jzjN /,
jzj ! 1, for some N 2 N. Show that f is a polynomial of degree smaller
than or equal to N .
12. Let f be a holomorphic function on D.0; R/ and for 0 < r < R put
A.r/ D supjzjDr Re f .z/:
Show that A.r/ is an increasing function of r and if in addition f satisfies

f .0/ D 0, then one has
2r
supjzjDr jf .z/j A.r/; 0 < r < R:
Rr
13. Let f be a bounded holomorphic function on the strip U D fz D x C iy W

a < x < bg, a; b 2 R and suppose that f 2 C.Ux / and jf .z/j 1 if z 2 @U .
Show that jf .z/j 1 for all z 2 U .
14. Let f be a holomorphic function on the unit disc D, continuous on the closed
x which satisfies Re f .z/ Im f .z/ D 0 for z 2 T . Show that f
disc D,
vanishes on D. Reach the same conclusion assuming now that f satisfies
Re f .z/2 Im f .z/ D 0, if z 2 T . Show that, on the other hand, there exists
a function f 2 C.D/x \ H.D/, satisfying Re f .z/2 C Im f .z/2 D 1, z 2 T .
15. Characterize the polynomials in two variables P .x; y/ which have the follow-
ing property: every function f 2 C.D/x \ H.D/ which satisfies P .Re f .z/;
Im f .z// D 0 for z 2 T , must vanish on D.
Hint: Consider the connected components of the complement in C of the set
f.x; y/ W P .x; y/ D 0g.
16. Let f be a holomorphic function on the disc D.0; R/ and continuous on

x R/. If f is not identically zero, prove that
D.0;
Z 2
Log jf .Re i /j d > 1:
0
17. Show that if f is holomorphic on the domain U then the function jf j˛ , for
˛ > 0, is subharmonic on U (see Exercise 13 of Section 3.8). Show also that
jf j˛ is harmonic on U if and only if it is constant on U .
4.7. Exercises 163
18. Let U be a domain of the plane and u a continuous subharmonic function on

U . Show that if the maximum value of u is attained at some point of U , then
u is constant on U .
19. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane, u a continuous subharmonic
function on U and suppose that there exists a constant M 0 such that
lim supz!z0 u.z/ M for every point z0 2 @U . Show that u.z/ M for
all z 2 U .
In particular, if u 2 C.Ux / is subharmonic on U , then maxz2Ux u.z/ D
maxz2@U u.z/.
20. Show that an entire function f which satisfies jf .z/j ! 1 when jzj ! 1
is a polynomial.
21. The kernel K.z; w/ D 1 .1z1w/ x 2
, z; w 2 D is called the Bergman kernel of
the unit disc. If f is an integrable function on D with respect to the Lebesgue
measure, f 2 L1 .D; d m/, then the Bergman transform of f is well defined:
Z Z
1 f .w/
Kf .z/ D K.z; w/f .w/ d m.w/ D d m.z/:
D D .1 z w/ x 2
Prove the following statements:
a) If f 2 L1 .D; d m/ \ H.D/, then Kf .z/ D f .z/ for z 2 D.
b) L2 .D; d m/\H.D/ is a closed subspace of the Hilbert space L2 .D; d m/
and if f 2 L2 .D; d m/, then Kf is the orthogonal projection of f over
this closed subspace.
22. Show that there exists a constant c > 0 such that
kf k2 c kuk2 ;
for f 2 H.D/ with f .0/ D 0 and u D Re f , where k k2 is the norm in the

space L2 .D; d m/.
Chapter 5
Isolated singularities of holomorphic functions.
The residue theorem. Applications
This chapter is devoted to the study of functions that are holomorphic on a domain
except at isolated points in which the function has no complex derivative or, maybe,
is not even continuous. The fact that the function is holomorphic around each of
these singular points allows us to determine accurately the nature of the singularities;
namely the line integral of a holomorphic function around a singularity may be
expressed in terms of a unique number associated to the singularity, that is, the
residue of the function. The precise statement of this fact is the Residue theorem,
which is an extension of Cauchy’s theorem.
Some applications of the residue theorem are given, among which is the out-
standing argument principle that allows one to count zeros and poles of meromor-
phic functions, or Rouché’s theorem, that compares the quantity of zeros of two
holomorphic functions. Also noteworthy is the use of the calculus of residues for
evaluating real integrals, without computing antiderivatives.
5.1 Isolated singular points

Recall that D.a; "/ or D" .a/ denotes the open disc with center a and radius " > 0.
From now on, D 0 .a; "/ or D"0 .a/ will represent the punctured disc D.a; "/ n fag.
Definition 5.1. A function f has an isolated singularity at the point a of C if

f is holomorphic on D"0 .a/ for some " > 0. In the case that f may extend
to a holomorphic function on the whole disc D" .a/, the singularity is said to be
removable.
Removable singularities are “false” singularities, that is, actually they are not
true singularities. It is an abuse of language, but convenient for introducing the
concept of singularity.
Suppose that f1 , f2 are holomorphic functions on a disc DR .a/, R > 0 and
that f2 is not identically zero. If f2 .a/ ¤ 0, then f D f1 =f2 is holomorphic on a
disc D" .a/, " > 0. If f2 .a/ D 0, it is known by Theorem 4.22 that a is an isolated
zero of f2 ; consequently, there is " > 0, " < R such that a is the only zero of f2 in
D" .a/, and so f D f1 =f2 is defined and holomorphic on D"0 .a/. It is the situation
of Definition 5.1: a is an isolated singularity of f , which may be removable or not.
Consider the multiplicity, n, of a as a zero of f2 W f2 .z/ D .z a/n g2 .z/, where
5.1. Isolated singular points 165
g2 .z/ 2 H.D" .a// and g2 .z/ ¤ 0 for all z 2 D" .a/. If ˛ D g2 .a/, this means
that f2 .z/ ˛.z a/n when z ! a. The two following cases are possible.
a) If f1 .a/ ¤ 0, then f .z/ f1 .a/˛ 1 .z a/n and one sees that a is a
non-removable singularity because limz!a f .z/ does not exist and f may
not extend to a holomorphic function, even not to a continuous function at
the point a.
b) If f1 .a/ D 0, then a has multiplicity m 1 as a zero of f1 and one may
write f1 .z/ D .z a/m g1 .z/ with g1 .z/ 2 H.D" .a//, ˇ D g1 .a/ ¤ 0, if
" > 0 has been chosen small enough. Then f .z/ D .z a/mn g1 .z/=g2 .z/
on D"0 .a/. Since g2 .z/ ¤ 0, for all z 2 D" .a/, it turns out that for m n,
a is a removable singularity; the expression .z a/mn g1 .z/=g2 .z/ makes
sense and defines a holomorphic function on the whole disc D" .a/. If m < n,
the same expression shows that f .z/ ˇ˛ 1 .z a/mn does not have finite
limit at a; in this case a is a true singularity once again.
Definition 5.2. If f is holomorphic on a punctured disc D"0 .a/ and there exist
˛ 2 C and k 1 integer such that f .z/ ˛.z a/k when z ! a, it is said that
f has a pole of order k at the point a. The number k is called the multiplicity of
the pole (or order of the pole).
Obviously, poles are non-removable singularities and, as a matter of fact, one has
limz!a f .z/ D 1 if f has a pole at the point a. The previous argument proves
that if f1 , f2 are holomorphic functions on a domain of C and f2 is not identically
zero, then f D f1 =f2 has removable singularities at the zeros of f2 that are also
zeros of f1 , with multiplicity greater than or equal to the ones corresponding to f2 .
Moreover, f has poles at the zeros of f2 which are not zeros of f1 or that, being
zeros of f1 , have smaller multiplicity with respect to f1 than with respect to f2 .
Definition 5.3. A function f is meromorphic on a domain U if there exists a set
A U , discrete and closed in U , such that f is defined and holomorphic on U n A
and has a pole at each point of A.
Hence, it turns out that if f1 , f2 are holomorphic functions on the domain U
and f2 is not identically zero, then f D f1 =f2 is meromorphic on U , taking as A
the set
A D fa 2 U W multiplicity of a as a zero of f1
< multiplicity of a as a zero of f2 g Z.f2 /:
For example, the function tan z D cos sin z
z
is meromorphic on the whole plane; their
poles are the zeros of the function cos z, that is, the points zk D 2 C k, k 2 Z
(none of these is a zero of sin z) and all of them have multiplicity 1.
The rational functions R D Q P
with P , Q polynomials, are meromorphic func-
tions on the whole complex plane.
166 Chapter 5. Isolated singularities of holomorphic functions
1
Example 5.4. Consider the function f .z/ D e z . This function has a singularity
1 f.z/ does
at the origin. It is non-removable because limz!0 not exist; for example
limx!0C f .x/ D 1, limx!0 f .x/ D 0, f ik D e ik D .1/k . This helps
to see that f does not have a pole at the origin.
This example shows that there are isolated singularities which are neither re-
movable singularities nor poles. They are called essential singularities. So one has
the “false” singularities, the removable ones, and the true singularities, which may
be either essential or poles. In the following theorem the type of singularity of a
function f at the point a 2 C is characterized in terms of the behavior of f .z/
when z ! a.
Theorem 5.5. Suppose that the function f is holomorphic on D"0 .a/, " > 0. Then
a) The point a is a removable singularity of f if and only if f is bounded on
Dı0 .a/ for some ı > 0.
b) The point a is a pole of f if and only if limz!a f .z/ D 1, that is, for
each M > 0 there is a ı > 0 such that jf .z/j > M if 0 < jz aj < ı
(equivalently, limz!a jf .z/j D C1).
c) The point a is an essential singularity of f in all the other cases, that is, if
and only if limz!a f .z/ does not exist in C .
Proof. First a) will be proved: if f is holomorphic on D" .a/, then f is continuous
on Dı .a/ for all ı < ", and therefore, bounded on Dı .a/. Conversely, suppose
jf .z/j M if 0 < jz aj < ı < ". Consider the function g.z/ D .z a/2 f .z/;
g is also holomorphic on Dı0 .a/ and limz!a g.z/ D 0; hence, defining g.a/ D 0,
one has that g is continuous on Dı .a/. In addition,
g.z/ g.a/ g.z/
lim D lim D lim .z a/f .z/ D 0:
z!a za z!a z a z!a
So g 2 H.Dı .a//, with g.a/ D g 0 .a/ D 0. Therefore, by (4.12), g.z/ D

.z a/m g1 .z/ with m 2, g1 2 H.Dı .a//; hence, on 0 < jz aj < ı, f .z/
coincides with .z a/m2 g1 .z/, which is holomorphic on the whole disc Dı .a/
(because m 2) and a is removable.
Next, assertion b) will be proved. It has been noticed that if f has a pole at the
point a, then limz!a f .z/ D 1. Conversely, assuming that limz!a f .z/ D 1,
then g D 1=f is holomorphic on some disc centered at a and has limit zero at
a; by item a) g has a removable singularity at a with g.a/ D 0. If m 1 is the
multiplicity of a as a zero of g, then g.z/ D .z a/m g1 .z/ with ˛ D g1 .a/ ¤ 0;
hence, f .z/ ˛ 1 .z a/m and f has a pole of order m at the point a.
By definition, f has a pole of order k at the point a when f .z/.z a/k has
non-zero finite limit at a. By the previous theorem, this is equivalent to the fact that
5.1. Isolated singular points 167
f .z/.z a/k has a removable singularity at a, that is, g.z/ D f .z/.z a/k is a
function in H.D" .a//, with g.a/ ¤ 0. Hence, f has a pole of order k at the point
a if and only if it may be written as
g.z/
f .z/ D
.z a/k
with g holomorphic on a neighborhood of a and g.a/ ¤ 0.
At an essential singular point a 2 C, when z ! a, f .z/ does not approach any
value of C , finite or not. The following theorem is more specific, saying that the
behavior of f .z/ when z ! a is chaotic.
Theorem 5.6 (Casorati–Weierstrass). If f 2 H.D"0 .a//, " > 0, and f has an
essential singularity at the point a, then the set f .Dı0 .a// is dense in C for all ı,
0 < ı < ".
Proof. Assume that for some ı < " the open set f .Dı0 .a// is not dense; then there
are w 2 C and r > 0 such that jf .z/ wj r if 0 < jz aj < ı. This means
that the function g.z/ D f .z/w
1
is bounded and, by item a) of Theorem 5.5 one
would have g 2 H.Dı .a//; thus, f .z/ D w C g.z/ 1
would have either a pole or a
removable singularity at a and not an essential singularity.
1
Example 5.7. Analyze f .Dı0 .0// when f .z/ D e z . If w D z1 and 0 < jzj < ı,
then jwj > ı 1 . The image by w 7! e w of jwj > ı 1 is, in fact, C n f0g (the image
of any horizontal strip of width 2 is C n f0g).
The behavior of a function around a pole is very different from the behavior
around an essential singularity, which is described in Theorem 5.6. Indeed, it is
known that if the point a 2 C is a pole of f , then limz!a f .z/ D 1, but one
may assert that if f 2 H.D"0 .a// and a is a pole of f , then for all 0 < ı < ", the
image f .Dı0 .a// is a neighborhood of the point at infinity. Actually, since the point
a cannot be an accumulation point of zeros of f , one may suppose that f .z/ ¤ 0
if z 2 Dı0 .a/. Now the function g.z/ D f .z/ 1
is holomorphic on Dı .a/ with
g.a/ D 0, and by the open mapping theorem, g.Dı .a// contains a neighborhood
of 0, and then f .Dı .a// contains a neighborhood of 1.
Furthermore, if a is a pole of f of order m 1, the point a is a zero of order m of
h.z/
the function g.z/ D f .z/
1
, because one has f .z/ D .za/ m with h.z/ ¤ 0 if jz aj
is small and, then, g.z/ D .z a/ h.z/ , with h holomorphic and non-vanishing.

m 1 1
Applying now Theorem 4.32, it is known that g is m to 1 between a neighborhood

of a and a neighborhood of 0, that is, there exists a neighborhood V of 0 and
> 0
such that for all w 2 V , w ¤ 0, there are m different points z1 ; : : : ; zm 2 D0 .a/
with g.zi / D w. Expressing this in terms of f , it means that if a is a pole of order
m of f , there exists a neighborhood V of 1 and
> 0 such that any point w 2 V ,
w ¤ 1, has m different preimages in D0 .a/.
It is interesting again to compare the behavior of a holomorphic function around

an isolated singularity with the analogous situation for functions of one real variable.
If I" .a/ denotes the interval .a"; aC"/ and I"0 .a/ D I" .a/nfag, there are countless
different asymptotic behaviors of f .x/ when x ! a among the functions f which
are differentiable or C 1 on I"0 .a/. For example,
f .x/ D jxj˛ j Log jxjjˇ j Log j Log jxjjj
with arbitrary ˛; ˇ; 2 R are examples of C 1 functions on a punctured neighbor-
hood of 0, I"0 .0/, and the behavior is different for each choice of parameters ˛, ˇ, .
In complex variables, instead, there are only two different kinds of behavior of f ,
holomorphic around a non-removable singularity a: either jf .z/j jz ajk , for
> 0 and k 1 integer, or limz!a jf .z/j does not exist in Œ0; C1. For example,
no function f , holomorphic on D"0 .0/, can be found satisfying
jf .z/j jzj˛ j Log jzjjˇ when jzj ! 0;
Log z
if ˇ ¤ 0. The function f .z/ D z
satisfies
jLog zj j Log jzj C i Arg zj
jf .z/j D D
jzj jzj
p
.Log jzj/2 C .Arg z/2 j Log jzjj
D
jzj jzj
when z ! 0, but it is not defined on any punctured disc centered at the origin.
5.2 Laurent series expansion

Theorem 4.8 tells us that every holomorphic function on a disc has a power series
expansion. Now we will show that every holomorphic function on a punctured
disc D 0 .a; R/ has a similar expansion, accepting powers of z a with negative
exponent.
Definition 5.8. A Laurent series centered at a 2 C is a formal series of the type
C1
X
cn .z a/n ; cn 2 C:
nD1
P
Giving a Laurent series is just giving a power series in z a, 1
nD0 cn .z a/ ,
n
P1
and another
P1 series, nD1 cn .z a/n , which may be understood as a power
series nD1 dn .w a/ in w a D .z a/1 if dn D cn . If 1 is the radius of
n
convergence of the first series,

1
1 D .lim sup jcn j n /1 ;
n!C1
5.2. Laurent series expansion 169
and 2 the radius of the second one,

1 1

1 1
2 D lim sup jdn j n D lim sup jcn j n ;
n!C1 n!1
P
then 1 nD0 cn .z a/ defines a holomorphic function f1 .z/ on fz W jz aj < 1 g
n
P1
and nD1 cn .z a/n defines a holomorphic function f2 .z/ on fz W jz aj1 D
jw aj < 2 g D fz W jz aj > 21 g.
From now on, we will write R1 D 1 , R2 D 21 and suppose that R2 < R1 .
P
Then the Laurent series C1 nD1 cn .za/ defines a function f .z/ D f1 .z/Cf2 .z/
n
holomorphic on the annulus C.a;P R2 ; R1 / D fz 2 C W R2 < jz aj < R1 g.

It is clear that the convergence of C1nD1 cn .z a/ is absolute at any point of
n
this annulus and uniform on each compact subannulus Cx .a; r2 ; r1 / with R2 < r2 <
r1 < R1 . Moreover, applying Theorem 2.31, it turns out that
C1
X
f 0 .z/ D ncn .z a/n1 ; R2 < jz aj < R1 :
nD1
Definition 5.9. It will be said that the function f , holomorphic on the annulus
C.a; R2 ; R1 /, can be expanded in a Laurent series if it equals the sum of a Laurent
series
C1
X
f .z/ D cn .z a/n ; (5.1)
nD1
convergent on the annulus C.a; R2 ; R1 /.

In this case, the Laurent series expansion is unique because the coefficients cn
are determined by f . To see this, take r between R2 and R1 and let be the circle
with center a and radius r positively oriented, .t / D a C re it , 0 t 2. Using
the uniform convergence of the Laurent series on D C.a; r/, by (5.1) one finds
that
Z C1
X 1 Z
1 f .z/
dz D ck .z a/kn1 dz D cn ; n 2 Z (5.2)
2 i .z a/nC1 2 i
kD1
because .z a/kn1 has a holomorphic primitive when k n 1 ¤ 1.

In terms of the parametrization of , the equality (5.2) is
Z 2
1
cn D f .a C re it /r n e i nt dt; n 2 Z; R2 < r < R1 :
2 0
This expression of the coefficients cn may be also understood in the following way:
cn r n is the n-th Fourier coefficient, the one that corresponds to e i nt , in the Fourier
series expansion of the 2-periodic function t 7! f .a C re it /, which by (5.1) is

C1
X
f .a C re it / D cn r n e i nt :
nD1
The following theorem is the one corresponding to Theorem 4.8.

Theorem 5.10. Every holomorphic function on an annulus may be expanded in a
Laurent series.
Proof. Given f 2 H.C.a; R2 ; R1 // and having fixed a point z 2 C.a; R2 ; R1 /,
choose r2 , r1 such that R2 < r2 < jz aj < r1 < R1 and take 1 .t / D a C r1 e it ,
2 .t/ D a C r2 e it , 0 t 2. Consider the domain fz W r2 < jz aj < r1 g
with its boundary positively oriented. Recall (Section 1.6) that this corresponds to
travelling the outer circle 1 in a way that it has index 1 with respect to all points
on its interior and that the circle 2 must be travelled with index 1 with respect to
its inner points. Hence, the Cauchy integral formula gives
Z Z
1 f .w/ 1 f .w/
f .z/ D dw dw:
2 i 1 w z 2 i 2 w z
In the first integral, write w z D .w a/ .z a/; since jz aj < r1 D jw aj,
it follows that
X1
1 1 1 .z a/n
D D D :
wz .w a/ .z a/ .w a/ 1 za
wa nD0
.w a/nC1
The expansion is uniformly convergent on 1 and it is also uniformly convergent

when multiplied by f .w/. In the second integral, however, one has jz aj > r2 D
jw aj, so we can write
1 1 1
D D wa
wz .w a/ .z a/ .z a/ za 1
X1 1
X
.w a/n .z a/n
D D :
nD0
.z a/nC1 nD1
.w a/nC1
Integrating these expansions term by term one finds

C1
X
f .z/ D cn .z a/n ;
nD1
where the coefficients cn are given by

Z
1
cn D f .w/.w a/n1 dw
2 i jwajDr
with r D r1 if n 0 and r D r2 if n < 0. Even though, apparently, these

coefficients cn depend on r1 and r2 , the uniqueness of the Laurent series expansion
of f makes clear that, indeed, they just depend on f .
g.z/
Example 5.11. Suppose that g is holomorphic on D.a; R/ and f .z/ D .za/ k.
Then f is holomorphic on the punctured disc D 0 .a; R/. A punctured disc is a

particular case of an annulus (when the small radius is zero) and the Laurent ex-
pansion of f in D 0 .a; R/ may be obtained by dividing by .z a/k the power series
expansion of g,
X1 C1
X g .nCk/ .a/
g .n/ .a/
f .z/ D .z a/nk D .z a/n :
nD0
nŠ .n C k/Š
nDk
ez
For example, the expansion of f .z/ D .za/k
in C n fag is
X1
e za .z a/nk
f .z/ D e a D e a
:
.z a/k nD0
nŠ
Example 5.12. Look for the Laurent series expansion of f .z/ D z.z1/ 1
on all
0 0
relevant annuli: D .0; 1/, C.0; 1; 1/, D .1; 1/ and C.1; 1; 1/. For the case of
D 0 .0; 1/ divide by z the Taylor expansion of .z 1/1 around the point 0:
1 1
1 1X n X
D z D z n1
z.z 1/ z 0 0
and, similarly, on D 0 .1; 1/ divide by .z 1/ the Taylor expansion of z 1 around

the point 1:
1 1
1 1 1 1 X X
D D .1 z/n D .1 z/n :
z.z 1/ z 1 1 .1 z/ z1 0 1
On C.0; 1; 1/:
1 2
1 1 1 X 1 X
D 2 D D zn:
z.z 1/ z 1 z1 z2 0 zn 1
On C.1; 1; 1/:
1
X 2
X
1 1
D D .1/n .z 1/n2 D .1/n .z 1/n :
z.z 1/ .z 1/ .1 C
2 1
z1
/ nD0 nD1

Notice that in Theorem 5.10 it has been shown also that if f is holomorphic on
an annulus C.a; R2 ; R1 /,Pthen f is the sum of a function f1 holomorphic on the
disc D.a; R1 / (f1 .z/ D 1 0P cn .z a/n ) and of a function f2 holomorphic outside
the disc D.a; R2 / (f2 .z/ D 1 1 cn .z a/ ).
n
All these considerations may be applied in particular if f has an isolated sin-

gularity at the point a, that is, f 2 H.D"0 .a// (D"0 .a/ is the annulus C.a; 0; "/). In
this case, f has a unique Laurent series expansion,
C1
X
f .z/ D cn .z a/n ;
1
where Z
1 f .z/
cn D dz
2 i C.a;r/ .z a/nC1
is independent of r, 0 < r < ".
Clearly, the singularity is removable when cn D 0, for all n < 0. On the other
hand, we have seen after Theorem 5.5 that f has a pole of order k at a if and only
g.z/
if it may be written as f .z/ D .za/ k with g holomorphic and g.a/ ¤ 0. This
means exactly that the Laurent expansion has a finite number of terms with negative
powers and starts with g.a/.z a/k :
f .z/ D g.a/.z a/k C g 0 .a/.z a/1k C :
Consequently, the singularity is essential if and only if there are infinitely many
coefficients cn ¤ 0 with
P1 n < 0.
The part f1 .z/ D 0 cn .z a/n is called the regular part of f at a. The part
P
f2 .z/ D 1 1 cn .z a/ is called the principal part of f at a. When a is a pole
n
with multiplicity k, the principal part is a polynomial in .z a/1 of degree k.

As an application of the Laurent series expansion one may obtain the decom-
position of a rational function into a sum of simple fractions and a polynomial. A
simple fraction is a rational function of type
c
; a; c 2 C and k 2 N:
.z a/k
Theorem 5.13. Let R D Q P

be a rational function, where P and Q are polynomials
without common zeros. Then R has a unique expression as a sum of simple fractions
plus a polynomial.
Proof. First, if the degree of the polynomial P is greater than the degree of Q,
divide P by Q, P D QC C P1 , to get
P P1
RD DC C ;
Q Q
with C a polynomial and deg P1 < deg Q; now we need only decompose R1 D PQ1
into a sum of simple fractions.
If a1 ; : : : ; ak are the poles of R, which
are the
same as the ones of R1 and coin-
1 1
cide with the zeros of Q, let P1 za 1
; : : : ; Pk zak be the principal parts of the
Laurent expansions of R1 around these points, where P1 ; : : : ; Pk are polynomials.
The function
X k
1
f .z/ D R1 .z/ Pj
z aj
j D1
is an entire function, that is, holomorphic on C: if z is not one of the points
a1 ;: : : ; ak , f is C-differentiable at z because so are R1 .z/ and all the terms
Pj za 1
; if z is one of the points aj , f is also C-differentiable at z because
j 1
so are the functions Pi za i
with i ¤ j and

1
R1 .z/ Pj
z aj
is the regular part of R1 at aj and so is holomorphic. Now, it is clear that
limjzj!1 f .z/ D 0 and this implies f
0, by Liouville’s Theorem. The conclu-
sion is then,
X
k
1
R.z/ D C.z/ C Pj :
z aj
j D0
4
Example 5.14. Look for the decomposition of R.z/ D .zi/z2 .zCi/ into simple
fractions. In the proof of Theorem 5.13 it was clarified that R and R1 have the
same principal parts at their poles; therefore, one may work directly with R. At the
pole i , in order to find the principal part, one must compute the first two terms of
z4
the Taylor expansion of h.z/ D zCi , which are

0 1 7
h.i / C h .i /.z i / D C .z i /:
2i 4
Hence, the principal part is 1
2i
.z i /2 74 .z i /1 . At the pole i , of order 1,
z4
one must just evaluate .zi/2
at i and this gives the principal part 4.zCi/
1
. So
1 1 7 1 1
R.z/ D C.z/ C :
2i .z i / 2 4 z i 4.z C i /
The polynomial C has degree smaller than or equal to 1 since R D Q P
implies
deg.C / deg.P / deg.Q/. In order to compute C , write C.z/ D az C b, divide
by z and let jzj ! C1: we obtain
R.z/
aD lim D 1:
jzj!C1 z
In order to determine b, take z D 0 and obtain b D i .
5.3 Residue of a function at an isolated singularity

5.3.1 The residue theorem
Suppose that the function f has an isolated singularity at a point a 2 C, that is,
f 2 H.D"0 .a//, " > 0. According to Theorem 5.10, one may write
C1
X
f .z/ D cn .z a/n ; 0 < jz aj < "
1
with Z
1 f .z/
cn D dz; 0 < r < ":
2 i C.a;r/ .z a/nC1
It is interesting to highlight the coefficient cn with n D 1,
Z
1
c1 D f .z/ dz (5.3)
2 i C.a;r/
due to the following fact: f has a holomorphic primitive F on D"0 .a/ if and only
if c1 D 0. Actually, if f D F 0 , it is known that the line integral of f along any
closed path is zero. Conversely, if c1 D 0, then there is no term in .z a/1 in
the expansion of f and all the other terms have an antiderivative, which for the n-th
cn
term is nC1 .z a/nC1 , and the function
C1
X cn
F .z/ D .z a/nC1
nD1
n C 1
n¤1
is an antiderivative of f (it is immediate to check that this Laurent series has the
same domain of convergence as the one corresponding to f ).
Definition 5.15. If f 2 H.D"0 .a// the coefficient c1 of the Laurent expansion of
f around the point a, given by (5.3), is called the residue of f at a and it is denoted
by Res.f; a/.
The residue represents, then, the obstacle by which f has no holomorphic
primitive on a punctured disc D"0 .a/, since this exists if and only if c1 D 0.
Example 5.16. Let f be holomorphic at a punctured disc D"0 .a/ and let be a
closed path in D"0 .a/ which does not pass through the point a. Then one has
Z
1
f .z/ dz D Ind.; a/ Res.f; a/:
2 i
5.3. Residue of a function at an isolated singularity 175
Actually, one must just integrate along the Laurent expansion of f around a and
apply the definition of residue and (3.4).
The following result is a generalization of Cauchy’s theorem for functions with

isolated singularities.
Theorem 5.17 (Residue theorem). Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with
positively oriented piecewise regular boundary. Let V be an open set with Ux V
and A V a closed discrete set in V such that A \ @U D ;, and let f be a
holomorphic function on the open set V n A. Then
Z X
1
f .z/ dz D Res.f; a/: (5.4)
2 i @U
a2A\U
Remark 5.1. The hypotheses mean that each point of A is an isolated singularity
of f .
The two terms of (5.4) make sense. The left-hand side because f is continuous
on @U , and the right-hand side because in the compact set Ux there are only a finite
number of points of A and there are none of them in @U .
Proof. First recall that the boundary of U is formed by closed Jordan curves
1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N with 1 positively oriented and 2 ; : : : ; N negatively oriented.
Let a1 ; : : : ; ak be the points of A \ U and around each ai consider a small cir-
cle Ci D C.ai ; "/ which does not intersect @U , and delete from U the discs
S
Dx i D D.ai ; "/ (Figure 5.1). The boundary of the domain Uz D U n k D xi ,
iD1
1
x1
D 3
2
a1
ak
Uz x2
D
a2 4
Figure 5.1
piecewise regular and positively oriented, is formed by 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N and the cir-

cles Ci , i D 1; : : : ; k, negatively oriented, because C1 ; : : : ; Ck are in the interior
of 1 (see Section 1.6). Now the function f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of
Uz and Cauchy’s theorem (Theorem 3.24) gives
Z
f .z/ dz D 0;
z
@U
that is,
Z k Z
X
f .z/ dz C f .z/ dz D 0: (5.5)
@U iD1 Ci
Bearing in mind (5.3) and the fact that Ci is travelled in the inverse sense, it
turns out that Z
1
f .z/ dz D Res.f; ai /;
2 i Ci
which, together with (5.5), gives (5.4).
Cauchy’s theorem is the case A D ; of the residue theorem, and Cauchy’s
integral formula is also a particular case. Actually, it is enough to take A D fzg,
if z 2 U , and g.w/ D fwz.w/
if f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux . Then
Res.g; z/ D f .z/ and it turns out that
Z
1 f .w/
dw D f .z/:
2 i @U w z
5.3.2 Calculus of residues

The residue theorem has a lot of applications, but it is clear that these will depend
on the possibility of computing the residue of a function at a singular point. This
subsection is devoted to explaining how to proceed in some particular cases.
Suppose first that f has a simple pole at the point a so that
c1
f .z/ D C c0 C c1 .z a/ C ; 0 < jz aj < ":
za
Then it is obvious that
Res.f; a/ D c1 D lim .z a/f .z/:

z!a
g
Many times one has f D with g, h holomorphic on a neighborhood of a and
h
,
g.a/ ¤ 0, h.a/ D 0, h0 .a/ ¤ 0. Then
g.z/ g.z/ g.a/
Res.f; a/ D lim .z a/ D lim h.z/ D 0 :
z!a h.z/ z!a h .a/
za
5.3. Residue of a function at an isolated singularity 177
e iz
For example, f .z/ D z 2 C1
has as residue, at the point a D i ,
g.i / e 1 1
Res.f; i / D 0
D D :
h .i / 2i 2i e
Suppose now that a is a pole with multiplicity k > 1 of the function f , that is,
ck c1
f .z/ D C C C c0 C ; 0 < jz aj < ":
.z a/ k .z a/
Then, Res.f; a/ D c1 is the coefficient of .z a/k1 in the expansion of f1 .z/ D

.z a/k f .z/, and hence
f .k1/ .a/
c1 D 1 :
.k 1/Š
e iz
Example 5.18. The function f .z/ D z.z 2 C1/2
has a double pole at a D i . Here
e iz
f1 .z/ D .z i /2 f .z/ D
z.z C i /2
and we get
3
Res.f; i / D f10 .i / D :
4e
Example 5.19 (Residue of the logarithmic derivative). Let f be a meromorphic
function on a neighborhood of some point a 2 C. The function f 0 =f , which is also
meromorphic, is called the logarithmic derivative of f ; let us compute its residue
at the point a. For a certain integer m, one has
f .z/ D .z a/m g.z/; 0 < jz aj < "
with g holomorphic and g.a/ ¤ 0. If m > 0, f is holomorphic on D 0 .a; "/ and has
a zero of order m at the point a. If m < 0, f has a pole of order m at a. Calculating,
it turns out that
f 0 .z/ m g 0 .z/
D C ;
f .z/ za g.z/
so that, if m ¤ 0, f 0 =f has a simple pole at the point a and Res.f 0 =f; a/ D m.
When the singularity is essential, there is no simple and universal rule to compute
the residue and each case must be treated particularly. For example, if f is of the
form f .z/ D g za 1
where g is an entire function with series expansion
1
X
g.w/ D d0 C d1 w C C dn w n C D dn w n
0
and g is not a polynomial, it is clear that f has an essential singularity at a and that
its residue is
Res.f; a/ D d1 D g 0 .0/:
For instance Res.e 1=z ; 0/ D 1, Res.cos z1 ; 0/ D 0.

One common situation is the following: if a is a pole of order 1 of f and g is
holomorphic on a neighborhood of a and g.a/ ¤ 0, then fg has a pole of order 1 at a
and Res.fg; a/ D g.a/ Res.f; a/. Actually, it is f .z/ D h.z/za
with h holomorphic
on a neighborhood of the point a and h.a/ D Res.f; a/ ¤ 0; therefore f .z/g.z/ D
h.z/g.z/
za
has a simple pole at the point a and according to the calculus of the residue
at a simple pole, it turns out that Res.fg; a/ D h.a/g.a/ D Res.f; a/g.a/.
5.4 Harmonic functions on an annulus

In Section 5.2 it was shown that if f is a holomorphic function on the annulus
C.0; R2 ; R1 /, then f is the sum of a Laurent series
1
X
f .z/ D cn z n ; R2 < jzj < R1 :
1
What may be said in the case of a function u which is harmonic on this annulus?
If the function u (which is taken real-valued) was the real part of a holomorphic
function, that is, had a conjugated harmonic function on C.0; R2 ; R1 /, then clearly
it would be
X1
u.z/ D Re cn z n ; R2 < jzj < R1 ;
1
for some coefficients cn . But, as it is known, this is not the general situation. In order
to see how u may be expanded, one may look for the obstruction to the existence
of the conjugated harmonic function of u. Considering the function f defined by
@u @u @u
f .z/ D 2 D i ;
@z @x @y
which is holomorphic on C.0; R2 ; R1 /, the existence of a conjugated harmonic

function of u is the same as the existence of an antiderivative ofR f . Now it is clear
that the obstruction to this problem is the fact that c1 D 21 i C.0;r/ f .z/dz ¤ 0
in the Laurent expansion of f . Write then
Z
1
aD f .z/ dz; R2 < r < R1 ;
2 i C.0;r/
5.4. Harmonic functions on an annulus 179
and consider the function g.z/ D f .z/ az , which is holomorphic on the annulus
and satisfies
Z Z Z
1 1 1 a
g.z/dz D f .z/dz dz D 0;
2 i C.0;r/ 2 i C.0;r/ 2 i C.0;r/ z
and therefore has a holomorphic primitive on C.0; R2 ; R1 /. It is natural to think

how the harmonic function u must be modified in order to get g instead of f when
@
taking @z . It is enough, considering the harmonic function
v.z/ D u.z/ a Log jzj; R2 < jzj < R1 ;
to get
@v @v @v a
2 D i D f .z/ D g.z/:
@z @x @y z
R R
Observe that the constant a D i C.0;r/ @z dz is real, since C.0;r/ ruds D 0.
1 @u
Now vPhas a conjugated harmonic function on the annulus; that is, there is a Laurent
series 1 n
1 dn z convergent on C.0; R2 ; R1 / such that
1
X
v.z/ D Re dn z n :
1
Summarizing, the following statement has been proved:

Theorem 5.20. If u is aP real harmonic function on the annulus C.0; R2 ; R1 /, then
there is a Laurent series 11 dn z , convergent on the annulus, and a real constant
n
a such that
X
1
u.z/ D Re dn z n C a Log jzj; R2 < jzj < R1 ; (5.6)
1
with Z
1 @u
aD dz for all r with R2 < r < R1 .
i C.0;r/ @z
Consequently, there is an analog of the statement a) of Theorem 5.5 for harmonic
functions.
Corollary 5.21. Let u be a harmonic function on the punctured disc D 0 .0; "/.
a) If limz!0 zu.z/ D 0, then there exists a function u1 harmonic on the disc
D.0; "/ and a constant a such that
u.z/ D u1 .z/ C a Log jzj; 0 < jzj < ": (5.7)

b) If u is bounded on D 0 .0; "/, then the origin is a removable singularity of u, in

the sense that u may be extended to a harmonic function on the disc D.0; "/.
Proof. a) The equality (5.6) and the hypothesis of a) imply
1
X
u.z/ D cn r jnj e i n C a Log jzj if z D re i ; 0 < r < ";
1
P
and it is enough to take u1 .z/ D 1 1 cn r e
jnj i n
.
b) If u is bounded, the hypothesis of a) holds. So the equality (5.7) is true and
this forces a D 0.
5.5 Holomorphic functions and singular functions at infinity

5.5.1 Behavior at the point at infinity
In the context of the residue theorem it is convenient to consider the behavior of
a function f .z/ at the point at infinity, that is, when jzj ! C1. Similarly to the
case of a point of the ordinary plane, this behavior can be regular or singular and,
in the singular case, there may be a pole or an essential singularity.
Recall that S 2 or C denotes the Riemann sphere, obtained by adding to C the
point at infinity. The neighborhoods of the finite points a 2 C are the sets that
contain an open disc centered at a; the “discs” centered at 1 are, by definition,
D.1; "/ D f1g [ D 0 .1; "/, where
² ³
1 x 0; 1 :
D 0 .1; "/ D z W jzj > DCnD
" "
Hence, one may think that the distance function extends to C with d.z; 1/ D jzj 1

and then D.1; "/ D fz 2 C W d.z; 1/ < "g. With this topology, C is a compact
space. By definition, the mapping z 7! z1 makes a correspondence between the
disc D.0; "/ and the disc D.1; "/.
Suppose that the function f is defined on D 0 .1; "/ and assume further that
limz!1 f .z/ exists; this means that letting f .1/ D limz!1 f .z/, f is defined
on D.1; "/ and it is continuous at the point 1. It is said that f is a holomorphic
function at infinity if the function g.w/ D f .1=w/ is holomorphic at the origin. If
f is defined on D.1; "/, then g is defined on D.0; "/ and
g.w/ D g.0/ C ˛w C O.jwj/; for jwj < "; with ˛ D g 0 .0/;
holds. This means that

1 1
f .z/ D f .1/ C ˛ CO if jzj > 1=":
z jzj
5.5. Holomorphic functions and singular functions at infinity 181
The value ˛ D g 0 .0/ is also denoted by f 0 .1/, and then one has
f 0 .1/ D lim z.f .z/ f .1//:

jzj!1
For example, f .z/ D z k is holomorphic at the point 1 if k is a negative integer,

with f .1/ D limk!1 z k D 0 and
´
0 1 if k D 1,
f .1/ D lim zz D k
z!1 0 if k < 1:
If k D 0 then f .1/ D 1 and f 0 .1/ D 0.

Suppose that f , defined on D 0 .1; "/, is holomorphic on this punctured disc.
Then f has a Laurent series expansion
C1
X
f .z/ D cn z n ; jzj > 1="
1
because the function g.w/ D f .1=w/ is holomorphic on D 0 .0; "/ with expansion
C1
X C1
X
g.w/ D cn w n D cn w n ; 0 < jwj < ":
1 1
P
The principal part of f around the point 1 is 1 n
0 cn z , which is the part that
makes limz!1 f .z/ not exist. It is said that f has a pole of order n at infinity if
this principal part is a polynomial of degree n or, equivalently,
f .z/ cn z n when z ! 1
(this is equivalent to the fact that g.w/ cn w n when w ! 0). If the principal
part is infinite f is said to have an essential singularity at infinity; in this case,
according to Theorem 5.6, for all " > 0, f .D 0 .1; "// D g.D 0 .0; "// is dense in
C, that is, f .z/ has a chaotic behavior when z ! 1.
Example 5.22. Every polynomial of degree n has a pole of order n at the point 1.
A rational function R D Q
P
has a pole at the point 1 if deg.P / > deg.Q/, and is
a holomorphic function at the point 1 if deg.P / deg.Q/. An entire function
which is not a polynomial has an essential singularity at infinity.
After the proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra (Theorem 4.42), it had
been pointed out that, f being entire and f .z/ ! 1 when z ! 1, then f has
at least a zero on C. Now one has that, under these conditions, f is a polynomial,
and we are in fact assuming the hypothesis of Theorem 4.42 (see also Exercise 20
in Section 4.7).
5.5.2 Residue of a function at the point at infinity

The residue theorem may be extended to the case that f has also a singularity at
infinity. Here we will consider only the equality
Z
1
f .z/ dz D Ind.; a/ Res.f; a/; (5.8)
2 i
where is a closed path not containing the point a. When a 2 C, (5.8) has been
proved in Example 5.16. When a D 1 the residue of a function at infinity must be
properly defined. Suppose that f is holomorphic on a punctured disc, D 0 .1; "/ D
fz W jzj > 1="g. Since the differential form f .z/ dz must be integrated, one may
look at how the change of variable w D 1=z affects this form. One has

1 1
f .z/ dz D f .1=w/ d.1=w/ D f dw:
w2 w
1
Therefore, it is natural to define Res.f; 1/ as the residue of w12 f w
at zero,

1 1
Res.f; 1/ D Res f ;0 :
w2 w
In terms of the Laurent expansion, if
C1
X
f .z/ D cn z n ; jzj > 1=";
one has 1
C1
X
1 1
2
f D cn w n2 :
w w 1
The term w 1 corresponds to n D 1, and it turns out that

1 1
Res.f; 1/ D Res 2
f ; 0 D c1 :
w w
Note that infinity may be a removable singularity of f (f holomorphic at the point
1) while Res.f; 1/ ¤ 0: for example f .z/ D 1=z with Res.1=z; 1/ D 1
If is a closed path contained in the annulus fz W jzj > 1="g, since the Laurent
expansion is uniformly convergent on , it yields
Z C1 Z
1 1 X
f .z/ dz D cn z n dz D c1 Ind.; 0/ D Res.f; 1/ Ind.; 0/:
2 i 2 i 1
In particular, if C is a circle centered at the origin with radius greater than 1=", we
get Z
1
f .z/ dz D Res.f; 1/:
2 i C
5.6. The argument principle 183
Similarly to the case of finite isolated singularities, the residue is the obstruction
for f having a holomorphic antiderivative on D 0 .1; "/.
Example 5.23. The function f .z/ D e 1=z is holomorphic at the point 1 and
Res.f; 1/ D 1. The function g.z/ D z12 C z has a simple pole at the point 1
and Res.g; 1/ D 0.R Therefore, if C isR a circle around the origin travelled in a
direct sense, one has C e 1=z dz D 1, C .1=z 2 C z/ dz D 0.
If U is an open set of C , a meromorphic function on U is defined similarly
to the case of open sets of C : f is meromorphic on U if there is a set A U ,
discrete and closed in U , such that f is holomorphic on U n A and f has a pole at
each point of A.
Proposition 5.24. Suppose that f is a meromorphic function on the whole Riemann
sphere. Then f is a rational function and if A is the set formed by the poles of f
and the point at infinity, A is finite and
X
Res.f; a/ D 0:
a2A
Proof. The set A is finite because it has no accumulation points on the compact
set C . If a1 ; : : : ; am are the points of A and P1 ; : : : ; Pm are the corresponding
principal parts of f (Pi is a polynomial in za 1
i
if ai 2 C and a polynomial in z if
ai D 1), then the function
X
m
f Pi
iD1
is holomorphic on C and therefore, entire and bounded and so must be constant.

Hence, f is a rational function. Let now C be a circle containing inside all the
finite points of A; by the residue theorem, one has
Z X
1
f .z/ dz D Res.f; a/:
2 i C
a2A
a finite
But the left term is also Res.f; 1/ and the proof is completed.
Observe that the point at infinity must be considered in the set A whether it is a
pole of f or not.
5.6 The argument principle

In this section the residue theorem will be applied to count the zeros and the poles
of meromorphic functions. A general version of the so-called argument principle
will be given and the most interesting particular cases will be deduced.
Theorem 5.25. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with piecewise regular
positively oriented boundary. Let V be an open set with Ux V , f a meromorphic
function on V and h a holomorphic function on V . The zeros of f in V are denoted
by faj g and nj denotes the multiplicity of aj . The set fbj g denotes the poles of f
in V and mj the multiplicity of bj . Suppose that there are no zeros and no poles of
f on @U . Then
Z X X
1 f 0 .z/
h.z/ dz D h.aj /nj h.bj /mj : (5.9)
2 i @U f .z/
aj 2U bj 2U
Proof. Recall from Example 5.19 that the function f 0 =f , called the logarithmic
derivative of f , is a meromorphic function on V having a simple pole in each zero
and each pole of f . Specifically, if
f .z/ D .z a/p g.z/; g.a/ ¤ 0; 0 < jz aj < ";
then
f 0 .z/ p g 0 .z/
D C :
f .z/ za g.z/
Now multiplying this equality by the holomorphic function h.z/ yields
f 0 .z/ h.z/p
h.z/ D C h1 .z/; with h1 holomorphic on D"0 .a/:
f .z/ za
Therefore,

f0 f0
Res h ; aj D h.aj /nj ; Res h ; bj D h.bj /mj
f f
and equality (5.9) is a consequence of the residue theorem.
Taking as function h a constant equal to 1, it follows:
Corollary 5.26. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with piecewise regular
positively oriented boundary, and let f be a meromorphic function on a neigh-
borhood of Ux without zeros or poles on @U . The number N will denote the total
number of zeros of f in U and P the total number of poles in U (counted according
to multiplicities) and let D f .@U /. Then
Z
1 f 0 .z/
Ind.; 0/ D dz D N P:
2 i @U f .z/
Proof. The equality between the integral of the logarithmic derivative of f and the
integer N P is (5.9) for h
1. Recall now that @U is formed by the union of a
finite number of closed Jordan curves: 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N . Therefore, D f .@U / is

the union of f B 1 ; f B 2 ; : : : ; f B N and
Z X 1
N Z
1 d d
Ind.; 0/ D D :
2 i 2 i f Bj
j D1
Applying now to each integral the change of variable D f .z/, it turns out that
X
N Z Z
1 f 0 .z/ 1 f 0 .z/
Ind.; 0/ D dz D dz:
2 i j f .z/ 2 i @U f .z/
j D1
In particular, if D f .@U / does not wind around the origin, f has the same
number of zeros as poles inside U , counted according to multiplicity.
Theorem 5.27 (Argument principle). Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with
piecewise regular boundary, positively oriented, and f a holomorphic function on
a neighborhood of Ux . Then, if w … D f .@U /, one has
Ind.; w/ D N.w/;
where N.w/ denotes the number of roots of the equation f .z/ D w inside U ,
counted according to multiplicity.
Proof. Apply Corollary 5.26 to f .z/ w and find
Z
1 f 0 .z/
dz D N.w/:
2 i @U f .z/ w
The decomposition of @U into Jordan curves and the change of variable D f .z/,
done in the proof of Corollary 5.26, give now
Z
1 f 0 .z/
dz D Ind.; w/:
2 i @U f .z/ w
This theorem has several interesting corollaries. The first one says that the image
by f of @U determines completely the image of Ux .
Corollary 5.28. With the same hypotheses as in Theorem 5.27, f .Ux / may be
obtained from D f .@U / adding the bounded connected components of C n
with non-zero index with respect to .
Proof. By the argument principle, the points w … which belong to f .U / are
exactly the ones having index greater than or equal to 1 with respect to , that is,
[
.C n / \ f .U / D Ci ;
i
S of C n with non-zero index with respect

where Ci are the bounded components
to . This f . x/ D [
U
S leads to i Ci . Notice that it cannot be assured that
f .U / D i Ci because it could happen that f .U / intersects , that is, a point of
U and a point of @U have the same image.
Theorem 5.29. With the same hypotheses as in Theorem 5.27, let V be a simply
connected domain such that V D f .@U /. Then also V f .Ux /.
Proof. It suffices to show that Ind.; w/ D 0 for w … V . If @U D 1 [ [ N

with j a closed Jordan curve, take zj D f B j ; zj is a closed curve of V and
we just need to see that Ind.zj ; w/ D 0, j D 1; : : : ; N . Actually, C n V is a
connected set contained in the unbounded connected component of C n zj , and
j ; w/ D 0 for w … V .
so Ind.z
Observe that this theorem implies the maximum principle, taking as V a disc
centered at the origin which contains f .@U /.
Example 5.30. If f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux and f .@U / is inside
.Re f .z//2 .Im f .z//2
an ellipse, a2
C b2
1, z 2 @U , then f .U / is inside the same
ellipse.
The following result is a consequence of the argument principle, and helps to
compare the number of zeros of some functions.
Theorem 5.31 (Rouché). Let U be a bounded domain with piecewise regular
boundary and let f , g be two holomorphic functions on a neighborhood of Ux
with jf .z/ g.z/j < jf .z/j if z 2 @U . Then f and g have the same number of
zeros inside U (counted according to multiplicities).
Proof. Observe that the hypotheses imply f .z/ ¤ 0 and g.z/ ¤ 0 if z 2 @U .
The function F .z/ D fg.z/
.z/
is meromorphic on a neighborhood of Ux . Consider the
boundary of U positively
ˇ oriented ˇ and let D F .@U /.
ˇ g.z/ ˇ
If z 2 @U , one has 1 f .z/ D j1F .z/j < 1, and therefore D.1; 1/. The
argument used in the proof of Theorem 5.29 shows that Ind.; 0/ D 0. Applying
now Corollary 5.26 to the function F , it turns out that N D P , that is, F has in U
the same number of zeros as poles; but the zeros of F are the zeros of g and the
poles of F are the zeros of f , so the statement is proved.
A version of Rouché’s theorem for the case that f and g are holomorphic on
a neighborhood of an arbitrary compact may be also stated (see Exercise 13 in
Section 6.8).
Examples 5.32. a) Take f .z/ D 2z 5 C 8z 1 and g.z/ D 2z 5 (which is the
dominating term of f .z/ for jzj big). If U D D.0; 2/, one has for jzj D 2,
jf .z/ g.z/j D j8z 1j 8jzj C 1 17 < 26 D jg.z/j:
Hence, f has the same number of zeros as g in D.0; 2/, that is, five. Taking now
g.z/ D 8z 1 and U D D.0; 1/ one has for jzj D 1,
jf .z/ g.z/j D j2z 5 j D 2 < 7 8jzj 1 j8z 1j D jg.z/j:
Hence, f has the same number of zeros as g in D.0; 1/, that is, one. Moreover,
this zero is real and positive according to Bolzano’s theorem, since f .0/ D 1 and
f .1/ D 9.
b) Consider the polynomial P .z/ D z 3 2z 2 C 4 and count how many zeros it
has in the first˚quadrant. If R is big enough these zeros
(three at most) are inside the
domain U D z D re it W 0 r R; 0 t 2 . In order to apply the argument
principle one must follow the path D P B , with D @U .
When z D x goes from 0 to R, P .x/ is a positive real number. When z D Re it ,
0 t 2 , it turns out that

2 4 1
P .Re / D R e
it 3 3it
1 it
C 3 it DR e
3 3it
1CO ;
Re R e R
which reads that the term z 3 is the dominating one, if R ! 1. If R is big, P .Re it /
has then an argument which varies approximately between 0 and 3 until getting
2
P .iR/ D iR C2R C4. Writing P .iR/ D R i C R C R3 D R i CO R1
3 2 3 2 4 3

we see that P .iR/ has argument 3 2
C O R1 . Finally, when z goes from iR to
0 following the imaginary axis, P .iy/ D iy 3 C 2y 2 C 4 remains always in the
fourth quadrant and ends up at P .0/. Conclusion: rotates once around zero and
P has a zero in the first quadrant (Figure 5.2).
iR DP B
P
R 2 4
Figure 5.2
5.7 Dependence of the set of solutions of an equation with

respect to parameters
Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with positively oriented piecewise regular
boundary. Suppose that the function f , holomorphic on a neighborhood V of Ux ,
is not a constant. If w 2 C, the set f 1 fwg is formed by isolated points of V , and
so the set
F .w/ D f 1 fwg \ Ux (5.10)
is finite.
If w … D f .@U /, the set F .w/ is contained in U and, by the argument
principle, has a number of elements equal to N.w/ D Ind.; w/. The function
N.w/ is constant on each component of C n .
Observe that Theorem 4.32 implies that if f 2 H.V / and w0 2 C has a finite
number m of preimages by f in V , then there is " > 0 such that every point w 2
D.w0 ; "/ has at least m preimages (always counted according to multiplicities).
With the present notation, this means that N.w/ N.w0 / if w is close to w0 . As
said, the argument principle shows that N.w/ is locally constant.
The aim now is to prove that F .w/ depends continuously on w. In order to
express that two sets E, F are close it is convenient to use the Hausdorff distance,
dH , between E and F defined by
dH .E; F / D max d.z; F / C max d.z; E/:

z2E z2F
Hence, E D F implies dH .E; F / D 0, and the converse holds if E, F are closed.
Theorem 5.33. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with piecewise regular
positively oriented boundary. If V is an open neighborhood of Ux and f 2 H.V /
is not constant, then the function w 7! F .w/ defined by (5.10) is continuous, that
is, if w0 … D f .@U / and " > 0, there is ı > 0 such that jw w0 j < ı, w … ,
implies dH .F .w/; F .w0 // < ".
Proof. Take N.w0 / D N and P let a1 ; : : : ; am (with multiplicities k1 ; : : : ; km ) be

the roots of f .z/ D w0 in U , jmD1 kj D N . By Theorem 4.32, f is kj to 1 in
a neighborhood of aj , that is, there is ıj > 0 such that f .z/ D w has kj different
roots in a neighborhood of aj , provided that jw w0 j < ıj . Taking ı D min ıj ,
we get that every point w with jw w0 j < ı has at least N preimages (k1 on a
neighborhood of a1 , k2 on a neighborhood of a2 ; : : : , km on a neighborhood of
am ). But, making ı smaller if needed, to get D.wo ; ı/ C n f .@U /, it is known
that each point w 2 D.w0 ; ı/ has N preimages, that is, F .w/ consists of exactly
the roots that appear around each aj . Since these roots collapse at the point aj when
w ! w0 (also by Theorem 4.32), one deduces that dH .F .w/; F .w0 // ! 0 when
w ! w0 .
5.7. Dependence of the set of solutions of an equation with respect to parameters 189
With a similar process it will be shown now that the roots of a polynomial
P .z/ D c0 C c1 z C c2 z 2 C C cn z n depend continuously on the coefficients
c0 ; c1 ; : : : ; cn 2 C. One must be very careful with this kind of statements, because
one deals with the set of zeros and not with a particular root determined by some
additional criterion. For polynomials of degree 1 and 2 one has the explicit formulae
c0
c0 C c1 z D 0; c1 ¤ 0 H) zD ;
c1
1
c1 C .c12 4c0 c2 / 2
c0 C c1 z C c2 z 2 D 0; c2 ¤ 0 H) zD
2c2
which prove continuous dependence, with respect to the coefficients, of the set of
roots. Now, Galois theory shows that it is not possible, in general, to write a formula
for the roots of a polynomial in terms of the coefficients. Nevertheless, it will be
seen that the set
Z.P / D Z.c0 ; c1 ; : : : ; cn / D fz W P .z/ D 0g
depend continuously on fc0 ; c1 ; : : : ; cn g in the sense of the Hausdorff distance.

Theorem 5.34. The function fc0 ; c1 ; : : : ; cn g 7! Z.P / is continuous. That is, if
P .z/ D c0 C c1 z C C cn z n , given " > 0 there is a ı D ı."; P / > 0 such that
for Q.z/ D d0 C d1 z C C dn z n with jdi ci j < ı, i D 0; : : : ; n, one has
dH .Z.Q/; Z.P // < ".
Proof. As we know, Z.P / and Z.Q/ each consist of n points (counted according to
multiplicities); let a1 ; : : : ; am be the zeros of P , and k1 ; : : : ; km their multiplicities,
k1 C C km D n. Let " > 0 be such that the discs D.a x i ; "/ are disjoint and
m D miniD1;:::;m minfjP .z/j W jz ai j D "g; let ı > 0 such that
ı.1 C jzj C C jzjn / < m
if jz ai j D " for some i (for example, if ˛ D max jai j, it is enough to impose

ı.1C.˛ C"/ C C.˛ C"/n / < m). Then, if jdi ci j < ı, i D 0; : :S
: ; n, Rouché’s
theorem gives that Q has ki zeros in D.ai ; "/; therefore, Z.Q/ m iD1 D.ai ; "/
and dH .Z.Q/; Z.P // < ".
In particular, every well-defined and continuous function of the set of zeros is
a continuous function of the coefficients, for example, the functions minfjzj W z 2
Z.P /g or maxfjzj W z 2 Z.P /g.
If g is an entire function, it is known by Theorem 5.25 that
X X
m Z
1 P 0 .z/
g.˛/ D ki g.ai / D g.z/ dz;
2 i C.0;R/ P .z/
˛2Z.P / iD1
for R big enough, supposing

P that a1 ; : : : ; am are the zeros of P , with multiplicities
k1 ; : : : ; km . Hence ˛2Z.P /Pg.˛/ is a continuous function of the zeros, and there-
fore of P . The continuity of z2Z.P / g.˛/ with respect to P in this case is also a
consequence of the previous formula. Observe that writing
Y
n
P .z/ D c0 C c1 z C C cn z n D cn .z ˛j /;
j D1
where now ˛1 ; ˛2 ; : : : ; ˛n are the zeros of P counted according to multiplicities,

and equating coefficients one obtains
Y
n Y
m
k
Y
c0 D cn .1/ n
˛j D cn .1/ n
ai i D .1/n cn ˛;
j D1 iD1 ˛2Z.P /
X
n Y X
m
k 1
Y k
c1 D cn .1/n1 ˛l D .1/n1 cn ki ai i al l ;
j D1 l¤j iD1 l¤i
::
:
X
n X
m
cn1 D cn ˛j D cn ki ai :
j D1 iD1
These formulae show that the so-called symmetric functions of the zeros of P depend
continuously on the coefficients of P .
5.8 Calculus of real integrals

One of the typical and more important applications of the residue theorem is the
calculus of some integrals of functions defined on the real line. There is no unique
method to deal with these integrals, and the best way to check the possibilities of
the calculus of residues is considering several kinds of examples.
A) First consider an integral of the form

Z 2
I D R.cos ; sin / d;
0
P .x;y/
where R is a rational function of two real variables x, y, that is, R.x; y/ D Q.x;y/
with P and Q polynomials. Assume R is continuous on the unit circle T . The
5.8. Calculus of real integrals 191
value of I is 2 times the mean value of R on T . If z D e i , one has

1 1 1
cos D .e i C e i / D zC ;
2 2 z

1 1 1
sin D .e i e i / D z
2i 2i z
and dz D ie i d. Therefore,
Z
1 1 1 1 1 dz
I D R zC ; z :
i T 2 z 2i z z
Now the residue theorem yields
X
1 1 1 1 1
I D 2 Res R zC ; z ;˛ :
z 2 z 2i z
j˛j<1
Example 5.35.
Z 2
d
I D ; a > 1:
0 a C cos
In this case,
Z Z
1 1 dz 2 dz
I D D :
i T aC 2 zC z z
1 1 i T z2 C 2az C 1
p p
The zeros of z 2 C 2az C 1 are a˙ a2 1, and only a C a2 1 belongs to
D. One then obtains
p
1 2
I D 4 Res 2 ; a C a2 1 D p :
z C 2az C 1 a2 1
B) Now consider integrals of the form

Z C1
I D f .x/ dx;
1
where f is a meromorphic function on a neighborhood of the half plane fz W

Im z 0g, with a finite number 1 of poles in fz W Im z 0g, none of them being
real. Assume that jf .z/j D o jzj when jzj ! 1, that is, limjzj!1 jzjjf .z/j D 0,
(Im z > 0).
Consider the path r formed by the segment going from r to r, r > 0, followed
by the semicircle Cr W re it , 0 t . Suppose that r is big enough so that r
contains in its interior all the poles of f located on fz W Im z > 0g (Figure 5.3).
Cr
r r
Figure 5.3
By the residue theorem,

Z r Z X
f .x/ dx C f .z/ dz D 2 i Res.f .z/; ˛/:
r Cr Im ˛>0
ˇR ˇ R
ˇ ˇ
Now, the quantity ˇ Cr f .z/ dz ˇ Cr jf .z/jjdzj r supjzjDr jf .z/j tends to
Rr
zero when r ! C1, by the hypothesis on f . So, limr!1 r f .x/ dx exists and
its value is Z r X
lim f .x/ dx D 2 i Res.f .z/; ˛/:
r!1 r
Im ˛>0
1
Typically, jf .z/j will have a bound, for jzj ! 1, which will imply jf .z/j D o jzj
and the absolute convergence of the integral I . This is the case, for example, if f
is a rational function, R D Q P
without real poles and deg Q deg P C 2, because
2
then jR.z/j D O.jzj /.
Example 5.36.
Z 1 Z C1
dx 1 dx
I D D :
0 .1 C x 2 /2 2 1 .1 C x 2 /2
The rational function R.z/ D .1 C z 2 /2 has double poles at z D ˙i . It is enough

to consider z D i a point at which the residue is
ˇ
1 1 d 1 ˇ 1
Res.R.z/; i / D Res ; i D ˇ D :
.z i / .z C i /
2 2 dz .z C i / zDi
2 4i
Therefore, I D 1
2
2 i 1
4i
D
4
.
Example 5.37.
Z C1
e ix e iz
I D dx D 2 i Res ;i
1 .1 C x 2 /2 .1 C z 2 /2

d e iz ˇˇ i
D 2 i ˇ D 2 i D
dz .z C i / zDi
2 2e e
iz Im z
(the function f .z/ D .1Cz e
2 /2 satisfies jf .z/j D j1Cz 2 j2 c jzj4 , if jzj is big
e 1
enough).
Taking real parts, it turns out that
Z C1
cos x
Re I D dx D :
1 .1 C x /
2 2 e
Consider now the function f .z/ D Log.z C i a/R.z/, where R is a rational
function as before (R D P =Q without real poles and deg P deg P C 2), a > 0
and Log denotes the principal branch of the logarithm. Since jLog .z C i a/j2 D
.Log jz C iaj/2 C .Arg.z C i a//2 , it keeps being true that
lim jzjjf .z/j D 0:
jzj!1
Therefore,
Z 1 Z C1 X
f .x/ dx D Log.x C i a/R.x/ dx D 2 i Res.f .z/; ˛/:
1 1 Im ˛>0
Example 5.38.
Z C1
Log.x C i a/ Log.z C i a/
I D dx D 2 i Res ; i
1 1 C x2 1 C z2

Log.z C i a/ ˇˇ LogŒ.1 C a/i
D 2 i ˇ D 2 i
zCi zDi 2i

D Log.1 C a/ C i ArgŒ.1 C a/i D Log.1 C a/ C i :
2
Equating real and imaginary parts, it turns out that
Z C1 Z C1
Log.x 2 C a2 / Arg.x C i a/ 2
dx D Log.1 C a/; dx D :
1 1 C x2 1 1 C x2 2
Since Arg.x C i a/ C Arg.x C i a/ D , if x > 0, the last equality is equivalent
to Z 1
dx
D :
0 1Cx 2 2
C) In all the examples in item B), the hypothesis about the decrease of the function
f , limjzj!1 jzj jf .z/j D 0, implies that the integrals considered are absolutely
R C1
convergent, that is, 1 jf .x/j dx < C1. In turn it gives the existence of the
following limit:
Z b Z C1
lim f .x/ dx D f .x/:
a!1
b!C1 a 1
But, there are integrals which are convergent but not absolutely convergent. For
example, if g.x/ is real and decreasing for x > 0 and limx!C1 g.x/ D 0, the
integral
Z 1
I D g.x/e ix dx
0
is convergent. Actually, integrating by parts (suppose g differentiable), the partial

integral
Z Z
b ˇb b
g.x/e ix dx D ige ix ˇa C i e ix g 0 .x/ dx
a a
Z b
D i.g.a/e ia g.b/e ib / C i g 0 .x/e ix dx
a
Rb
has modulus smaller than or equal to g.a/Cg.b/C a jg 0 .x/j dx D g.a/Cg.b/
Rb 0 R1
a g .x/ dx D 2g.a/. Now by Cauchy’s criterion, 0 g.x/e
ix
P is convergent (this
fact is analogous to the
R1 convergence of alternating
R 1 cos x series .1/ n
an with an & 0).
Hence, the integrals 1 sinx x dx, 1 1Cjxj dx are convergent, but it is not difficult
to see that they are not absolutely convergent.
For integrals extended over all R, there is still a third concept of convergence,
more general, which is given by the existence of Cauchy’s principal value, defined
as Z Z
r 1
lim f .x/ dx D p.v. f .x/ dx:
r!C1 r 1
R1
It is clear that for an integral, 1 f .x/ dx, the following implications hold:
absolutely convergent H) convergent H) existence of p.v.
In this subsection it will be seen that the residue theorem allows to prove the
existence and to compute Cauchy’s principal value of some integrals, not necessarily
absolutely convergent.
Proposition 5.39. Suppose that f is meromorphic on a neighborhood of fz :

Im z 0g, with a finite number of poles in fz W Im 0g, none of them being
R1
real, and that limjzj!1 f .z/ D 0. Then p.v. 1 f .x/e ix dx exists and
Z 1 X
p.v. f .x/e ix dx D 2 i Res.f .z/e iz ; ˛/;
1 ˛
where the sum is taken over the poles of f located at fz W Im z > 0g.
Proof. Considering the same path r as in item B), it is enough to show that the
contribution of the half circle Cr tends to zero, when r ! 1. Now,
ˇZ ˇ ˇZ ˇ
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ ˇ
f .z/e dz ˇ D ˇ
iz ˇ i ire i
f .re /e i re d ˇˇ
i
ˇ
Cr 0
Z
jf .re i /je r sin r d
0
Z
max jf .z/j e r sin r d:
jzjDr 0
R
But the last integral is 2 e r sin r d and using inequalities 2 sin 1, if
0
2
R 2 R1 2
0 < < =2, it turns out that it is bounded by 2 02 e r r d 2 0 e r r d
D .
Example 5.40. Z 1
x sin x
I D dx:
0 1 C x2
In this case the principal value
Z r Z r Z r
x sin x 1 x sin x 1 xe ix
lim dx D lim dx D Im lim dx:
r!1 0 1Cx 2 2 r!1 r 1Cx 2 2 r!1 r 1 C x2
exists. Actually, here f .z/ D 1Cz z

2 has a pole at the point z D i with residue
ˇ
z ˇ
R r sin x
zCi zDi
D 2 and it turns out that limr!1 0 x1Cx
1
2 dx D 2 Im i D 2 .
1

D) The notion of principal value may be formulated also for the so-called improper
integrals of second kind (the integrand f tends to infinity at a finite point). Suppose,
for example, that f is a continuous function on the interval .a R; a C R/, R > 0,
except at the point a, and f is not bounded on .a R; a C R/. The principal value
R aCR
of aR f .x/ dx is, by definition,
²Z a" Z aCR ³
lim C f .x/ dx:
"!0 aR aC"
R aCR
The (improper) integral aR f .x/ dx is said to be convergent if the inte-
Ra R aCR
grals aR and a are convergent, that is, if there exist separately the two
R a" R aCR
limits: lim"!0 aR and lim"!0 aC" . The integral is absolutely convergent if
R aCR
aR jf .x/j dx < C1. As before, absolutely convergent ) convergent ) exis-
tence of p.v.
Suppose now that the function f of items B) or C), meromorphic on a neighbor-
hood of fz W Im z 0g, hasR 1a finite number of real simple poles: a1 ; : : : ; am 2 R.
In this case, the integral 1 f .x/ dx cannot be absolutely convergent because
close to each point aj one has jf .x/j cj jx aj j1 with cj constant, and so
Z aj C˛
jf .x/j dx D C1; if ˛ > 0:
aj ˛
R a C˛
However, if the pole aj is of order 1, there exists p.v. ajj˛ f .x/ dx because
nR R aj C˛ o dx
cj aj "
f .x/ D xa j
C O.1/ and, trivially, aj ˛ C aj C" xaj
D 0, .x aj /1
being an odd function with respect R 1 to the point aj .
In order to compute the p.v. 1 f .x/ dx, modify the circuit r , which has been
used in B) and C), in such a way that it travels, in the negative sense, the semicircles
centered at aj with radius " > 0 which go from aj " to aj C ", for j D 1; : : : ; m
(Figure 5.4). If j ."/ are these semicircles, then one has
Z Z Z
cj
f .z/ dz D dz C O.1/ dz
j ."/ j ."/ z aj j ."/
and
Z Z
cj
lim f .z/ dz D lim dz
"!0 ."/
j
"!0 ."/
j
z aj
Z
" i e i d
D cj lim D i cj D i Res.f; aj /:
"!0 0 " e i
Cr
1 ."/ 2 ."/ 3 ."/
r a1 a2 a3 r
Figure 5.4
Supposing that Ra1 < < am , that r is big enough and " small enough
and on account of cr f .z/ dz ! 0, r ! C1 (because it is supposed either
1
jf .z/j D O jzj , or limjzj!1 f .z/ D 0 and one considers the integrand f .x/e ix )
the residue theorem leads to
Z 1
p.v. f .x/ dx
1
²Z a1 " Z a2 " Z a3 " Z an " Z r ³
D lim C C C C C f .x/ dx
r!C1 r a1 C" a2 C" an1 C" an C"
"!0
X X
m
D 2 i Res.f; ˛/ C i Res.f; aj /:
Im z>0 j D1
Example 5.41.
Z C1
e ix e iz
p.v. dx D i Res ; 0 D i:
1 x z
R C1
Equating imaginary parts, one finds p.v. 1 sinx x dx D . Since the function sinx x
R C1
is continuous at the point 0, one may remove p.v. and the integral 1 sinx x dx,
which is convergent but not absolutely convergent, equals .
The previous process lets one also compute integrals of the form
Z C1 ´
cosn x
f .x/ dx;
1 sinn x
expressing sinn x, cosn x as a linear combination of the functions cos nx, sin nx
R C1 R
1 C1 x
and writing 1 f .x/e imx dx as m ix
1 f . m /e dx, after making a change of
variables.
Example 5.42. The integral
Z C1
sin3 x
I D dx
1 x
is convergent (not absolutely) and one has
3
1 ix 1 3ix
sin3 x D .e e ix / D .e 3e ix C 3e ix e 3ix /
2i 8i 3
1
D .2i sin 3x 6i sin x/
8i
3 1
D sin x sin 3x:
4 4
R C1 R C1
The change 3x D t leads to 1 sinx3x dx D 1 sin t
t
dt D , and we obtain
I D 2 .
E) Consider now integrals of the form

Z 1
R.x/
I D dx; 0 < ˛ < 1;
0 x˛
where R is a rational function, R D Q
P
with deg Q deg P C 1, without poles on
Œ0; C1/. This fact guarantees the absolute convergence of I .
Apply the residue theorem to a branch of R.z/
z˛
on the domain C n Œ0; 1/: the
one given by arg z 2 .0; 2/. For r big and ı small, the path r;ı of integration is
the one in Figure 5.5.
Cr
r;ı
r
Cı
ı
Figure 5.5
The two horizontal lines give

Z r Z r
R.x C i ı/ R.x i ı/
dx dx
0 .x C i ı/ ˛
0 .x i ı/
˛
Z r
R.x/ C O.ı/ R.x/ C O.ı/
D dx:
0 jx C i ıj˛ e i˛ arg.xCiı/ jx i ıj˛ e i˛ arg.xiı/
Rr
When ı ! 0 the limit of the expression above is 0 R.x/ x˛
.1 e 2 i˛ / dx. For the
limit when ı ! 0 of the integral over the semicircle of radius ı we get
ˇZ ˇ
ˇ
ˇ
R.z/ ˇˇ 1
ˇ dz ˇ kı supjzjDı ˛ D kı 1˛ ! 0; k constant:
Cı z ˛ jz j ı!0
In the arc of the circle with radius r one has

ˇZ ˇ
ˇ R.z/ ˇˇ 1
ˇ dz r 1˛
sup jR.z/j D r 1˛
O ! 0 if r ! 1:
ˇ z ˛ ˇ jzjDr
r
Cr
All together, plus the residue theorem, give

X
2 i˛ R.z/
.1 e /I D 2 i Res ;p :
z˛
p …Œ0;C1/
Example 5.43.
Z 1
x ˇ 1
I D dx; 0 < ˇ < 1:
0 1Cx
z ˇ1
Here one has ˛ D 1 ˇ, R.z/ D .1 C z/1 . Since Res 1Cz
; 1 D .1/ˇ 1 D
e i.ˇ 1/ it follows that
e i.ˇ 1/ 2 i
I D 2 i D i.1ˇ / D :
1e 2 i.1ˇ / e e i.1ˇ / sin .1 ˇ/
This method would also work if one replaces R by a function f , meromor-

phic on C with a finite number of poles, none of them in Œ0; 1/ and satisfying
limjzj!1 jzj1˛ jf .z/j D 0. Since this implies that f has a removable singularity
at the point 1 (because limjzj!1 f .z/ D 0) f is, indeed, a rational function, by
Proposition 5.24.
R1 R1
F) Now integrals of the type 0 R.x/ Log x dx and 0 R.x/ dx will be com-
puted. Here the function R D Q P
is rational with deg Q deg P C 2, without
poles in Œ0; 1/; so the integrals are absolutely convergent. Suppose also that R
takes real values on R. We use the same path as in item E) but now integrating the
function R.z/ log2 z, where the branch of log z is the one given on C n Œ0; 1/ by
arg z 2 .0; 2/. With an argument similar to the one in E), one finds
Z 1 Z 1 X
R.x/ Log x dx R.x/.Log xC2 i /2 dx D 2 i
2
Res.R.z/ log2 z; ˛/:
0 0
˛¤0
Equating real an imaginary parts, we get

Z 1 X
1
R.x/ Log x dx D Re Res.R.z/ log2 z; ˛/;
0 2
˛¤0
Z 1 X
1
R.x/ dx D Im Res.R.z/ log2 z; ˛/:
0 2
˛¤0
Example 5.44. Z 1
Log x
I D :
0 .x 2 C 1/2
There is a double pole at z D ˙i, and the corresponding residues are

log2 z log2 z 0 2 log i 2.log i /2
Res ;i D .i / D
.z 2 C 1/2 .z C i /2 i.2i /2 .2i /3
2
2i 2 2 i 2 2
D C D Ci ;
4i 8i 4 16
and similarly,

log2 z 3 9
Res ; i D i 2:
.z C 1/
2 2 4 16
Then it turns out that
Z 1 Z 1
Log x dx
2 C 1/2
dx D I 2 C 1/2
D :
0 .x 4 0 .x 4
R1
Since the factor Log x appearing in the integrand of 0 R.x/ Log x dx, van-
ishes at the point x D 1, one may allow R to have a simple pole at the point 1 and
the integral will be still absolutely convergent. In order to see the influence of this
fact on the previous computation, replace the part of the integral given by
Z r
R.x i ı/ log2 .x i ı/ dx
0
by the integrals
Z 1c.ı/ Z
R.x i ı/ log .x i ı/ dx
2
R.z/ log2 z dz
0 ˇı
Z r
R.x i ı/ log2 .x i ı/ dx:
1Cc.ı/
The points .1 c.ı/; ı/, .1 C c.ı/; ı/ are the intersection points of the line
y D ı with the circle centered at 1 and with radius 2ı, and ˇı is the arc of this
circle determined by these two points (Figure 5.6).
Taking the limit when ı ! 0, the imaginary parts of the first and third integrals
converge, both together, to
Z r Z r
Im R.x/.Log x C 2 i / dx D 4
2
R.x/ Log x dx:
0 0
R
The integral in the middle term is ˇı R.z/.2 i C O.ı//2 dz which, for ı ! 0,
R
converges to limı!0 ˇı R.z/.2 i /2 dz D 4 2 i Res.R; 1/. Hence
Z 1 X
1
R.x/ Log x dx D 2 Re .Res.R; 1// Re Res.R.z/.log z/2 ; ˛/:
0 2 ˛
Cr
Cı
ı 1 1 C c.ı/
1 c.ı/ 2ı
ˇı
Figure 5.6
Using real parts one obtains now

Z 1 X
1
p.v. R.x/ dx D Im Res.R.z/.log z/2 ; ˛/ C Im Res.R; 1/;
0 2 ˛
R1 R 1ı R 1
where p.v. 0 R.x/ dx D limı!0 0 C 1Cı R.x/ dx (in this case the inte-
R1
gral 0 R.x/ dx is not absolutely convergent). On the other hand, since R is real
on R, the quantity Res.R; 1/ D limx!1 R.x/.x 1/ is also real.
Example 5.45.
Z C1
Log x
I D dx:
0 x3 1
The residue of R.z/ D 1
z 3 1
at the point 1 is limz!1 R.z/.z 1/ D 1
3
. At the
2 4
i i 2
other two poles e 3 ,e the residues of R.z/.log z/ are
3
2 2 2
z ei 3 i 3 4 2 i 4
lim .log z/2
D 2 2 D e 3 ;
z!e
i 2
3
z3 1 3 ei 3 27
4 4 2
z ei 3 i 3 16 2 i 2
lim .log z/2
D D e 3 :
z!e
i 4
3
z3 1 4
3 ei 3
2 27
It turns out, therefore, that

2 1 2 4 2 2 5 2 4 2
I D C 4 cos C 16 cos D D :
3 2 27 3 3 3 27 27
G) Let us compute, finally, some integrals which are often used in real or complex
analysis
R 2
Start with the integral I D 0 Log j1 re i j d , 0 < r < 1.
R 2
Since I D Re 0 Log.1 re i / d, one has
Z
1 dz
I D Re Log.1 z/ D0
i C.0;r/ z
because the function Log.1z/

zR
is holomorphic on the unit disc D.
2
For r D 1 the integral 0 Log j1 e i j d is still absolutely convergent since
1
Log j1 e i j D Log j1 e i j2
2
1
D Log..1 cos /2 C sin2 /
2
1
D Log.2.1 cos //
2
has the same order as j Log j for near 0 and the same one as j Log.2 /j for
near 2. In order to compute the integral, take the path of Figure 5.7. It follows
that Z 2ı Z
1
i Log.1 e / d
i
Log.1 z/ dz D 0
ı Cı z
because Log.1z/
z
is holomorphic on C n Œ1; 1/. Now,
ˇZ ˇ
ˇ Log.1 z/ ˇˇ jLog .1 z/j
ˇ dz 2ı sup
ˇ z ˇ jzj
Cı jz1jDı
jzj1
2ı 1
Log2 j1 zj C Arg2 .1 z/ 2
1ı
2ı 1
..Log ı/2 C 2 / 2 ! 0; ı ! 0:
1ı
R 2 R 2
Therefore, 0 Log j1 e i j d D Re 0 Log.1 e i / d D 0.
When r > 1, the integral I may be easily computed since
Z 2 Z 2 ˇ ˇ
ˇ 1 i ˇ
I D Log j1 re j d D
i ˇ
Log r ˇ e 1ˇˇ d
0 0 r
Z 2 ˇ ˇ
ˇ1 ˇ
D Log r C Log ˇˇ e i 1ˇˇ d D 2 Log r:
0 r
5.9. Exercises 203
C1
1
1
ı
Cı
Figure 5.7
Summarizing, the following formula has been shown:

Z 2
Log j1 re i j d D 2 LogC r; r > 0;
0
where LogC r is the positive part of Log r.

Finally, combining the equality
Z Z
1 2
Log j1 e 2i j d D Log j1 e it j dt D 0
0 2 0
with the relation j1 e 2i j D je i e i j D 2jsin j, one finds

Z
Log sin d D log 2:
0
Notice that throughout this section proper or improper integrals have been com-
puted, without using antidifferentiation, which, thanks to the fundamental theorem
of calculus, is the traditional process for computing definite integrals.
5.9 Exercises
2
1. Find the Laurent series of the function f .z/ D z1
z
e 1=z on each annulus:

C D fz 2 C W 0 < jzj < 1g and C D fz 2 C W jzj > 1g.
2. Let f be a holomorphic function on the punctured disc D 0 .a; r/, a 2 C,
r > 0, which takes all its values in the upper half plane …C D fz W Im z > 0g.
Show that f has a removable singularity at the point a.
3. Suppose that f 2 H.D 0 .a; r//, a 2 C, r > 0, has a pole at the point a and
g is an entire function such that the function g.f .z//, z 2 D 0 .a; r/, has also
a pole at the point a. Show that g must be a polynomial.
4. Show that the Laurent series of the function ez11 around the origin is of the
form
1
1 1 X Bn 2n1
C .1/n1 z :
z 2 nD1 .2n/Š
The numbers Bn , n D 1; 2; : : : are Bernoulli numbers. Prove the recurrence
formula
Xn
.1/k1 Bk 1 1
D
.2k/Š.2n 2k C 1/Š 2.2n/Š .2n C 1/Š
kD1
and compute Bn for n D 1; 2; 3.

t .z1/
5. Show that the Laurent series of the function e 2z , for t 2 R, around the
origin is of the form
X1
Jn .t /z n
nD1
R 2
with Jn .t/ D 2 1
0 cos .n t sin /d , n 2 Z. The functions Jn .t / are
called Bessel functions.
P
6. Suppose that the series 1 n
nD0 cn z has radius of convergence 1 and let f be
the holomorphic function that it defines on D. Show that f has a meromorphic
extension to a neighborhood of D x with a unique simple pole at a point z0 2 T
if and only if limn jcn1 cn z0 j < 1. Prove that this last condition implies
cn
limn cnC1 D z0 .
Show also that the condition limn cn =cnC1 D z0 , holds if f has a meromor-
phic extension to a neighborhood of D x which has a pole at the point z0 2 T
of order greater than the orders of all the other poles located in T .
7. Show that any function f holomorphic on the half plane …C D fz W Im z > 0g
and 2-periodic (that is, f .z C 2/ D f .z/; z 2 …C / has a complex Fourier
series expansion of the form
1
X
f .z/ D cn e i nz ; z 2 …C :
nD1
Find integral expressions for the coefficients cn .

8. Using the argument principle give an alternative proof of Theorem 4.32 with
a more geometrical character.
5.9. Exercises 205
9. Let f be a holomorphic one-to-one function on an open set U . For fixed

x r/ U , show the formula
a 2 U and r > 0 such that D.a;
Z
1 zf 0 .z/
f 1 .w/ D dz; if w 2 f .D.a; r//:
2 i C.a;r/ f .z/ w
10. Prove that the zeros of a non-identically zero meromorphic function on a

domain are isolated points.
11. Let f be a meromorphic function on C. Prove that f is the logarithmic
derivative of a meromorphic function on C if and only if all the poles of f
are simple poles with integer residue. Similarly f is the logarithmic derivative
of an entire function if and only if all the poles of f are simple with natural
residue.
12. Show that for ˛ > 0 and w 2 C with jwj < ˛ p , p 2 N, the equation
.z ˛/p e z D w has exactly p different roots in the half plane fz W Re z > 0g.
Compute the smallest radius r < ˛ so that all the roots of this equation are
contained in the disc D.˛; r/.
13. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane with regular positively oriented
boundary. Let f be a meromorphic function on a neighborhood of Ux without
poles in @U , satisfying jf .z/j 1 for z 2 @U . Show that f takes on U every
value w 2 C with jwj > 1, as many times as the sum of the multiplicities of
the poles of f in U .
14. Let f be an entire function satisfying Im f .z/ D .Re f .z//3 if and only if
Im z D .Re z/2 . Prove that f has at most a zero in C.
15. Let f be an entire one-to-one function. Show that limjzj!1 jf .z/j D 1
and deduce that f must be a polynomial of degree 1. (See Exercise 20 of
Section 4.7).
ˇ za ˇ
16. For a 2 C fixed with jaj ¤ 1, prove that ˇ 1 N
az
ˇ D 1 when jzj D 1. Use this
fact to show that a rational function R, satisfying jR.z/j D 1 when jzj D 1,
is of the form
Yn
z ak
R.z/ D c z m
1 aSk z
kD1
with c; ak 2 C, jak j ¤ 1 and m 2 Z.
17. Let u be a real harmonic function on the annulus C.a; R2 ; R1 /. Prove that
there are constants ˛; ˇ 2 R such that
Z 2
1
u.a C re i /d D ˛ Log r C ˇ; R2 < r < R1 :
2 0
If, in addition, u is bounded then ˛ D 0 and ˇ D u.a/.

18. Show the equality
Z 1
dx =n
D for n D 1; 2; : : : :
0 1Cx n sin.=n/
19. Compute
Z 1 Z 1
x2 Log2 x
dx and dx:
0 ch x 0 1 C x4
20. Compute
Z 1 p Z 1
x Log x Log x
dx and p dx:
0 1 C x2 0 x.1 C x 2 /
Chapter 6
Homology and holomorphic functions
The aim of this chapter is to give the homological versions of Cauchy’s theorem
and Cauchy’s integral formula. Cauchy’s theoremR asserts that if the function f is
holomorphic on a domain U , then the integral f .z/ dz is zero for certain cycles
in U . The description of these cycles is a topological question that has to be
properly stated. Here this formulation is done by means of the notion of homology,
based on the index of a closed curve. It may be done also by means of the concept
of homotopy of curves, and the relationship between both points of view is briefly
commented.
On the other hand, homological versions of Green’s formula and Cauchy–
Green’s formula are given. They may be considered as the multiplicity version
of the classical Green’s formulae and have some interesting applications, among
these the Cauchy theorem for differential forms. The obtained results may be ap-
plied also to give several characterizations of simply connected domains in the
plane.
6.1 Homology of chains and simply connected domains

In order to state properly the homological versions of both Cauchy’s theorem and
Cauchy’s integral formula, it is suitable to extend the notion of line integral to a
more general setting. Consider 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; k paths, that is, piecewise C 1 curves,
inside a domain U of the plane, and let n1 ; n2 ; : : : ; nk be integer numbers. The
formal linear combination
X k
D nj j
j D1
is, by definition, a chain in the domain U . Hence, the set of chains in U is formally
the free abelian group generated by the set of paths. In particular, if 1 , 2 are
chains in U , other chains n1 C m2 with n; m 2 Z may be defined. The range of
is D 1 [ 2 [ [ k .
If f 2 C. /, we write, by definition,
Z X
k Z
f .z/ dz D nj f .z/ dz:
j D1 j
208 Chapter 6. Homology and holomorphic functions
Therefore, if f 2 C.U / and 1 , 2 are chains in U , one has

Z Z Z
f .z/ dz D n f .z/ dz C m f .z/ dz; n; m 2 Z:
n 1 Cm 2 1 2
One may have chains , 0 with different representations,

0
X
k X
k
0
D nj j ; D nj0 j0 ;
j D1 j D1
R R
but f .z/ dz D 0 f .z/ dz holds for every function f 2 C. [ 0 /. This
is the case, for example, if 0 is obtained from doing permutations of the paths
j , subdivisions, aggregations of paths, reparametrizations, etc. All throughout this
chapter, given a chain in U one will be primarily interested in the correspondence
Z
f 7! f .z/ dz; f 2 C.U /:

R R
If f .z/ dz D 0 f .z/ dz, for every function f 2 C.U /, it is said that and
0 are equivalent chains and will be identified with 0 . With this convention, a
statement such as the one in the following example may be made.
Example 6.1. Consider the unit square Q D Œ0; 1 Œ0; 1 divided into four equal
parts Qi , i D 1; 2; 3; 4, and let i D @Qi be the boundary of Qi positively oriented.
Then
1 C 2 C 3 C 4 D @Q;
because there are cancellations of the contributions of the inner sides to the integral
of any continuous function (Figure 6.1).
Q2 Q1
Q3 Q4
Figure 6.1
6.1. Homology of chains and simply connected domains 209
R R
Observe the equality f .z/ dz D f .z/ d zN and the fact that every dif-
ferential 1-form ! D P dx C Q dy with real coefficients may be written as
! D 12 .f .z/ dz C f .z/ d z/N with f D .P iQ/. R It turns
R out, then, that two
chains and 0 are equivalent in U if and only if ! D 0 ! for all differential
1-forms ! with continuous coefficients on U . One considers only forms of type
f .z/ dz just for convenience.
A chain on U is said to be a cycle provided it may be represented in the form
P
D jkD1 nj j , where each j is a closed path in U and each nj an integer. Then
the index of with respect to a point z … is defined as
Z X k
1 dw
Ind .; z/ D D nj Ind.j ; z/:
2 i wz
j D1
Obviously, Ind .; z/ is an integer number and the relation
Ind.n1 1 Cn2 2 ; z/ D n1 Ind.1 ; z/Cn2 Ind.2 ; z/; z … 1 [2 ; n1 ; n2 2 Z;
holds if 1 and 2 are cycles in U .

Definition 6.2. A cycle , contained in a domain U , is said to be homologous to
zero with respect to U and it is written 0 .U /, if Ind .; z/ D 0 for every
point z … U . Two chains 1 , 2 contained in U are homologous with respect to
U , 1 2 .U /, if 1 2 is a cycle homologous to zero with respect to U (if
1 , 2 are cycles, this is equivalent to the condition Ind .1 ; z/ D Ind .2 ; z/, for
every point z … U ).
It is worthy noting that the definitions of index
R of a cycle and homologous cycles
are done according to line integrals of type .w z/1 dz, and therefore they do
not depend on the way that is represented as a combination of closed paths.
Example 6.3. In Section 1.6 it has been seen that if U is a bounded domain with
positively oriented piecewise regular boundary then @U D 1 [ 2 [ [ N

with
i closed Jordan curves such that for z 2 U ,
Ind .1 ; z/ D 1; Ind .i ; z/ D 0; i D 2; : : : ; N:
If Uz is any domain with Uz Ux , then the cycle @U D 1 C 2 C C N is

homologous to zero with respect to Uz .
Actually, 0 .U / means that the components of C n with non-zero
index lie in U . In Section 1.3 the concept of simply connected domain has been
introduced as a domain U of C such that C n U is connected. Intuitively this
condition has the same meaning as 0 .U / for any closed path in U , as the
following result confirms.
Proposition 6.4. A domain U of the plane is simply connected if and only if every
cycle contained in U is homologous to zero with respect to U .
Proof. If U is simply connected and is a cycle with U , the connected set
C n U is inside the component of C n which contains the point at infinity and,
therefore, Ind.; z/ D 0, for z … U .
Conversely, suppose U is not simply connected; then C n U has at least two
connected components V1 , V2 , which are disjoint closed sets of C n U . So they are
disjoint closed sets of C and one of them, say V2 , contains the point at infinity. Then
V1 has 1 as an exterior point and it must be compact. Construct a grid of the plane
formed by squares with sides parallel to the axis, of size "=2, with " D d.V1 ; V2 /,
so that a point P 2 V1 will be within one of the squares (Figure 6.2). Consider
now all the squares of the grid intersecting V1 ; there are a finite quantity of them,
V2
V1
Figure 6.2
say Qi , i D 1; : : : ; N , and none of them intersects V2 . Let be the cycle defined

P
by D N @Qi , where @Qi is the boundary of Qi , positively oriented. Since
S iD1 P
V1 i Qi it is clear that Ind.; P / D N iD1 Ind.@Qi ; P / D 1. Once all possible

cancellations are done one gets an equivalent expression of such that S does

not intersect either V2 nor V1 . Indeed consists of some sides within i @Qi . If
S is a side meeting V1 then both adjacent squares having S as a common side are
among the Qi , i D 1; : : : ; N , and hence S is cancelled.
6.2. Homological versions of Green’s formula and Cauchy’s theorem 211
6.2 Homological versions of Green’s formula and Cauchy’s

theorem
6.2.1 The homological version of Cauchy’s theorem
A general version of Cauchy’s theorem is the following.
Theorem 6.5. If U is a domain of the plane, a cycle homologous to zero with
respect to U and f 2 H.U /, then
Z
f .z/ dz D 0:

As a consequence, if 1 and 2 are homologous chains with respect to U and

f 2 H.U /, then Z Z
f .z/ dz D f .z/ dz:
1 2
The shortest proof of this fundamental result is likely the one given below (due
to A. F. Beardon), based on an integral representation formula by means of Cauchy’s
kernel.
Lemma 6.6. Let U be a domain of the plane, K U a compact set and f 2 H.U /.
Then there exist a finite number of segments 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; N contained in U nK such
that if D 1 C 2 C C N , one has
Z
1 f .w/
f .z/ D dw; z 2 K:
2 i w z
Proof. Let " be the distance from K to the complement of U . Consider a grid of
the plane composed by squares of diagonal smaller than " and consider the squares
Q1 ; : : : ; Qm of this grid intersectingPK. If @Qi is the boundary of Qi , positively
oriented as always, consider D i @Qi . Once all possible cancellations are
done, it yields
X
N
D j
j D1
where each j is a side of a certain Qi and j

SU n K.
Hence, for every continuous function ' on j @Qj , one has
m Z
X N Z
X Z
'.w/ dw D '.w/ dw D '.w/ dw:
iD1 @Qi j D1 j
Suppose now that the point z 2 K is not in any @Qi . Then z belongs to a unique
square, Qi0 , of the set Q1 ; : : : ; Qm , and applying Corollary 4.3 to the function f
and Cauchy–Goursat’s theorem (Remark 3.3 a)) to the function ! ! f!z

.!/
, it turns
out that
Z m Z
1 f .!/ 1 X f .!/
d! D d!
2 i ! z 2 i !z
j D1 @Qj
Z Z
1 f .!/ 1 X f .!/
D d! C d! D f .z/:
2 i @Qi0 ! z 2 i @Qj ! z
j ¤i0
S
Hence, the lemma is proved if z is not in any @Qi , and for the points of i @Qi
it follows by continuity.
Remark 6.1. In fact, under the hypotheses of Lemma 6.6 it may be asserted that the
segments 1 ; : : : ; N form a system of closed Jordan polygonal curves 1 ; : : : ; n
contained in U n K such that
n Z
1 X f .w/
f .z/ D dw; z 2 K; if f 2 H.U /:
2 i
j D1 j w z
Actually, one only needs to rememberSthat segments 1 ; : : : ; N are the topological

boundary of the compact set Q D jmD1 Qj . Then each connected component
of @Q is a compact and connected 1-manifold and by Theorem 1.31 it is a Jordan
curve which in this case must be a polygonal curve. Moreover, Lemma 6.6 applied
to f D 1 gives that every point of K belongs to one and only one of the polygons
Int.i /, i D 1; : : : ; n.
This fact may be also proved, in a more direct way, using a combinatorial
argument (see [3], p. 260, or [11], p. 155).
Proof of Theorem 6.5. Suppose that 0 .U / and let f 2 H.U /. Let further
K D [ fz 62 W Ind .; z/ ¤ 0g, which is the complement in C of the set
fz 62 W Ind .; z/ D 0g. This last set is the union of some connected components
of C n , among which there is the unbounded one that contains 1; therefore,
K is a compact set and since 0 .U /, one has K U . Let now be as in
Lemma 6.6; one has
Z Z ² Z ³ Z ²Z ³
1 f .w/ f .w/ dz
f .z/ dz D dw dz D dw:
2 i w z 2 i wz
But for w 2 one has w 2 U n K, so that

Z
dz
D 2 i Ind .; w/ D 0:
wz
Notice that the application of Fubini’s theorem is correct because the function
.z; w/ ! fwz
.w/
is continuous on the compact set .
6.2.2 Green’s formula with multiplicities

We have just given a direct proof of the homological version of Cauchy’s theorem.
The classical version of Cauchy’s theorem (Theorem 3.24) was obtained in Chapter 3
as a particular case of Green’s formula (Theorem 3.22) when applied to the form
f .z/ dz, with f holomorphic. So one may ask if there is also a homological version
of Green’s formula which gives rise to Theorem 6.5 when applied to f .z/ dz.
The answer is yes; this more general version of Green’s formula is based on the
following integral representation given by Corollary 4.4, which is quoted here:
N
Lemma 6.7. If f is a differentiable function on C with compact support and @f
is continuous on C, then
Z
1 @f 1
f .z/ D d m.w/; z 2 C:
C @w x wz
Theorem 6.8 (Homological version of Green’s formula). Let U be a domain of the
N continuous on U and a cycle
complex plane, f a differentiable function with @f
homologous to zero with respect to U . Then one has
Z “
@f
f .z/ dz D 2i Ind .; z/ d m.z/: (6.1)
C @zN
More generally, if ! D P dxCQdy is a 1-form in U with differentiable coefficients,
the function Qx Py is continuous on U and 0 with respect to U , then
Z Z “
@Q @P
!D P dx C Qdy D Ind .; z/ d m.z/: (6.2)
C @x @y
In particular, if U is simply connected, formulae (6.1) and (6.2) hold for every
cycle contained in U .
Note that, in fact, the integrals of the right-hand term of (6.1) and of (6.2) are
taken over a compact set of U .
Proof. Take K D [ fz … W Ind .; z/ ¤ 0g, as in the proof of Theorem 6.5,
so that K is a compact set, K U . Let 2 C 1 .U / be a function with com-
pact support contained in U such that is 1 on a neighborhood of K and apply
Lemma 6.7 to the function g D f . It yields
“
1 @g 1
g.z/ D d m.w/:
C @w x wz
Since g D f on , it turns out that
Z Z Z “
1 @g 1
f .z/ dz D g.z/ dz D d m.w/ dz:
x wz
C @w
In order to apply now Fubini’s theorem it is enough to see that an iterated integral
of the absolute value of the integrand is finite,
Z “ ˇ ˇˇ ˇ
ˇ @g ˇˇ 1 ˇ
ˇ ˇˇ ˇ d m.w/jdzj < C1:
ˇ ˇˇ ˇ
F @ x
w w z
ˇ ˇ
The inner integral is taken over the compact set F D spt.g/ where ˇ @@g ˇ is bounded;
@g ˇ @g ˇ wx
writing @wx 1 D supF ˇ @wx ˇ it turns out by Lemma 4.1 that the iterated integral is
bounded above by
Z
@g
.m.F / C 2/jdzj D L./ @g .m.F / C 2/ < C1:

@w x 1 x 1
@w
Now apply Fubini’s theorem to obtain
Z “ Z
1 @g dz
f .z/ dz D .w/ d m.w/
C @w x wz
“
@g
D 2i .w/ Ind .; w/ d m.w/:
x
C @w
But Ind .; w/ ¤ 0 gives w 2 K and g D f on a neighborhood of w; therefore,
@g
@wx
D @@fwx at this point and this proves (6.1).
In order to show (6.2) one may suppose that P and Q are real. If the form
! D P dx C Q dy is C 1 applying (6.1) to the function f D .P iQ/ and taking
real parts, one has
Z Z
! D Re f .z/ dz

“
@f
D2 Ind .; w/ Re i d m.w/
C @wx
“
@Q @P
D Ind .; w/ d m.z/;
C @x @y
which is (6.2).
Assuming now only that P and Q are differentiable and Qx Py is continuous,
and replacing P and Q by P and Q where is the function of the first part of
the proof, we may assume that P and Q have compact support in U . Next apply
a regularization process to P and Q using an approximation to the identity ˆ" ,
defined by ˆ .x; y/ D " 2
ˆ x y
; , " > 0, with ˆ 2 C 1
.C/, spt .ˆ/ D,x
’ " " "
C ˆd m D 1. That is, define
“
P .x; y/ D .P ˆ" /.x; y/ D
"
P .t; s/ˆ" .x t; y s/ dsdt;
C
“
Q" .x; y/ D .Q ˆ" /.x; y/ D Q.t; s/ˆ" .x t; y s/ dsdt
C
so that P " , Q" are C 1 with compact support in U" D fz 2 U W d.z; U c / > "g and
P " ! P , Q" ! Q uniformly when " ! 0.
Accordingly one has
Z “ "
@Q @P "
P dx C Q dy D
" "
Ind.; z/ d m.z/
C @x @y
and if we check the equality

@Q" @P " @Q @P
D ˆ" ;
@x @y @x @y
it will suffice to let " ! 0 to finish the proof.

Hence, one must show that

@.Q ˆ" / @.P ˆ" / @ˆ" @ˆ" @Q @P
DQ P D ˆ" :
@x @y @x @y @x @y
To this end, take a bounded open set Uz U with piecewise regular boundary
such that spt.P /, spt.Q/ Uz (cf. Lemma 6.6 and Remark 6.1) and apply Green’s
formula (Theorem 3.22) to Uz and to the form
P .x t; y s/ˆ" .t; s/dt C Q.x t; y s/ˆ" .t; s/ds;
with " > 0 small enough. We get

Z
0D P .x t; y s/ˆ" .t; s/dt C Q.x t; y s/ˆ" .t; s/ds
z
@U
“
@Q @P
D .x t; y s/ .x t; y s/ ˆ" .t; s/
C @x @y
“
@ˆ" @ˆ"
C Q.x t; y s/ P .x t; y s/ dt ds;
C @x @y
which is the desired result.

R
Example 6.9. If is a cycle such that f .z/dz D 0 for each f 2 C. /, then
Ind.; z/ D 0, for every point z … , because w ! wz 1
2 C. /. Formula
(6.1) leads to the converse: if Ind.; z/ D 0, for every
R point z … , then we can
apply (6.1) to U D C and f 2 C 1 .C/ to obtain f .z/dz D 0. Since every
continuous function on may be approximated by functions in C 1 .C/, we get the
expected conclusion. Hence, the closed curves that gives a line integral identically
zero are exactly the curves with vanishing index.
Example 6.10. By the previous example if 1 , 2 are two cycles withR1 D 2 and
Ind.1 ; z/ D Ind.2 ; z/ for every point z … 1 D 2 , then one has 1 f .z/dz D
R
2 f .z/dz for each function f continuous on the compact set 1 D 2 .
This is the case when 2 is a closed curve obtained from 1 by an orienta-
tion preserving change of parameter; that is, 1 W Œa; b ! C, 2 W Œc; d ! C,
' W Œc; d ! Œa; b with ' 0 .t / > 0 and 2 D 1 B ' (see Section 3.1).
Example 6.11. Formula (6.1) may also be applied to compute complex integrals.
For example, if f 2 C 1 .U /, where U is a domain that contains the segment Œ1; 1,

pa cycle with U n Œ1; 1, 0.U / and g.z/ is the holomorphic branch
is
of z 2 1 on C n Œ1; 1 that is positive on .1; 1/, by (6.1), it turns out that
Z “
1 N .z/g.z/ Ind.; z/d m.z/
f .z/g.z/dz @f
2i C
Z 1 p
D Ind.; 0/ f .t/ 1 t 2 dt:
1
Taking, in particular, f .z/ D z 2 , one has

Z p
4 z 2 z 2 1dz D i Ind.; 0/:

6.2.3 Cauchy–Green’s formula with multiplicities and Cauchy’s

integral formula
In this subsection the versions of Cauchy–Green’s formula and Cauchy’s integral
formula which correspond to the homological version of Green’s formula (Theo-
rem 6.8) are given.
The first one is a decomposition formula that gives any function f as the sum
of a holomorphic one and a term which depends only on @f N .
Theorem 6.12 (Homological version of Cauchy–Green’s formula). Let U be a

domain of the plane, a cycle homologous to zero with respect to U and f a
N continuous on U . Then for z 2 U n one has
differentiable function with @f
Z “
1 f .w/ 1 @f 1
Ind .; z/f .z/ D dw Ind .; w/ d m.w/:
2 i w z C @w x wz
Proof. Fix a point z 2 U n and take " > 0 small enough such that D.z; "/\ D
x "/ U . If " .t / D z C "e it , 0 t 2 (the circle centered at z
; and D.z;
and radius " travelled in the positive sense), the cycle " D Ind .; z/" is
homologous to zero with respect to the open set U n fzg. Actually, if w … U , since
Ind ." ; w/ D 0 and Ind .; w/ D 0 (as 0 .U /) one also has Ind ." ; z/ D 0
and for w D z, Ind ." ; z/ D Ind .; z/ Ind .; z/ D 0. Applying equality (6.1)
to the function fwz
.w/
and to the cycle " , it turns out that
Z Z “
f .w/ f .w/ @f 1
dw Ind .; z/ dw D 2i Ind ." ; w/ d m.w/
wz " w z C @w x wz
“ “
@f 1 @f 1
D 2i Ind .; w/ d m.w/ Ind .; z/ d m.w/:
C @wx wz x wz
D.z;"/ @w
Letting " ! 0 and using the fact that w ! @@fwx wz

1
is integrable, one gets
“
@f 1
lim d m.z/ D 0;
"!0
D.z;"/ @wx wz
and the result follows.
When f 2 H.U /, one has as a particular case, a homological version of
Cauchy’s integral formula.
Theorem 6.13 (Homological version of Cauchy’s integral formula). If U is a
domain of the plane, a cycle in U homologous to zero with respect to U and
f 2 H.U /, one has
Z
1 f .w/
Ind .; z/f .z/ D dw; z 2 U n ; (6.3)
2 i w z
and also
Z
nŠ f .w/
Ind .; z/f .n/ .z/ D dw; z 2 U n ; n D 1; 2; : : : :
2 i .w z/nC1
The second equality is obtained from the first one by differentiating with re-
spect to z under the integral and bearing in mind that Ind .; / is constant on the
neighborhood of a point z … .
The formula (6.3) may be obtained directly from Cauchy’s theorem (Theo-
rem 6.5) applied to the holomorphic function
f .w/ f .z/
g.w/ D if w ¤ z and g.z/ D f 0 .z/:
wz
Next some examples of applications of Cauchy’s theorem and Cauchy’s integral
formula are given.
Example 6.14. If U is simply connected, f R2 H.U /, a 2 U and is a cycle of U
not containing a, the possible values of 21 i fwa
.w/
dw are Ind .; a/f .a/, that is,
R ew
an integer multiplied by f .a/. For example, 21 i C w1 dw, where C is a circle
not passing through 1, is 0 if 1 is in the exterior of C and e if 1 is in the interior
of C .
Example 6.15. Suppose that U is simply connected, f 2 H.U / (for example,

U D C and f an entire function), a; b 2 U , a ¤ b, and C is a circle inside U
which does not pass through a, b (always positively oriented). Compute all possible
values of Z
1 f .z/
I D dz:
2 i C .z a/.z b/
If a, b are in the exterior of C one has I D 0, by Cauchy’s theorem applied to
f .z/
the function g.z/ D .za/.zb/ , which is holomorphic on the interior of C . If a is
inside C and b is outside, then I D fab .a/
, by Cauchy’s integral formula applied to
g.z/ D fzb.z/
, which is holomorphic inside C . Similarly, if b is inside C and a is
outside, I D fba .b/
, by Cauchy’s integral formula applied to g.z/ D fza
.z/
. Consider
finally the case both a and b are in the interior of C . Let C1 , C2 be two small
circles centered respectively at a,b, inside C and positively oriented. In the open
f .z/
set U n fa; bg, where .za/.zb/ is holomorphic, the cycle C is homologous to
C1 C C2 ; thus,
Z Z
1 f .z/ 1 f .z/
I D dz C dz
2 i C1 .z a/.z b/ 2 i C2 .z a/.z b/
f .a/ f .b/ f .a/ f .b/
D C D :
ab ba ab
R
Example 6.16. If is the path of Figure 6.3, compute I D sin z
z4 dz. Using
Cauchy’s integral formula for derivatives, it yields
Ind.; 0/.sin/.3/ .0/ 2. cos 0/ 2

I D 2 i D 2 i D i:
3Š 6 3
Figure 6.3
6.3. The residue theorem and the argument principle in a homological version 219
6.3 The residue theorem and the argument principle in

a homological version
There is also a homological version of the residue theorem that is, indeed, a gener-
alization of Cauchy’s theorem (Theorem 6.5) when f has singularities.
Theorem 6.17 (Homological version of the residue theorem). Let U be a domain of
the complex plane and let A be a discrete and closed subset of U . Let f 2 H.U nA/
be such that each point a 2 A is an isolated singularity of f , and let be a cycle
inside U n A, homologous to zero with respect to U . Then one has
Z X
1
f .z/dz D Ind .; a/ Res .f; a/:
2 i
a2A
Remark 6.2. Both terms of the previous equality are well defined: the one on the
left-hand side, because f 2 C. /, and the one on the right-hand side is, actually,
a finite sum because each bounded component of C n is inside a compact subset
of U that has at most a finite number of points of A.
Proof. Let a1 ; : : : ; aN be the points of A with Ind .; aj / ¤ 0. For each j D
1; : : : ; N let j be a small circle centered at aj , travelled in a direct sense, not con-
taining in its interior any other point ai , i ¤ j , and not intersecting (Figure 6.4).
U

a2
a1
a4
a3
Figure 6.4
Then the cycle

X
N
Ind .; aj /j
j D1
is homologous to zero with respect to the open set U n A. By Cauchy’s theorem it

turns out that
Z X
N Z
1 1
f .z/dz D Ind.; aj / f .z/dz:
2 i 2 i j
j D1
Since each of the integrals of the right-hand side term is 2 i Res .f; aj /, the theorem
follows.
Cauchy’s theorem is the particular case A D ; in the previous theorem. Cauchy’s

formula is also a particular case: if f 2 H.U /, 0 with respect to U and
z 2 U n , apply the residue theorem to g.w/ D fwz .w/
, with A D fzg and
Res .g; z/ D f .z/, to obtain
Z Z
1 f .w/ 1
dw D g.w/dw D Ind .; z/f .z/:
2 i w z 2 i
Finally, the corresponding version of the argument principle may be stated.
Theorem 6.18 (Homological version of the argument principle). Let U be a domain
of C and f a meromorphic function on U . Let faj g be the zeros of f in U , with
nj the multiplicity of aj , and let fbj g the poles of f in U , with mj the multiplicity
of bj . Let be a cycle inside U not passing through any pole nor any zero of f
such that 0 with respect to U . Consider also a function h holomorphic on U .
Then one has
Z X X
1 f 0 .z/
h.z/ dz D h.aj /nj Ind .; aj / h.bj /mj Ind .; bj /: (6.4)
2 i f .z/
j j
Proof. Proceed as in the proof of Theorem 5.25, but using now the homological
version of the residue theorem (Theorem 6.17).
Homological versions of Corollary 5.26 and Theorem 5.27, can be properly

stated by the reader.
6.4 Cauchy’s theorem for locally exact differential forms

Cauchy’s theorem asserts that the integral of the form ! D f .z/ dz, with f holo-
morphic on U , along a cycle homologous to zero with respect to U , is zero. It is
6.4. Cauchy’s theorem for locally exact differential forms 221
natural to ask if this result also holds when ! is a general 1-form ! D P dx CQ dy,
locally exact. Note that ! D f .z/ dz is locally exact if and only if f is holomor-
phic. The answer is affirmative and it is given by the following result (see [4]).
Theorem 6.19 (Cauchy’s theorem for differential forms). If ! D P dx C Q dy is
a locally exact 1-form in a domain U C, with continuous coefficients P; Q on
U and is a cycle, 0 with respect to U , then one has
Z
! D 0:

R
Consequently, if 1 ; 2 are homologous chains with respect to U , one has !D
R 1
2 !.
This result may be found in [1], Theorem 16. In this book, the author gives a
geometric proof and asks if it is possible to modify the proof of Cauchy’s theorem
so that it covers this more general case. Imposing the form ! has coefficients
P; Q 2 C 1 .U /, then the answer to this question is Theorem 6.8. Actually, this
theorem is a proof of Cauchy’s theorem (formula (6.1) when @f @zN
D 0) and formula
(6.2) gives Theorem 6.19 when ! is locally exact and C 1 , because then ! is closed,
that is, Py D Qx . The general case of Theorem 6.19, for ! only continuous,
may be proved with a standard process of regularization of the form !, making
convolutions with an approximation to the identity. This process, already used in
the proof of Theorem 6.8, appears in the proof of the following statement, stressed
here because it is a characterization, by duality, of locally exact forms.
Proposition 6.20. In a domain U of the plane, a continuous 1-form ! D P dx C
Qdy is locally exact if and only if
“
@' @'
P Q dxdy D 0 (6.5)
U @y @x
for every C 1 function ' with compact support contained in U .
x U then ! D dh, for some function h, and if '
Proof. If ! is exact in a disc D
has support in D it follows by Green’s formula that
“ Z
@h @' @h @' @' @'
dxdy D h dx C h dy D 0:
U @x @y @y @x @D @x @y
Using partitions of unity we see that every C 1 function with compact support in U
is a finite sum of functions of the same kind which have support in discs and then
we obtain (6.5) for ' 2 C 1 with spt.'/ U .
Conversely, if condition (6.5) holds, let ˆ " with " > 0 be an approximation of
the identity, that is, ˆ" .x; y/ D "2 ˆ x" ; y" with ˆ 2 C 1 .C/, spt.ˆ/ D x and
’
C ˆdxdy D 1. Consider now forms ! " D P " dx C Q" dy with
“
P " .x; y/ D P .t; s/ˆ" .x t; y s/ dt ds;
C
“ (6.6)
Q .x; y/ D
"
Q.t; s/ˆ" .x t; y s/ dt ds:
C
Then ! " is C 1 on U" D fz 2 U W d.z; U C / > "g and ! " ! ! (i.e. P " ! P ,
"!0
Q" ! Q if " ! 0), uniformly on compact sets of U .
Now, if z D x C iy 2 U" , one has
“
@Q" @P " @ˆ"
.x; y/ .x; y/ D Q.t; s/ .x t; y s/ dt ds
@x @y C @x
“
@ˆ"
P .t; s/ .x t; y s/ dt ds
@y
“ C
@ˆ"
D Q.t; s/ .x t; y s/ dt ds
C @t
“
@ˆ"
P .t; s/ .x t; y s/ dt ds D 0;
C @s
R
by (6.5). Thus, ! " is closed and of class C 1 and, by (6.2), @
! " D 0 for each
triangle contained
R in U and " > 0 small enough. Since ! " ! ! uniformly on
, one has @
! D 0 and ! is locally exact (Corollary 3.12).
Pn
Remark 6.3. Proposition 6.20 may extend to continuous 1-formsR! D iD1 Pi dxi
in open sets U of Rn . Then condition (6.5) must be replaced by U ! ^ d
D 0 for
each .n 2/-form
of class C 1 with compact support inside U . This condition,
which is (6.5) when n D 2, replaces the condition d! D 0 that ! satisfies when it
is C 1 and locally exact. When it is satisfied we say that the equality d! D 0 holds
in the weak sense (see Subsection 7.7.2).
Proof of Theorem 6.19. Take the compact set K and the function as in the proof of
Theorem 6.8 and change P and Q by P and Q , so ! is now P dx C Qdy.
Define, for " > 0, the forms ! " , as in the proof of Proposition 6.20; that is,
! " D P " dx C Q" dy with P " , Q" given by (6.6) from P and Q .
Then one has Z Z
! D lim !":
"!0
" 1
Now the forms ! are C and, according to the proof of Proposition 6.20, satisfy
Qx" D Py" on Ra neighborhood of K if ! is locally
R exact. Hence, we can apply (6.2)
which yields ! D 0 and, consequently, ! D 0.
"

6.5. Characterizations of simply connected domains 223
6.5 Characterizations of simply connected domains

There are several ways to characterize, from a topological point of view, simply
connected domains. The aim is to rigorously state the idea that the domain has
no “hole”. A result in this sense is Proposition 6.4, which uses the concept of a
cycle homologous to zero. There is another characterization which only requires
us to consider Jordan curves contained in the domain, and even another one taking
account of the boundary. All of them are given in the following statement:
Theorem 6.21. For a domain U of the complex plane, the following are equivalent:
a) U is simply connected, that is, C n U is connected.
b) Every cycle contained in U is homologous to zero with respect to U .
c) For every closed Jordan curve with U , one has Int. / U .
d) The boundary of U in C is connected.
Proof. The equivalence between a) and b) is Proposition 6.4. The equivalence

between b) and c) is a consequence of Remark 6.1 and the proof of Proposition 6.4.
In order to prove the equivalence with d) suppose, without loss of generality, that
U contains the point at infinity and so K D C n U is compact. If C is a connected
component of K, one has @C D C \ @K; thus, each non-trivial component of K
contains at least a non trivial component of @K D @U , a fact which proves that
d) implies a). In order to show the converse, suppose U is simply connected, that
is K is connected, and @K is not connected. Then @K is the union of two disjoint
compact sets E1 , E2 . Let " > 0 be the distance between E1 , E2 and consider, as in
Lemma 6.6, a grid of the plane formed by closed squares of diagonal strictly smaller
than "; let Q be the union of the squares which intersect E1 in such a way that E2
is in the exterior of Q. Remark 6.1 shows that the boundary of Q is composed by
closed Jordan polygonal curves 1 ; : : : ; n , so that every point of E1 is inside one
of the polygons Int.i / and, by construction, these polygonal curves do not meet
@K. Consequently, one of them, say , has a point of E1 in its interior, Int./.
Since E1 is a part of the boundary of U , Int./ intersects U and also K. The
same may be said about the exterior of , Ext./, because it contains E2 . Hence,
U intersects both Int and Ext./ and, being connected, will meet the polygonal
curve ; similarly, the connected set K intersects Int./ and Ext./ and, therefore,
K \ ¤ ;. Summarizing, the polygonal curve intersects U and also K and,
therefore, @K \ ¤ ; which is a contradiction.
Generically, one can say that local properties of holomorphic functions hold
globally on simply connected domains. Moreover, the validity of these properties
characterizes analytically these domains, as the following result specifies:
Theorem 6.22. For a domain U of the complex plane the following are equivalent:
a) U is simply connected.
b) RFor every function f 2 H.U / and every cycle contained in U , one has
f .z/dz D 0.
c) Every holomorphic function on U has a holomorphic antiderivative on U .

d) Every real harmonic function on U has a conjugated harmonic function on
U and it is, thus, the real part of a holomorphic function.
e) Every non-vanishing holomorphic function on U admits a branch of the log-
arithm on U .
f) Every non-vanishing holomorphic function on U admits a branch of the
square root on U .
g) For every function u, real and harmonic on U , there is a function f , holo-
morphic and non-vanishing on U , such that u D Log jf j on U .
h) Every locally exact 1-form with continuous coefficients on U is exact on U .
R
Proof. If U is simply connected, the conclusion of Cauchy’s theorem, f .z/dz D
0, holds for all f 2 H.U / and for every cycle U and, therefore, a) ) b). On
the other hand, b) ) c) by Theorem 3.13.
The implication c) ) d) has already appeared in Subsection 3.7.3; if u is real
harmonic on U , consider the holomorphic function f D ux i uy . If F 0 D f
and v D Re F , then vx ivy D F 0 D f D ux i uy ; hence, Ou Å D OvÅ and,
thus, u v is a constant c. Then F C c has real part u, and its imaginary part is a
conjugated function of u.
If d) holds and f 2 H.U / does not have zeros, consider h D Log jf j. This
function is harmonic, by Corollary 4.31. If F is a holomorphic function with real
part h D Log jf j, then e F is holomorphic and has modulus e Re F D jf j; this
means that e F f has modulus 1, and so it is constant. If e F f D e i' , F C i' is
a branch of log f and e) holds.
If e) holds and f 2 H.U /, f .z/ ¤ 0 for z 2 U , there exists g 2 H.U / with
f D e g . Then the function h D e 1=2g satisfies h2 D f and f) follows.
The implication f) ) a) also holds. Actually if a) is false, there would exist, by
Theorem 6.21, a closed Jordan curve U and a point a … U with Ind.; a/ D 1.
Now, the function z ! z a is holomorphic and non-vanishing on U and it cannot
have any branch of the square root, because if f 2 H.U / satisfies f 2 .z/ D z a,
0
one would have za 1
D 2ff
, and so
Z Z
1 dz 1 f 0 .z/
1 D Ind.; a/ D D2 dz:
2 i z a 2 i f .z/
6.6. The first homology group of a domain and de Rham’s theorem. Homotopy 225
R 0
This yields 21 i ff dz D 12 , but taking D f B , this last integral is Ind.; 0/,
which is an integer. Hence, f) would not be true.
So far it has been proved that the first six assertions of the theorem are equivalent.
Assertion g) is a consequence of d). Actually, if u is real harmonic, one will
have by d) that u D Re g with g 2 H.U /. The function f D e g is holomorphic
and non-vanishing, and jf j D e u , that is, u D Log jf j.
Furthermore, if g) holds, then f) may be proved. Indeed, if g 2 H.U / has no
zeros, the function 12 Log jgj is harmonic and there will be f 2 H.U /, without
zeros, with 12 Log jgj D Log jf j. This means fg2 is holomorphic on U and has
modulus 1. Therefore, it is a constant e i˛ and the function e i˛=2 f is a square root
of g.
Finally, the equivalence a) , h) is proved as follows. Let ! be continuous and
locally exact. If U is simply connected, every
R cycle is homologous to 0 with
respect to U and, by Theorem 6.19, one has ! D 0, which means that ! is exact
on U . Conversely for every point a … U , the form za
1
dz is closed, and if h) holds,
R dz
it will be exact. Consequently za D 0, that is, Ind.; a/ D 0 whatever the
cycle of U be, which means that U is simply connected.
Remark 6.4. It is clear that statement e) is equivalent to saying that every holomor-
phic non-vanishing function on U has a branch of the argument on U , an assertion
that, by f), is equivalent to the existence of a branch of the square root.
Instead, in a non-simply connected domain there may be functions with a branch
of its square root but without a branch of its argument (Example 1.21).
6.6 The first homology group of a domain and de Rham’s

theorem. Homotopy
Let U be a domain of the complex plane. The relation 1 2 .U / (1 , 2 are
cycles homologous with respect to U ) states an equivalence relation in the set of all
cycles in U . Denote by z the equivalence class of and by H 1 .U / the quotient
set; H .U / is called the first homology group of U .
1
Consider now the space of real 1-forms of class C 1 that are closed in U ; this
space will be represented
R as TR.U /. By Green’s theorem (6.2), if 1 2 .U / and
! 2 T .U /, one has 1 ! D 2 !. This means that
Z
z
h; !i D !

is a good definition, that is, it does not depend on the chosen representative of the
z
class .
Within T .U / there are the exact forms, namely the ones of type ! D dh
with h 2 C 2 .U /, which form a subspace of T .U /, represented by E.U /. The
equivalence relation !1 !2 when !1 !2 is exact, has as quotient set the

quotient space T .U /=E.U /, called first differentiable cohomology group of U and
denoted by E 1 .U /. R R R
z !i
If !1 !2 is exact, then !1 D !2 , for any cycle . Hence, h; z D !
just depends on the equivalence class of ! in T .U /=E.U / D E 1 .U /, denoted by
z In short,
!. Z
z
h; !i
z D !

z 2 E 1 .U / gives a
is a well-defined duality between H .U / and E 1 .U /. Each !
1
mapping
z
I.!/
H 1 .U / ! R;
Z
z 7! h;
z !i
z D !;

which is a group homomorphism:
z 1 1 C n2 2 / D n1 I.!/.
I.!/.n z 1 / C n2 I.!/.
z 2 /; n1 ; n2 2 Z:
The space of all homomorphisms H 1 .U / ! R is called the first cohomology group

of U and is denoted by H 1 .U / .
Theorem 6.23 (de Rham’s theorem). The map ! z 7! I.!/z is a bijection between

E .U / and H .U / .
1 1
R R
Injectivity here means that if !1 , !2 are closed forms and !1 D !2 , for
every cycle inside U , then !1 !2 is exact. This is already known.
Surjectivity means that if one associates a real number a./ to each cycle of U
with a.1 / D a.2 / if 1 2 .U / and R a.n1 1 C n2 2 / D n1 a.1 / C n2 a.2 /,
then there is a closed form ! such that ! D a./ for each .
In the case U is simply connected, one has H 1 .U / D f0g and de Rham’s
theorem implies E 1 .U / D f0g, that is, every closed form is exact.
It may be proved that H 1 .U / is a free abelian group for every domain U . So
zi , i 2 I , are the generators, the numbers a.
if zi /, i 2 I , may be freely assigned.
R
Thus, a closed form ! is exact if and only if i ! D 0 for every i 2 I and
moreover Rfor any family .ai /i2I of real numbers, there is a closed form ! in U
such that i ! D ai , i 2 I .
The proof of Theorem 6.23 may be found in [13], p. 154. Here de Rham’s
theorem will be justified only in the particular case that U is an n-connected domain.
Recall this means that C n U has n connected components: the component C1 ,
which contains 1, and n1 bounded components C1 ; : : : ; Cn1 , which are compact
connected sets of C. In this case it may be proved that H 1 .U / is the free abelian
group Zn1 , generated by some closed paths i , i D 1; 2; : : : ; n 1 that wind
6.6. The first homology group of a domain and de Rham’s theorem. Homotopy 227
once around each “hole”, C1 ; : : : ; Cn1 of U (Figure 6.5). It is enough to consider

" < min d.Cj ; Cl /, j ¤ l, cover each component Cj by a finite number of squares
with diagonal smaller than " and take as j the boundary of the union of these
squares.
C1
U
C2
2
3
C3
C1
1
Figure 6.5
Since 1R; : : : ; n1 are generators of H 1 .U /, a closed form ! on U is exact if

and only if i ! D 0, j D 1; : : : ; n 1. In other words, de Rham’s mapping I.!/ Q
may be interpreted as Z
j 7! ! :
j j D1;:::;n1
It is easy to show that this mapping is onto. Actually, choose points ˛j 2 Cj ,

j D 1; : : : ; n 1; given a1 ; : : : ; an1 2 C, the form
1 X
n1
dz
!D aj
2 i z ˛j
j D1
is closed in U and satisfies

Z X
n1 Z X n1
1 dz
!D aj D aj ıj k D ak :
k 2 i k z ˛j
j D1 j D1
When ! is of the form f .z/dz with f holomorphic on U , this also shows

that E 1 .U / is isomorphic to H.U /=H.U /0 , where H.U / denotes, as always, the
space of holomorphic functions on U and H.U /0 is the subspace of functions with
holomorphic antiderivative. This holds for any domain U , but it will not be proved
here. Moreover, in the general case, in the definition of T .U / and E.U / the degree
of differentiability of the forms may be chosen. So, it is possible to work with C 1

forms in U or to consider that T .U / is the space of locally exact continuous 1-forms
in U and E.U / the subspace of exact ones (that is, which are the differential of a
function in C 1 .U /).
A concept related with the homology of paths is the one of homotopy. Two
closed curves 0 ; 1 W Œ0; 1 ! U are homotopic in U if there is a continuous map
H W Œ0; 1 Œ0; 1 ! U
such that H.t; 0/ D 0 .t /, H.t; 1/ D 1 .t /, for t 2 Œ0; 1, and H.0; s/ D H.1; s/,
for s 2 Œ0; 1. The function H is called a homotopy between 0 and 1 . One may
think of H as a family of closed curves s .t / D H.t; s/ that change continuously
from 0 to 1 . It is not difficult to show that two homotopic cycles in U , are
homologous with respect to U . The converse is not true; for example, in the open
set U D C n f1; 1g, let ˛, ˇ be the closed paths given by ˛.t / D 1 C e 2 it ,
ˇ.t / D 1 e 2 it , 0 t 1 and consider the cycles 1 D ˛ˇ˛ 1 ˇ 1 , 2 D
ˇ˛ˇ 1 ˛ 1 (here ˛ 1 denotes the opposite path to ˛ and ˛ˇ the composition of
paths, all of them parameterized on Œ0; 1). Then 1 , 2 are homologous with
respect to U , but they are not homotopic in U .
Example 6.24. Let U be an open set of the plane, starlike with respect to a point.
Suppose, without loss of generality, that 0 2 U and U is starlike with respect to the
origin (this means that for each point z 2 U , the segment Œ0; z is contained in U ).
Then, for each 0 < < 1, the dilation z ! z transforms U into itself, and when
goes from 0 to 1, defines a homotopy between any closed curve U and the
null curve reduced to the origin. Therefore, every closed curve of U is homologous
to 0 and U is simply connected. A particular case is when U is convex, because
then U is starlike with respect to all the points of U .
Fixing a point a 2 U and restricting all the considerations to closed paths starting
and ending at a, the relation 1 2 if 1 , 2 are homotopic in U is an equivalence
relation. The quotient set is called the first homotopy group or fundamental group
with base at the point a, and it is denoted by ….U; a/. For two points a; b 2 U ,
….U; a/ and ….U; b/ are isomorphic and one speaks, simply, about the fundamental
group ….U /. This group is not abelian in general. A basic theorem of algebraic
topology states that H 1 .U / is the abelianization of ….U / (the quotient of ….U /
by its commutator).
Of course, if ….U / is trivial, then so is H 1 .U /. The example given above
shows that two homologous cycles are not necessarily homotopic. But it is true that
if H 1 .U / is trivial (all the cycles are homologous to zero), then ….U / is also trivial
(all the cycles are homotopic to a point). In particular, U is simply connected if
and only if ….U / is trivial.
6.7. Harmonic functions on n-connected domains 229
Example 6.25. If U is simply connected and W T ! U is a continuous mapping,

then .T / is a closed curve in U that, as said, must be homotopic to a point.
The function H.t; s/ that defines the homotopy gives, for each s 2 Œ0; 1, a closed
curve which may be parameterized by the circle with center 0 and radius s. Hence, a
x is obtained. That is, every continuous
continuous extension of to the closed disc D
mapping from T to U , U being simply connected, is the restriction of a continuous
mapping from D x to U .
In summary, it has been shown that the equation dh D ! D P dx C Qdy or,
equivalently, the system of equations
@h @h
D P; D Q;
@x @y
with P; Q 2 C 1 .U / satisfying @P
@y
D @Q
@x
, has as many obstructions as H 1 .U / has
generators. Simply connected open sets are the only domains where these equations
may be solved without restrictions.
However, the same question for 2-forms, that is, solving d! D ' dx^dy, where
now ! D P dx C Q dy is the unknown (see Subsection 3.6.4 for the definition of
d!), is equivalent to the equation
@Q @P
D'
@x @y
with ' a given function on U , and here there is no obstruction for a domain U of the
plane. This is equivalent to the cancellation of a second homology group, H 2 .U /.
As an ending remark, it is important to say that the definition of H 1 .U / given in
this section is specific for plane domains since it is based on the winding number. In
general, homology groups in any topological space are defined using other concepts.
6.7 Harmonic functions on n-connected domains

According to Theorem 6.22, a domain U is simply connected if and only if every
real harmonic function on U is the real part of a holomorphic function on U , that
is, it has a conjugated harmonic on U . If U is not simply connected and ˛ 2 C is a
point of a bounded component of C n U , the function Log jz ˛j is harmonic on
U and does not have a conjugated harmonic on U .
Once again by Theorem 6.22, one knows that U is simply connected when
every function u, real and harmonic on U , may be written as, u D Log jf j, with
f 2 H.U / non-vanishing on U . Theorem 5.20 shows that the general expression
of a real harmonic function on an annulus U centered at the origin, the typical
example of a 2-connected domain, is
u.z/ D a Log jzj C Re f
with f holomorphic on U and a 2 R. Setting

ˇ ˇ
ˇ f ˇˇ
ˇ
u D a Log ˇz exp ˇ
a
it follows that every real harmonic function u on U is written as a Log jgj with
g holomorphic on U , non-vanishing, and a a real constant. Next the ideas of
Section 6.6 will be used to generalize this fact to all n-connected domains.
In the previous argumentation, if the constant a is an integer, one may write
u D a Log jgj D Log jg a j with g a holomorphic (see Theorem 6.27).
Theorem 6.26. Let U be an n-connected domain, C1 ; : : : ; Cn1 the bounded com-

ponents of C n U , 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; n1 a system of regular closed curves which gen-
erate H 1 .U / and ˛j 2 Cj , for j D 1; : : : ; n 1. Then the general expression of a
real harmonic function on U is
1 X
n1
u.z/ D aj Log jz ˛j j C Re f
2
j D1
R
where f is holomorphic on U and aj D j @uÅ ds (N Å is the exterior unit normal
@N
vector to j ). Thus, u is the real part of a holomorphic function if and only if aj D 0
for j D 1; : : : ; n 1.
Also
X
n1
u.z/ D bj Log jfj j;
j D1
with fj 2 H.U / non-vanishing and bj 2 R, is the general expression of real

harmonic functions on U .
Proof. Recall that the function u, harmonic on U , is the real part of a holomorphic
function if and only if the holomorphic function h D ux i uy D 2 @u @z
has a
holomorphic antiderivative on U ; that is, if for every closed path contained in U ,
one has Z Z
h.z/dz D i d u D 0; (6.7)

R R
with d u D uy dx C ux dy and d u D @uÅ ds, where N Å is the exterior unit
@N
normal vector to (see Subsection 3.7.3).
As seen in Section 6.6, since 1 ; : : : ; n1 are closed paths generating H 1 .U /,
condition (6.7) is equivalent to
Z
h.z/dz D 0 j D 1; : : : ; n 1:
j
6.7. Harmonic functions on n-connected domains 231
Now, given u a harmonic function on U , consider the associated holomorphic

function h D ux i uy , define the constants aj , j D 1; : : : ; n 1, by
Z Z
h.z/dz D i d u D i aj
j j
and write
1 X
n1
v.z/ D u.z/ aj Log jz ˛j j:
2
j D1
The harmonic function uj .z/ D Log jz ˛j j has the associated holomorphic func-
1 Pn1
tion hj D .uj /x i.uj /y D z˛
1
j
, so that h0 D vx ivy D h 2 j D1 aj hj is
the associated one to the harmonic function v.
Since
Z Z
1 X
n1
dz
h0 .z/dz D i ak aj
k 2
j D1 k z ˛j
X
n1
D i ak i aj ıj k D 0; k D 1; 2; : : : ; n 1;
j D1
it turns out that h0 satisfies condition (6.7) and, hence, v D Re f with f holomor-
phic on U .
Finally, one may ask which functions u, real and harmonic on a domain U ,
may be written as u D Log jgj with g holomorphic and non-vanishing on U . If
u D Log jgj, one has
g0
h D ux i uy D ;
g
and, therefore,
Z Z Z 0
1 1 1 g .z/
d uD h.z/dz D D Ind .g B ; 0/;
2 2 i 2 i g.z/
which is an integer number, for every closed curve contained in U . This necessary
condition is also sufficient.
Theorem 6.27. If U is a domain of the plane, a real harmonic function u on U is
of the form u D Log jgj with g non-vanishing holomorphic on U if and only if the
integral Z
1
d u
2
is integer for any closed path contained in U .
Proof. The proof of the sufficiency will be done only in the case of n-connected
domains. Using the notations of the proof of Theorem 6.26, one has aj D 2kj
with kj 2 Z. Then, by the same theorem, it turns out that
X ˇ n1 ˇ
ˇY
n1
ˇ
u.z/ D kj Log jz ˛j j C Re f D Log ˇ .z ˛j /kj exp.f /ˇ
j D1 j D1
Qn1
and g D j D1 .z ˛j /kj exp.f / is holomorphic and without zeros in U .
6.8 Exercises
1. Let U be a domain of the plane. Show that if the boundary of U in C does
not have any bounded component, then U is simply connected.
2. Show that a domain U is simply connected if and only if for every bounded
open set V with @V U , one has V U .
3. Let U1 , U2 be two simply connected domains of C such that U1 \ U2 is

connected and non-empty. Prove that U1 [ U2 is a simply connected domain.
4. Show that the union of an increasing sequence of simply connected domains

is simply connected.
5. Consider the cycle D 1 2 with j .t / D rj e it for j D 1; 2, 0

t 2 and 0 r2 < r1 , and let f 2 C 1 .U / where U is an open set and
[ fz W Ind.; z/ ¤ 0g U . Show directly that Green’s theorem holds
for and f (formula (6.1)). Use this result to provide a proof of Lemma 6.7.
6. Show that if is a closed curve in C, then the bounded components of C n

are simply connected, while the unbounded component is doubly connected.
7. Prove that if K is a compact set of the plane and f a holomorphic function

on a neighborhood of K, then f may be approximated, uniformly on K, by
linear combinations of functions of the form z ! zw1
with w … K.
8. Prove that two closed curves which are homotopic in a domain U are also
homologous in U . Show that the converse is true for the domain U D Cnf0g.
x ! C be continuous and put .t / D f .e it /, 0 t 2. If w 2 C
9. Let f W D
and Ind .; w/ ¤ 0, show that f takes the value w in the unit disc D.
x !D
10. Let f W D x be a continuous function. Show that f has a fix point in D.
x
6.8. Exercises 233
11. Prove the fundamental theorem of algebra, that is, every polynomial P with
degree greater than or equal to 1 has at least a complex root. Do this by
computing Ind .r ; 0/, where r is the image of the circle C.0; r/ by the
polynomial P .
and 1 in the
12. Show that in every domain U of the plane that has the points 1 p
same connected component of C n U , a branch of the function 1 z 2 may
be defined. Determine all the possible values of the integral
Z
dz
p
1 z2
when is a piecewise regular closed curve of U .
13. State and prove a version of Rouché’s theorem (Theorem 5.31) for two func-
tions f , g continuous on a compact set K C and holomorphic on the
interior of K.
P
14. Let f .z/ D 1 nD0 cn z in the unit disc D and let F D be a closed set
n
which contains the origin. Write m D inffjf .z/j W z 2 @F g and let N be the
number of zeros of f that belong to F . Prove that
m jc0 j C jc1 j C C jcN j:
Show also that this estimate improves when applied to the sequence of powers
of f .
15. Let U be an annulus centered at the origin. Prove the following statements:
a) If 1 and 2 are two cycles of U and f 2 H.U /, then
Z Z
Ind .1 ; 0/ f .z/ dz D Ind.2 ; 0/ f .z/ dz:
2 1
b) If f 2 H.U / does not vanish on U , then f has a branch of the logarithm

in U if and only if Ind.f B ; 0/ D 0 for every cycle of U such that
Ind.; 0/ ¤ 0. Show that in this case one has indeed, Ind.f B ; 0/ D 0
for each cycle of U .
16. Let be a cycle homologous to zero with respect to the domain U and
f 2 H.U /. Prove the following formulae:
Z “
1 0 1
f .z/f .z/dz D jf 0 .z/j2 Ind .; z/ d m.z/
2 i C
“ X
1
D Ind .; z/ d m.w/:
C 1
z2f .w/
If Ind .; z/ 2 f0; 1g for every point z … , setting G D fz W Ind .; z/ D 1g,
the last integral is
“
1
#fz 2 G W f .z/ D wgd m.w/
C
and it represents the area of f .G/ counting multiplicities (the notation #A is
used to denote the number of elements of a finite set A).
17. Let be a regular cycle homologous to zero with respect to the domain U
and f; g 2 C 2 .U /. Prove the following formulae:
i)
Z Z
@g Å @g Å
f ; T jdzj C i f ; N jdzj
@zN @zN
“
i
D fN.z/g.z/
N Ind .; z/ d m.z/:
2 C
“
@fN @gN
C 2i .z/ .z/ Ind .; z/ d m.z/:
C @z N @z
ii)
Z “
@g Å Ogi/.z/
Å
f jdzj D .f g C hOf; Ind.; z/ d m .z/
Å
@N C
iii)
Z “
@g @f @g @f @g
f jdzj D .z/ Ind.; z/ d m .z/:
@TÅ C @x @y @y @x
As usual, TÅ , N
Å denote the unit tangent vector and the exterior unit
normal vector to , respectively. In formula i) a complex number and
the corresponding vector of R2 are identified.
18. Compute Z
sh 5z
dz:
C.0;3=2/ .1 C z 2 /z 2
19. Let be the ellipse centered at the origin with semi-axis a; b > 0, travelled
in the positive sense. Compute
Z 2
dt
0 a cos t C b 2 sin2 t
2 2
using Ind .; 0/.

6.8. Exercises 235
20. Let U be an n-connected domain of C and C1 ; C2 ; : : : ; Cn1 ; C1 the con-

nected components of C n U (1 2 C1 ). Prove that there exist cycles
1 ; 2 ; : : : ; n1 in U such that
Ind.j ; a/ D 1 if a 2 Cj ;
j D 1; : : : ; n 1:
Ind.j ; a/ D 0 if a 2 .C n U / n Uj ;
Show now that for any cycle in U there exists a unique linear combination
a1 1 C C an1 n1 with a1 ; : : : ; an1 2 Z such that
a1 1 C C an1 n1 with respect to U:

Chapter 7
Harmonic functions
With the results of Section 3.7 it has been established that, in the case of domains
of the complex plane, there is an important link between complex analysis and the
theory of harmonic functions. Just recall, for example, that every real harmonic
function is locally the real part of a holomorphic function. More significantly, holo-
morphic functions correspond locally with vector fields that are both conservative
and solenoidal, and these vector fields are exactly the gradients of the harmonic
functions.
In this chapter, harmonic functions and the Laplace operator will be studied
systematically in the context of real variables. The main problems to deal with are
the Dirichlet problem, the Neumann problem and the solution of the Poisson equa-
tion. The Poisson equation, with boundary conditions, leads to non-homogeneous
Dirichlet and Neumann problems.
Since much of the development is in terms of real variables, we have chosen to
work on domains of Rn , highlighting explicitly the specifities of the case n D 2
and their relation with the theory of holomorphic functions.
The Laplace operator appears in most of the equations of classical mathematical
physics, a major reason why the relation between harmonic or holomorphic func-
tions and problems of physics is of great interest. The chapter starts by describing
in detail some examples of this relationship.
7.1 Problems of classical physics and harmonic functions

7.1.1 Distribution of heat in the stationary case
Suppose that a substance fills up a body C in the space R3 , on which a heat flow is
distributed. Denote by T .x; t/ the temperature at the point x 2 C at the instant t .
When the temperature does not depend on t , one says that the distribution is sta-
tionary. Consider also the heat flow vector field H Å .x; t / which, at any point and
at any instant, indicates the direction and the quantity of the heat flow. This way,
if S isR a closed surface contained in C and N Å is the unit normal vector exterior
to S, S hH Å; N
Å i dA represents the amount of heat flow that leaves C through S .
Fourier’s law states that, at any instant, HÅ D k rTÅ holds, where k > 0 is the
thermal conductivity. This equation translates the intuitive fact that the heat flow
goes from the warmer areas to the colder ones, with an intensity proportional to
the difference of temperatures. Other variables that take part here are the density
and the heat capacity c of the substance that fills up the body C ; one may think of
7.1. Problems of classical physics and harmonic functions 237
c.x/ as the amount of heat required to increase by one degree the temperature one
gram of a substance located at the point x. Suppose that B is a ball inside C with
boundary S ; the heat flow that enters through S between two instants t1 < t2 is
Z t2 Z Z t2 Z
Å N Å i dA dt D @T
khrT; k dA dt:
t1 S t1 S @NÅ
If there are heat sources with known density F .x; t /, the quantity of heat that has
entered inside B during a time interval .t1 ; t2 / is
Z t2 Z Z t2 Z
@T
F d V dt C k dA dt:
t1 B t1 S @N Å
This quantity of heat has been invested in passing from the distribution T at the
moment t1 to the distribution T at the moment t2 ; therefore, it is equal to
Z Z Z t2
@T
c.x/ .x/.T .x; t2 / T .x; t1 // d V .x/ D c.x/ .x/ dt d V .x/:
B B t1 @t
Equating and applying the divergence theorem to the integral over S , it turns out
that
Z Z t2 Z Z t2
@T Å
c.x/ .x/ div.k.x/rT / dt d V .x/ D F dt d V:
B t1 @t B t1
Since this holds for every ball and every time interval, this leads to the partial
differential equation that controls the heat diffusion,
@T Å / D F:
c.x/ .x/ div.k.x/rT
@t
When c, and k are constants one finds
@T
a T D F;
@t
with a constant.
In general, in order to find the distribution of heat T .; t / at every instant t > 0,
one needs to know the initial distribution T .; 0/ and the boundary conditions on C .
In the stationary case, one gets T D F and so the distribution of the temperature
is a harmonic function on the domains where there is no heat source. The boundary
conditions might be to know T (room temperature) or @TÅ (insulation meaning that
@N
this derivative is zero) at the boundary. The problem
T D 0; T .x/ D '.x/; x 2 @C;

238 Chapter 7. Harmonic functions
with a function ' defined on @C , is a first example of Dirichlet’s problem, and the
problem
@T
T D 0; .x/ D '.x/; x 2 @C;
@NÅ
with a function ' given on @C , is an example of Neumann’s problem.
The level surfaces of T , T .x/ D c, are the isothermal surfaces. The problem of
the distribution of heat may be also stated on a plane domain. In this case T .x/ D c
defines the isothermal lines. If the harmonic function T has a conjugated harmonic
function Tz , the level lines of Tz , which are perpendicular to the isothermal lines
(Section 3.7.3), are the ones followed by the flow.
7.1.2 Newtonian vector fields

A newtonian vector field on R3 is a vector field given by a mass distribution, accord-
ing to Newton’s law of universal gravitation. In the case of a point mass located at
the origin, the vector field is, except for some constant,
x
XÅ.x/ D 3 ; x 2 R3 :
jxj
If the mass distribution is given by a density in a body C , one has to add the vector
fields given by all infinitesimal masses .y/ d V .y/ and so the field is given by
Z
xy
XÅ.x/ D .y/ d V .y/:
C jx yj
3
A newtonian vector field is always conservative: just observe that, in the case of a
point mass, one has
x Å 1 :
3 Dr
jxj jxj
In the case of a density , summing up it turns out that
Z Z
xy Å 1
.y/ d V .y/ D r .y/ d V .y/;
C jx yj C jx yj
3
so that Z
1
ˆ.x/ D .y/ d V .y/
C jx yj
is the potential function of the vector field. This potential is called newtonian
potential. The same considerations hold for electric fields, since Coulomb’s law is
formally equal to Newton’s law.
An easy computation shows that for the unit point mass the equality
x
div D0 if x ¤ 0;
jxj3
holds, and hence also

Z
xy
div .y/d V .y/ D 0 if x … C :
C jx yj3
This means that the flow of the vector field XÅ is zero on every surface that
contains no mass in its interior. Now, newtonian vector fields are not solenoidal;
for a point mass, if S is the sphere of radius r centered at the origin, the scalar
Å N
product hX; Å i equals 12 . Therefore, the flow through S is
r
Z
hXÅ; N
Å idA D 4:
S
This will be also the flow through any closed surface having the point mass inside,
as it may be seen applying the divergence theorem to the difference between the
surface and a sphere. If S D @C is a surface that wraps a body C and there is no
mass on S , it yields Gauss’ law, asserting that the flow of a vector field through S
is 4M , where M is the total mass contained in C . It may be formulated with
the equality Z Z
hXÅ; N
Å i dA D 4 d V:
S C
Over domains where the vector field XÅ and the potential ˆ are regular enough,
R R
the divergence theorem gives S hXÅ; N
Å i dA D Å
C div X d V and one has
div XÅ D 4 ; or div.grad ˆ/ D ˆ D 4 :
This last equation is an example of Poisson’s equation. In particular, the po-

tential ˆ is a harmonic function on the regions without mass or charge. So far, the
setting has been R3 ; now, if is independent from one of the three variables, so is
ˆ, and hence it is also interesting to study Poisson’s equation in dimension 2. In
this chapter it will be seen in detail when the vector field or the potential are regular
enough and how Poisson’s equation must be interpreted in general.
7.1.3 Flow of an ideal fluid

a) The continuity equation. Consider a region of the space where a fluid flows,
a liquid for example. How may the motion of the fluid be described? At first one
must consider a velocity vector field XÅ.x; t / which indicates the velocity of the
particle that at the instant t is at x and also the density of the fluid, .x; t /, so that
Z
.x; t / d V .x/
C
is the total mass of fluid contained inside the domain C , at the instant t . Furthermore,
we can consider the trajectories t .x/ that denote the position, at the instant t , of
the particle that at the instant t D 0 is located at x; the trajectories are the solutions
of the system of differential equations
dy
D XÅ.y; t /; y.0/ D x:
dt
Impose, now, the law of conservation of mass. Consider a region C at the instant
t and compute in two different ways the rate of change of the mass of fluid that it
contains: on one hand, it is
Z Z
d @
.x; t / d V .x/ D .x; t / d V .x/:
dt C C @t
On the other hand, the mass that leaves C through the boundary, does it with a rate
equal to
Z Z
Å Å
.x; t/.hX .x; t /; N i/ dA.x/ D div. XÅ/ d V .x/:
@C C
Changing the sign of the second rate and equating to the first one, it yields the
continuity equation:
@
C div. XÅ/ D 0: (7.1)
@t
This equation may be reached also by imposing that the mass of fluid contained in
t .C / at the instant t is constant over time, and it will be useful to reobtain (7.1)
from this point of view: if J t .x/ denotes the Jacobian of the transformation t , one
has Z Z
.x; t / d V .x/ D . t .x/; t /J t .x/ d V .x/:
t .C / C
Imposing the conservation of mass means that the equation

d @ @
0D . . t .x/; t /J t .x// D J t C grad. /XÅ C .J t .x//:
dt @t @t
must hold. A computation shows that @t@ .J t .x// D J t .x/ div.XÅ/ and dividing by
J t the continuity equation is found again.
The same calculus is useful to differentiate integrals as
Z
d
.x; t /F .x; t / d V .x/; (7.2)
dt t .C /
where F is a scalar or a vector function. Actually, doing the same change of
variables as above, differentiating under the integral sign and using that J t has
null derivative with respect to t , one obtains for (7.2) the expression
Z
d
. t .x; t /; t /J t .x/F . t .x/; t / d V .x/
dt C
Z
@F
D . t .x/; t /J t .x/ . t .x/; t/ C hXÅ; rF
Å . t .x/; t /i d V .x/:
C @t
Changing the variables again, it leads to

Z
d
.x; t / F .x; t / d V .x/
dt t .C /
Z
@F
D .x; t/ C hXÅ; rF
Å .x; t /i d V .x/:
t .C / @t
Å acts componentwise if F is vectorial. It is common to use the notation

Here rF
P
Å Å
hX; ri for the operator Xi @x@ i , so that the last term may be also written as
Å riF
hX; Å .
b) Perfect fluids: Euler’s equations. When F D XÅ, the expression (7.2) is the
variation of momentum, which, according to Newton’s second law, must be equal
to the net force that acts at the instant t over t .C /. This force has two components,
an external one and an internal one. It is supposed that external forces are described
by means of a density of external force by unit of mass f .x; t /, so that
Z
.x; t /f .x; t / d V .x/
t .C /
is the external net force acting on t .C /. Cauchy’s principle establishes that the
internal forces act on the surface that limits t .C / and are described by an area
Å
density of force †.x; NÅ ; t/, so that
Z
Å
†.x; Å ; t /dA.x/
N
@ t .C /
is the internal net force. As always, N Å denotes the normal vector to @ t .C /.

Å
Moreover, †.x; NÅ ; t/ is linear in N
Å , that is, †.x;
Å Å ; t / D hS.x; t /; N
N Å i, where S is
a matrix, called the stress tensor. Using the divergence theorem one may write the
internal net force in the form
Z
div.S.x; t //d V .x/;
t .C /
where the divergence operator is interpreted as acting on each row of S. Applying

Newton’s law, one obtains Euler’s equations
Å
@X
.x; t/ C hXÅ; ri
Å XÅ.x; t / D .x; t /f .x; t / C div S.x; t /:
@t
A fluid is said to be perfect if the internal forces acting on each region do it only in
the normal direction to the boundary, at each point. That is, if S.x; t / D p.x; t /I
holds for a certain function p, called the internal pressure of the fluid, I representing
the identity matrix. In this case, Euler’s equations may be written as
Å
@X
.x; t / C hXÅ; ri
Å XÅ.x; t / D .x; t /f .x; t / rp.x;
Å t /:
@t
Observe that so far there are four equations, one establishing continuity, the
other three obtained by taking components in Euler’s equations. But there are
five unknowns: the three components of XÅ, and p. Therefore, the problem of
describing the motion of the fluid is not to be determined.
c) Incompressible fluids. A fluid is said to be incompressible if the volume of

t .C / remains constant with respect to t, for any region C ; this is equivalent to
imposing J t .x/ D 1, that is, div.XÅ/ D 0; by the continuity equation, it is also
equivalent to dt d
. t .x/; x/ D 0, which means that the density is constant along
the trajectories. For a perfect and incompressible fluid there is one more equation,
altogether five, and these five equations should suffice to determine the motion, for
fixed initial or boundary conditions. If the fluid is, moreover, homogeneous, in the
sense that the density is constant with respect to x, then it is incompressible when
is constant also with respect to t. Euler’s equations which control the motion of
the fluid are in this case, supposing D 1,
@XÅ
C hXÅ; ri
Å XÅ.x; t / D f .x; t/ rp.x;
Å t /; div.XÅ/ D 0: (7.3)
@t
In order to determine the motion completely, one will need initial conditions on p; XÅ
and also boundary conditions on XÅ. For example, if the motion takes place inside a
tube with an impermeable wall, a natural boundary condition is hXÅ; N Å i D 0, where
Å
N is the normal vector to the boundary.
E of a fluid. This quantity measures the
An important concept is the vorticity, ,
tendency to spin of the velocity vector field XÅ and it is defined as the rotational of
Å that is, E D rot.XÅ/ D r
X, Å XÅ. The fluid is called irrotational if E D 0. For
perfect, incompressible and homogenous fluids (suppose D 1) the equations of
motion may be expressed in terms of the vorticity in the following way:
In order to simplify, suppose that there are no external forces acting, that is,
f .x; t/ D 0. The identity
1Å
rjX j2 D XÅ .r
Å XÅ/ C hXÅ; ri
Å XÅ
2
substituted in the first equation of (7.3) gives
@XÅ 1Å Å 2
C r.j X j / XÅ .r
Å XÅ/ D rp.x;
Å t /:
@t 2
Taking rotationals the gradients disappear and it turns out that
@ E Å E D 0;
r .XÅ /
@t
or
@ E n E Å Å E Å Å Å E C XÅhr;
o
E D 0:
h ; riX hr; X i hXÅ; ri Å i
@t
The last term is zero (divergence of a rotational) and using div.XÅ/ D hr;
Å XÅi D 0,
Euler’s equations are written as
@ E E ri Å E D 0;
Å XÅ C hXÅ; ri
h ; div.XÅ/ D 0: (7.4)
@t
d) Fluids on a plane. In the case of plane fluids, the only effective component of
the vorticity E is the third one, which is denoted by , and the second term of the
first equation of (7.4) vanishes. Euler’s equations are then
@
C hXÅ; ri
Å D 0; div.XÅ/ D 0:
@t
Suppose that the region U of the plane where the motion takes place is simply
connected; then the incompressibility condition on the vector field XÅ D .u; v/ is
ux C vy D 0, which says that v dx C u dy is a closed form and, hence, exact.
There exists, then, a function .x; y; t / such that u D y ; v D x (it is common
to write XÅ D r Å ? ). For t fixed, the streamlines are the level curves of . In
terms of , the vorticity is D . If the condition XÅ N Å D 0 holds on the
boundary of U , then this boundary must be a level curve and, adding a constant, one
may suppose D 0 holds on the boundary. With all this, the motion of a perfect,
incompressible and homogeneous plane fluid is described by the equations
@ Å ri
C hX; Å D 0; D ; .x/ D 0; x 2 @U; XÅ D r
Å? :
@t
Knowing at an instant t, then is also known and, therefore, also XÅ at the

same instant. Hence, determines @ @t
, so one just needs to know the initial vorticity.
If the motion of the fluid takes place in an open set U of R3 , simply connected,
there a is a potential function ˆ such that XÅ D rˆÅ and one gets Laplace’s equation
Å 2ˆ D 0
ˆ D r
on U . In this case, the natural boundary conditions consist of prescribing the value
Å N
of hX; Å i D @ˆ on the boundary of U and this poses a Neumann’s problem.
@NÅ
7.2 Harmonic functions on domains of Rn

7.2.1 The Laplacian
The presence of the Laplace operator in mathematical physics equations may be
explained by means of laws of physics, as it has been done in the previous section.
But it can be also justified from a mathematical perspective.
Laws of classical physics use measures of position and time referred to a co-
ordinate system and an origin of time. Let the coordinates .x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / denote
the position of a point in Rn with respect to certain cartesian axes and an origin
of coordinates. Considering other cartesian axes and another origin means passing
from the coordinates .x1 ; :::;x n / to coordinates
y1 .y1 ; : : : ; yn /; the relation between
x1
: :
the column vectors XÅ D :: and YÅ D :: is
xn yn
YÅ D AE C O XÅ
where AE is a translation vector and O is a unitary transformation, that is, it preserves

the scalar product and so satisfies O t D O 1 (O t is the transpose of O). The
transformation XÅ ! YÅ is called isometry of Rn and the set of all isometries is a
group of transformations of Rn .
The linear differential operators are written, in a system of coordinates x D
.x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn /, as X
LD a˛ .x/D ˛ :
j˛jN
Here, ˛ D .˛1 ; : : : ; ˛n / with ˛i 2 N is a multi-index, j˛j D ˛1 C C ˛n is its

length,
@ @
D ˛ D ˛1 ˛n
@x1 @xn
and a˛ .x/ are functions. The natural number N is the orderP
of the operator. Differ-
ential operators act on functions u according to u 7! Lu D j˛jN a˛ .x/D ˛ u.x/.
7.2. Harmonic functions on domains of Rn 245
If ' W Rn ! Rn is a diffeomorphism (a general change of coordinates), ' L will

be the operator defined by the equation
.' L/.v/ B ' D L.v B '/:
P P
If L D j˛jN a˛ .x/Dx˛ , then ' L will have an expression bˇ .y/Dyˇ , obtained
by iterating the chain rule and identifying coefficients in the equality
X X
bˇ .y/Dyˇ v D a˛ .x/Dx˛ .v B '/:
We say that L is invariant under ' if ' L D L, that is, if .Lv/ B ' D L.v B '/ for
any function v.
Clearly, the laws of classical physics do not depend on an arbitrary selection of
the axes and the origin of coordinates. In other words, if one describes phenomena
invariant under isometries, the operators that one uses must also be invariant.
Theorem 7.1. The differential operators L which are invariant under the group of
isometries are, exactly, the ones of the form L D P ./ where P is a polynomial
in one variable and the Laplacian.
Proof. First observe that the natural rules
.'1 B '2 /.L/ D .'1 B '2 / .L/;
' .L1 B L2 / D ' L1 B ' L2
hold for '1 , '2 diffeomorphisms of Rn and L1 , L2 linear differential operators.
Therefore, in order to see that every operator P ./ is invariant under the group of
isometries, it is enough to show that is invariant under translations and unitary
transformations. The invariance under translations is obvious. P If ' is a unitary
transformation with matrix O D .uij /, then yi D 'i .x/ D jnD1 uij xj and one
has
.v B '/.x/ D Œv.'1 x; : : : ; 'n x/
h X X i
D v u1j xj ; : : : ; unj xj
j j
X @2 h X X i
n
D v u1j xj ; : : : ; unj xj
@xk2 j j
kD1
X
n
@ X @v
n X
n X
n
@2 v
D uk D uk uj k
@xk D1 @y @y @yj
kD1 k;D1 j D1
X
n
@2 v X
n X
n
@2 v Xn
@2 v
D uk uj k D ıj D
@y @yj @y @yj @y2
;j D1 kD1 ;j D1 D1
D .v/.y/:
P
Conversely, assume that L D a˛ .x/D ˛ is invariant under isometries. The
invariance under translations forces each a˛ to be constant. Put the function v .x/ D
e h;xi in the equality .Lv/ B O D L.v B O/, valid for every unitary transformation
t
O. Since v .Ox/ D e h;Oxi D e hO ;xi , we get
X t ;xi
hX i t
L.v B O/.x/ D a˛ D ˛ Œe hO D a˛ .O t /˛1 1 : : : .O t /˛nn e hO ;xi ;
˛ ˛
P t
which may be written as a˛ .O t /˛ e hO ;xi . On the other hand, Lv .x/ D
P ˛ P h;Oxi P hO t ;xi
˛ a˛
˛
e h;xi and Lv .Ox/ D ˛ a˛
˛
e D ˛ a˛
˛
e .
Consequently, one must have
X X
a˛ ˛ D a˛ .O t /˛
˛ ˛
P
for every unitary matrix O. This is the same as saying that the polynomial ˛ a˛ ˛
is radial, that is, it takes constant values on spheres, which forces it to be of the
form P .j j2 /.
In this chapter we will often use Green’s identities, which are integral formulae
involving the Laplacian that follow from the divergence theorem. Let U be a
bounded domain in Rn with oriented regular boundary, that is, @U is a regular
hypersurface oriented with the exterior unit normal N Å . If u, v are functions twice
differentiable on a neighborhood of U with u, v continuous on Ux and if we
x
apply Theorem 3.32 to the vector field XÅ D urv, Å we obtain the first Green’s
identity:
Z Z Z
@v Å rvi
Å dV C
u dA D hru; uv d V: (7.5)
@U @N Å U U
Permuting u and v in (7.5) and subtracting the two equalities we get the second
Green’s identity:
Z Z
@v @u
u v dA D .uv vu/ d V: (7.6)
@U Å
@N @NÅ U
In particular, taking u D v in (7.5) and v D 1 in (7.6), it turns out that

Z Z Z
@u Å
u dA D jruj dV C
2
uu d V;
@U @N Å U U
Z Z
@u
dA D u d V: (7.7)
@U @NÅ U
These formulae hold when both members make sense and are finite. For example,
when u is harmonic on U and continuous on Ux it yields
Z Z
@u Å 2 d V;
u dA D jruj (7.8)
@U @N Å U
Z
@u
dA D 0: (7.9)
@U @NÅ
As a particular case, one finds again a result in Section 3.7: if u is harmonic, the
Å is conservative and solenoidal.
vector field ru
Example 7.2. Green’s identities, in the case n D 1 and U D .a; b/, become
Z Z b
0 0 @v
u.b/v .b/ u.a/v .a/ D u D .u0 v 0 C uv 00 / dx;
@Œa;b @n a
Z b
u.b/v 0 .b/ u.a/v 0 .a/ v.b/u0 .b/ C v.a/u0 .a/ D .uv 00 vu00 / dx
a
which are consequences of the fundamental theorem of calculus.

From now on, if U is an open set in Rn , the following notations will be used:
C r .U / D ff W U ! R W f has continuous partial derivatives up to order rg;

0 r C1; with C 0 .U / D C.U /I
Ccr .U / D ff 2 C r .U / W spt.f / is compactg; 0 r C1I
L1loc .U / D ff W U ! R W f is integrable on each compact set of U gI
Lpc .U / D ff 2 Lp .U / W spt.f / is compactg; 1 p C1;
where Lp .U / are the usual Lebesgue spaces.
7.2.2 The mean value property

Recall the definition of harmonic function given in Subsection 3.7.2.
Definition 7.3. A real-valued function u, twice differentiable on an open set U of
Rn , is harmonic if the equation
X
n
@2 u
u D D0 on U (7.10)
iD1
@xi2
holds.
Throughout this chapter the case n D 1 is also considered, and, in fact, will
help sometimes to better understand the situation when n 2. What is a harmonic
function on an interval I of R? In this case, equation (7.10) is u00 D 0, which is
equivalent to u0 D a, a constant, hence to u.x/ D ax C b, with a, b constants.
That is, harmonic functions in one variable are exactly linear functions.
P
Example 7.4. Let us analyze when a polynomial P .x/ D ˛ c˛ x ˛ is harmonic.
˛ ˛ ˛n
PD .˛1 ; : : : ; ˛n / is a multi-index and x D x1 x2 : : : xn . One may write
˛ 1 2
Here ˛
P D k Pk , where Pk gathers all the terms with j˛j D ˛1 C ˛2 C C ˛n D k;
Pk is a homogeneous polynomial of degree k. Observe that Pk is a homogeneous
polynomial of degree k 2, and consequently P is harmonic if and only if each
term Pk is so. When k D 1 (linear terms), P1 is always harmonic. A homogeneous
polynomial of degree 2,
X
n X
n
P2 .x/ D ai xi2 C aij xi xj ;
iD1 i;j D1
i¤j
is harmonic if and only if a1 C a2 C C an D 0. For k 3 it is not easy to

characterize when a homogeneous polynomial of degree k is harmonic, in terms of
its coefficients. The coefficients must satisfy a system of linear equations, which
number depends on k and n. For example, if n D 2, k D 3 the homogeneous
polynomial P .x; y/ D ax 3 C by 3 C cx 2 y C dxy 2 is harmonic if and only if
3a C d D 0 and 3b C c D 0, that is, if and only if it is a linear combination of the
polynomials x 3 3xy 2 ; y 3 3yx 2 . If n D 3, k D 3 the number of coefficients (the
dimension of the space of all the homogeneous polynomials) is 10 and the number
of equations is 6, so that the dimension of the space of harmonic homogeneous
polynomials of degree 3 on R3 is 4.
The term harmonic is rather associated to solutions of the equation
u D u; 2R (7.11)
(eigenfunctions of the Laplacian). In one variable, the solutions of (7.11) are known:
if > 0, the solution is
p p
u.x/ D Ae x
C Be x
;
and if < 0, p p
u.x/ D A sin x C B cos x;
where A, B are constants. p solutions that remain bounded when x 2 R
p The unique
are the functions sin x, cos x, which are the ones that appear in the
expansion in harmonics of periodic functions. In dimension n > 1 it is more
complicated to study equation (7.11), called Helmholtz’s equation. Among its

solutions there are spherical harmonics, functions that, to some extent, play the
same role as the sine and the cosine in one variable.
Recall that the notation jxj is used for the norm of x in Rn and B.a; r/ D
Br .a/ D fx 2 Rn W jx aj < rg is the ball with center a 2 Rn and radius r > 0.
Also, S.a; r/ D Sr .a/ D @B.a; r/ D fx 2 Rn W jx aj D rg is the corresponding
sphere. We will write B D B.0; 1/ and S D S.0; 1/.
In order to understand what condition u
0 imposes on a twice differentiable
function u on the domain U , consider the Taylor expansion of u around a point
a 2 U:
Å 1
u.x/ D u.a/ C hru.a/; x ai C H u.a/.x a; x a/ C o.jx aj2 /:
2
Å
Here ru.a/ is, as always, the gradient of u at the point a and H u.a/ is the Hessian,
so that the homogeneous term of order 2 is
1 X @2 u
n
1
H u.a/.x a; x a/ D .a/.xi ai /.xj aj /:
2 2 @xi @xj
i;j D1
With the aim of isolating in this expansion the terms of second order with i D j ,
x r/ U and
take a ball centered at a, with radius r > 0 small enough to get B.a;
integrate the Taylor expansion of u on the sphere S.a; r/. In other words, put
x D a C rw with jwj D 1 and integrate with respect to dA.x/ D r n1 d .w/,
where d is the measure on the unit sphere, S D S.0; 1/, of Rn . One then has
Z Z
u.x/ dA.x/ D r n1 u.a C rw/ d .w/:
S.a;r/ S
Denote by cn D d .S/ (2 if n D 2, 4 if n D 3,…) the area of S. The mean

value of u on S.a; r/ is, then,
Z Z
1 1
u.x/ dA.x/ D u.a C rw/ d .w/
cn r n1 S.a;r/ cn S
Z
1 X @2 u
n
D u.a/ C 2
.a/r 2
wi2 d .w/ C o.r 2 /:
2cn @x i S
iD1
R R
Here we have used the fact that S wi d .w/ D 0 and S wi wj d .w/ D 0 if
i ¤ j , because we are dealing with functionsR that have integrals of opposite sign
on each hemisphere. Now, it is clear that S wi2 d .w/ does not depend on i and
its value is, therefore, cnn . Hence, denoting by M.u; a; r/ the mean value of u on
S.a; r/, it turns out that
1 M.u; a; r/ u.a/
u.a/ D lim :
2n r!0 r2
This equality implies the following fact: if M.u; a; r/ D u.a/ for a 2 U and r
arbitrarily small, then u.a/ D 0.
Definition 7.5. If u is a continuous function on the domain U of Rn , it is said that

u satisfies the mean value property on U if
Z Z
1 1
u.a/ D u.x/ dA.x/ D u.a C rw/ d .w/;
cn r n1 S.a;r/ cn S
whenever S.a; r/ U .
Example 7.6. In dimension n D 1 the mean value property for a continuous

function u on R is written

aCb 1
u D .u.a/ C u.b//; a; b 2 R:
2 2
Functions having this property are exactly the linear ones: u.x/ D m C nx,
with m and n constants. Indeed, first it is immediate to check that a linear function
u.x/ D m C nx has the mean value property. Conversely, suppose that u has
the mean value property and let v be the linear function which coincides with u at
x D 0 and x D 1, so that h D u v has the mean value property and vanishes at
the points 0 and 1. Then h. 12 / D 0 and iterating, it turns out that h. 14 / D h. 34 / D 0.
Applying successively this argument, it follows that h vanishes at all the dyadic
points 2kn ; k D 0; 1; : : : ; 2n , and since these points are dense in Œ0; 1 and h is
continuous, we get that h is identically zero on Œ0; 1. Taking a D 0 and b 2 Œ1; 2
the mean value property implies that h vanishes on Œ1; 2 and so on. This gives
h D 0 and u D v is linear.
It has just been seen that on the line the functions that fulfill the mean value
property are the linear ones, that is, the harmonic functions. The aim now is to prove
the same fact in any other dimension. Before Definition 7.5 it had been observed
that if u is twice differentiable and has the mean value property, then u is harmonic.
Now, it turns out that the mean value property for u implies that u is infinitely
differentiable. Actually, let be a C 1 function with compact support contained in
the Runit ball B, radial (that is, .x/ D .jxj/ for some function ) and normalized
by .x/ dV .x/ D 1. Take " .x/ D "n .x="/. If d.x; U c / > ", the function
y 7! " .x y/ has support contained in B.x; "/ U and one has
Z Z
.u " /.x/ D u.y/" .x y/ d V .y/ D u.x y/" .y/ d V .y/
B.x;"/ B.0;"/
Z Z
D u.x y/"n .y="/ d V D u.x "y/.y/ d V .y/
B.0;"/ B
Z 1Z
D u.x "ry/ .r/r n1 d .y/ dr
0 S
Z 1 Z
D cn u.x/ .r/r n1 dr D u.x/ .x/ d V .x/ D u.x/:
0 B
So .u " / – the convolution of u and " – coincides with u on fx W d.x; U /c > "g
if u has the mean value property. Since " is arbitrary and u " is C 1 (see
Proposition 7.36), it yields u 2 C 1 .U /.
Therefore, a part of the following theorem has been proved:
Theorem 7.7. A continuous function on the domain U fulfill the mean value property
if and only if it is harmonic on U .
Proof. It only remains to show that every harmonic function satisfies the mean value
property. Looking at the derivative with respect to r of the mean value M.u; a; r/
of the harmonic function u on S.a; r/, one has
Z
d d 1
M.u; a; r/ D u.a C rw/ d .w/
dr dr cn S
Z X
1
D Di u.a C rw/wi d .w/
cn S
i
Z
1 @u
D .a C rw/ d .w/
cn Å
S @N
Z
1 @u
D .x/ dA.x/ D 0
Å
cn r n1 S.a;r/ @N
according to (7.9) applied to the domain B.a; r/. Therefore, M.u; a; r/ is con-
stant with respect to r, and since limr!0 M.u; a; r/ D u.a/, it turns out that
M.u; a; r/ D u.a/. Hence, the theorem is proved.
Observe that it has been also proved that every harmonic function is of class C 1 .
If a function u has the mean value property on the domain U in the sense of
Definition 7.5, it also has the mean value property with respect to balls, in the
following sense:
Z
n x r/ U:
u.a/ D u.x/ d V .x/ if B.a; (7.12)
cn r n B.a;r/
R rcoefficient beforenthe integral is justified since the volume of the ball B.a; r/
The
is 0 t n1 cn dt D cnnr . To prove (7.12) integrate in polar coordinates and use the
mean value property with respect to spheres:

Z Z rZ
u.x/ d V .x/ D u.a C sw/s n1 d .w/ ds
B.a;r/ 0 S
Z r
rn
D s n1 cn u.a/ ds D cn u.a/:
0 n
A useful consequence of the mean value property is the following:
Theorem 7.8 (Liouville’s theorem for harmonic functions). A bounded harmonic
function on Rn is constant.
Proof. If the function u satisfies the hypothesis of the theorem, applying (7.12) for
each a 2 Rn and each r > 0 big enough, it turns out that
²Z Z ³
n
u.a/ u.0/ D u.x/ d V .x/ u.x/ d V .x/ :
cn r n B.a;r/ B.0;r/
If kuk1 D supfju.x/j W x 2 Rn g one has

²Z Z ³
n
ju.a/ u.0/j kuk1 d V .x/ C d V .x/
cn r n B.a;r/nB.0;r/ B.0;r/nB.a;r/
n
kuk1 d V .fx W r jaj < jxj < r C jajg/
cn r n
kuk1
D ..r C jaj/n .r jaj/n / D O.r 1 /:
rn
Letting r ! C1 we get u.a/ D u.0/, for every point a 2 Rn .
In the case n D 2, the relation between holomorphic and harmonic functions
may be used to give a stronger version of the previous theorem.
Theorem 7.9. If u is a harmonic function on the plane and satisfies
u.z/ D c Log jzj C O.1/ when jzj ! 1; with c constant;
then u is constant. In the same conditions, if u.z/ D c Log jzj C o.1/, then u is
identically zero.
Proof. If f is an entire function with Re f D u, then F D e f is also entire and
jF .z/j D e Re f .z/ D e u.z/ D O.jzjN /
for some natural number N . By Exercise 11 of Section 4.7, F is a polynomial and,
being of the form F D e f , F does not vanish; consequently F is constant. This
implies that f and u are also constant.
7.3. Newtonian and logarithmic potentials. Riesz’ decomposition formulae 253
7.3 Newtonian and logarithmic potentials.

Riesz’ decomposition formulae
Which examples of harmonic functions on a domain U of Rn are known at present?
When n D 2, there are a lot of them: just take u D Re f with f holomorphic.
Pn if n > 2, the only obvious harmonic functions are the linear ones, u.x/ D
But
iD1 ai xi C b with ai ; b 2 R.
Since the Laplacian commutes with rotations (the unitary transformations), it
seems natural to look also at the radial functions. How must a function ' W .0; 1/ !
R be so that u.x/ D '.jxj/ is harmonic? Setting r D jxj it turns out that, by a
direct calculation,
@r xi @u xi @2 u xi2 1 xi
D ; D ' 0 .r/ ; 2
D ' 00
.r/ 2
C ' 0 .r/ ' 0 .r/xi 3 ;
@xi r @xi r @xi r r r
1 1 n1 0
u D ' 00 .r/ C n' 0 .r/ ' 0 .r/ D ' 00 .r/ C ' .r/: (7.13)
r r r
It yields, then, the equation ' 00 .r/ C n1 0
r
' .r/ D 0, which gives ' 0 .r/ D C r 1n ,
C constant, and
'.r/ D k1 r 2n C k2 if n > 2;

'.r/ D k1 Log r C k2 if n D 2;
with k1 , k2 constants. These functions have a singularity for r D 0, that is, they
tend to 1 when r ! 0. Therefore, there are no radial harmonic functions on a
disc different from a constant. There is also a direct relation between the fact that
a radial harmonic function on a ball is constant and the mean value property. On
one hand, it is clear that if u is radial on a ball centered at a and has the mean value
property (that is, it is harmonic), then u must be constant, u D u.a/. On the other
hand, if u is harmonic, the invariance of the Laplacian with respect to the group †
of rotations implies that the function
Z Z 2
1 1
vD .u B g/ dg .v.z/ D u.e i z/ d if n D 2/
cn † 2 0
is harmonic too and, being radial, it must be constant.
The function 8
<dn jxj2n if n > 2,
G.x/ D
:d Log jxj if n D 2,
2
is called the fundamental solution of the Laplacian with pole at the origin. The
constant dn is a constant of normalization which will be chosen later. It is known
that G.x/ is harmonic on Rn n f0g. Moving to a point a 2 Rn , G.x a/ is called

the fundamental solution of the Laplacian with pole a.
Example 7.10. Clearly, if m < n and u is a harmonic function of m variables taken
among x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn , the same function looked at on Rn as a function independent
of the n m remaining variables is also harmonic wherever it is well defined.
For example, if i; j are different arbitrary indexes, the function Log.xi2 C xj2 / is
harmonic on U D fx 2 Rn W xi2 C xj2 ¤ 0g. If 2 < k < n and one takes k
k
coordinates of x, for example the first k ones, the function .x12 C x22 C C xk2 /1 2
is harmonic on U D fx 2 Rn W x12 C x22 C C xk2 ¤ 0g.
Since G.x a/ is harmonic for x ¤ a, it turns out that the function
X
N
u.x/ D ci G.x ai /
iD1
is harmonic on R n fa1 ; : : : ; aN g if ci are constants and a1 ; : : : ; aN 2 Rn .

n
One may also consider “infinite sums”, that is integrals, instead of finite sums
and put Z
u.x/ D .y/G.x y/ d V .y/;
K
where K is a compact set of Rn and is continuous on K.
To give sense to these integrals one needs to prove the local integrability of G.
Lemma 7.11. For fixed x 2 Rn , the function y 7! G.x y/ is integrable on each
compact set of Rn .
Proof. It is enough to prove that G.y/ is integrable on a ball B.0; R/. Using polar
coordinates, if n > 2, one has
Z Z
G.y/ d V .y/ D dn jyj2n d V .y/
B.0;R/ B.0;R/
Z R
D dn r 2n r n1 cn dr D c R2 < C1; c constant:
0
If n D 2 the computation is a little bit different,

Z Z Z R
G.y/ d m.y/ D d2 Log jyj d m.y/ D 2d2 r Log r dr
D.0;R/ D.0;R/ 0

R
r2 r2 R2 R2
D 2d2 Log r D 2d2 Log R
2 4 0 2 4
< C1:
If is a continuous function on a compact set K of positive measure, is

bounded and Lemma 7.11 implies that the function
Z
u.x/ D G./.x/ D .y/G.x y/ d V .y/ (7.14)
K
is well defined for all x 2 Rn . Outside K, u is harmonic because

Z
u.x/ D .y/x G.x y/ d V .y/ D 0:
K
Moreover, by the dominated convergence theorem, G./ vanishes at infinity if

n > 2. The function u defined by (7.14) is called the Riesz potential of .
When n D 3, the function
Z
.y/
u.x/ D G./.x/ D d3 d V .y/
K jx yj
is the potential created by the distribution of charge (or mass) given by the density
function . Actually, an easy computation shows that r Åx 1 D rE.x;y/3 , rE.x; y/
jxyj jxyj
being the vector y x. Therefore, on R3 n K, one has
Z
Å rE.x; y/
ru.x/ D d3 .y/ d V .y/;
K jx yj3
which, by Newton’s law, is the vector field of forces created by the density .
For this reason u is called newtonian potential. When n D 2, the corresponding
potentials Z
u.x/ D G./.x/ D d2 .y/ Log jx yj d m.y/;
U
are called logarithmic potentials.
Every potential in dimension k may be interpreted as the restriction to Rk of a
potential on Rn ; n > k. Write Rn as the product Rk Rnk and use the notation
x D .x 0 ; x 00 /, with x 0 D .x1 ; : : : ; xk /, x 00 D .xkC1 ; : : : ; xn /. Consider a potential
corresponding to a function .y/ independent from y 00 , that is,
Z
u.x/ D .y 0 /jx yj2n d V .y/
K 0 Rnk
Z Z
0 00
D .y / jx yj 2n
d V .y / d V .y 0 /;
K0 Rnk
where K 0 is a compact set of Rk . Suppose k > 2; evaluating at a point x 2 Rk

.x 00 D 0/ the previous integral, it yields a constant multiple of jx 0 y 0 j2k
and one has that u.x 0 ; 0/ is, except for constants, the k-dimensional potential
of . In order to obtain logarithmic potentials (k D 2) consider the n-dimen-

sional potential of .y 0 /1N .y 00 /, where 1N stands for the characteristic function of
fy 00 2 Rnk W jy 00 j N g. Then the previous integral becomes
Z
jx yj2n d V .y 00 /:
B.0;N /
Now with the change y 00 D t r 0 !, j!j D 1, where r 0 D jx 0 y 0 j, it is recognized

as a multiple of
Z N0
r t n3 dt
n :
0 .1 C t 2 / 2 1
With N fixed, this last integral is of the order of Log r 0 for r 0 small and one finds
the logarithmic potential of .y 0 /. This calculus explains the interest in logarithmic
potentials, although the emphasis is on newtonian potentials.
Example 7.12. Riesz potentials may just be computed explicitly in situations where
there is a lot of symmetry. Suppose, for example, that is a radial function of the
form .x/ D h.jxj/, where h is continuous and supported in the interval Œ1; 2.
Then the potential G./ is also radial on the unit ball B; indeed, if T is a linear
transformation given by a unitary matrix, one has
Z
G./.T x/ D G.T x y/h.jyj/ d V .y/
x1 .0/
B2 .0/nB
Z
D G.x T 1 y/h.jyj/ d V .y/:
x1 .0/
B2 .0/nB
We now change variables in this integral, introducing z D T 1 .y/ as a new variable,

to get G./.x/. Since G./ is harmonic and radial on the unit ball B, it must be
constant: Z
G.x y/h.jyj/d V .y/ D C; jxj < 1:
B2 .0/nBN 1 .0/
Outside B.0; 2/, for the same reason, G./ must satisfy
G./.x/ D k1 G.x/ C k2 ; k1 , k2 constants:
If n > 2, letting jxj ! 1 we getR k2 D 0, and multiplying by jxj

n2
and letting
again jxj ! 1 one finds k1 D .y/ d V .y/. The same conclusion is reached in
the case n D 2 looking at the behavior of G./.x/ for jxj big enough.
In Section 7.7 Riesz potentials will be studied in detail and it will be proved
that they satisfy the equation G./ D , in a certain sense, on the compact set
K supporting the function . For the moment we will see that these potentials
appear in a natural way in the Riesz decomposition formula, which is the analogue
of Cauchy–Green’s formula for the Laplacian. This is the following theorem, which
includes the choice of the constant dn in the definition of G.x/. The notation @Å
@Ny
indicates that the derivative is taken in the normal direction to the boundary of the
domain, with respect to the variable y.
Theorem 7.13 (Riesz decomposition formula). Let U Rn be a bounded domain
Å . If u is a function, twice
with regular boundary oriented by the exterior normal N
differentiable on a neighborhood of U with u continuous on Ux , then, for x 2 U ,
x
one has
Z ² ³
@ @u
u.x/ D u.y/ G.x y/ G.x y/ .y/ dA.y/
@U Åy
@N @NÅ
Z (7.15)
C G.x y/u.y/ d V .y/:
U
Proof. Proceed as in the proof of Cauchy–Green’s formula. Fix x 2 U , consider

x "/ U and apply the second Green’s identity to the domain U n B.x;
B.x; x "/ and
to the functions u, v.y/ D G.x y/. We obtain
Z Z ² ³
@ @u
C u.y/ G.x y/ G.x y/ .y/ dA.y/
S.x;"/ @U @NÅy @NÅ
Z
D fu.y/y G.x y/ G.x y/u.y/g d V .y/
x
U nB.x;"/
Z
D G.x y/u.y/ dV .y/:
x
U nB.x;"/
For y 2 S.x; "/, the unit exterior normal derivative is the opposite of the radial
@
derivative, @r , where r is the distance to x. Since G.x y/ D dn r 2n if n > 2
and G.x y/ D d2 Log r if n D 2, one has @r @
G.x y/ D dn .2 n/r 1n if n > 2
1
and @r G.x y/ D d2 r if n D 2. Therefore,
@
Z ² ³
@ @u
u.y/ G.x y/ G.x y/ .y/ dA.y/
S.x;"/ Åy
@N @NÅ
² ³Z ² ³Z
dn .2 n/"1n dn "2n @u
D u.y/ dA.y/ C .y/ dA.y/:
d2 "1 S.x;"/ d 2 Log " S.x;"/ @r
The second term is O."2n /O."n1 / D O."/ if n > 2, and O.Log "/O."/ D
O." Log "/ if n D 2, and in both cases it tends to 0 when " ! 0. The first term,
choosing dn .2 n/ D c1n if n > 2 and d2 D 2 1
if n D 2, is the mean of u on
S.x; "/ and, hence, it tends to u.x/ when " ! 0.
On the other hand, since u.y/G.x y/ is integrable with respect to y on U

x "/ is the integral on the whole
by Lemma 7.11, the limit of its integral on U n B.x;
domain U .
As has been said in the proof of the previous theorem, dn D 1=2 if n D 2 and
dn D 1=.2 n/cn if n > 2 have been fixed. Recall cn is the .n 1/-dimensional
measure of the unit sphere.
An integral of the kind
Z
.y/G.x y/ dA.y/
@U
is called a simple layer potential and it is, clearly, a harmonic function on Rn n @U .

Example 7.14. Once again, simple layer potentials may only be explicitly computed
when there are symmetries. In a similar way to Example 7.12, it is easy to see that
if
R is constant and equal to C on the sphere S.0; R/, the simple layer potential
C S.0;R/ G.x y/ dA.y/ is constant on the ball B.0; R/ and has value k1 G.x/,
with k1 constant, on the exterior of this ball. The value of the constant on B.0; R/
is the value at x D 0, that is,
Z
R
C G.y/ dA.y/ D C
S.0;R/ 2 n
if n > 2 and CR Log R if n D 2. The value of k1 is
Z
1
lim C G.x y/ dA.y/ D C cn Rn1 ;
jxj!1 G.x/ S.0;R/
n1
so that the potential for jxj > R is C .2n/jxj
R
n2 if n > 2 and CR Log jxj if n D 2.
This means, in particular, that an electrical field created by a homogenously charged
sphere is zero inside the sphere. Observe also that this potential is a continuous
function on Rn .
Example 7.15. Think once again of Rn as the product Rk Rnk and use the
notation x D .x 0 ; x 00 /, with x 0 D .x1 ; : : : ; xk /, x 00 D .xkC1 ; : : : ; xn /. Consider
the potential Z
u.x/ D .y 0 /G.x .y 0 ; 0// d V .y 0 /;
Rk
defined for x … Rk , that is x 00 ¤ 0, provided that
Z
j.y 0 /jjy 0 j2n d V .y 0 / < 1:
Rk
When k D n 1 it is formally a simple layer potential on the boundary of a half-

space of Rn . The function u is harmonic in x and, by definition, depends on x 0 and
jx 00 j.
An integral of the kind

Z
@
.y/ G.x y/ dA.y/
@U Åy
@N
is called a double layer potential. This is because when setting
@ Å .y// G.x y/
G.x y "N
G.x y/ D lim ;
Åy
@N "!0 "
then, formally, the previous integral may be written as
²Z Z ³
1 Å .y// dA.y/
lim .y/G.x y "N .y/G.x y/ dA.y/
"!0 " @U @U
²Z Z ³
1
D lim .y/G.x z/ dA.z/ .y/G.x y/ dA.y/ ;
"!0 " .@U /" @U
Å .y/, y 2 @U . Double layer potentials are also

where .@U /" consists of points yC"N
harmonic functions on Rn n @U ; to see this it is sufficient to set that the function
@
G.x y/ is harmonic in x, for y 2 @U . Actually, if N Åy has components
Å
@Ny
.A1 .y/; : : : ; An .y//, then
@ X n
@
G.x y/ D Ai .y/ G.x y/
Åy
@N @yi
iD1
and each term @

@yi
G.x y/ is a harmonic function of x, because x @y@ i G.x y/ D
@
@yi
x G.x y/ D 0.
Hence, Riesz’ decomposition formula expresses u as a sum of a harmonic func-
tion on U , which at the same time is the sum of a simple layer potential and a
double layer potential, plus another term that is a Riesz potential and only depends
on u. Recall that, analogously, Cauchy–Green’s formula decomposes a function
u into the sum of a holomorphic function plus another term depending on @u N and
Cauchy’s kernel.
Corollary 7.16. If U is a bounded domain with oriented regular boundary and u
is harmonic on a neighborhood of Ux , then
Z ² ³
@ @u
u.x/ D u.y/ G.x y/ G.x y/ .y/ dA.y/; if x 2 U:
@U @NÅy @NÅ
We can see now the form this formula takes in dimension n D 2. Write w D
u C iv instead of y, z D x C iy instead of x, G.w/ D 2
1
Log jwj and
Åw D A1 .w/ C iA2 .w/; @ @ @

N D A1 .w/ C A2 .w/ ;
Åw
@N @u @v
where A1 .w/, A2 .w/ are two real functions. If follows that

@ ux vy
Log jz wj D A1 .w/ C A2 .w/
Å
@Nw jz wj 2 jz wj2
A1 .w/ C iA2 .w/ Åw

N
D Re D Re :
wz wz
If U is a bounded domain of C with positively oriented regular boundary and w D
Åw D i 0 .t /=j 0 .t /j, ds D j 0 .t /jdt
.t/ a local parametrization of @U , then N
and dw D 0 .t/dt. It turns out that
Z Z
1 @ 1 i 0 .t /
u.w/ Log jz wj ds.w/ D u.w/ Re dt
2 @U @NÅw 2 @U wz
Z
1 u.w/
D Re dw:
2 i @U w z
This proves:
Corollary 7.17. If U is a bounded domain of C with positively oriented regular
boundary and u is harmonic on a neighborhood of Ux , then u is the sum u D u1 Cu2 ,
where u1 D Re f with f holomorphic on U and u2 is a harmonic logarithmic
potential on U .
Suppose now that, in Theorem 7.13, U is the ball with center x and radius R.
The same computation done in the proof of this theorem but changing the sense of
the exterior normal derivative, gives
@ 1
G.x y/ D ;
Åy
@N cn Rn1
where
´
dn R2n ; dn < 0 if n > 2,
G.x y/ D for y 2 S.x; R/: (7.16)
d2 Log R if n D 2;
x R/, formula (7.7) yields

If u is twice differentiable on B.x;
Z ² ³Z
@u dn R2n @u
G.x y/ .y/ dA.y/ D .y/ dA.y/
@U @NÅ d2 Log R @U @NÅ
² ³Z
dn R2n
D u d V .y/:
d2 Log R U
With all this, Theorem 7.13 gives the following result:

Corollary 7.18. If u is twice differentiable on a neighborhood of the closed ball

x R/ with u continuous on this ball, one has
B.x;
Z Z
1
u.x/ D u.y/ dA.y/ C GB.x;R/ .x; y/u.y/ d V .y/;
cn Rn1 S.x;R/ B.x;R/
with GB.x;R/ .x; y/ D dn .jx yj2n R2n / if n > 2 and GB.x;R/ .x; y/ D
d2 Log jxyj
R
if n D 2.
Observe that the previous corollary proves again that a function u, with the noted
regularity conditions, has the mean value property if and only if it is harmonic.
The function GB.x;R/ .x; y/ of Corollary 7.18 is always less than or equal to
zero when y 2 B.x; R/. As a consequence if u 0 on an open set U and
x R/ U , then
B.x;
Z
1
u.x/ u.y/ dA.y/;
cn Rn1 S.x;R/
that is, the function u is always below its mean over spheres. When a continuous
function on U has this property, it is said to be subharmonic on U . The twice
differentiable functions u that are subharmonic are exactly the ones that satisfy
u 0. In dimension n D 1, subharmonic functions are those satisfying the
condition
1
u.x/ .u.x C h/ C u.x h// for x; h 2 R;
2
that is, the convex functions.
Later on, in Section 9.4 subharmonic functions will be dealt with again.
Remark 7.1. It is appropriate to explain the meaning of previous considerations in
the case n D 1. First, the fundamental solution is G.x/ D cjxj, c constant. The
analog of (7.15) is, for u 2 C 2 .Œa; b/,
Z b
1
u.x/ D u.b/ C u.a/ .jx bju0 .b/ jx aju0 .a// C jx yju00 .y/ dy:
c a
This formula may be obtained by integrating by parts. The last integral is

Z x Z b
00
u .y/.x y/ dy C u00 .y/.y x/ dy
a x
Z x Z b
D Œu0 .y/.x y/xa C u0 .y/ dy C Œu0 .y/.y x/bx u0 .y/ dy
a x
D u0 .b/.b x/ u.b/ C u.x/ u0 .a/.x a/ C u.x/ u.a/:
Therefore, c D 1
2
and G.x/ D 12 jxj is the fundamental solution when n D 1.
7.4 Maximum principle. Dirichlet and Neumann

homogeneous problems
Recall that when talking about harmonic functions, one refers to real-valued func-
tions. If the function u is harmonic on a neighborhood of the closure of a bounded
domain U with regular boundary oriented by the exterior normal N Å , one has, by
(7.8), Z Z
@u Å 2 d V:
u dA D jruj
@U @N Å U
R
Å 2 dV D 0
This implies that if u is zero on @U , then u vanishes on U , because U jruj
means ruÅ D 0, that is, u is constant and being zero on @U , this constant is zero.
Hence, every harmonic function on Ux is determined by its values on @U . Equiva-
lently, every twice differentiable function u with u continuous is determined on
U by its values on @U and by u: if u1 D u2 on @U and u1 D u2 on U , then
u D u1 u2 is 0 on @U and it is harmonic on U , so then u1 D u2 .
Similar considerations apply when replacing the value of u on @U by its deriva-
tive with respect to the normal, @uÅ , also on @U . Now, it turns out that if u is
@N
harmonic on Ux and @u D 0 on @U , then u is constant. Every harmonic func-
Å
@N
tion on Ux is determined, except for constants, by @uÅ on @U . Equivalently, every
@N
twice differentiable function u with u continuous is determined on U , except for
constants, by the values of @uÅ on @U and u on U .
@N
What has been just said shows that there is necessarily some redundance in the
statement of Corollary 7.16. This result expresses the value of the function u at the
points of the domain U in terms of u and @uÅ on @U . However it should be possible
@N
to express the values of u on U only in terms of u on @U or only in terms of @uÅ on
@N
@U , except for constants.
Since to consider the values of u on @U no condition on the regularity of @U
is needed, Dirichlet’s problem (homogeneous) is stated for an arbitrary bounded
domain U : if U is such a domain of Rn and ' is a function continuous on the
boundary of U , Dirichlet’s problem consists in finding a function u, harmonic on
U , such that for each point y 2 @U the equality
lim u.x/ D '.y/

x!y
x2U
holds. Another way of expressing the ˇ properties of the function u is to say that
u 2 C.Ux /, u is harmonic on U and uˇ@U D '. In particular, u must be bounded.
There is a more general version of the problem without assuming U is bounded;
in this case, one must impose ' 2 C.@U / is bounded and look for a solution u,
bounded on U too.
7.4. Maximum principle. Dirichlet and Neumann homogeneous problems 263
Dirichlet’s problem models, for example, the stationary distribution of tempera-

tures (independent of time) on U when @U has a distribution, also stationary, given
by ' (for example, the outside room temperature). Another situation modelled by
Dirichlet’s problem is given in electrostatics. Suppose that U R3 represents a
region filled with a charged conductor material and one puts an electrical charge q at
a point P 2 U . Then there is a redistribution of the charges on @U to achieve a new
equilibrium. Let u be the electrostatic potential caused by the charge distribution
on @U ; as explained in Subsection 7.1.2, u is a harmonic function on U . The total
q q
potential on U is u C R , where R is the distance function to P ( R is the potential
caused by the charge at the point P ). The equilibrium of charge over @U means
q
that the potential u C R is zero on @U . Therefore, u is the solution of the Dirichlet
q
problem on U with data R on @U .
When @U is regular, formula (7.8) gives the uniqueness of solution of the Dirich-
let problem. In order to prove it in general one needs the maximum principle.
Theorem 7.19 (Maximum principle). Let U be a domain of Rn and u a continuous
function on U satisfying the mean value property, that is, u is harmonic on U .
Suppose that there is a constant M 0 such that u.x/ M for all x 2 U and
that there is a point x0 2 U such that u.x0 / D M . Then one has u.x/ D M for
all x 2 U .
Proof. Consider A D fx 2 U W u.x/ D M g which is a closed subset of U ; it is
non-empty because x0 2 A. It is enough to prove that A is open: if a 2 A and
x r/ U , by the mean value property on balls, one has
B.a;
Z
n
M D u.a/ D u.x/ d V .x/;
cn r n B.a;r/
that is, Z
1
.u.x/ u.a// d V .x/ D 0:
V .B.a; r// B.a;r/
Since u.x/ u.a/ D u.x/ M is a continuous function, less than or equal to zero
and has integral zero on B.a; r/, it must be identically zero; therefore, u.x/ D M
on B.a; r/, that is, B.a; r/ A and A is open.
Clearly, there is also a corresponding minimum principle replacing u by u.
Corollary 7.20. If U is a bounded domain of Rn , u 2 C.Ux / and u is harmonic
on U , then the maximum and minimum values of u in Ux are achieved in @U .
Consequently, if u D 0 on @U , then u D 0 on U . If u1 , u2 2 C.Ux / are harmonic
on U and u1 D u2 on @U , then u1 D u2 on U .
Proof. Since Ux is compact and u 2 C.Ux /, u has a global maximum: u.x/
u.x0 / D M , for all x 2 U , with x0 2 Ux . If x0 2 @U there is nothing to prove.
If x0 2 U , then, by the maximum principle, u D M on U , and the conclusion is

obvious. Arguing with u, a similar result for the minimum is found.
Corollary 7.21. The solution of the Dirichlet problem, if it exists, is unique.
Proof. Let ' 2 C.U / and suppose there are u1 ; u2 2 C.Ux / with u1 D u2 D 0
on U and u1 D u2 D ' on @U . Then u D u1 u2 is 0 on @U and u D 0 on U .
By Corollary 7.20, u must be identically zero in U .
Example 7.22. Consider in R3 the harmonic polynomial P .x; y; z/ D x 3 3xy 2 C
x 2 C y 2 2z 2 . The global maximum and minimum of P in the closed unit ball are
reached in the sphere and may be calculated
p
by the Lagrange multipliers method.
3
The solutions are .˙1; 0; 0/, .˙ 2 ; ˙ 2 ; 0/, .0; 0; ˙1/, the global maximum is 2
1
and the global minimum is 2.

Neumann’s problem (homogeneous) is stated in a bounded domain U with @U
regular and oriented. If N Å denotes the unit exterior normal vector field to @U ,
and ' 2 C.@U / is a given function, Neumann’s problem consists in finding a
function u 2 C 1 .Ux /, harmonic on U , such that @uÅ D ' in @U . By (7.9), the data
@N
' 2 C.@U /, must satisfy the necessary condition
Z
' dA D 0:
@U
This problem models, for example, a stationary distribution of temperatures on a

domain U when there is a controlled heat flow, @uÅ D ', on @U . The solution
@N
of Neumann’s problem, if it exists, is unique except for constants, because if u1 ,
u2 are solutions, u D u1 u2 is harmonic on U and @uÅ D 0 on @U . Therefore
@N
Å
0 by (7.8) and u is constant.
ru
Evidently, Dirichlet’s problem is trivial if n D 1, but however it should be
mentioned. Recall that, in this case, harmonic functions are the linear functions. In
a connected open set U D .a; b/, giving ' 2 C.@U / is just giving two values at a,
b, say A, B. Then the solution of Dirichlet’s problem is the line that joins .a; A/
with .b; B/, that is,
B A
yAD .x a/:
ba
7.5 Green’s function. The Poisson kernel

Let U be a bounded domain of Rn with regular boundary oriented by the unit
Å . As we have seen in the previous section, every C 2
exterior normal vector field N
function u on a neighborhood of Ux is determined by the values of u in U and
by the values of u in @U . In particular, if u is harmonic, it is determined by uj@U .
7.5. Green’s function. The Poisson kernel 265
As a strategy to study the existence of solutions of Dirichlet’s problem one should

find, first, in which way u is determined by u and uj@U . In other words, suppose
there is a solution of Dirichlet’s problem and try to express it in terms of the data
at the boundary. To do this it is necessary to remove the term @uÅ in the Riesz
@N
decomposition formula (Theorem 7.13).
Let u 2 C 2 .Ux / be given and let v be any function, also of class C 2 on a
neighborhood of Ux , harmonic on U . By the second Green’s identity, one has
Z Z
@v @u
0D uv d V .x/ D u.y/ .y/ v.y/ .y/ dA.y/
U @U @NÅ @NÅ
Z
C v.y/u.y/ d V .y/:
U
Subtracting this equality from (7.15), it yields

Z
@ @u
u.x/ D u.y/ .Gx v/ .Gx v/ dA.y/
@U @NÅy Å
@N
Z
C .Gx v/.y/u.y/ d V .y/;
U
with Gx .y/ D G.x y/. The idea is now, for x 2 U fixed, choosing vx such that
vx .y/ D Gx .y/ if y 2 @U . In this case, the function GU .x; y/ D G.x y/vx .y/
would satisfy
Z Z
@
u.x/ D u.y/ GU .x; y/ dA.y/ C GU .x; y/u.y/ d V .y/: (7.17)
@U Åy
@N U
Hence one would find vx , harmonic, such that vx .y/ D G.x y/ if y 2 @U . This
is a particular Dirichlet’s problem, one for each point x 2 U . If this particular
problem is solved the function GU would be defined and one might expect that the
solution of Dirichlet’s problem u D 0 on U , uj@U D ', with ' 2 C.@U / is given
by Z
@
u.x/ D '.y/ GU .x; y/ dA.y/:
@U @NÅy
The function GU .x; y/ is called the first Green’s function of U with pole x or,
simply, Green’s function of U with pole x. If GU .x; y/ exists and everything
makes sense, the function PU .x; y/ D @Å GU .x; y/, x 2 U , y 2 @U is called the
@Ny
Poisson kernel of U . The solution of Dirichlet’s problem u D 0 on U , u D ' on
@U would be then Z
u.x/ D PU .x; y/'.y/ dA.y/:
@U
The existence of Green’s function may be considered for any bounded domain
U , not necessarily with regular boundary, because it is about solving a Dirichlet’s
problem with data G.x y/ at the boundary; if it exists, it is the only function
GU .x; y/ harmonic on U n fxg, as a function of y, that satisfies GU .x; y/ D 0 if
y 2 @U and GU .x; y/ D G.x y/ vx .y/ with vx harmonic.
Proposition 7.23. Let U be a bounded domain of Rn ; if Green’s function GU .x; y/
exists, then it satisfies GU .x; y/ D GU .y; x/ for x; y 2 U , x ¤ y.
Proof. The proof of this result for any bounded domain is subtle and goes beyond
the level of this book. Here we will only give an idea of the proof. In the special
case that the domain has a regular boundary, a rigorous proof is provided.
In general, if vx is the solution of Dirichlet’s problem with data '.y/ D G.xy/,
one needs to check that vx .y/ D vy .x/. At first, for x1 , x2 2 U the maximum
principle gives
ˇ ˇ
ˇvx .y/ vx .y/ˇ max jG.x1 z/ G.x2 z/j ; y 2 U;
1 2
z2@U
an inequality implying that vx .y/ is continuous with respect to x on U . One proves

now that this function is harmonic in x, checking the validity of the mean value
property. If B.x; r/ is a ball with center x contained in U , the mean
Z
1
f .y/ D vz .y/dA.z/
cn r n1 S.x;r/
is a harmonic function in y and is continuous on Ux . Their boundary values are

Z
1
G.z y/dA.z/; y 2 @U:
cn r n1 S.x;r/
Since G.z y/ is harmonic in z, these boundary values are G.x y/. Therefore,
f is harmonic with boundary values G.x y/, that is, f D vx . This proves
that vx .y/ is harmonic in x. In order to show that vx .y/ D vy .x/, thanks to the
uniqueness of solution of Dirichlet’s problem, it is enough to show that vx .y/ has
a continuous extension to x 2 @U and that it is G.x y/. When y 2 @U , this is
true by construction, and when y 2 U , one needs a more elaborated version of the
maximum principle than the one in Theorem 7.19.
In order to have a rigorous proof supposing now that U has a regular boundary,
we just need to apply the second Green’s identity. Taking the domain U n .Bx" .x/ [
Bx" .y// for x; y 2 U , x ¤ y and " > 0 small enough and the functions u.z/ D
GU .x; z/, v.z/ D GU .y; z/, we get
Z Z
@v @u @v @u
u v dA.z/ D u v dA.z/:
S.x;"/ Å
@N Å
@N S.y;"/ Å
@N @NÅ
7.5. Green’s function. The Poisson kernel 267
The limit, when " ! 0, of the left-hand side term is v.x/ D GU .y; x/. The limit
of the right-hand side term is u.y/ D GU .x; y/, as the proof of Theorem 7.13
shows, and this gives the stated result.
Proposition 7.24. If Green’s function GU .x; y/ exists, then it satisfies GU .x; y/
0, for x; y 2 U , x ¤ y.
Proof. As said, GU .x; y/ is harmonic with respect to y on U n fxg. Consider
U n Bx" .x/, " > 0. When y 2 @U , GU .x; y/ is zero, and if y 2 S" .x/,
GU .x; y/ D G.x; y/ vx .y/ tends to 1 when " ! 0. The maximum prin-
ciple gives G.x; y/ 0.
In order to solve Neumann’s problem, one could try, similarly, to find a harmonic
function vx such that @Å vx D @Å G.x y/ if y 2 @U , for x 2 U fixed. In
@Ny @Ny
R
general, this is inconsistent, because it is known that @U @Å vx dA D 0 since vx is
@N
harmonic. Put, then,
Z
1 @
mD G.x y/ dA.y/;
A.@U / @U @N Åy
R
with A.@U / D @U dA.
Since G.x y/ is harmonic on U n fxg, one has, for " > 0,
Z Z
@ @
G.x y/ dA.y/ D G.x y/ dA.y/ D 1;
@U @N Åy Åy
S.x;"/ @N
the last equality following from (7.16). Therefore, m D 1=A.@U / is independent

of x. Now state the particular Neumann’s problem: vx D 0 on U , @Å vx .y/ D
@Ny
@
Åy
G.x y/ m on @U , so that now the data at the boundary has integral zero. If
@N
one could find the solution vx of this problem, the function HU .x; y/ D vx .y/
G.x y/ would verify
Z Z
1 @u
u.x/ D u.y/ dA.y/ C HU .x; y/ .y/ dA.y/
A.@U / @U Å
@N
Z @U
HU .x; y/u d V .y/;
U
R of Neumann’s problem u D 0 on U ,
and one might expect that the solution
@u
Å
D ' on @U (with ' 2 C.@U / and @U ' dA D 0) is given by
@N
Z
u.x/ D HU .x; y/'.y/ dA.y/ C c; c constant: (7.18)
@U
The function HU .x; y/ is called the second Green’s function of U with pole x.
Example 7.25. Once again it is worth considering the case n D 1. Calculate first
Green’s function of U D .a; b/ with pole x 2 .a; b/. Here G.x y/ D 12 jx yj.
Therefore, vx is the linear function on .a; b/ taking the values 12 ja xj at a and
1
2
jb xj at b; that is,
1 1 jb xj ja xj
vx .y/ D ja xj C .y a/
2 2 ba
1 1 b x .x a/
D .x a/ C .y a/
2 2 ba
1 1 b C a 2x
D .x a/ C .y a/
2 2 ba
and it turns out that
8 .a y/.b x/
ˆ
< if y < x;
1 ba
GU .x; y/ D jx yj vx .y/ D
2 :̂ .x a/.y b/ if x < y;
ba
making clear that GU .x; y/ 0.
7.6 Plane domains: specific methods of complex variables.

Dirichlet and Neumann problems in the unit disc
The relation between harmonic and holomorphic functions makes it possible, in
dimension 2, to apply specific methods of complex variables to solve Dirichlet and
Neumann problems. First of all, it will be seen how to find Green’s function of
the unit disc in a direct way and, consequently, to solve Dirichlet’s problem in
the disc. Later it will be shown that holomorphic transformations leave harmonic
functions invariant, as well as Dirichlet and Neumann problems. This fact will
give the solution of these problems in other plane domains by means of conformal
mappings.
7.6.1 First Green’s function and Poisson kernel in the unit disc
According to the previous section, to obtain the first Green’s function of the unit
disc D one needs to find, for z 2 D fixed, a harmonic function v on D x such that
v.w/ D G.z w/ D 2 Log jz wj if w 2 @D D T , that is, if jwj D 1. For
1
z D 0, evidently v
0 works. Now, if jwj D 1, one has jz wj D j1 w zj, N and
the function
1
v.w/ D Log j1 w zj;
N
2
7.6. Plane domains: specific methods of complex variables 269
actually, satisfies v.w/ D G.z w/ if jwj D 1. Since 1 w zN is holomorphic with

respect to w with a unique zero at the point z1N , which is outside the disc, it follows
that Log j1 w zN j is harmonic on D. Hence, one finds that the first Green’s function
of the disc is ˇ zw ˇ
1 ˇ ˇ
GD .z; w/ D Log ˇ ˇ:
2 1 w zN
Compute now the Poisson kernel, PD .z; w/ D @
G .z; w/.
Åw D
Write w D re i
@N
@
and observe that r @r D w @w
@
Cw
x @@wx . If r D jwj D 1, one has

@ @ @
PD .z; w/ D GD .z; w/ D w Cw
x GD .z; w/
@r @w @wx
ˇ ˇ
@ @ 1 ˇ z w ˇ2
D w Cw x Log ˇˇ ˇ
ˇ
@w

@ x
w 4
1 w zN
1 @ @ zw zN w
x
D w Cw x log C log
4 @w @wx 1 w zN 1 wz
x
1 1 jzj2 1 1 jzj2
D D :
2 j1 w zN j2 2 jw zj2
So formula (7.17) may be written, in the case of the unit disc, as
Z Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 1 jzj2 1 ˇ ˇ
u.z/ D u.w/ d .w/ C Log ˇ ˇ u.w/ d m.w/:
2 T jz wj2 2 D 1 w zN
Recall that d is the length element on the unit circle, that is, d .w/ D d if
w D e i .
The discussion in Section 7.5 shows that a harmonic function on D, u, continuous
x is determined by its values on T according to the formula
on D,
Z
1 1 jzj2
u.z/ D u.w/ d .w/: (7.19)
2 T jz wj2
As a consequence, in order to solve Dirichlet’s problem in D with data ' 2 C.T /,

one must consider the function
Z
1 1 jzj2
u.z/ D '.w/ d .w/; z 2 D: (7.20)
2 T jz wj2
To prove that, in fact, the function defined by (7.20) is the solution of Dirichlet’s
problem, some properties of the kernel PD .z; w/ are needed:
1) For every point w 2 T , the kernel PD .z; w/ is a harmonic function in z for
z 2 D and satisfies PD .z; w/ 0.
Z
2) PD .z; w/ d .w/ D 1, for z 2 D.
T
3) For fixed w0 2 T and ı > 0, one has

Z
lim PD .z; w/ d .w/ D 0:
z!w0 T nDı .w0 /
Property 1) may be directly checked, by calculating z PD .z; w/, but it will

be more useful to show that the Poisson kernel
ˇ zw is
ˇ the real part of a holomorphic
function in z. Write GD .z; w/ D 2 1
Log ˇ 1 x
wz
ˇ and observe that GD is the real
1 zw
part of 2 log 1wz
x
. This last function, for w fixed with jwj 1, is holomorphic
on D.0; jwj/. Therefore, PD .z; w/ is the real part of the holomorphic function in z,

@ @ 1 zw 1 w x
wz
w Cw
x ˇ log D C
@w @wx ˇ T 2 1 wz
x 2 w z 1 zw
x
1 w wz
x 2 1 w2 z2 1 wCz (7.21)
D D D
2 .1 z w/.w
x z/ 2 .w z/ 2 2 w z
1 1 C zwx 1 2
D D 1:
2 1 z w
x 2 1 z w
x
Property 2) is obtained from (7.19) taking u

1. Property 3) is immediate: if
jw w0 j ı and jz w0 j 2ı , then jw zj 2ı and PD .z; w/ 2
1 4
ı2
.1 jzj2 /;
therefore Z
4
PD .z; w/ d .w/ 2 .1 jzj2 / ! 0:
T nDı .w0 / ı z!w0
Theorem 7.26 (Solution of Dirichlet’s problem in the unit disc). If ' 2 C.T /, the
function u defined by equality (7.20) is harmonic on D and satisfies
lim u.z/ D '.w/; for each w 2 T :

z!w
Proof. First,
Z Z
u.z/ D PD .z; w/'.w/ d .w/ D z PD .z; w/'.w/ d .w/ D 0;
T T
by property 1) and so u is harmonic on D.

Now one must show that limz!w0 u.z/ D '.w0 /, if jw0 j D 1. Using prop-
erty 2) and PD .z; w/ 0 one has, for ı > 0,
Z
u.z/ '.w0 / D f'.w/ '.w0 /gPD .z; w/ d .w/;
T
Z
ju.z/ '.w0 /j j'.w/ '.w0 /jPD .z; w/ d .w/
T
Z Z
C D I C II:
T nDı .w0 / T \Dı .w0 /
Part II can be estimated as follows:

Z
II supjww0 jı j'.w/ '.w0 /j PD .z; w/ d .w/
T \Dı .w0 /
supjww0 jı j'.w/ '.w0 /j;
so that given " > 0 we get II "=2 for every z, if ı > 0 is small enough, thanks to
uniform continuity of '. Now, with this ı fixed, property 3) yields
Z
I 2k'k1 PD .z; w/ d .w/ "=2
T nDı .w0 /
if z is close enough to w0 and this ends the proof.
The solution u – called the Poisson transform of ' and represented by P Œ' – is
expressed sometimes in a slightly different way. Write w D e it , 0 t 2, z D
re i ; then jz wj2 D jre i wj2 D 1 C r 2 2 Re r we
x i D 1 C r 2 2r cos. t /.
Hence, defining functions ur by ur .e / D u.re /, 0 r < 1, it turns out that
i i
Z
1 2
1 r2
ur .e i / D '.e it / dt:
2 0 1 C r 2 2r cos. t /
That is, ur is the convolution of the data ' with the function
1 1 r2
Pr .t / D P .r; e it / D
2 1 C r 2 2r cos t
as functions defined on the multiplicative group T . In summary, one has
ur .e i / D u.re i / D .' Pr /.e i /:
The fact that the solution is expressed in this way comes also from the rotation
invariance of Dirichlet’s problem: if there are two data '1 , '2 and one of them is
obtained from the other by means of a rotation, '2 .w/ D '1 .w/ with jj D 1,
then the respective solutions u1 , u2 satisfy the same relation, u2 .w/ D u1 .w/.
The relevant fact is that every operator ' 7! u with this property can be written as
a convolution of ' by a certain kernel.
Now one may calculate the expansion of the harmonic function u in power series
of z and zN (Theorem 4.19) and see how coefficients of this expansion depend on
Fourier coefficients of '. First observe that the equality
X 1
2
D2 x n
.z w/
1 zw
x 0
holds uniformly for w 2 T , if jzj < 1. Therefore, by (7.21), one has

X 1
2
2PD .z; w/ D Re 1 D 2 Re x n1
.z w/
1 zw
x 0
1
X 1
X 1
X 1
X
D x C
.z w/ n
.Nz w/ 1 D
n
x C
n
.z w/ N n;
.zw/
0 0 0 1
also uniformly on T . Now, recalling that the n-th Fourier coefficient of ' is
R 2 it i nt
R 2
y
'.n/ D 21
0 '.e /e dt D 2
1 it
0 '.e /w x n d .w/, one finds
1
X 1
X
u.z/ D y
z n '.n/ C zN n '.n/:
y
0 1
PC1
In other words, Pr .t / D P .r; e it / D
P 1 r jnj e i nt and assuming that '.t /
y
'.n/e i nt
, then
C1
X
u.z/ D .' Pr /.e / D it
r jnj '.n/e
y i nt
; z D re it : (7.22)
1
The solution corresponding to '.t / D e i nt is z n D r n e i nt if n 0 and zN n D

r jnj e i nt if n < 0.
Example 7.27. Let us compute the solution of Dirichlet’s problem in the unit
disc when the data is '.e it / D cos2 t . We find first the Fourier expansion of ',
expressing cos t in terms of complex exponentials:
1 2
'.e it / D 2
.e it C e it / D 14 .e 2it C 2 C e 2it /:
The solution is, therefore, u.z/ D 14 .z 2 C 2 C zN 2 / D 12 .1 C x 2 y 2 /.

More generally if ' is a polynomial in cos t and sin t , then the solution u is the
sum of a polynomial in z and a polynomial in z. N
Tacitly, in the formulation and the solution of Dirichlet’s problem in the unit
disc it has been supposed that one deals with real functions. Considering separately
real and imaginary parts, a complex Dirichlet’s problem can be solved: given any
continuous function ' W T ! C, there is a unique harmonic function u W D ! C,
x with ujT D ', also given by (7.20) and (7.22). Hence, representing by
u 2 C.D/,
h.D/ the space of harmonic functions on D, one has a one-to-one correspondence
x \ h.D/;
C.T / ! C.D/
' 7! u D P Œ';
that associates to ' the function u D P Œ', the only one continuous on D x and
harmonic on D such that ujT D '.
A subspace of h.D/ is the space H.D/ of holomorphic functions on D. The class
C.D/x \ H.D/ which, therefore, consists of holomorphic functions on D that have a
continuous extension to Dx is called the disc algebra and is denoted by A.D/. In the
correspondence ' ! u D P Œ', the subspace A.D/ C.D/ x \ h.D/ corresponds
to the subspace A.T / C.T / formed by functions ' 2 C.T / such P Œ' 2 H.D/;
in view of (7.22), one has
A.T / D f' 2 C.T / W '.n/

y D 0; n 2 Z; n < 0g:
One should be aware that, by Weierstrass’ theorem, every function of C.T / is the
uniform limit on T of a sequence of polynomials in x; y, and so, of a sequence of
N Observe, however, that if
polynomials in z; z.
X
0
anm z n zN m
is a polynomial in z; zN , using the fact that z zN D 1 if jzj D 1, it turns out that the
restriction to T of the previous polynomial is the sum of a polynomial in z and a
polynomial in z.N Hence, when solving the Dirichlet problem u D 0 on D, u D '
on T for a data ' 2 C.T / by means of the function u D P Œ', polynomials in z; zN
which approximate ' uniformly on T are explicitly provided. If one looks for a
N such that j'.z/ P .z; z/j
polynomial P .z; z/ N < " if jzj D 1, write
C1
X
jnj i n t
'.e it / D lim u.re it / D lim y
'.n/r e
r!1 r!1
1
with uniform convergence on T P. Now choosejnjr such that j'.e it / u.re it /j < "=2
y
and after that, a partial sum jnjN '.n/r e i nt
with N big enough such that
P jnj i nt
ju.re / jnjN '.n/r
it
y e j < "=2, using uniform convergence on the circle
jzj D r. Hence, it is not true that
X
'.e it / D lim y
'.n/e i nt
uniformly in t;
N !1
jnjN
but, instead, it is true that

X
jnj i nt
'.e it / D lim lim y
'.n/r e uniformly in t:
r!1 N !1
jnjN
If ' 2 A.T /, the polynomials that approximate ' – the previous partial sums – are
polynomials only in z. It is worth mentioning that, as said before, it is not true in
general that trigonometric polynomials
X
SN .'/ D y
'.n/e i nt
jnjN
converge to ' uniformly on T if ' 2 C.T / (but it is true if in addition ' has bounded
variation). Another classical way of constructing polynomials that approximate
uniformly a function ' 2 C.T / is using Fejér sums N .'/, arithmetic means of
the polynomials SN .'/, defined by
1
N .'/ D .S0 .'/ C C SN .'//:
N C1
In the following statement, which describes the space A.T /, the item a) says that
A.T / is the “half” of C.T /, the part generated by polynomials in z.
Proposition 7.28. a) A.T / is the subspace of C.T / formed by functions that can
be approximated uniformly on T by polynomials in z. R
b) A function ' 2 C.T / belongs to A.T / if and only if T '.z/z n dz D 0, for
n 0.
c) A function ' 2 C.T / belongs to A.T / if and only if
Z
'.z/
dz D 0; for jwj > 1:
T zw
d) The functions ' 2 C.T / that can be approximated uniformly on T by poly-

nomials in zN are the ones of A.T / (conjugates of functions of A.T /) and are
characterized by the condition
Z
'.z/Nz n d zN D 0; for n 0;
T
or by
Z Z 2
1 '.z/ 1
dz D '.e it / dt; jwj < 1:
2 i T zw 2 0
e) Let A0 .T / denote the subspace of functions ' 2 A.T / with '.0/

y D 0
(a condition which means that the function u 2 A.D/ with boundary values '
satisfies u.0/ D 0). Then a function ' 2 C.T / belongs to the space A0 .T / if and
only if ' is perpendicular to A.T / by the scalar product of L2 .T / given by
Z 2
1
h'; i D '.e it / .e it / dt:
2 0
Proof. It has been already seen that ' 2 A.T / if and only if '.m/
y D 0 for m < 0;
if m D n, n > 0, then
Z 2 Z
1 1
y
'.m/ D '.e it /e imt dt D '.z/z n1 dz
2 0 2 T
and b) is proved. In the considerations made before the statement of this proposition,
it was observed that every function ' 2 A.T / can be approximated uniformly by
polynomials in z on T . The converse is immediate, since every polynomial in
z D e it gives effective Fourier coefficients only for n 0. The integral in c) may
be written, expanding in geometric series the integrand, as
Z Z
'.z/ 1
dz D '.z/ dz
T z w T w 1 wz
Z X1 X1 Z
zn n1
D '.z/ nC1
dz D w '.z/z n dz;
T nD0
w nD0 T
and
R thenn c) follows from b). ConjugatingR in b) one has ' 2 A.T / if and only if
'.z/Nz d zN D 0, n 0 or, equivalently, '.z/z m dz D 0, m 2. The second
integral in d) is then
Z X1 Z Z 2
1 wn 1 dz 1
'.z/ nC1
dz D '.z/ D '.e it / dt:
2 i T nD0
z 2 i T z 2 0
Item e) is obvious, because A0 .T / is generated by the functions zN n with n 1 and

A.T / by the functions z m with m 0 and
Z 2
1
hz ; zN i D
m n
e i.mCn/t dt D 0:
2 0
The calculation done to prove item d) of the proposition above shows that the
Cauchy’s integral of a function ' 2 C.T / is
Z X1
1 '.z/
dz D y
'.n/w n
:
2 i T z w nD0
x
Now, this function is not necessarily continuous on D.
In Chapter 10 a more general version of Proposition 7.28 will be given.
7.6.2 Relationship between the Cauchy kernel and the Poisson

kernel
x then
If f is a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of the closed unit disc D,
the Cauchy integral formula may be written as
Z
1 f .w/
f .z/ D dw
2 i T w z
Z Z C (7.23)
1 f .w/ 1 f .e i /
D d .w/ D d; z 2 D;
2 T 1 wz x 2 1 e i z
with w D e i if jwj D 1 and d .w/ D d.

A holomorphic function is harmonic, and, therefore, one also has
Z
1 1 jzj2
f .z/ D f .w/ d .w/; z 2 D: (7.24)
2 T j1 wzj
x 2
Hence, both Cauchy kernel and Poisson kernel are reproducing kernels for holo-
morphic functions from their values on T D @D. The difference between both
kernels
² ³ ² ³
1 1 jzj2 1 1 1 1 jzj2
D 1
2 j1 wzj
x 2 1 wz
x 2 1 wz
x 1 w zN
1 w zN jzj2 N z/
z.w zN 1 zwN
D D D D
2 j1 wzj
x 2 2.1 wz/.1
x w zN / x w z/
2 w.1 N 2 1 zw
N
is, therefore, a kernel that cancels holomorphic functions in the sense that
Z Z
1 N
zw 1 zN dw
f .w/ d .w/ D f .w/ D 0:
2 T 1 zw
N 2 i T 1 zwN
This equality is also a consequence of Cauchy’s theorem because the function
f .w/ 1zNzw x
is holomorphic on a neighborhood of D.
N
Another way to obtain Poisson’s formula for the holomorphic function f is
applying Cauchy’s formula, to the function h.w/ D f .w/=.1 zw/,
N for fixed z.
Then it yields
Z Z
f .z/ 1 h.w/ 1 f .w/
D h.z/ D d .w/ D d .w/:
1 jzj 2 2 T 1 wz x 2 T j1 wzj
x 2
It is worth observing that the Cauchy kernel is a universal kernel, that is, it is the
same for all domains, while the Poisson kernel depends on the domain (likewise, in
the first case the integral is with respect to dw – also universal – and in the second
case, with respect to d .w/, which depends on the domain). The Poisson kernel is
only explicit in domains with a lot of symmetries, as it is the case of the disc.
Writing the Cauchy kernel, C.z; w/ D 21 i wz
dw
, as before in the way C.z; w/ D
1 d.w/
x
2 1wz
, and using (7.21), the following relation between the Poisson kernel and
the Cauchy kernel is found:
² ³
1 2
PD .z; w/ D Re 1
2 1 zw
x
1 1 C zw
x
D Re ; z 2 D; jwj D 1:
2 1 zw
x
This formula has an interesting consequence related to the following observa-
tion. It is known that a function f holomorphic on D x is determined by its real part
except for an imaginary constant. This real part is a harmonic function determined
by its values on T . In conclusion, f is determined, except for an imaginary con-
x
stant, by its real part on T . The kernel 1Cz w
x
1z w
makes the reconstruction of f in D
explicit from the values of Re.f / on T .
x and
Theorem 7.29. If the function f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of D
u D Re f , then one has
Z
1 1 C zwx
f .z/ D u.w/ d .w/ C i Im f .0/; z 2 D:
2 T 1 z wx
Proof. The integral defines a holomorphic function on D that, as it has just been
seen, has real part u. Its difference with f has real part zero and, therefore, is an
imaginary constant.
Consequently, the conjugated harmonic function of u, say v D Im f , satisfying

v.0/ D 0 is given by
Z Z
1 1 C zwx 1 x
Im z w
v.z/ D Im u.w/ d .w/ D u.w/ d .w/:
2 T 1 zw
x T j1 z wj x2
The kernel
1 C zw
x
1 zw
x
appearing in Theorem 7.29 is called the Herglotz kernel, and the formula represent-
ing f in this theorem is also written
Z
1 2
e it C z
f .z/ D u.e it / dt C i Im f .0/; z 2 D:
2 0 e it z
Corollary 7.30. Every function f , holomorphic on a neighborhood of D x and non-

x
vanishing on D, may be expressed in terms of the values of jf j on T by means of
the formula
Z
1 1 C zwx
f .z/ D exp Log jf .w/j d .w/; z 2 D
2 T 1 z w x
with 2 C, jj D 1.
Proof. Just apply Theorem 7.29 to a branch of the function log f .
Example 7.31. Apply the formula of Theorem 7.29 to the principal branch of the
logarithm of f .z/ D z a, with a real and a < 1:
Z 2 it
1 e Cz
Log.z a/ D Log je it aj dt:
2 0 e it z
Taking z D 0 one finds
Z 2
1
Log jaj D Log.1 C a2 2a cos t / dt:
4 0
Since Log je it C 1j is still integrable, one may a tend to 1 to obtain

Z 2
Log.1 C cos t / dt D 2 Log 2:
0
7.6.3 The solution of Neumann’s problem in the unit disc

In order to compute the second Green’s function of the unit disc D one has to find,
for fixed z 2 D, a harmonic function, v D vz , on D x such that @v D @G 1 if
@NÅ Å
@N 2
jwj D 1. At first, calculating, one has

@G @ @ ˇˇ 1
.w/ D w Cw x ˇ Log jz wj
@NÅ @w @wx T 2
1 w 1 1
D Re D Re ;
2 wz 2 1 wz
x
² ³
@G 1 1 1 1 x
wz
.w/ D Re 1 D Re :
Å
@N 2 2 1 x
wz 2 1 x
wz
Now it is clear that the function v.w/ D 2
1
Log j1 wzj
x works, because

@v @ @ ˇˇ 1 1 x
wz
Dw Cw
x T
Log j1 wzj
x D Re :
Å
@N @w @ x
w 2 2 1 x
wz
Hence, HD .z; w/ D v.w/ G.z w/ D 2
1
Log.jz wj j1 wzj/
x is the second
Green’s function of D.
7.7. The Poisson equation in Rn 279
Theorem
R 7.32. Suppose that ' 2 C.T / satisfies the compatibility condition
T ' d D 0. Then the unique solution of the problem u D 0 on D, @uÅ D ' on
@N
T , that vanishes at the origin, is the function
Z
u.z/ D HD .z; w/'.w/ d .w/; z 2 D:
T
Proof. According to (7.18) this is the expected solution. Let us check that it is so.
When jwj D 1, one has HD .z; w/ D 1 Log jz wj, which is harmonic in z, and
therefore u is harmonic. By the same computation done above, it turns out that

@ 1 z 1 N jzj2
wz 1 1 jzj2
HD .z; w/ D Re D Re D 1 :
@NÅ wz jw zj2 2 jw zj2
This means
Z Z
@u 1 1 jzj2 1
.z/ D '.w/ d .w/ '.w/ d .w/ D P Œ'.z/:
Å
@N 2 T jz wj 2 2 T
That is, @u
Å
is the Poisson transform of ' and, then, has value ' on T .
@N
x It has just
Remark 7.2. Speaking properly, the function u is not of class C 1 on D.
x
been proved that Å is continuous on D, and in order to set the continuity of the
@u
@N
Å ' must fulfill some additional properties.
whole gradient, ru,
7.7 The Poisson equation in Rn

7.7.1 The Riesz potential of a measure
The Poisson equation is
u D ;
where, to start with, is supposed to be a continuous function with compact support
in Rn . If this equation has a twice differentiable solution u, then it has infinitely
many, because adding to u any harmonic function, another solution is obtained. In
order to distinguish a particular solution one must impose some other condition.
The maximum principle suggests one such condition, since every function u is
determined on a domain by u and the values of u on the boundary.
Proposition 7.33. a) If u is a twice differentiable function on Rn , vanishing at
infinity (that is: limjxj!C1 u.x/ D 0) and such that u is continuous with compact
support (in particular if u 2 Cc2 .Rn /), then one has
Z
u.x/ D G.x y/u.y/d V .y/; x 2 Rn :
Rn
b) Given a function 2 Cc .Rn /, if there is a twice differentiable solution u

of the equation u D , vanishing at infinity, this solution is unique and it is the
Riesz potential
Z
u D G./.x/ D G.x y/.y/d V .y/:
Rn
RWhen n D 2, a necessary condition for the existence of the solution u in item b)

is d V D 0.
Proof. Suppose, for the moment, n > 2 and apply Corollary 7.18. Denoting by K
the support of u and using that u.x/ ! 0 when jxj D R ! C1, it turns out that
Z
u.x/ D lim GB.x;R/ .x; y/u.y/d V .y/
R!C1 B.x;R/
Z
D lim GB.x;R/ .x; y/u.y/d V .y/
R!C1 K
Z Z
D G.x y/u.y/d V .y/ lim dn R 2n
u.y/d V .y/
K R!C1 K
Z
D G.x y/u.y/d V .x/:
Rn
If n D 2, R2nRis replaced by Log R. In this case, the existence of the limit at

infinity implies K u.y/d V .y/ D 0 and a) is proved. Obviously b) is a conse-
quence of a) (observe that the uniqueness is also a consequence of the maximum
modulus
R principle). The necessary condition when n D 2 follows from the fact
that K ud V D 0, as said.
The particularity of the case n D 2 in item b) is explained by the following

remark: if n > 2, every Riesz potential u D G./ of a continuous function
R supy2K jx yj ! 0 if
2n
with compact support K vanishes at infinity because
jxj ! 1. If n D 2, this is not true, but assuming K .y/d V .y/ D 0, then
Z Z
Log jx yj.y/d V .y/ D .Log jx yj Log jxj/ .y/d V .y/;
K K
and now Log jxyj

jxj
! 0 uniformly for y 2 K.
jxj!1
R b) of Proposition 7.33 does not show that given a function 2 Cc .R /

n
Item
(with d V D 0 if n D 2) the Riesz potential u D G./ is a solution of u D ,
vanishing at infinity; it only says that if there is a solution, it is this one. In order
to study the existence of solutions of the Poisson equation, one needs to analyze
the properties of Riesz potentials. To this end, and also for the applications, it is
advisable to extend the definition of Riesz potential given in (7.14) changing d V

by a real measure defined on Rn with compact support K and finite total variation,
jj.K/ < C1. Recall that the support of a measure , spt./, is the complement
of the biggest open set on which vanishes. One may think about as a charge or
mass distribution, which may go from Pbeing absolutely P continuous, as in the case
D d V , to be point charges D ci ıai , with jci j < C1 and ıai denoting
the mass 1 at the point ai (Dirac delta at ai ). In an intermediate situation, may be
the measure of integration on a curve or a hyper-surface or, for example, a charge
distribution on a sphere.
Given, then, a real measure on Rn with compact support K and jj.K/ < C1,
consider the Riesz potential of :
Z
def
u.x/ D G.x y/d.y/ D G./.x/: (7.25)
K
Hence the simple layer potentials

Z
.y/G.x y/dA.y/;
@U
that appear in the P

Riesz decomposition formula, are a particularP case of Riesz
potentials. If D i ci ıai is a discrete measure, then u.x/ D i ci G.x ai /.
One may start specifying the definition of the function G./.
Proposition 7.34. The potential G./ is defined at every point not belonging to
K D spt./ and is a harmonic function on Rn n K.
Proof. The proof is done in the case n > 2. If x … K, one has jxyj d.x; K/ > 0
for y 2 K; then G.x y/ is bounded on K and G./.x/ is well defined. Moreover
G.xy/ is of class C 1 on a neighborhood of x and continuous for y 2 K; therefore,
jG.x y/ G.z y/j C.x/jx zj; y2K
for jx zj < 12 d.x; K/ and some function C.x/. Then jG./.x/ G./.z/j
jj.K/C.x/jz xj; this proves that G./ is continuous on Rn n K. Now one can
check that G./ has the mean value property. If B is a ball with center x0 not
intersecting K one has, by Fubini’s theorem,
Z Z ² Z ³
1 1
G./.x/dA.x/ D G.x y/dA.x/ d.y/:
A.@B/ @B K A.@B/ @B
Now, G.x y/ is harmonic in x, for y 2 K; hence, the inner integral is G.x0 y/

and one gets G./.x0 /.
Does the function u.x/ D G./.x/ make sense at the points x of K? In general,
the answer is no. The clearest case is when one takes as a point mass at y, D ıy ;
then u.x/ D G.x y/ tends to 1 when x ! y.
In some special cases the potential is defined at the points of the support of
the measure; for example, this happens for simple layer potentials. If is the
measure of integration on a manifold M of dimension k, in the space Rn , n > 2,
the function jx yj2n is locally integrable on M if and only if 2 n C k > 0,
that is, if k > n 2. If k n 2, (for example n D 3 and M is a line) u.x/
becomes infinite on M . If n D 2, Log jx yj is integrable on lines and curves.
When G.x y/ is integrable with respect to , in general u will be continuous;
otherwise it will have discontinuities. Hence, in general, simple layer potentials are
continuous functions.
Example 7.35. When is the measure of integration on S.0; R/, R > 0, it has
been seen in Example 7.14 that the corresponding (simple layer) potential has value
Rn1
1
2n
R (R Log R if n D 2) for jxj < R and .2n/jxj n2 (R Log jxj if n D 2) for
jxj > R. In this case the potential is a continuous function at the points x with
jxj D R, but the derivatives have discontinuities.
Next, potentials of type
Z
G./.x/ D G.x y/.y/d V .y/;
Rn
where is a bounded function with compact support, will be analyzed in detail.

They are the convolution of the functions G and , and that is why it is conve-
nient to know some general properties of convolutions. Recall that L1loc .Rn / is the
space of measurable functions on Rn which are integrable on each compact set
of Rn and L1c .Rn / is the space of integrable functions on Rn with compact sup-
port. Analogously, L1 n
loc .R / denotes the space of measurable functions that are
essentially bounded on compact sets and L1 n
c .R / the space of essentially bounded
measurable functions with compact support.
Proposition 7.36. Consider a convolution
Z
.k /.x/ D k.x y/.y/d V .y/
Rn
with k 2 L1loc .Rn / and 2 L1

c .R /. Then one has:
n
a) The function k is defined and continuous on Rn .

b) If 2 Cc1 .Rn /, then k 2 C 1 .Rn / and
Z
@.k / @
.x/ D .x y/k.y/d V .y/;
@xi R n @xi
that is, Di .k / D k Di , i D 1; 2; : : : ; n.
c) If the partial derivatives @x @k

i
exist at every point of Rn and @x@k
i
2 L1loc .Rn /,
for i D 1; : : : ; n, then k 2 C 1 .Rn / and one has
Z
@.k / @k
.x/ D .y/ .x y/d V .y/;
@xi Rn @xi
that is, Di .k / D .Di k/ , i D 1; 2; : : : ; n.
The hypotheses k 2 L1loc .Rn /, 2 L1 n
c .R / in item a) may be replaced by
k 2 L1 .Rn /, 2 L1 .Rn / or by k 2 L1c .Rn /, 2 L1 n
loc .R /. Likewise, in b) one
n Å 1
may suppose k 2 L .R /, 2 C .R /, r 2 L .R / and in c): @x
1 n 1 n @k
i
2 L1 .Rn /,
2 L1 .Rn /.
The meaning of items b), c) is that in equalities
Z Z
.k /.x/ D .y/k.x y/d V .y/ D k.y/.x y/d V .y/ D . k/.x/;
one may differentiate under the integral sign in any of both integrals provided that
resulting integral is absolutely convergent.
Before proving Proposition 7.36, recall the general rule of differentiation of
integrals depending on a parameter. Denote by .x; y/ a point of Rn Rn and let
R on R R that is integrable in y for each fixed
n n
f .x; y/ be a function defined
point x 2 R . Take F .x/ D Rn f .x; y/d V .y/ and suppose that there exist partial
n
@f
derivatives @x i
.x; y/, i D 1; : : : ; n, for almost every point .x; y/ and, furthermore,
for each point x0 2 Rn there is a neighborhood U.x0 / in Rn and an integrable
function H such that
ˇ ˇ
ˇ @f ˇ
ˇ .x; y/ˇˇ H.y/; y 2 Rn ; x 2 U.x0 /; i D 1; 2; : : : ; n:
ˇ
@xi
R @f
Then the partial derivatives @x @F
i
.x/ exist and @x@F
i
.x/ D Rn @x i
.x; y/ d V .y/,
i D 1; : : : ; n, holds. This is a consequence of the dominated convergence the-
orem (see [12], p. 721).
Proof of Proposition 7.36. All conclusions are of local character and, for x0 2 Rn
fixed, we just need to analyze .k /.x/ in the ball B.x0 ; 1/. If k 2 L1loc .Rn / and
2 L1 n
c .R / has support in B.0; r/, then in B.x0 ; 1/ we may change k by k,
where is a function in Cc1 .Rn / that has value 1 on an appropriate neighborhood
of x0 , without changing k in B.x0 ; 1/. Suppose, then, that k 2 L1 .Rn /.
The convolution is continuous because, translations being continuous in the space
L1 .Rn /, one has
Z
j.k /.x C h/ .k /.x/j jk.x C h y/ k.x y/jj.y/j d V .y/
Rn
Z
kk1 jk.z C h/ k.z/jd V .z/ ! 0:
Rn h!0
Under the hypothesis of b) it is

ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ @ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ .x y/k.y/ˇ D ˇ @ .x y/ˇ jk.y/j C jk.y/j; C constant;
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
@xi @xi
and the equality in b) is justified by the rule of differentiation of integrals depending
on a parameter. Now by a) it turns out that @x@ i .k / is a continuous function for
i D 1 : : : n, that is k 2 C 1 .Rn /.
The proof of c) is similar. One needs to see
Z ² ³
k.x0 C hei y/ k.x0 y/ @k
.y/ .x0 y/ d V .y/ ! 0
Rn h @xi h!0
and it is enough to check

Z ˇ ˇ
ˇ k.x0 C hei y/ k.x0 y/ @k ˇ
ˇ .x0 y/ˇˇd V .y/ ! 0:
ˇ
Rn h @xi h!0
R1
Writing k.x0 C hei y/ k.x0 y/ D h @k
0 @xi .x0 C t hei y/dt , for almost
every point y 2 Rn , it yields
Z ˇZ ˇ
ˇ 1
@k @k ˇ
ˇ .x0 C t hei y/ .x0 y/ dt ˇˇd V .y/
ˇ
Rn 0 @xi @xi
Z Z 1ˇ ˇ
ˇ @k @k ˇ
ˇ .x0 C t hei y/ .x0 y/ˇˇdt d V .y/
ˇ
Rn 0 @xi @xi
Z 1Z ˇ ˇ
ˇ @k @k ˇ
D ˇ .x C t he y/ .x y/ ˇd V .y/ dt:
ˇ 0 i 0 ˇ
0 R n @xi @x i
Finally, the continuity of the translation in L1 .Rn / applied to the integrable function
@k
@xi
allows one to ensure that this last expression is arbitrarily small, if h ! 0.
Proposition 7.37. If 2 Cc2 .Rn /, then the potential G./ is a function of class
C 2 on Rn and satisfies G./ D . If 2 Cck .Rn /, then G./ is also of class C k
on Rn .
Proof. The function G is locally integrable, by Lemma 7.11. Applying twice item
b) of Proposition 7.36 and summing up with respect to i D 1; : : : ; n, it turns out
that Z
.G /.x/ D G .x/ D G.y/.x y/d V .y/:
Rn
By item a) of Proposition 7.33, this integral equals .x/.

This result may be considerably improved using the fact that partial derivatives
of G,
@G 1 xi
.x/ D ; cn D A.@B.0; 1//; i D 1; 2; : : : ; n
@xi cn jxjn
are still locally integrable, because
Z Z Z
jxi j R
d V .x/ jxj
1n
d V .x/ D c dr D c R;
B.0;R/ jxjn B.0;R/ 0
with c constant. Hence, applying items b) and c) of Proposition 7.36 one gets that
G./ is of class C 2 .Rn / if 2 Cc1 .Rn /. This is so because one can differentiate
once each factor in the integral defining G./:
Z
@2 G./ @G @
.x/ D .y/ .x y/d V .y/; i; j D 1; 2; : : : ; n:
@xi @xj Rn @xi @xj
In particular, one has
X
n Z
@G @
G./.x/ D .x y/ .y/d V .y/:
Rn @xi @xi
iD1
One may check that this expression coincides with .x/ using Green’s identities;
later it will be seen that if G./ is of class C 2 , then G./ D holds automatically.
If 2 Cc .Rn /, the potential G./ is not necessarily of class C 2 , but it is really
close to it:
Proposition 7.38. If 2 L1 c .R /, then the potential G./ is of class C on R

n 1 n
and all its first-order derivatives satisfy a Lipschitz condition of type
Å Å 1
jrG./.x/ rG./.z/j CL jx zj Log ; (7.26)
jx zj
on every compact set L Rn , with a constant CL depending on L.

Å 2 L1loc .Rn /. Let K be the support of ; then,
Proof. It has been observed that rG
by Proposition 7.36 c), one has
Z
@G./ 1 x i yi
.x/ D .y/ d V .y/; i D 1; 2; : : : ; n:
@xi cn K jx yjn
Now, if L is a compact set and x; z 2 L, it yields
Z ² ³
1 xi yi zi yi
Di G./.x/ Di G./.z/ D .y/ d V .y/
cn K jx yjn jz yjn
and it is enough to prove the inequality

Z ˇ ˇ
ˇ xi yi zi yi ˇˇ 1
ˇ
ˇ ˇd V .y/ C.L; K/ jx zj Log ; x; z 2 L;
K jx yj jz yj jx zj
n n
where C.K; L/ is a constant depending on L and K.

Let ı D jx zj and break the integral over K into the integrals corresponding
to the four regions (Figure 7.1):
² ³
ı
I D y W jy xj < ;
²
2 ³
ı
II D y W jy xj < jy zj; jy xj > ;
² ³
2
ı
III D y W jy zj < ;
²
2 ³
ı
IV D y W jy xj > jy zj; jy xj > :
2
IV
II III
z
I
x
Figure 7.1
On region I the integrand is bounded by the sum of moduli:

Z

jx yj1n C jz yj1n d V .y/:
Bı=2 .x/
The integral of the first summand is 0.ı/, and the integral of the second one is
bounded by
1n
ı ı
V B x; D 0.ı/:
2 2
Similarly, the contribution of region III is of the order 0.ı/. On region II the
estimate
ˇ ˇ
ˇ xi yi ˇ
ˇ D j.xi yi / jz yj .zi yi / jx yj j :
n n
ˇ zi y i

ˇ jx yjn jz yjn ˇ jx yjn jz yjn
holds. The numerator of this expression is j.xi zi /jz yjn C .zi yi /.jz yjn
jx yjn /j. Using the inequality
jAn B n j D j.A B/.An1 C An2 B C C AB n2 C B n1 /j
n jA Bj Œmax.A; B/n1 ;
for A; B > 0, we get
jjz yjn jx yjn j njz xj max .jz yj; jx yj/n1 D njz xj jy zjn1 :
So the numerator of the integrand is dominated by jx zj jy zjn on region II ,
and the contribution of the corresponding integral is bounded by
Z
n 1
jx zj jx yj d V .y/ D 0 ı log :
KnBı=2 .x/ ı
A similar estimate holds for the integral on region I V .
Example 7.39. Let the function be given by .x/ D h.jxj/, where h is continuous
R C1 R C1
on .0; C1/ with 0 t jh.t /jdt < C1 if n > 2 and 0 t j Log t j jh.t /jdt < C1
if n D 2. According to Example 7.12, the potential G./ is a radial function,
G./.x/ D H.jxj/. The calculus of the function H in the case n > 2 is the
following: if jxj D s, one has
Z Z C1 Z
H.s/ D h.jyj/G.x y/ d V .y/ D h.r/ G.x y/ dA.y/ dr:
Rn 0 S.0;r/
The integral on the sphere S.0; r/ has been computed in Example 7.14; its value is
r r n1
2n
if s < r and .2n/s n2 if s > r. This yields
Z s Z C1
1
H.s/ D s 2n
r n1
h.r/ dr C rh.r/ dr :
2n 0 s
The hypothesis on h guarantees that H and, hence, G./ is continuous. One may
also differentiate H , twice,
Z s
0
H .s/ D s 1n
r n1 h.r/ dr;
0
Z s
H 00 .s/ D .1 n/s n r n1 h.r/ dr C h.s/:
0
The Laplacian of a radial function appears in equation (7.13), and it turns out that
n1 0
G./.x/ D H 00 .s/ C H .s/:
s
Changing H 0 and H 00 by the expressions found above equality G./.x/ D h.s/ D
.x/ is proved.
7.7.2 Weak solutions

Proposition 7.34 may be improved because, indeed, the Riesz potential of a measure
is defined at almost every point, with respect to the Lebesgue measure of Rn :
Proposition 7.40. The integral giving the potential u.x/ D G./.x/ of a measure
with compact support in (7.25) is absolutely convergent at almost every point
x 2 Rn and defines a locally integrable function on Rn .
Proof. If L is a compact set of Rn and K D spt./, by Fubini’s theorem one has

Z Z Z
ju.x/jd V .x/ jG.x y/jd jj.y/d V .x/
L L K
Z ²Z ³
D jG.x y/jd V .x/ d jj.y/
K L
Z ²Z ³
jG.x/jd V .x/ d jj.y/:
K LK
Here L K D fx y W x 2 L; y 2 Kg. Since L K is compact, it is contained

in a ball B.0; R/ and Lemma 7.11 implies that the integral on L K is dominated
by some constant C.R/. Finally, it holds that
Z
ju.x/jd V .x/ C.R/jj.K/ < C1
K
and, in particular, ju.x/j < C1 for almost every x.
Since in general the potential G./ of a measure or even the potential G./ of
a function is not defined at every point, and in general not twice differentiable if
defined everywhere, it makes no sense to apply the operator to it. To know if
G./ 2 C 2 .Rn / and the equality G./ D holds (besides the case 2 Cc2 .Rn /
considered at Proposition 7.37), it is very convenient to generalize the concept of
solution of the equation u D , or u D , so that it does not require the
differentiability of u beforehand.
Definition 7.41. Given a measure of locally finite mass in a domain U of Rn , a

function u 2 L1loc .U / is said to be a solution of the equation u D in U in the
weak sense, if for every function ' 2 Cc2 .U / one has
Z Z
u.x/'.x/ d V .x/ D '.x/ d.x/: (7.27)
U U
Remark 7.3. The hypothesis on the measure means that jj.K/ < C1 for
every compact set K U . Observe that both members of (7.27) make sense.
R
A measure on U is determined by the integrals U '.x/ d.x/ with ' 2
Cc2 .U /; hence, if u 2 L1loc .U / and u D , in the weak sense, the measure
is unique and is well determined by u. An important remark – which justifies the
definition – is the following: if u 2 C 2 .U / and v D u 2 C.U / is the classical
Laplacian, then one also has u D v d V in the weak sense, that is,
Z Z
u.x/'.x/ d V .x/ D '.x/v.x/ d V .x/; ' 2 Cc2 .U /:
U U
This follows from the second Green’s identity (7.6) applied to a domain Uz with
oriented regular boundary such that spt.'/ Uz U . As a consequence, if
u 2 C 2 .U / and u D in the weak sense then D v d V , because v as well as
are weak Laplacians of u. In other words, the weak Laplacian is a concept that,
extending the concept of the classical Laplacian for u 2 C 2 .U /, allows to consider
u for non-differentiable functions u 2 L1loc .U /.
Theorem 7.42. Let u be the Riesz potential of a measure with compact support
on Rn and finite total mass. Then u D on Rn in the weak sense. Consequently,
if 2 Cc .Rn / and G./ is of class C 2 , one has G./ D in the classical sense.
Proof. By Fubini’s theorem, if ' 2 Cc2 .Rn /, then one has

Z Z ²Z ³
u.x/'.x/ d V .x/ D G.x y/ d.y/ '.x/ d V .x/
Rn Rn Rn
Z ²Z ³
D G.x y/'.x/ d V .x/ d.y/:
Rn Rn
Now just note that the inner integral equals '.y/ by item a) of Proposition 7.33.

Example 7.43. As a particular case of Theorem 7.42 taking D ı0 , the Dirac mass
at the origin, it turns out that the function G.x/ satisfies G.x/ D ı0 in the weak
sense. This is why G.x/ is called the fundamental solution of the Laplacian, as it
has been said in Section 7.3. Similarly, Green’s function GU .x; y/ of a domain U
with pole x 2 U satisfies y GU .x; y/ D ıx in the weak sense, and vanishes on
the boundary of U .
Example 7.44. In general the weak Laplacian of a function in L1loc .U / is not

a measure. Consider, for example, u.x/ D jxj˛ in Rn with ˛ > n so that
u 2 L1loc .Rn /. Since u is C 1 on Rn n f0g, if there was a measure such that
u D in Rn , in the weak sense, then should necessarily be the classical
Laplacian outside zero; taking '.r/ D r ˛ in (7.13) yields that this Laplacian is
u D ˛.˛ 1/jxj˛2 C n1

jxj
˛jxj˛1 D jxj˛2 Œ˛.˛ 1/ C n 1. In particular,
it should be
Z Z
jxj Œ˛.˛ 1/ C n 1'.x/ d V .x/ D
˛2
'.x/ d.x/
Rn Rn
whenever ' has compact support in Rn nf0g. This implies that jxj˛2 Œ˛.˛1/Cn1
must be also locally integrable, an impossible fact if n < ˛ < n C 3. For
example, if n > 2 and ˛ D 1 n, the function u D jxj1n is in L1loc .Rn /, but there
cannot be any measure with compact support such that u D , in the weak
sense.
Observe that it does not follow from Definition 7.41 that the equation u D 0
in the weak sense, implies u is harmonic. This fact is the content of the following
statement.
Theorem 7.45 (Weyl’s lemma). If u 2 L1loc .U / and u D 0 in the weak sense,
then u is harmonic, that is, u D 0 in the classical sense in U .
Proof. It will be proved that u is continuous and satisfies the mean value property
in U . Then Theorem 7.7 gives the harmonicity
R of u.
Take a function 2 Cc .B.0; 1// with d V D 1 and put " .x/ D "1 .x="/
1
and U" D fx W d.x; U c / "g. If 2 Cc1 .U" /, one has " 2 Cc1 .U / and
u " 2 C 1 .U" /. Therefore, by the second Green’s identity (7.6) applied to
an open set with regular boundary contained between U" and spt . /, one has,
considering all integrals extended to Rn ,
Z Z
.u " / d V D .u " / d V
“
D u.x y/" .y/ d V .y/ .x/ d V .x/
“
D u.y/" .x y/ d V .y/ .x/ d V .x/
Z Z
D u.y/ " .x y/ .x/ d V .x/ d V .y/
Z Z
D u.y/ " .z/ .y C z/ d V .z/ d V .y/
Z Z
D u.y/ " .z/ .y C z/ d V .z/ d V .y/:
R
The hypothesisR is that u.y/.y/ d V .y/ D 0 if 2 Cc1 .U /. This is the case
when .y/ D " .z/ .y C z/ d V .z/. Therefore, .u " / D 0, that is, u " is
harmonic on U" . Writing the mean value property on balls for the function u "
yields Z
n
.u " /.x/ D n .u " /.x C y/ d V .y/; (7.28)
r cn B.0;r/
for x 2 U , r > 0 small enough. Due to the fact that u 2 L1loc .U /, it follows that
u " ! u in L1loc .U / when " ! 0 and, in particular, in L1 .B/ for every ball
B U . Formula (7.28) applied to u " u ı shows that u " is uniformly
convergent on compact sets. Hence, u " tends to u uniformly on compact sets
and, therefore, u is continuous. Now each u " being harmonic has the mean
value property on spheres in U" . Letting " ! 0 if follows that u has the mean value
property on spheres and so it is harmonic.
Weyl’s lemma implies, for instance, that the two properties y GU .x; y/ D ıx
and GU .x; y/ D 0 if y 2 @U characterize Green’s function of a domain U , if it
exists.
Remark 7.4. Throughout this section it has been tacitly supposed that n 2, but it
is interesting to consider also the case n D 1. Recall that in this case G.x/ D 12 jxj
.d1 D 12 /; the analog of Proposition 7.33 a) is
Z C1
1
'.x/ D ' 00 .y/jx yj dy if ' 2 Cc2 .Rn /: (7.29)
2 1
Theorem 7.42 now asserts that the function

Z
1 C1
u.x/ D jx yj d.y/
2 1
has weak Laplacian u D , if is a measure with compact support. An elemen-
tary classical version of this fact is obtained taking D f dx with f continuous
and with compact support. Then
Z
1 C1
u.x/ D jx yjf .y/ dy
2 1
satisfies u00 D f . Actually, one has
Z x Z C1 Z x Z C1
2u.x/ D C D .x y/f .y/ dy C .y x/f .y/ dy
1 x 1 x
and differentiating twice,

Z x Z C1
2u0 .x/ D f .y/ dy f .y/ dy; 2u00 .x/ D f .x/.f .x// D 2f .x/:
1 x
Now go back to the case n > 1.

Theorem 7.46. Let 2 Cc .Rn / be locally Lipschitz, that is, satisfying a local
Lipschitz condition with positive exponent:
j.y/ .x/j c.x/jy xj˛ ; ˛ > 0; c.x/ 0; whenever jy xj ı.x/:
Then the potential u D G./ is of class C 2 on Rn and satisfies u D .

Proof. In the proof of Proposition 7.38 it has been seen that u 2 C 1 .Rn / and that
the equalities
Z
@u 1 x i yi
.x/ D .y/ dV .y/; i D 1; 2; : : : ; n
@xi cn Rn jx yjn
hold. Now one cannot differentiate again under the integral sign as before, because
@ xi yi ıij .xi yi /.xj yj /
D n
@xj jx yj n jx yj n jx yjnC2
behaves like jx yjn and so is not locally integrable. Instead we will use that the
integral over any sphere centered at x is zero,
Z
@ xi yi
dA.y/ D 0 (7.30)
j jx yj
@x n
S.x;"/
(if i ¤ j the integrand is odd with respect to the i -th axis, and if i D j both
resulting terms from differentiation have the same integral). In particular, one has
Z
@ xi yi
d V .y/ D 0 if 0 < " < R:
j jx yj
x @x n
BR .x/nB" .x/
Fix x and let R be such that the support of is inside the ball B.x; R/. Take a
function 2 C 1 .R/ such that .t / D 0 in .1; 1/ and .t / D 1 if jt j 2 and
consider Z
1 x i yi jx yj
v" .x/ D
i
.y/ d V .y/;
cn Rn jx yjn "
so that v"i .x/ ! @x
@u
i
.x/ pointwise, if " ! 0 (uniformly on compact sets indeed).
We can apply Proposition 7.36 to the function v"i .x/ to obtain
Z
@v"i 1 @ xi yi jx yj
.x/ D .y/ d V .y/
@xj cn B.x;R/ @xj jx yj n "
Z
1 xi yi 1 xj yj 0 jx yj
C .y/ d V .y/:
cn B.x;R/ jx yjn " jx yj "
Using (7.30) and the fact that and 0 are radial, it turns out that
Z
@v"i 1 @ xi yi jx yj
.x/ D ..y/ .x// d V .y/
@xj cn B.x;R/ @xj jx yjn "
Z
1 1 .xi yi /.xj yj / 0 jx yj
C .y/ d V .y/
cn B.x;R/ " jx yjnC1 "
D A" .x/ C C" .x/:
In polar coordinates, y D x C rw, one has

Z Z 2"
1 1 wi wj n1 0 r
C" .x/ D .x C rw/ r dr d .w/
cn S " " r n1 "
Z Z 2
1
D .x C t "w/wi wj 0 .t /dt d .w/:
cn S 1
R
If i ¤ j , then T wi wj d .w/ D 0 and
Z Z 2
1
C" .x/ D ..x C t "w/ .x// wi wj /0 .t /dt d .w/
cn S 1
R
is 0."˛ /, uniformly for x on a compact set. If i D j , then T wi2 d .w/ D cn =n,
which yields
Z Z 2
1
C" .x/ D ..x C t "w/ .x// wi2 0 .t /dt d .w/
cn S 1
Z 2 Z
1 0 1
C .x/ .t /dt wi d .w/ D 0."˛ / C .x/:
2
cn 1 T n
Hence, C" .x/ ! 0 if i ¤ j and C" .x/ ! n1 .x/ if i D j , uniformly on compact

sets when " ! 0. On the other hand, from j.y/ .x/j D 0.jy xj˛ / and

@ xi yi
D 0.jx yjn /;
@xj jx yjn
it follows that the integral
Z
@ xi yi
A.x/ D ..y/ .x// d V .y/
B.x;"/ @xj jx yjn
is absolutely convergent because the integrand is 0 .jx yj˛n /. In addition,

Z
jA" .x/ A.x/j c jx yj˛n d V .y/ D 0."˛ /; c constant:
B.x;2"/
In summary, it has been shown that

Z
@v"i @ xi yi
.x/ ! ..y/ .x// d V .y/ C C.x/
@xj B.x;R/ @xj jx yjn
for " ! 0, where C.x/ D 0 if i ¤ j and C.x/ D n1 .x/ if i D j with uniform

convergence on compact sets. This implies u is of class C 2 on Rn . Equality
u D comes then from Theorem 7.42; however, it follows also from previous
computation, since
X
n
@v i "
u.x/ D lim .x/
"!0 @xi
iD1
Z X
n
@ xi yi
D ..y/ .x// d V .y/
B.x;R/ @xi jx yjn
iD1
X
n
1
C .x/ D .x/;
n
iD1
Pn xi yi
because @
iD1 @xi jxyjn
D 0 if y ¤ x (it is the Laplacian of G.x y/).
Summarizing the results in this section, one may state:
Theorem 7.47. If is a measure with compact support and finite total mass, the
potential u D G./ is a function in L1loc .Rn / such that u D in Rn in the weak
sense. If n > 2, it is the unique solution of u D in the weak sense which
vanishes at infinity; if n D 2, it is the unique solution of u D in the weak sense
which satisfies u.x/ D c Log jxj C o.1/, jxj ! C1, and, in this case, one has
c D 21
.K/ if is supported on K. If D d V and is bounded, then u is of
class C 1 on Rn and ru Å locally satisfies a condition of type

Å Å 1
jru.x/ ru.z/j D 0 jz xj Log :
jz xj
If 2 Cc .Rn / is locally Lipschitz, then u 2 C 2 .Rn / and u D in the classical

sense.
7.8 The Poisson equation and the non-homogeneous Dirichlet

and Neumann problems in a domain of Rn
The Poisson equation u D may also be stated in a bounded domain U Rn .
Given, for example, a function 2 C.U /, one wants to solve the equation u D
7.8. The Poisson equation and the non-homogeneous Dirichlet and Neumann problems 295
with a function u 2 C 2 .U /. One possible solution is simply to consider the measure

D d V and the corresponding potential
Z
G./.x/ D G.x y/.y/d V .y/
U
only at the points x 2 U ; for this purpose it is better to assume 2 L1 .U /.

According to the results of Subsection 7.7.2, one will have G./ 2 L1 .U / and
G./ D Rin the weak sense in U . Observe that in this situation one cannot write
G./.x/ D U G.y/.x y/d V .y/.
In order to apply the results obtained in Section 7.7 it will be supposed that
is a bounded function on U . In this case, Proposition 7.38 and Theorem 7.46 give
directly:
Theorem 7.48. Let be a bounded function on a bounded domain U of Rn . Then

Å
the potential G./ is a C 1 function on U and rG./ satisfies a Lipschitz condition
of type (7.26). If is locally Lipschitz, then G./ 2 C 2 .U / and G./ D in U
in the classical sense.
On the other hand, one can prove that for 2 C.U / (possibly unbounded),
there always exists a function u 2 C 1 .U / that satisfies u D in the weak sense
and in addition u 2 C 2 .U /, provided locally satisfies a Lipschitz condition. For
the case n D 2, this will be proved in Chapter 10.
Unlike the case U D Rn , when U is an arbitrary domain, the Riesz potential
G./ is not a distinguished solution of the equation u D in U . The general
solution is obtained by adding to G./ a harmonic function on U , and to determine
a particular solution one needs to impose some boundary condition. For example,
since in Rn , G./ is the only solution vanishing at infinity, it would be natural to
consider among all the solutions of u D on U that one which vanishes on the
boundary, if it exists. More generally, in a non-homogeneous Dirichlet’s problem
or general Dirichlet’s problem, one starts from two data in the bounded domain
U Rn : a function ' 2 C.@U / and a function 2 L1 .U /. The problem consists
in finding a function u 2 C.Ux / that satisfies
´
u D in U;
(D)
uj@U D ' in @U;
where the equality u D is taken in the weak sense.

The solution to this problem, if one exists, is unique. Indeed if u1 , u2 are
solutions, then u D u1 u2 is harmonic, by Weyl’s lemma, and has value 0 in @U .
Therefore u D 0 in U and u1 D u2 .
Problem .D/ splits into two problems corresponding to D 0 and to ' D 0,

respectively:
´ ´
u D 0 in U; u D in U;
.D1 / .D2 /
uD' in @U; uD0 in @U;
where equations for the Laplacian are in the weak sense.

The first problem or homogeneous Dirichlet’s problem has been considered in
Section 7.4. Problem .D2 / reduces to problem .D1 / considering the potential
Z
v.x/ D G./.x/ D G.x y/.y/ d V .y/:
U
By Theorem 7.47 one has v 2 C .R / and u D in the weak sense in U . Let

1 n
' 2 C.@U / be the restriction of v to @U and let u0 be the solution of u0 D 0 in

U , u0 D ' in @U . Then u D v u0 satisfies u D v u0 D in U and
uj@U D 0 in @U . With this the following statement is proved:
Proposition 7.49. If the homogeneous Dirichlet’s problem .D1 / has a solution for
every function ' 2 C.@U /, then the general Dirichlet’s problem .D/ has a solution
for every pair of functions ' 2 C.@U /, 2 L1 .U /.
If the domain U admits a first Green’s function, then the solution of .D2 / exists
and is explicit:
Theorem 7.50. If the bounded domain U admits a Green’s function, GU .x; y/,
then the solution of the problem .D2 / for 2 L1 .U / is
Z
u.x/ D GU .x; y/.y/d V .y/; x 2 U:
U
If is locally Lipschitz, then u 2 C 2 .U / and u D in the classical sense.

Proof. Recall that GU .x; y/ D G.x y/ vx .y/ where vx 2 C.Ux / satisfies
vx .y/ D G.x y/, y 2 @U and vx is harmonic on U . With this, u has the
structure described above,
Z Z
u.x/ D G.x y/.y/ d V .y/ vx .y/.y/ d V .y/ D G./.x/ u0 .x/:
U U
Now one only has to check that u0 is the solution of problem .D1 / with data
' D G./ in @U . Let us first prove that u0 2 C.Ux /. By Proposition 7.24,
G.x y/ vx .y/ D GU .x y/ 0I
therefore, one has jvx .y/j jG.x y/j if n > 2 and jvx .y/j jG.x; y/j C K.U /
if n D 2, where K.U / is a constant which just depends on the domain U . Moreover,
by Proposition 7.23 one has vx .y/ D vy .x/, which is continuous on Ux in one of

the variables when the other is fixed. This allows us to prove that u0 2 C.Ux /.
Actually, one has
Z
u0 .x/ u0 .z/ D .vx .y/ vz .y//.y/d V .y/:
U
Choose ı > 0, x; z 2 Ux with jz xj < 2ı and break the integral into two parts
I, II corresponding, respectively, to the regions of integration U \ B.x; ı/ and
U n B.x; ı/. When z ! x, part II converges to zero by the dominated convergence
theorem; using the estimate of vx just seen before, part I is bounded above by
Z
.jG.y x/j C jG.y z/j/ d V .y/;
U \Bı .x/
which also converges to zero when ı ! 0. Since vx .y/ D vy .x/ is harmonic in

x, the mean value property and Fubini’s theorem imply that u0 is harmonic on U .
Finally, when x 2 @U , vx .y/ D G.x y/ and, therefore, u0 D G./ in @U .
If is locally Lipschitz on U , is automatically continuous and Theorem 7.47
gives that G./ is of class C 2 on U . Then u also is C 2 (u0 is harmonic and, hence,
u0 2 C 1 .U /) and u D G./ D in the classical sense.
The function u of Theorem 7.50 is called Green’s potential of the function

in U .
Å ) and Poisson
Assume now U has regular boundary (oriented by the vector field N
kernel associated to GU , PU .x; y/ D Å GU .x; y/, solves problem .D1 / in U .
@
@Ny
Then as a consequence of Theorem 7.50, the solution of the general Dirichlet’s
problem .D/ is given by
Z Z
u.x/ D '.y/PU .x; y/ dA.y/ C GU .x; y/.y/ d V .y/:
@U U
Example 7.51. In the particular case that U is the unit disc, D, Theorem 7.26 and
Theorem 7.50 give the function
Z Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 1 jzj2 1 ˇ ˇ
u.z/ D '.w/ d .w/ C Log ˇ ˇ .w/ d m.w/
2 T jz wj 2 2 D 1 w zN
(7.31)
as a solution of problem .D/.
Once it is known how to solve Dirichlet’s problem in the disc D, it is also possible
to solve it in any other disc D.a; R/. One simply goes from one disc to another by
means of transformations z 7! D a C Rz, 7! z D a R
. If u is of class C 2 on
x R/, then the function v.z/ D u.a C Rz/ is of class C 2 on D
D.a; x and one has the
formula
Z
1 1 jzj2
v.z/ D v.w/ d .w/
2 T jz wj2
Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 ˇ ˇ
C Log ˇ ˇ v.w/ d m.w/
2 D 1 wz
x
Z
1 1 jzj2
D u.a C Rw/ d .w/
2 T jz wj2
Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 ˇ ˇ 2
C Log ˇ ˇ R u.a C Rw/ d m.w/:
2 D 1 wz
x
When jwj D 1, D a C Rw describes f W j aj D Rg and ds. / D R d .w/;
when jwj < 1, D a C Rw describes f W j aj Rg and d m. / D R2 d m.w/.
The change of variables D a C Rw in the previous integrals yields
Z
1 1 jzj2
u.a C Rz/ D u. / ˇ ˇ2 ds. /
2R C.a;R/ ˇ a ˇ
ˇz R ˇ
ˇ ˇ
Z ˇ a ˇ
1 ˇ z R ˇ
C Log ˇˇ N aN ˇ
ˇ u. / d m. /:
2 D.a;R/ ˇ 1 z ˇ
R
In terms of D a C Rz, it is written as

Z
1 R2 j aj2
u./ D u. / ds. /
2R C.a;R/ j j2
Z ˇ ˇ (7.32)
1 ˇ . /R ˇ
C Log ˇˇ ˇ u. / d m./:
2 D.a;R/ R2 . N a/.
N a/ ˇ
Hence, the Green’s function of D.a; R/ is
ˇ ˇ
1 ˇ R. / ˇ
GD.a;R/ . ; / D Log ˇˇ ˇ:
2 2 N
R . a/.
N a/ ˇ
Observe that this is no more than composition of the Green’s function of D with the
transformation ! a R
. In particular, one has GD.a;R/ 0. Making D a, one
finds
Z Z ˇ ˇ
1 1 ˇ aˇ
u.a/ D u. / ds. / C Log ˇˇ ˇu. / d m. /:
2R C.a;R/ 2 D.a;R/ R ˇ
As well the Poisson kernel of the disc D D D.a; R/ is
1 R2 j aj2
PD . ; / D ; j aj D R; j aj < R:
2R j j2
The potential u of Theorem 7.50 makes sense for functions that are not neces-
sarily bounded on U ; one may even change dV by a measure of locally finite
mass, as done with Riesz potentials, and define
Z
u.x/ D GU .x; y/d.y/
U
whenever the integral is convergent. For example, in the case of the unit disc D,
where the function GD is explicit, this analysis may be done in detail.
Proposition 7.52. Let be a measure of locally finite mass in D such that
Z
.1 jwj2 /d jj.w/ < C1:
D
Then the potential

Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 ˇ ˇ
u.z/ D Log ˇ ˇ d.w/
2 D 1 w N
z
defines a function u 2 L1 .D/ that satisfies u D on D in the weak sense.
Proof. One has
Z Z Z ˇ ˇ z w ˇˇ
1 ˇ ˇ ˇˇ
ju.z/jd m.z/ d jj.w/ ˇ Log ˇ ˇˇ d m.z/:
D 2 D D 1 w zN
Applying formula (7.31) to the function u.z/ D jzj2 for which D u D 4, one
finds Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 ˇ ˇ 1
Log ˇ ˇ d m.z/ D .jwj2 1/;
2 D 1 w zN 4
so that Z Z
1
ju.z/j d m.z/ .1 jwj2 / d jj.w/;
D 4
a finite quantity by hypothesis. To check u D in the weak sense, repeat the
proof of Theorem 7.42. For ' 2 Cc2 .D/ one has
Z Z Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 ˇ ˇ
u.z/'.z/d m.z/ D d.w/ Log ˇ ˇ '.z/ d m.z/
D 2 D D 1 w zN
Z
D '.w/ d.w/;
D
because formula (7.31), bearing in mind that '.z/ D 0 if jzj D 1, gives

Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 ˇ ˇ
'.w/ D Log ˇ ˇ '.z/dw.z/:
2 D 1 w zN
Example 7.53. Suppose that is radial on the disc D with .w/ D h.jwj/, where
h satisfies Z 1
.1 r/jh.r/j dr < C1:
0
Then Green’s potential of the function in D is:
Z 1 Z 2 ˇ ˇ
1 ˇ z re it ˇ
u.z/ D h.r/r Log ˇˇ ˇ dt dr:
0 2 0 1 re it zN ˇ
The inner integral only depends on jzj D s; since the function Log j1 rs
j is
harmonic with respect to
for j
j 1 and has value 0 at the origin, thanks to
the mean value property, the integral of Log j1 rse it j is zero. Hence, the inner
integral is
Z 2
1
Log js re it j dt:
2 0
If s > r, by the mean value property the integral equals the value of Log js zj at
the origin, which is Log s. Since js re it j D jr se it j, the integral equals Log r
for s < r, and so
Z s Z 1
u.z/ D Log s rh.r/ dr C rh.r/ log r dr:
0 s
In this case, one may directly check that for continuous h, the function u is of class
C 2 and has Laplacian equal to .
Similar considerations may arise for a general Neumann’s problem or non-
homogenous Neumann’s problem. In a bounded domain U with regular boundary
Å , the data are now ' 2 C.@U / and 2 L1 .U /.
oriented by the exterior normal N
The problem consists in finding a function u 2 C 1 .U / such that
@u
u D in U in the weak sense and D ' in @U: (N)
Å
@N
The data '; must fulfill the compatibility condition
Z Z Z Z
@u
' dA D dA D u d V D d V:
@U @U @N Å U U
As in the homogeneous case, this problem, if it has a solution, has only one
except for constants. Indeed if u1 , u2 are solutions, u D u1 u2 is harmonic on
U and @uÅ D 0 on @U . Therefore (7.8) implies
@N
Z
Å 2 d V D 0;
jruj
U
and u is constant on U .
Neumann’s problem splits into two corresponding problems

@u
u D 0 in U; D' in @U; (N1 )
Å
@N
@u
u D in U; D0 in @U: (N2 )
Å
@N
The way the equation u D is dealt with is similar to the case of Dirichlet’s
problem. First, one looks for solutions in the weak sense, and afterwards one ana-
lyzes how properties of influence regularity of u. Analogously to Proposition 7.49,
the following result holds:
PropositionR 7.54. If problem .N1 / has a solution for every function ' 2 C.@U /
satisfying @U ' dA D R0, then problem .N2 / has a solution for every function
2 L1 .U / such that U d V D 0. If is locally Lipschitz, then there is a
solution of problem .N2 / in the classical sense.
Proof. Consider the Riesz potential
Z
G./.x/ D G.x y/.y/ d V .y/:
U
By Theorem 7.47, G./ is of class C 1 on Rn ,Rit is harmonic outside Ux and satisfies

G./ D in U , in the weak sense. Since U d V D 0, one has
Z
G./.x/ D .G.x y/ G.x//.y/ d V .y/;
U
Z
Å
rG./.x/ D Åx G.x y/ rG.x//.y/
.r Å d V .y/:
U
Now, a computation shows that jr Å

Åx G.x y/ rG.x/j c jx yjn , c constant,
Å
uniformly in y 2 U for jxj big and, therefore, jrG./.x/j D O.jxjn / for jxj !
C1. Apply now (7.7) to the function G./ and the domain B.0; R/ n Ux for R big.
It turns out that
Z Z Z
@G./ @G./
dA dA D G./ d V D 0:
S.0;R/ @N Å @U @NÅ B.0;R/nUx
ˇR ˇ
Since ˇ S.0;R/ @G./ Å
dA ˇ c Rn1
Rn R!1
! 0, c constant, we get that ' D @G./ Å
R @ N @N
satisfies @U ' dA D 0. If now u1 is a solution of .N1 / with data ', it follows that
u D G./ u1 is a solution of .N2 / with data .
If is locally Lipschitz, then G./ is of class C 2 and G./ D in the classical
sense. So, u D also holds in the classical sense, since u1 is harmonic.
Assume U admits a second Green’s function, HU , so that the function

Z
u.x/ D HU .x; y/'.y/ dA.y/ C c; c constant
@U
solves problem .N1 /, according to (7.18). Then the function

Z
u.x/ D HU .x; y/.y/ d V .y/
U
R
will be the solution of u D , @u
Å
D 0 in @U if d V D 0.
@N
Consequently, the solution of the general Neumann’s problem .N/ will be given
by the function
Z Z
u.x/ D HU .x; y/'.y/ dA.y/ HU .x; y/.y/ d V .y/ C c; c constant:
@U U
In the case of the unit disc, the previous formula with

1
HD .z; w/ D Log.jz wjj1 wzj/
x
2
(Subsection 7.6.3) gives, in fact, the solution of the general Neumann’s problem.
7.9 The solution of the Dirichlet and Neumann problems

in the ball
In the case n > 2, it is also possible to use the symmetry of the unit ball B D B.0; 1/
of Rn to calculate Green’s function and the Poisson kernel. In this case, for x 2 B
one needs to find a harmonic function vx such that
vx .y/ D G.x y/ D dn jx yj2n for jyj D 1:
0
If x D 0, obviously one has vx D dn ; for x ¤ 0, let x be the point that corresponds
to x in the inversion with respect to S D @B, that is, x 0 D jxjx 2 . Then, if jyj D 1,
one has
ˇ ˇ
ˇ x ˇ2 jxj2 2hx; yi
jx 0 yj2 D ˇˇ 2 y ˇˇ D C jyj2
jxj jxj4 jxj2
1 2hx; yi 1 C jxj2 2hx; yi jx yj2

D C 1 D D :
jxj2 jxj2 jxj2 jxj2
It follows that jx yj D jxjjx 0 yj if jyj D 1 and one may take vx .y/ D
dn jxj2n jx 0 yj2n which is harmonic on Rn n fx 0 g. Hence, Green’s function of
the ball B is
GB .x; y/ D dn .jx yj2n jxj2n jx 0 yj2n /:
7.9. The solution of the Dirichlet and Neumann problems in the ball 303
Finally, one may compute the Poisson kernel of B. Observe that @

Åy
D @
@r
D
@N
P
yi @y@ i , for r D jyj. It yields, then,
@ @ 2 X 1 n2
jx yj2n D jxj C r 2 2xi yi
@r @r
i
n
D 1 .2r 2x y/jx yjn
2
D .2 n/.r x y/jx yjn
D .2 n/.1 x y/jx yjn :
In a similar way
@ 0
jx yj2n D .2 n/.1 x 0 y/jx 0 yjn ;
@r
and one arrives at
1 1 jxj2
PB .x; y/ D dn .2 n/jx yjn f1 x y .1 x 0 y/jxj2 g D ;
cn jx yjn
recalling cn is the area of the unit sphere of Rn . Observe that this kernel has the
same structure as for the unit disc. Analogously to Theorem 7.26, the following
result is proved.
Theorem 7.55. If ' 2 C.S/, the solution of Dirichlet’s problem u D ' in S and
u D 0 in B is the function
Z
1 1 jxj2
u.x/ D '.y/ dA.y/:
cn S jx yjn
Example 7.56. Calculate the solution ui corresponding to the restriction of the

function 'i .x/ D xi2 to S, i D 1; 2; : : : ; n. Since xi2 xj2 is harmonic, one has
ui uj D xi2 xj2 , that is, ui xi2 is independent of i. The sum of the functions ui
P 2
is the solutionPof Dirichlet’s problem corresponding to iP xi , which has value 1 in
S; therefore, i ui .x/ D 1 for x 2 B, and, consequently, i .ui xi2 / D 1 jxj2 .
Hence, it turns out that ui .x/ D xi2 C n1 .1 jxj2 /.
As an application of the solution of Dirichlet’s problem on balls one may prove

the symmetry principle. A domain U of Rn is symmetric with respect to Rn1
if .x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / 2 U implies .x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn1 ; xn / 2 U , and one writes
U C D f.x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / 2 U W xn > 0g to denote the upper part of U .
Proposition 7.57 (Symmetry principle for harmonic functions). Let U be a domain

of Rn symmetric with respect to Rn1 and let u be a harmonic function on U C ,
continuous on U C such that u D 0 in U \ Rn1 . Then the odd extension v of u to
U defined by
´
u.x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / if xn 0;
v.x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / D
u.x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / if xn < 0;
is harmonic on U .
Proof. Clearly the function v is continuous on U and harmonic on U n Rn1 . Fix
a point a 2 U \ Rn1 and let B.a; r/ U be a ball with center a contained
in U . Consider the harmonic function h on B.a; r/ with v as boundary value (on
@B.a; r/). Since the data v satisfies v.x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / D v.x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / on
@B.a; r/, the function h satisfies the same property on B.a; r/ (this is a consequence
of the Poisson formula or the uniqueness of solution of Dirichlet’s problem in the
ball). The anti-symmetry of h implies h D 0 in B.a; r/ \ Rn1 . Then h and v
are harmonic functions on B C .a; r/ and B .a; r/ (the upper and the lower parts
of B.a; r/), continuous on BxC .a; r/ and Bx .a; r/ and coincide on the boundaries
of these half-balls. The uniqueness of solution of Dirichlet’s problem yields h D v
on B.a; r/, and v is harmonic on this ball. The point a 2 U \ Rn1 is any one and
v is harmonic on U .
Regarding the non-homogeneous Dirichlet problem u D in B, ujS D '
with 2 L1 .B/ and ' 2 C.S/, the solution will be, according to (7.17),
Z
1 1 jxj2
u.x/ D '.y/ dA.y/
cn S jx yjn
Z
1
C .jx yj2n jxj2n jx 0 yj2n /.y/ d V .y/:
cn .n 2/ B
In the case of the ball of radius R, rescaling, we obtain as the solution of the
homogeneous Dirichlet problem the function
Z
1 R2 jxj2
u.x/ D '.y/ dA.y/: (7.33)
cn R S.0;R/ jx yjn
The following result is the version of Cauchy’s inequalities for harmonic func-
tions:
Proposition 7.58. Let u be harmonic on a ball B.0; R/ satisfying ju.x/j M for
jxj R. Then one has, for every multi-index ˛,
ˇ ˛ ˇ
ˇ @ ˇ M
ˇ ˇ
ˇ ˛ u.0/ˇ C˛ j˛j
@x R
with a constant C˛ which only depends on the multi-index ˛.
7.9. The solution of the Dirichlet and Neumann problems in the ball 305
x R/ so that (7.33) holds with

Proof. One may suppose that u is harmonic on B.0;
'.y/ D u.y/. Differentiating under the integral sign and evaluating at x D 0, the
result follows.
As an application one may deal with isolated singularities of harmonic functions.
Proposition 7.59. Suppose that u is harmonic on B.0; R/ n f0g and
ju.y/j D o.G.y//; y ! 0;
G being the fundamental solution of the Laplacian. Then u is harmonic on B.0; R/,
that is, the origin is a removable singularity of the function u.
Proof. The proof is done first for the case n > 2. Since ju.y/j D o.jyj2n /,
applying Proposition 7.58 to the ball B.y; jyj
2
/, we obtain
Å
jru.y/j D o.jyj1n /:
For fixed x ¤ 0 with jxj < R, apply Corollary 7.16 on U D B.0; R/ n B.0;x "/.
This yields
Z
@ @u
u.x/ D u.y/ G.x y/ G.x y/ .y/ dA.y/
S.0;R/ @NÅy @NÅ
Z
@ @u
u.y/ G.x y/ G.x y/ .y/ dA.y/
S.0;"/ @NÅy @NÅ
D v1 .x/ v2 .x/:
Now, for some constant C.x/ one has

Å
jv2 .x/j C.x/"n1 supjyjD" ju.y/j C supjyjD" jru.y/j ! 0; if " ! 0:
Therefore, v2 .x/
0 and u.x/ D v1 .x/ is harmonic on B.0; R/.
jyjj
Å
In the case n D 2, one has ju.y/j D o.j log jyjj/ and jru.y/j D o j Log .
jyj
R
With this, the term C.0;"/ u.y/ Å G.x y/ dA.y/ tends to zero. For the other
@
@Ny
R
term C.0;"/ G.x y/ @uÅ .y/ dA.y/, one would only obtain the estimate o.Log "/
@N
and one must work a little more. Write
Z Z
@u @u
G.x y/ .y/ dA.y/ D G.x/ .y/ dA.y/
C.0;"/ Å
@N C.0;"/ @NÅ
Z
@u
C ŒG.x y/ G.x/ .y/ dA.y/:
C.0;"/ Å
@N
Since jG.x y/R G.x/j D o."/, the last integral tends to zero with ". Now we
will show that C.0;"/ @uÅ .y/ dA.y/ D 0 (as it corresponds a posteriori if u must
@N R
be harmonic on B.0; R/), that is, we will prove that C.0;"/ u.y/ dA.y/ is constant
with respect to ". Actually, consider the function
Z 2
1
v.x/ D u.xe i / d;
2 0
which is also harmonic on B.0; R/ n f0g, radial and satisfies v.x/ D o.Log jxj/.
Since every radial harmonic function is of the formR a Log jxj C b and v.x/ D
o.Log jxj/, constant a must be 0, v is constant and C.0;"/ u.y/ dA.y/ is also.
The computation of the second Green’s function HB .x; y/ of the unit ball of
Rn is more complicated. A not completely explicit expression will be given that
is sufficient to set the existence and properties of this Green’s function. Instead
of seeking, for each x 2 B, the harmonic function v D vx such that @v Å
D
@Ny
@
Åy
G.x y/ for jyj D 1, one will look for HB .x; y/ D vx .y/ G.x y/ directly.
@N
Recall that HB .x; y/ must satisfy the following equality whenever u is harmonic
x
on B: Z Z
1 @u
u.x/ D u.y/ dA.y/ C HB .x; y/ .y/ dA.y/:
cn S S @NÅ
We will use a fact that is specific to the ball and the derivative
P with respect to the
normal to its boundary: if u is harmonic, the function niD1 xi @x @u
i
is also, because
X
n
@u X @ X
n
@u @2 u
n
xi D ıij C xi
@xi @xj @xi @xi @xj
iD1 j D1 iD1
X
n
@2 u @3 u X @u n
D2 ıij C xi 2
D 2u C xi :
@xi @xj @xi @xj @xi
i;j D1 iD1
Pn
In spherical coordinates, x D rw, w 2 S, one has iD1 xi @x @u
i
D r @u
@r
.rw/, and,
applying the Poisson representation formula to this harmonic function, it turns out
that Z
@u @u
r .rw/ D PB .rw; y/ .y/ dA.y/:
@r S @NÅ
Now one would like to divide by r and integrate radially to obtain u.rw/, but
1
is not integrable around the origin; to avoid this difficulty one uses the fact
Rr @u
S Å dA.y/ D 0. Hence, one has
@N
Z
@u @u
r .rw/ D .PB .rw; y/ 1/ .y/ dA.y/
@r S Å
@N
7.10. Decomposition of vector fields 307
and Z ²Z r ³
1 @u
u.rw/ D .PB .sw; y/ 1/ ds .y/ dA.y/:
S 0 s Å
@N
For x 2 B, y 2 S, write HB .x; y/ for the kernel:
Z r Z 1
1 dt
HB .x; y/ D fPB .sw; y/ 1g ds D fPB .tx; y/ 1g :
0 s 0 t
The Poisson kernel PB .x; y/ is harmonic in x; therefore, PB .tx; y/ is also harmonic
in x for all t , and so is HB .x; y/. By construction,
@HB 1
.rw; y/ D .PB .x; y/ 1/
@r r
holds. With this one may prove that Neumann’s problem in the ball,
Z
@u
u D 0 in B; D ' in S; with ' dA D 0
@r S
has a unique solution (unique except for constants). Simply define

Z
u.x/ D HB .x; y/'.y/ dA.y/:
S
Since HB .x; y/ is harmonic in x, the function u is harmonic. One also has

Z Z
@u
r .x/ D .PB .x; y/ 1/'.y/ dA.y/ D PB .x; y/'.y/ dA.y/:
@r S S
The right-hand side term, the solution of Dirichlet’s problem with data ', has
boundary value ', and as a consequence one gets @u@r
D ' in S.
Finally, according to Proposition 7.54 the problem
@u
u D in B; D 0 in S
Å
@N
also has a solution in the classical sense provided is locally Lipschitz.
7.10 Decomposition of vector fields

Recall that in an arbitrary domain U of R3 a continuous vector field is conser-
vative if and only if it is a gradient, and it is solenoidal if and only if it is a
rotational. With differentiability assumptions, locally conservative (respectively,
locally solenoidal) vector fields XÅ are characterized by the condition rot XÅ D 0
(respectively, div XÅ D 0). Using the language of solutions in the weak sense, we
will now make considerations for the equations div XÅ D h and rot XÅ D YÅ with
given h and YÅ , similar to those for the Poisson equation u D .
A continuous vector field XÅ on a domain U of R3 is determined by the scalar
products,
Z Z °X
3 ±
Å YÅ iU D
hX; hXÅ.x/; YÅ .x/i d V .x/ D Xi .x/Yi .x/ d V .x/;
def U U iD1
involving XÅ and all the vector fields YÅ of class C 1 with compact support in U .
Assume XÅ is of class C 1 on U and YÅ D r Å with 2 Cc1 .U /. Then
Z °X
3 ±
Å ri @
hX; Å U D XÅi .x/ .x/ d V .x/
U @xi
iD1
Z X
@XÅi
3
D .x/ .x/ d V .x/ D hdiv XÅ; iU :
U @xi
iD1
This is the reason to give the following definition:
Definition 7.60. If XÅ is a continuous vector field on U and h 2 L1loc .U /, it is said

that equality div XÅ D h holds in the weak sense in U if
Z °X
3 ± Z
Å ri
Å U D @
hX; XÅi .x/ .x/ d V .x/ D h.x/.x/ d V .x/;
U @xi U
iD1
for every 2 Cc1 .U /.
Analogously, if XÅ is of class C 1 on U and XÅ D rot Z, Å Z Å D .Z1 ; Z2 ; Z3 / with

Zi 2 Cc1 .U /, then one has
Z
Å Å Å @Z3 @Z2 Å @Z1 @Z3
hX; rot ZiU D X1 C X2
U @y @z @z @x

@Z2 @Z1
C XÅ3 d V .x/
@x @y
Z
@XÅ1 @XÅ1 @XÅ2 @XÅ2
D Z3 Z2 C Z1 Z3
U @y @z @z @x

@XÅ3 @XÅ3
C Z2 Z1 d V .x/
@x @y
Z Å Å
@X2 @XÅ3 @X3 @XÅ1
D Z1 C Z2
@z @y @x @z
Å
@X1 @XÅ2
C Z3 d V .x/ D hrot XÅ; Zi
Å U:
@y @x
Definition 7.61. If XÅ is a continuous vector field on U and YÅ is a locally integrable

vector field on U , it is said that equality rot XÅ D YÅ holds in the weak sense in U if
Å U D hYÅ ; Zi
hXÅ; rot Zi Å U;
Å with Zi 2 Cc1 .U /, i D 1; 2; 3.
for every vector field Z
Proposition 7.62. In an arbitrary domain U of R3 , a continuous vector field XÅ is
locally conservative if and only if rot XÅ D 0 in the weak sense, that is,
Å rot Zi
hX; Å U D 0; Å with Zi 2 Cc1 .U /; i D 1; 2; 3:
for Z
A continuous vector field XÅ is locally solenoidal on U if and only if div XÅ D 0 in

the weak sense, that is,
hXÅ; ri
Å U D 0 for 2 Cc1 .U /:
If U is simply connected (respectively, without holes), locally conservative may be

changed to conservative (respectively, locally solenoidal to solenoidal).
For the notions of simply connected domain and domain without holes see
Section 3.7.1.
Proof. It is quite similar to Proposition 6.20 (Remark 6.3). If XÅ is of class C 1 ,
the result is a consequence of previous considerations. In general, we approach
XÅ by C 1 vector fields, uniformly on compact sets, which still verify the same
hypotheses.
Hence, considering, in order to make it simpler, that U is a simply connected
domain of R3 without holes and assuming, in addition, that @U is regular, one has
these two classes of continuous vector fields on U :
A) XÅ conservative ” XÅ D r
Å ” rot XÅ D 0, in the weak sense.
B) XÅ solenoidal ” XÅ D rot YÅ ” div XÅ D 0, in the weak sense.
Theorem 7.63. If a continuous vector field XÅ is simultaneously conservative and
solenoidal on a domain U , then there is a harmonic function on U such that
XÅ D rÅ . In particular, XÅ is of class C 1 . If U has a regular boundary oriented
by the exterior normal vector field NÅ and hXÅ; NÅ i D 0 holds on @U , then one has
XÅ
0 on U .
Proof. Since XÅ is conservative, one has XÅ D r

Å , with 2 C 1 .U /. Moreover,
Å
div.r / D 0 in the weak sense, that is,
Z X
@
3
@
.x/ d V .x/ D 0
U @xi @xi
iD1
for 2 Cc1 .U /. This is equivalent to

Z
.x/.x/ d V .x/ D 0 for 2 Cc1 .U /;
U
which means D 0 in the weak sense. By Weyl’s lemma (Theorem 7.45) is

harmonic. Since hXÅ; N
Å i D hr Å i D @ , if the normal component of XÅ is zero,
Å ;N
Å
@N
then is constant and XÅ D r Å D 0.
Suppose one wants to split a vector field XÅ, regular enough on Ux , as a sum of
a vector field of type A) plus a vector field of type B):
XÅ D XÅ1 C XÅ2 :
Then, applying the divergence operator, one would have
div XÅ1 D div XÅ D h

def
in the weak sense. Writing XÅ1 D r

Å , it follows that
Dh
in the weak sense. In order to determine it is enough to give a condition of

Neumann’s type on @U . One may impose, for example,
@
D hXÅ; N
Åi
Å
@N
so that hXÅ1 ; NÅ i D hrÅ ;N Å i D @ D hXÅ; N

Å
Å i. Hence, in any possible decompo-
@N
sition XÅ D XÅ1 C XÅ2 with XÅ1 conservative and XÅ2 solenoidal, XÅ1 is completely
determined if hXÅ1 ; N Å i D hXÅ; NÅ i. Then the vector field XÅ2 D XÅ XÅ1 satisfies
div XÅ2 D 0, so it is solenoidal, and in addition hXÅ2 ; N Å i D 0. On the other hand,
this decomposition turns out to be orthogonal because
Z Z
hXÅ1 ; XÅ2 iU D hXÅ1 .x/; XÅ2 .x/i d V .x/ D Å .x/; XÅ2 i d V .x/:
hr
U U
Å ; XÅ2 i D div. XÅ2 / .div XÅ2 / D div. XÅ2 / and

But hr
Z Z
Å Å
hX1 ; X2 iU D Å
div. X2 / d V D .hXÅ2 ; N
Å i dA D 0:
U @U
By construction, this decomposition is unique. Indeed if XÅ1 C XÅ2 D XÅ10 C XÅ20

were two decompositions of this kind, then XÅ1 XÅ10 D XÅ20 XÅ2 would be a
vector field simultaneously conservative and solenoidal with normal component
zero. Therefore, it is identically zero by Theorem 7.63. The conditions on XÅ so
that XÅ1 , XÅ2 be C 1 .Ux / vector fields are delicate, but the condition XÅ 2 C 1C˛ .Ux /,
˛ > 0, suffices; then the function h D div XÅ is locally Lipschitz on U and according
to Proposition 7.54 the problem D h in U , @ Å D hXÅ; N Å i in @U , has a solution
@N
2 C 2 .Ux / and it turns out that XÅ1 D r Å 2 C 1 .Ux /. With all this, the following
theorem has been shown.
Theorem 7.64 (Helmholtz). Assume U is a bounded domain with regular boundary
Å , in which Neumann’s problem can be
oriented by the exterior normal vector field N
solved, and U is simply connected without holes. Then every vector field XÅ regular
enough on Ux ( for example XÅ 2 C 1C˛ .Ux /, ˛ > 0) has a unique decomposition
XÅ D XÅ1 C XÅ2 ;
with XÅ1 , XÅ2 of class C 1 on Ux , where XÅ1 is conservative and satisfying hXÅ1 ; N
Åi D
Å Å Å Å Å
hX; N i and X2 is solenoidal and satisfying hX2 ; N i D 0. Furthermore, this
decomposition is orthogonal with respect to the scalar product of vector fields
in U .
It is possible as well to get other decompositions: choosing with D h D
div XÅ and D 0 on @U , then the decomposition is also orthogonal and XÅ1 has
only a component normal to @U .
Let us now consider the previous decomposition on the whole space R3 , this
time solving the equation D h D div XÅ by means of the newtonian potential
Z
.x/ D h.y/G.x y/ d V .y/:
R3
Theorem 7.65. Suppose that XÅ is a vector field of class C 1 on R3 with jdiv XÅ.x/j D
O.jxj1" / when jxj ! C1 for some " > 0. Then XÅ has a unique decomposi-
tion XÅ D XÅ1 C XÅ2 , with XÅ1 conservative, XÅ2 solenoidal and both vector fields
continuous and vanishing at infinity.
Proof. If XÅ1 C XÅ2 D XÅ10 C XÅ20 , then the vector field XÅ1 XÅ10 D XÅ20 XÅ2 is both
conservative and solenoidal and, therefore, is of the form ru Å with u harmonic and
Å
ru.x/ vanishing at infinity. Since the function @x@u
is harmonic and vanishing at
j
infinity, by Liouville’s theorem (Theorem 7.8) it must be identically zero. Hence,
the decomposition is unique. In order to prove the existence, define XÅ1 D r Å ,
where is the solution of D div XÅ given by the newtonian potential, that is,
Z Z
1 xy
XÅ1 D r Å div XÅ.y/ G.x y/ d V .y/ D div XÅ.y/ d V .y/:
R 3 c 3 R 3 jx yj3
Observe that the hypothesis j div XÅ.y/j D O.jyj1" / guarantees the convergence
of the integrals. We just need to show that the vector field XÅ1 vanishes at infinity
(it is clear that XÅ2 D XÅ XÅ1 is solenoidal, because div XÅ2 D 0 and vanishes at
infinity as well).
It suffices to check that
Z
jyj1" jx yj2 d V .y/ D O.jxj" /:
R3
By symmetry, it is enough to˚consider the contribution of the half-space fy W jyj

jy xjg. The contribution of y W jyj jxj
2
(where jx yj is about jxj) is estimated
by Z
jxj2 jyj1" d V .y/ D jxj2 O.jxj2" / D O.jxj" /
jyj jxj
2
˚ jxj

and the contribution of y W 2
jyj jy xj (where jy xj is about jyj) is
bounded above by
Z
jyj3" d V .y/ D O.jxj" /:
jyj jxj
2
One can go further and make the vector field XÅ2 explicit. Since XÅ2 is solenoidal,
it has a potential vector, that is, XÅ2 D rot YÅ . The vector field YÅ is not uniquely
determined, because rot.XÅ C rf Å / D rot YÅ for any conservative vector field rf Å ,
Å Å
with f a function. A way of normalizing Y is to impose that Y be solenoidal and
vanishing at infinity: actually, if rot YÅ1 D rot YÅ2 and YÅ1 , YÅ2 are both solenoidal and
vanishing at infinity, then YÅ1 YÅ2 D ru Å with u harmonic and ru Å vanishing at
infinity, which gives YÅ1 D YÅ2 .
Hence we look for a solenoidal vector field YÅ such that XÅ2 D rot YÅ . Then
rot XÅ D rot XÅ1 C rot XÅ2 D rot XÅ2 D rot.rot YÅ /:
Now,
rot.rot YÅ / D r.div
Å YÅ / YÅ ;
where YÅ is interpreted vectorially. If YÅ is solenoidal, then div YÅ D 0 and we

conclude that
YÅ D rot XÅ:
Å D O.jyj2" /, the only solution vanishing at infinity is again
If j rot Xj
Z
Å
Y .x/ D rot XÅ.y/G.x y/ d V .y/;
R3
by a computation similar to the one in the proof of Theorem 7.65. Moreover, if one
also has j div XÅ.y/j D O.jyj2" /, the potential function defined before by
Z
.x/ D div XÅ.y/ G.x y/ d V .y/
R3
will be vanishing at infinity as well. All this proves the following statement:
Theorem 7.66. Let XÅ be a vector field of class C 1 on R3 with jdiv XÅ.x/j D
O.jxj2" / and jrot XÅ.x/j D O.jxj2" / when jxj ! 1, for some " > 0. Then
the decomposition
XÅ D r
Å C rot YÅ
with
Z
.x/ D div XÅ.y/G.x y/ d V .y/;
R3
Z
YÅ .x/ D rot XÅ.y/G.x y/ d V .y/
R3
is the unique decomposition of XÅ as a sum of a gradient, r

Å , and a rotational,
rot YÅ , with ; YÅ vanishing at infinity.
Finally we find an expression for the vector field XÅ1 D r Å in terms of XÅ,
which is useful in fluid mechanics. Applying the divergence theorem to the field
xi yi Å x "/, it turns out that
jxyj3
X and to the domain B.x; R/ n B.x;
Z Z
1 xi yi Å Å 1 xi yi Å Å
hX ; N i dA.y/ hX ; N i dA.y/
c3 S.x;R/ jx yj 3 c3 S.x;"/ jx yj3
Z
1 x i yi Å
D div X d V .y/
c3 BR .x/nBx" .x/ jx yj3
Z
1 xi y i
D .div XÅ/ d V .y/
Z
C
1
rÅy xi yi ; XÅ d V .y/:
If XÅ vanishes at infinity, one has

Z
1 xi yi Å Å
lim hX ; N i dA.y/ D 0:
R!1 c3 S.x;R/ jx yj3
Moreover,
Z
1 xi yi Å Å
hX ; N i dA.y/
c3 S.x;"/ jx yj3
Z
1 xi yi X yj xj
D Xj .y/ dA.y/:
c3 S.x;"/ jx yj 3 jy xj
j
The limit when " ! 0 of this last integral does not change when replacing
Xj .y/ with Xj .x/; then the terms with j ¤ i are zero and the term with j D i has
limit n1 Xi .x/, when " ! 0. Hence one has
Z
1 1 xy
XÅ1 .x/ D XÅ.x/ lim Åy
hr ; XÅi d V .y/;
n "!0 c3 "<jxyj jx yj3

Åy
where r xy
must be interpreted as the matrix
jxyj3

@ x i yi
:
@yj jx yj3 i;j D1;2;3
7.11 Dirichlet’s problem and conformal transformations

In order to solve Dirichlet’s problem or Neumann’s problem in more general do-
mains than the disc or the ball, it is natural to analyze how these problems behave
when a domain is transformed into another. First we look for transformations ‰ that
preserve harmonic functions, that is, those giving a harmonic function u D v B ‰
whenever v is harmonic. This analysis is done here in arbitrary dimension n.
It is worth remarking that one does not ask that equality .v B ‰/ D .v/ B ‰
holds. In Subsection 7.2.1 it has been seen that L D P ./, where P is a polynomial,
is the general expression of operators satisfying L.v B ‰/ D Lv B ‰ for every
isometry ‰. In particular, one has .v B ‰/ D v B ‰ for every isometry ‰.
However ‰ may preserve harmonic functions under more general conditions. For
example, there could exist a factor E such that
.v B ‰/ D Œv B ‰ E:
Let ‰ D .‰1 ; ‰2 ; : : : ; ‰n / be a diffeomorphism of class C 2 between two open

7.11. Dirichlet’s problem and conformal transformations 315
sets U , V of Rn , v 2 C 2 .V / and compute .v B ‰/:
@ X @v
n
@‰k
.v B ‰/ D .‰.x// .x/;
@xi @yk @xi
kD1
@2 X
n
@2 v @‰` @‰k X
n
@v @2 ‰k
.v B ‰/ D .‰.x// .x/ .x/ C .‰.x// .x/;
@xi2 @y` @yk @xi @xi @yk @xi2
k;`D1 kD1
X
n
@2 v @‰` @‰k X @v n
.v B ‰/.x/ D .‰.x// .x/ C .‰.x//‰k .x/:
@y` @yk @xi @xi @yk
i;k;`D1 kD1
(7.34)
Suppose now this expression is zero whenever v D 0. Taking v

yk , it follows
that ‰k D 0, that is, each component ‰k of ‰ must be harmonic. Taking
v D y`2 yk2 one gets
n
X n
X
@‰` 2 @‰k 2
D ;
@xi @xi
iD1 iD1
and taking v D yk y` with k ¤ `,
X
n
@‰` @‰k
D 0; k ¤ `:
@xi @xi
iD1
This means J‰ .x/ D ‰ 0 .x/ 2 RO.n/. So J‰ .x/ is a scalar multiple of an orthog-

onal matrix, that is, the linear mapping ‰ 0 .x/ conserves the size of angles and is
therefore a linear similarity for each x 2 U . In other words, ‰ is conformal or
anticonformal at each point of U .
Theorem 7.67. A diffeomorphism ‰ of class C 2 between two open sets of Rn

preserves harmonic functions if and only if it is conformal or anticonformal at each
point and the components of ‰ are harmonic functions.
Proof. We have already seen that ‰ is necessarily of this kind. For the converse,
notice that formula (7.34) reads
.v B ‰/ D traceŒ‰ 0 .x/t H ‰ 0 .x/;
where H is the Hessian matrix of v at the point ‰.x/. Since ‰ 0 .x/ is conformal,
‰ 0 .x/t is a multiple of ‰ 0 .x/1 and then it follows that .v B ‰/ is a multiple of
trace Œ‰ 0 .x/1 H ‰ 0 .x/ D trace ŒH D 0.
In dimension n 3, Liouville’s theorem (Theorem 2.29) asserts that if ‰ is

conformal or anticonformal at each point of U , then ‰ is the restriction to U of a
similarity in Rn (composition of isometries, dilations and inversions). However, in
dimension n D 2, Theorem 7.67 asserts that all transformations w D ‰.z/ that are
holomorphic or antiholomorphic preserve the class of harmonic functions.
In the case n D 2, when w D ‰.z/ is holomorphic, repeating the calculus of
.v B ‰/ in terms of operators @, @N yields
@v 0 @v @‰ x @v
@.v B ‰/ D ‰ .z/ C D .‰.z//‰ 0 .z/;
@w @wx @z @w
N @2 v
@@.v B ‰/.z/ D .‰.z//j‰ 0 .z/j2 ;
@w@w x
.v B ‰/.z/ D v.‰.z//j‰ 0 .z/j2 :
All that has been said can be expressed, more precisely, in the following result.
Theorem 7.68 (Invariance of the Dirichlet problem for holomorphic transforma-
tions). Let U and V be two bounded domains of C such that there exists a holo-
morphic one-to-one function from U onto V which extends to a homeomorphism
from Ux onto Vx . Suppose one knows how to solve the non-homogeneous Dirich-
let problem in U . Then, if ' 2 C.@V / and 2 L1 .V /, the Dirichlet problem
v D in V , v D ' in @V has a unique solution (in the weak sense). If is
locally Lipschitz, then the solution v is of class C 2 on V and satisfies v D 0 in
the classical sense.
Proof. Let ‰ W U ! V be bijective and holomorphic extending to a homeomor-
phism from Ux onto Vx . Recall that ‰ 0 .z/ ¤ 0, for all z 2 U and ‰ 1 W V ! U is
holomorphic with .‰ 1 /0 .‰.z// D ‰ 0 .z/1 . Consider the Dirichlet problem in U
with data '0 .z/ D '.‰.z//, 0 .z/ D .‰.z//j‰ 0 .z/j2 . One has
Z Z
0
j‰ .z/j d m.z/ D
2
d m.w/ D m.V / < C1
U ‰.U /
and, therefore, 0 is integrable and locally bounded on U . Let u be the solution of

the problem u0 D 0 in U , u0 D '0 in @.U /. Then v D u B ‰ 1 is continuous
on Vx and satisfies vj@V D ' and v D in V .
Furthermore, one has a formula for the solution in V if one has it in U . In the
particular case U D D and ‰ W D ! V one-to-one and holomorphic, one can write,
by (7.31), using the previous notation:
Z
1 1 jzj2
u.z/ D '0 ./ d ./
2 T jz j2
Z ˇ ˇ
1 ˇ z ˇ
C Log ˇˇ ˇ 0 ./ d m./ D uI .z/ C uII .z/:
2 D N ˇ
1 z
7.11. Dirichlet’s problem and conformal transformations 317
The second term uII .z/ is the solution of u D 0 in D, u D 0 in T . Making the

change of variable ‰./ D
, the measure 0 ./ d m./ D .‰.//j‰ 0 ./j2 d m./
becomes .
/ d m.
/ and the function
Z
1 j‰.w/ ‰.
/j
v II .w/ D uII .‰.w// D Log .
/ d m.
/
2 V j1 ‰.w/‰./j
is the solution of the problem v D in V , v D 0 in @V . The function
j‰.w/ ‰.
/j
GV .w;
/ D Log
j1 ‰.w/‰./j
is thus the Green’s function of V . When @V is regular and ‰ is differentiable along
T with ‰ 0 .z/ ¤ 0 one may also transform the integral that defines uI .z/ with the
change ‰./ D
. Then the measure '0 ./ d ./ becomes j.‰/0 .
/j'.
/ ds.
/
and the function
Z
1 1 j‰.w/j2
v I .w/ D uI .‰.w// D j.‰/0 .
/j'.
/ds.
/
2 @V j‰.w/ ‰.
/j2
is the solution of the problem v D 0 in V , v D ' in @V . The function
1 1 j‰.w/j2
P .w;
/ D j.‰/0 .
/j
2 j‰.w/ ‰.
/j2
is the Poisson kernel of V .
The same idea may be used for the Neumann problem. Suppose that U and V
are two bounded domains of C with positively oriented regular boundary and ‰
is a one-to-one and holomorphic transformation from a neighborhood of Ux onto
a neighborhood of Vx so that it is a homeomorphism from Ux onto Vx . In all the
examples one may check that this hypothesis holds.
First observe that ‰ satisfies J‰ .z/ D j‰ 0 .z/j2 > 0 and so preserves orientation.
Hence, ‰ transforms @U into @V and when z describes @U in the positive sense,
the point ‰.z/ D w describes @V in the positive sense. Let N Å1 .z/ denote the
0
unit exterior normal vector to @U at the point z 2 @U . Since ‰ preserves angles
at the points z 2 @U and ‰ transforms @U into @V , this yields that the vector
.d ‰/.z/.N Å1 .z// D ‰ 0 .z/N Å1 .z/ is an exterior normal vector to @V at the point
w D ‰.z/. So, denoting by N Å2 .w/ the unit exterior normal vector at w 2 @V , one
has 0
NÅ2 .w/ D ‰ .z/ N Å1 .z/:
j‰ 0 .z/j
Assume now that v is a solution of the problem v D in V , @v
Å2
D ' in @V .
@N
0
Then the function u D v B ‰ satisfies u.z/ D .‰.z//j‰ .z/j in U and
2
@u @v
.z/ D .w/j‰ 0 .z/j D '.w/j‰ 0 .z/j:
@NÅ1 @NÅ2
So, if one wants to solve the problem v D in V , @u

Å2
D ' in @V and knows
@N
how to find a solution u of
@u
u.z/ D .‰.z//j‰ 0 .z/j2 in U; .z/ D '.‰.z//j‰ 0 .z/j in @U;
Å
@N1
then v.w/ D u.‰.w// is the desired solution.
7.12 Dirichlet’s principle

Dirichlet originally solved the problem that bears his name, namely u D 0 in
a domain U Rn , u D ' in @U with ' 2 C.@U /, as a problem of calculus of
variations. He did so on the basis of the observation that Laplace’s equation is
Euler’s equation associated to the functional I acting on the function u, according
to Z
I.u/ D Å 2 d V:
jruj (7.35)
U
This functional is called the Dirichlet integral.
Given ' 2 C.@U /, consider the class of functions
† D fu 2 C 2 .Ux / W u D ' in @U g
and the functional I W † ! RC defined by (7.35). Suppose that u0 2 † is a global
minimum of I on †. Then, fixing 2 Cc2 .U /, the function u0 C " is in † for
all " > 0 and I.u0 C " / I.u0 / holds. The function " 7! I.u0 C " / has
a minimum for " D 0, and so has vanishing derivative at " D 0, whenever this
derivative exists. One may calculate it:
Z
d d Å 0 C "rÅ j2 d V .x/
I.u0 C " / D jru
d" d" U
Z X n 2
d @u0 @
D C" d V .x/
d" U @xi @xi
iD1
n
Z X
@u0 @ @
D2 C" d V .x/:
U iD1 @xi @xi @xi
Letting " ! 0, it yields

Z
Å 0; r
hru Å i d V .x/ D 0:
U
By the first Green’s identity, and the fact that has compact support in U , we get
Z
u0 .x/ .x/ d V .x/ D 0:
U
7.12. Dirichlet’s principle 319
Since this equality holds for any 2 Cc2 .U /, one has u0

0. Therefore, if
u0 is a global minimum of I in †, then u0 is the solution of Dirichlet’s problem.
This is the statement of Dirichlet’s principle. Since I takes positive values, it could
seem clear that this global minimum always exists. This (mistakenly) led Dirichlet
to regard the previous argument as a proof of the existence of a solution for the
problem. One may try, however, to keep the argument up and then some questions
on the completeness of spaces of functions appear. These questions were not solved
in Dirichlet’s time and motivate further study of the nowadays well-known theory
of Hilbert spaces.
First, change the definition of † and take now
† D fu 2 C 1 .Ux / W u D ' a @U g:
If u0 2 † minimizes I on † one will have, as before,

Z X Z
@u0 @
n
dV D Å 0; r
hru Å i d V .x/ D 0:
U @xi @xi U
iD1
Integrating by parts yields

Z
u0 d V .x/ D 0 for 2 Cc2 .U /:
U
So, u0 D 0 in the weak sense and by Weyl’s lemma, u0 is a harmonic function.

Consider
˛ D inffI.u/; u 2 †g 0
and a sequence of functions un 2 † such that .I.un // ! ˛, when n ! 1. Since
1
u C 12 um 2 †, one has
2 n
Z
1 Å n ru
Å m j2 d V C ˛
0 jru
4 U
Z Z
1 Å Å 1 Å n C ruÅ m j2 d V
jrun rum j d V C
2
jru
4 U 4
Z Z
1 Å n j2 d V C 1 Å m j2 d V ! ˛ if n; m ! 1:
D jru jru
2 U 2 U
R
Therefore, U jru Å n ruÅ m j2 ! 0, for n; m ! 1. Now notice that defining
.u; v/ D I.u v/ for u; v 2 †, is a distance. Indeed it satisfies the triangle
inequality and .u; v/ D 0, implies ruÅ D rvÅ and since u D v D ' in @U , one has
u D v. If the space † was complete with this distance, the conclusion just obtained,
saying that .un / is a Cauchy sequence in .†; /, would imply that .un / ! u0 with
u0 2 † and I.u0 / D ˛ and would prove the existence of solutions of Dirichlet’s
problem. But † is not complete with the distance . However, one could redevelop
what has been said, on the basis of similar arguments and the projection theorem
for Hilbert spaces and prove that a variant of Dirichlet’s problem (in the sense of
Sobolev spaces) has a solution.
The most general way of solving Dirichlet’s problem in open sets of Rn is
Perron’s method. It is based on subharmonic functions and the concept of “subso-
lution”. In Section 9.4 this method will be explained in the case of domains of the
complex plane.
7.13 Exercises
1. Show that a continuous function u on a domain U Rn is harmonic if and
only if it has the mean value property with respect to balls, that is,
Z
n
u.a/ D u.x/ d V .x/;
cn r n B.a;r/
whenever B.a; r/ U , where cn D d .S/.
2. Find the dimension of the vector space formed by homogeneous polynomials

on Rn of degree k, k 2 N, that are harmonic.
3. Recall (Section 7.3) that a continuous function v on a domain U Rn is said

to be subharmonic if it has the sub-mean property with respect to spheres,
that is, Z
1
v.a/ v.x/ dA.x/;
cn r n1 S.a;r/
x r/ U . Show that in the case n D 1 subharmonic functions
whenever B.a;
are the convex functions.
a) Prove that a function v 2 C 2 .U / is subharmonic on U if and only if

v 0 on U (see Exercise 13 of Section 3.8).
b) Let 0; 2 Cc1 .Rn /, with support in the unit ball B and
Z
dV D 1:
Rn
Put " .x/ D "n .x="/ and consider the convolution v" D v " in
the open set U" D fx W d.x; U c / > "g. Prove that v is subharmonic on
U if and only if v" is subharmonic on U" , for all " > 0.
7.13. Exercises 321
c) Show that v is subharmonic on U if and only if

Z
v.x/.x/ d V .x/ 0;
U
for every function 2 Cc1 .U /, 0.

d) Show that v is subharmonic on U if and only if has the sub-mean value
property with respect to balls, that is,
Z
n
v.a/ v.x/ d V .x/;
cn r n B.a;r/
whenever B.a; r/ U .
4. Show that the maximum modulus principle holds for subharmonic functions:
if U is a bounded domain of Rn and v 2 C.Ux / is subharmonic on U satisfying
v.x/ M for x 2 @U , then one also has v.x/ M for x 2 U . Show that
if u 2 C.Ux / is harmonic on U and v 2 C.Ux / is subharmonic on U and
satisfies v.x/ u.x/ for x 2 @U , then one also has v.x/ u.x/ for x 2 U .
5. Starting from the solution of Dirichlet’s problem in a ball given by the Poisson
kernel, prove that every harmonic function on an open set of Rn is an analytic
function of its real variables.
6. Suppose that the function f is harmonic and complex-valued on a domain U

of Rn , say f D u C iv. Prove that the following are equivalent:
a) f 2 is harmonic on U .
Å rv
b) ru; Å are perpendicular and have the same norm in U .
If n D 2, prove that a) or b) are equivalent to saying that f is holomorphic or

antiholomorphic on U . In the general case n 2, show that if f , harmonic,
satisfies a) or b) and takes real values, then f is constant.
7. Prove Harnack’s inequality: if u is harmonic and positive on a domain U of

Rn and B.a; r/ U , then one has
r jx aj r C jx aj
r n2 u.a/ u.x/ r n2 u.a/
.r C jx aj/ n1 .r jx aj/n1
for x 2 B.a; r/. Use this inequality to prove that every harmonic function
on Rn bounded above is constant.
8. a) Use Harnack’s inequality (Exercise 7 of this section) to prove the fol-

lowing: let U be a domain of Rn , K a compact set contained in U and
a 2 U ; then there are constants m; M depending on U; K and a such

that
mu.a/ u.x/ M u.a/;
for every function u harmonic and positive on U and every point x 2 K.
b) Let .un /n2N be a sequence of harmonic functions on a domain U that
converge uniformly on each compact subset of U to the function u.
Show that u is harmonic on U and the derivatives .D ˛ un / tend to D ˛ u,
uniformly on each compact subset of U , for each multi-index ˛.
9. Let .un /n2N be a monotone sequence of harmonic functions on a domain
U Rn . Assume that .un .a// converges at a point a 2 U . Show then
that .un / converges uniformly on each compact subset of U to a harmonic
function on U .
10. a) Let …C D f.x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / 2 Rn W xn > 0g be the upper half space
of Rn and let u be a bounded harmonic function on …C , continuous on
x C . Assume that u.x/ D 0 if x 2 Rn1 ' fx D .x1 ; x2 ; : : : ; xn / 2
…
Rn W xn D 0g. Show that u
0 on …C .
b) Prove the same result changing the boundedness of u on …C by the
condition: ju.x/j D O.G.x//, jxj ! 1, where G is the fundamental
solution of the Laplacian.
Hint: For part b) use Proposition 7.40 and the fact that the composition
of a harmonic function with the inversion with respect to the unit ball is
harmonic.
11. Find the harmonic function on the unit disc D that has a continuous extension
x with value 1 at the points .x; y/ 2 @D with y > 0 and with value 0 at
to D
the other points of @D. Find also the harmonic function that has a continuous
extension with value jyj at every point .x; y/ 2 @D.
12. Find the harmonic functions on the unit disc D extending continuously to
each point e i 2 @D with value a) sin , b) sin2 , c) cos3 . Find also the
harmonic function on D extending continuously to the function x 2 C y 3 at
the points .x; y/ 2 @D.
13. Let u be a harmonic function on a ball B.a; r/ of Rn such that
Z
ju.x/jp d V .x/ D M < C1; p > 0:
B.a;r/
1
Prove the inequality ju.a/j cnnr n M p , where cn D d .S/. As a conse-
quence, show that if u is harmonic on Rn and jujp is integrable on Rn , then
u vanishes on Rn .
7.13. Exercises 323
14. Consider in the unit disc D of the complex plane the mixed problem: look
x such that u D 0 in D, @u .e i / C @u .e i / D '.e i /, if
for u 2 C 1 .D/ @ Å @N
e i 2 @D, with ' 2 C.@D/ given and constant. Show that this problem
has a solution if and only if the data ' has zero integral on @D and find the
solution of the form
Z 2
u.z/ D '.e i /Q.z; e i / d;
0
with an explicit kernel Q.z; e i /.

15. The aim of this exercise is to solve Dirichlet’s problem in an annulus C D fz 2
C W R2 < jzj < R1 g of the complex plane. That is, given two continuous
functions '1 ; '2 2 C.@C /, one wants to find u harmonic on C , continuous on
Cx such that u.R1 e i / D '1 .R1 e i /; u.R2 e i / D '2 .R2 e i /, for e i 2 T .
a) First show that the general expression of a harmonic function u on C is
X
u.re i / D .An r jnj C Bn r jnj /e i n ; An ; Bn 2 C:
n2Z
b) Calculate coefficients An ; Bn in terms of Fourier coefficients of '1 and

'2 .
c) Solve Dirichlet’s problem in C .
16. Let U be a non-bounded domain of Rn and u a continuous function on Ux ,
harmonic and bounded on U , vanishing on the boundary of U . Show that u
is identically zero on U .
17. Let …C be the upper half plane fz D x C yi W y > 0g and z 2 …C fixed.
Show that the function
1 wz
G.w; z/ D Log
2 w zN
is the Green’s function of …C with pole z. Use the function G and Exercise 16
of this section to prove the following: for ' bounded and continuous on R,
the function of z D x C iy,
Z
1 C1 '.t /
u.z/ D dt;
1 .t x/2 C y 2
is the only bounded harmonic function on …C with value ' at the boundary
of …C .
18. Show that the Riesz potential G./ is a continuous function on Rn provided
that 2 L1 n
loc .R / satisfies the condition
Z
jG.x/jj.x/jd V .x/ < 1:
Rn
19. The aim of this exercise is to solve Dirichlet’s problem in the square Q D
Œ0; 1 Œ0; 1. The data is a continuous function ' on @Q.
a) First show that one may assume that ' vanishes at the vertices of Q. For
this consider the harmonic polynomial a C bx C cy C dxy, with a, b,
c, d conveniently chosen.
b) If ' vanishes at the vertices, then it may be expressed as a sum of four
functions, each of which is zero in three of the edges of Q.
ı
c) It is enough, now, to solve the problem u D 0 in Q and
u.x; 0/ D u.0; y/ D u.1; y/ D 0 for 0 x; y 1;

u.x; 1/ D '.x/ for 0 x 1;
with '.0/ D '.1/ D 0. For this problem, use separation of variables to

prove that the solution is
1
X 2
u.x; y/ D y sin nx sh ny;
'.n/
nD1
sh n
p '.n/
where y denotes the n-th coefficient of ' in the orthonormal basis
f 2 sin n t W n 2 Ng of L2 .Œ0; 1/.
20. Do something similar to the previous exercise to solve Neumann’s problem

in the square Q.
21. This exercise provides an interpretation of the Poisson kernel of the unit disc D.
For z 2 D fixed, associate to each point w 2 @D the point D .z; w/ 2 @D
such that w, z and are aligned. Show that the solution of Dirichlet’s problem
in D with data ' 2 C.@D/ is
Z
1
u.z/ D '. .z; w//d .w/:
2 @D
22. Let U be a bounded domain of Rn with regular boundary oriented by the

Å and @U D S1 [ S2 a partition of the boundary.
exterior normal vector field N
7.13. Exercises 325
Let '1 , '2 be continuous functions on S1 , S2 , respectively. Show that the

problem
@u
u D 0 in U; u D '1 in S1 ; D '2 in S2
Å
@N
has at most one solution. Consider the case U is the upper half disc of the
plane, U D f.x; y/ W x 2 C y 2 < 1; y > 0g, S1 D Œ1; 1 and S2 D @U n S1 .
Solve the problem
@u
u D 0 in U; u D ' in S2 ; D 0 in S1 ;
Å
@N
with ' continuous on S2 , in two different ways: a) using the symmetry
principle, b) by separation of variables.
Chapter 8
Conformal mapping
Holomorphic functions of one complex variable are conformal mappings in the

sense that they preserve angles. This property makes them a very useful tool to
study different problems in Physics, such as the motion of fluids, or in the solution
of problems with boundary conditions.
In this chapter conformal mappings are studied, stressing geometrical aspects,
examples and applications. The proof of Riemann’s theorem or fundamental theo-
rem of conformal mapping will be given in Chapter 9.
Besides linear transformations and conformal mappings provided by elementary
functions, one deals with conformal mappings of polygons and with the boundary
behavior of conformal mappings of domains limited by analytic arcs, both important
questions in view of the applications. The chapter ends with some examples of the
use of conformal mapping, one in cartography and the others in hydrodynamics.
8.1 Conformal transformations

We start with an overview of the relation between holomorphy and conformality, a
question already considered in Subsection 2.4.2.
Suppose that 1 .t /, 2 .t / are two regular curves passing through the point z0 ,
let 1 .0/ D 2 .0/ D z0 , and having, at this point, a non-zero tangent vector,
10 .0/ ¤ 0, 20 .0/ ¤ 0. The angle between 1 and 2 at the point z0 is the angle
between the tangent vectors:
h i
Arg 10 .0/ 20 .0/ :
Let now f be a differentiable mapping on a neighborhood of the point z0 with

df .z0 / invertible. The linear mapping df .z0 / is called the tangent linear mapping to
f at the point z0 for the following reason: considering the curve z1 .t / D f .1 .t //,
the image of 1 by f , then the tangent vector to z1 at the point f .z0 / is the image
by df .z0 / of the tangent vector to 1 at the point z0 . That is,
z10 .0/ D .f B 1 /0 .0/ D df .z0 /.10 .0//:
Of course, the same holds for 2 and for any curve passing through the point z0 .
Hence, the curves z1 D f B 1 and z2 D f B 2 meet at the point f .z0 / with
an angle equal to h i
Arg df .z0 /.10 .0// df .z0 /.20 .0// :
8.1. Conformal transformations 327
Observe that the condition df .z0 / to be invertible is necessary to consider the angle
between z1 and z2 . Otherwise it could happen that one of these curves has null
tangent vector at the point f .z0 /.
Suppose now that f is holomorphic around the point z0 and f 0 .z0 / ¤ 0. Then
it is known (Theorem 2.25) that the tangent linear mapping df .z0 / is the C-linear
one given by complex multiplication by f 0 .z0 /. Therefore,
z10 .0/ D f 0 .z0 / 10 .0/ and z20 .0/ D f 0 .z0 / 20 .0/:
This means that the action of the function f makes its tangent vector to rotate by
an angle Arg f 0 .z0 /.
The angle between z1 and z2 is now
h i h i
Arg jf 0 .z0 /j2 10 .0/ 20 .0/ D Arg 10 .0/ 20 .0/ :
The function f preserves, then, the angles between curves at the point z0 . We say
that f is conformal at this point. Observe that f preserves the values of the angles
and also their sense (which is the sign of ArgŒ10 .0/ 20 .0/).
Now, instead of comparing the angle between tangent vectors to two curves with
the angle between tangent vectors to their images by f , let us compare the length
of these tangent vectors. That is, let us compare j 0 .0/j with jdf .z0 /. 0 .0//j.
In general, the relation between these lengths depends on the direction of the
vector 0 .0/, but if f is holomorphic, then
jdf .z0 /. 0 .0//j D jf 0 .z0 /j j 0 .0/j
and it yields that the distortion of the length induced by f is the same in all directions
and equal to jf 0 .z0 /j.
Consider now the converse of the results that have just been stated. In Subsec-
tion 2.4.2 it has been seen that if f is differentiable around the point z0 (with df .z0 /
invertible) and f is conformal, that is, preserves the angles between curves and their
sense, then f is holomorphic at the z0 . Let us review@uthe argument:
point with
matrix notation one has df .z0 / D ac db where a D @u @x
, b D @y
, c D @v
@x
, d D @v
@y
,
if f D u C iv and df .z0 /.z/ D ˛z C ˇ zN with ˛ C ˇ D a C i c and ˛ ˇ D d i b;
the fact that df .z0 / preserves angles means that df .zz0 /.z/ D ˛ C ˇ zzN has constant
argument, and this only can happen if ˇ D 0, because ˛ C ˇ zzN describes a circle
with center ˛ and radius jˇj; finally, ˇ D 0 means a D d , b D c, which are
Cauchy–Riemann equations.
Let us assume now that the differentiable mapping f , with df .z0 / invertible,
dilates lengths of vectors with the same rate in all directions. This means that
df .z0 /.z/ zN
D˛Cˇ
z z
328 Chapter 8. Conformal mapping
has constant modulus, independently of z, which is only possible if ˛Cˇ zzN describes
either a circle of radius zero or a circle with center at the origin. That is, either ˇ D 0,
or ˛ D 0. In the first case, it is known that f is C-derivable at the point z0 . In
the second one, ˛ D 0 and one gets a D d , b D c. Now df .z0 /.z/ D ˇ zN is
a linear mapping which preserves angles, but changes orientation. The equations
corresponding to a D d , b D c tell now that fN is a holomorphic function. We
say that f is antiholomorphic or inversely conformal.
Altogether the following statement holds:
Proposition 8.1. If f is a differentiable function around the point z0 , f is conformal

at z0 if and only if f has complex derivative at z0 and f 0 .z0 / ¤ 0. In this case,
the tangent linear mapping df .z0 / is a rotation of angle Arg f 0 .z0 / followed by a
dilation of factor jf 0 .z0 /j.
8.2 Conformal mappings

It has just been shown that if f is a holomorphic function on an open set U of the
complex plane and f 0 .z/ ¤ 0, for each z 2 U , then f is conformal at each point
of U . Now, f does not need to be an injective mapping on U (think, for example,
about U D C and f .z/ D e z ).
However, if f is a holomorphic function on U that, in addition, is injective on
U , then necessarily f 0 .z/ ¤ 0, for z 2 U , according to Theorem 4.32. So in this
case, f is a one-to-one mapping from U onto the open set f .U / that is conformal
at each point of U (f .U / is open by Theorem 4.33). It is also clear that the inverse
function f 1 is conformal at each point of f .U /, because, f 0 .z/ ¤ 0 yields that
f 1 is holomorphic with non-vanishing derivative as well.
Definition 8.2. If U is an open set of C, a holomorphic and one-to-one function

f on U is said to be a conformal mapping from U onto the open set f .U /.
Two domains U , U 0 of the complex plane are said to be conformally equivalent
if there exists a conformal mapping from U onto U 0 (or from U 0 onto U ).
So conformal mappings are the mappings that are conformal at each point of its
domain and, furthermore, are globally injective. For example, the function e z is a
conformal mapping of the strip U D fz W 0 < Im z < 2g onto C n fz W Re z > 0;
Im z D 0g.
If U , U 0 are conformally equivalent, they must also be topologically equivalent,
because a conformal mapping from U onto U 0 is, in particular, a homeomorphism
between U and U 0 .
Hence, for example, the unit disc of the plane D D fz W jzj < 1g and an annulus
C.0; 1; 2/ D fz W 1 < jzj < 2g cannot be conformally equivalent. Another negative
example is the following.
8.2. Conformal mappings 329
Proposition 8.3. The unit disc D and the complex plane C are not conformally
equivalent even though they are topologically equivalent.
Proof. If f W C ! D is holomorphic, being also bounded, Liouville’s theorem

(Theorem 4.41) yields that f would be constant and, therefore, not injective.
On the other hand, f .z/ D 1Cjzj
z
is a homeomorphism from C onto D.
It is a natural question, then, to ask which domains can be conformally mapped

onto the unit disc D. The answer is the following:
Theorem 8.4. A domain of the complex plane can be conformally mapped onto the
unit disc if and only if it is simply connected and different from C.
One may easily see that the conditions on U are necessary. First the condition
U ¤ C is necessary by Proposition 8.3. Secondly if f W D ! U is a conformal
mapping, then for each piecewise regular closed curve with U and each
point a … U , one has
Z Z
dw f 0 .z/
D dz D 0;
wa f 1 B f .z/ a
by Cauchy’s theorem since f .z/ ¤ a if z 2 U . So Ind.; a/ D 0 and U is simply

connected.
The fact that simply connected domains different from C can be conformally
mapped on D is due to Riemann and it is known as the fundamental theorem of
conformal mapping. More precisely, Riemann’s theorem is the following.
Theorem 8.5 (Fundamental theorem of conformal mapping). Given a simply con-

nected domain U , U ¤ C, and a point z0 2 U , there exists a unique conformal
mapping f from U onto the unit disc D, normalized with the conditions f .z0 / D 0
and f 0 .z0 / > 0.
Corollary 8.6. Two domains of the plane, simply connected and different from the
whole plane, are conformally equivalent to each other.
Two proofs of Riemann’s theorem will be given in Chapter 9. This theorem

says that there are two models of simply connected plane domains: C and the unit
disc D. Any other simply connected domain is equivalent to one of these.
If two domains U , U 0 are conformally equivalent, then it makes no difference
if one studies holomorphic functions on U or on U 0 , because if f W U ! U 0 is
conformal, the transformation g ! g B f 1 gives an isomorphism between the
rings of functions H.U / and H.U 0 /. That is, if we want to know the analytic
functions on a domain without holes, it is enough to study entire functions and
holomorphic functions on the unit disc.
In particular, conformal mappings from a domain U onto itself may be consid-

ered. It is clear that these transformations form a group, called the automorphism
group of U and denoted by Aut.U /. If U and U 0 are conformally equivalent
by f W U ! U 0 , then Aut.U / and Aut.U 0 / are isomorphic groups, through the
correspondence g ! g B f 1 from Aut.U / onto Aut.U 0 /.
If f is a conformal mapping from U onto U 0 , the effect of f on harmonic
functions has been analyzed in Section 7.11. It is known that the transformation
u ! u B f gives a bijection between harmonic functions on U 0 and harmonic
functions on U . Indeed, the converse also holds in the sense that u ! u B f
is a bijection between the spaces of harmonic functions only when f is either
holomorphic or antiholomorphic (Theorem 7.67). This fact suggests that conformal
mappings might be useful in the solution of Dirichlet’s problem, since it may be
convenient to change the domain by means of a conformal mapping, before seeking
for the appropriate harmonic function.
Recall that if U , U 0 are two domains and f W U ! U 0 is a conformal mapping,
the relationship between Dirichlet’s problem in U and the corresponding one in U 0
is the following (Section 7.11):
Suppose that one knows how to solve Dirichlet’s problem in the domain U 0 and
wants to solve it in the domain U . If ' 2 C.@U / is the data at the boundary of U ,
define D ' B f 1 . Now take v to be ˇthe solution of Dirichlet’s problem in U 0
with data , that is, v D 0 on U 0 and v ˇ@U 0 D . Then u D v ı f is the solution
of the Dirichlet problem in U (Figure 8.1).
D ' B f 1
'
f
v
U U0
uDvBf
Figure 8.1
Remark that f must be a bijective and bicontinuous transformation (homeo-

morphism) between boundaries of U and U 0 . Therefore, it is very important to
know what is the behavior at the boundary of a conformal mapping. In the case of
a simply connected domain U ¤ C it is known, by Riemann’s theorem, that there
are conformal mappings f W U ! D, where D is the unit disc. The question is:
when does f extend to a homeomorphism fQ W Ux ! D? x
Of course, if this is possible, then fQ will be also a homeomorphism from @U
onto @D and, therefore, @U must be a closed Jordan curve that, by definition, is a
space homeomorphic to @D. What matters here is the fact that this condition on
@U is enough to guarantee existence of the extension fQ. Indeed, the following
statement holds.
Theorem 8.7 (Carathéodory). If U is a simply connected domain, U ¤ C, such
that @U is a closed Jordan curve, then any conformal mapping f from U onto the
x
unit disc D extends to a homeomorphism from Ux onto D.
Corollary 8.8. A conformal mapping between two simply connected domains
bounded by Jordan curves extends to a homeomorphism between the closures of
the domains.
The solution of Dirichlet’s problem in the unit disc given in the previous chapter
(Subsection 7.6.1) allows us, then, to solve Dirichlet’s problem in a simply con-
nected domain bounded by a Jordan curve whenever one is able to map explicitly
this domain onto the unit disc. Later on some example will be given.
The proof of Theorem 8.7 when @U is an arbitrary Jordan curve falls beyond
the scope of this text and will not be given. It may be found in [9], p. 324. However,
the proof will be done in the particular case that @U consists of a finite number of
analytic arcs. This is, essentially, the situation of Proposition 1.35, but with the
function ' analytic, that is, holomorphic. More precisely, an arc .t /, a t b, is
an analytic arc in the boundary of the domain U if there exists a simply connected
domain , symmetric with respect to the interval .a; b/, and a function ' that maps
conformally onto an open set z D './ such that
'. \ fz W Im z > 0g/ D z \ U;

'.t / D .t /; t 2 .a; b/; (8.1)
'. \ fz W Im < 0g/ D z \ U c:
First let us note a property of conformal mappings that is purely topological and
so holds for homeomorphisms as well. Let f W U ! U 0 be a continuous mapping
from a domain U on a domain U 0 . One says that f .z/ tends to the boundary of U 0
when z tends to the boundary of U if for any compact set K 0 U 0 there exists a
compact set K U such that if z … K, then f .z/ … K 0 .
Proposition 8.9. If f W U ! U 0 is a homeomorphism, then f .z/ tends to the
boundary of U 0 when z tends to the boundary of U .
Proof. Since f 1 is continuous, given a compact set K 0 U 0 just take K D
f 1 .K 0 / to have a compact set of U satisfying the required condition.
This means that for a sequence .zn / of points in U converging to a point of @U ,

the sequence .f .zn // gets close to @U 0 , but one cannot say that it tends to a point
of @U 0 . The same happens with an arc of curve .t / 2 U which tends to a point
of @U .
We will also need a symmetry principle for holomorphic functions, which is
worth being stressed.
Proposition 8.10. Let U be a domain of the plane, symmetric with respect to the
real axis, f a holomorphic function on U C D U \ fz W Im > 0g and suppose that
the function u D Im f is continuous on U C and u D 0 in U \ R. Then f has a
holomorphic extension to U that satisfies f .Nz/ D f .z/.
Proof. Consider a disc centered at a point of U \ R. It is known by the symmetry

principle for harmonic functions (Proposition 7.57) that u has a harmonic extension
to satisfying u.Nz/ D u.z/. The function u has in a conjugated harmonic
function which will be called u0 and one may suppose that u0 D Re f in C ,
that is, f .z/ D u0 .z/ C i u.z/, z 2 C . Now the function v.z/ D u0 .z/ u0 .z/
N
@u0
satisfies @x D 0 and @y D 2 @y D 2 @x D 0 on the real axis. Therefore,
@v @v @u
the holomorphic function @x@v

i @y
@v
vanishes on an interval and, consequently, is
identically zero.
Hence, v is constant and it is clear that v D 0, that is, u0 .z/ D u0 .z/,
N which
N D f .z/ defining f .z/ D u0 .z/ C i u.z/ in . Now it is sufficient to
gives f .z/
repeat the construction on arbitrary discs and observe that u0 must be the same in
two intersecting discs.
Remark 8.1. The statement of Proposition 8.10 is very similar to the symmetry
principle given after Theorem 4.27 (Remark 4.2). The difference is that there it was
assumed that the given function, holomorphic on U C , had a limit at points on the
real axis, while now this hypothesis relates only to its imaginary part.
Theorem 8.70 . Let U be a simply connected domain whose boundary is a piecewise

analytic closed Jordan curve, that is, formed by a finite number of analytic arcs,
and let f be a conformal mapping from U onto the unit disc D. Then f can be
extended to a homeomorphism from Ux onto D. x
Proof. Suppose that the boundary of U is formed by the analytic arcs 1 ; 2 ; : : : ; n

and let z1 ; z2 ; : : : ; zn be their vertices; that is, zk is the final point of k1 and the
starting point of k , k D 2; : : : ; n and z1 joins n with 1 . Suppose also that a0 2 U
is such that f .a0 / D 0 (Figure 8.2).
The proof is done in several steps.

A) The function f can be extended continuously to the interior of each arc k ,
that is, to k without its end points.
z4
w3
w2
z3
3
4
2 f D 0
a0 w1
U
z2 w4
1
z5
z1 w5
5
Figure 8.2
In order to prove this assertion take and ' like in (8.1), corresponding to
the arc k . If is small enough such that a0 … './, the function log f .'.z//
has a holomorphic branch on \ fz W Im z > 0g. Its real part, Log jf .'.z//j
tends to 0 when Im z ! 0, by Proposition 8.9. Therefore, by Proposition 8.10,
log f .'.z// has a holomorphic extension to , as well as the function f .'.z//.
For each t0 2 .a; b/ one has ' 0 .t0 / ¤ 0, so that ' has a holomorphic inverse on a
neighborhood of '.t0 /. This means that f also extends analytically around '.t0 /.
B) The extension of f is one-to-one on the union of interiors of the arcs
1 ; : : : ; n .
Actually, let z0 , z00 be two different interior points of some arc of the boundary
of U and assume that f .z0 / D f .z00 /. Let be a disc of center z0 not containing
z00 where the extension of f is defined, and write w0 D f .z0 / D f .z00 /. The image
f ./ is an open set that contains w0 . Moreover if z 2 U , z … , is a point close
enough to z00 , one will have f .z/ 2 f ./ \ D, because f is continuous at the point
z00 . But then there would be a point z1 2 \ U with f .z1 / D f .z/, which is not
possible, f being one-to-one on U .
C) The function f extends continuously to the vertices z1 ; : : : ; zn and, writing
wk D f .zk /, the images of the arcs k1 and k are two arcs of the unit circle
which have wk as the only common point (Figure 8.3).
The image of the interior of each arc k , given by the extension of f , is an
open arc of @D. Let Ik D .ak ; bk /, k D 1; 2; : : : ; n, be the image of the interior
of k . Let us prove that if k1 and k meet at the vertex zk , then Ik1 and Ik
have a common end. Actually, otherwise there would be an arc between Ik1 and
Ik which one may assume to be .bk1 ; ak /. For each " > 0, consider the part of
the circle of center zk and radius " that is inside U and let C" be its image by f
(Figure 8.4). It is a Jordan arc that goes from a point of Ik1 to a point of Ik .
wk Ik
Ik1
f
D
"
zk
0
k
k1
U
Figure 8.3
bk1 ak
Ik1 Ik
ak1 bk
C"
Figure 8.4
If " ! 0, C" tends to @D by Proposition 8.9, and the end points of C" converge to
bk1 and ak , respectively. Consider now the inverse function of f , f 1 W D ! U
and remark that, being injective, if two points of D are not separated by C" , their
images on U are not separated as well by the circle of center zk and radius ".
We conclude now that for a point w 2 D tending to the arc .bk1 ; ak /, f 1 .w/
converges to zk and, therefore, the function f 1 .w/ zk tends to 0 when w
approaches .bk1 ; ak /. Applying again Proposition 8.10, this yields that f 1 .w/
zk extends analytically with the value 0 through .bk1 ; ak /, and the principle of
analytic continuation tells us that this function vanishes on an open set of D and,
consequently, in the whole of D. This is a contradiction, because f 1 is not constant.
Hence, we must have bk1 D ak and the argument shows that f extends
continuously to zk with f .zk / D wk D bk1 D ak .
D) Finally, what has been proved also shows that the images by f of the arcs
1 ; : : : ; n , now including the vertices, must cover the whole unit circle, and this
finishes the proof of the theorem.
8.3. Homographic transformations 335
It is worth noting that the proof just given shows that the mapping f satisfies a
stronger condition than the one in Theorem 8.70 . Indeed, it proves that f extends
analytically through each open analytic arc which is a part of the boundary of U .
This implies that f is conformal at the points of @U , in the sense that it preserves the
angle between two curves that meet at a point of @U and their images. In particular,
f preserves orthogonality, that is, a curve passing through z0 orthogonal to @U
becomes a curve that intersects the unit circle orthogonally (Figure 8.5).
wkC1
zk z0 zkC1
w0
f wk
U D
Figure 8.5
In general, if U is bounded by an arbitrary Jordan curve, there is no preservation

of angles at the boundary of U (indeed, it makes no sense to talk about orthogonality
with respect to the boundary); but if @U is regular enough, there is conformality at
the boundary. A sufficient condition is @U being a Jordan curve of class C 2 (or even
of class C 1C" with " > 0). With these conditions the derivative of the conformal
mapping extends continuously to the boundary with non-vanishing values, and
then there is conformality at the points of @U . In particular, a curve normal to @D
is mapped into a curve normal to @U . This property will be used later to solve
Neumann’s problem for a particular domain.
8.3 Homographic transformations
8.3.1 The linear group

Among all analytic functions, rational functions of first degree, also called homo-
graphic transformations or linear fractional transformations or even linear trans-
formations, are of special interest. Indeed they are conformal mappings of the
whole Riemann sphere onto itself and, in addition, they have very simple geomet-
rical properties. It is worth studying them in detail.
A homographic transformation is a rational function of the form
az C b
T z D T .z/ D with ad bc ¤ 0; a; b; c; d 2 C: (8.2)
cz C d
The condition ad bc ¤ 0 avoids T being constant and T is a holomorphic function
on the whole plane, except at the point z D d=c, if c ¤ 0.
A homographic transformation T is said to be real when it transforms the real
axis on itself. It is clear that this happens if and only if the coefficients a, b, c, d
are all four real.
It is convenient to look at T as a transformation from the Riemann sphere S 2 into
itself, defining T .d=c/ D 1 and T .1/ D a=c. A homographic transformation
is a bijective mapping from S 2 onto S 2 , since if T is defined by (8.2), then it has
an inverse which is also homographic:
dw b
T 1 .w/ D :
cw C a
It is easy to check that the composition of two homographic
transformations is
another one. Indeed, associating to T the matrix ac db of its coefficients and to
0 0
another homographic transformation S the corresponding matrix ac 0 db 0 , then it
yields that S B T has associated the product matrix
0
a b0 a b
:
c0 d 0 c d
Hence, homographic transformations form a group of transformations of S 2 , called

the linear group.
For example, the homographic transformations with matrices

1 b a 0 0 1
; and
0 1 0 1 1 0
are, respectively, the translation z ! z C b, the dilation z ! az and the inversion

z ! 1=z.
It is an interesting fact that every homographic transformation is the composition
of these three kinds of transformations. Actually, if c ¤ 0, we can write
az C b bc ad a
Tz D D 2 C :
cz C d c .z C d=c/ c
When c D 0, then T z D a
d
z C db , which is a dilation followed by a translation.
Observe that the homographic transformation T is a conformal mapping of the

open set Cnfd=cg onto the open set Cnfa=cg if c ¤ 0. If c D 0, it is a conformal
mapping from C onto C. Therefore, T preserves the angles of any pair of curves
which meet inside C n fd=cg.
Consider now the set of straight lines and circles of the complex plane. If we
look at them in the Riemann sphere, we can consider all of them as circles, the lines
being circles passing through 1. Recall from Subsection 1.2.1 that a straight line
with direction vector ˛ 2 C (that is, it is perpendicular to ˛) satisfies the equation
xz C ˛ zN C m D 0, with m 2 R. For a circle of center ˛ 2 C, its equation is
˛
jzj2 C ˛
xz C ˛ zN C m D 0 (8.3)
with m 2 R and j˛j2 m > 0.
Proposition 8.11. Every homographic transformation sends the set of straight lines
and circles into itself.
Proof. It is obvious, geometrically or analytically, that a translation or a dilation

transforms a line into a line, and a circle into a circle. An inversion, T z D 1=z,
xz C ˛ zN C m D 0, m ¤ 0 into the circle through the origin with
transforms the line ˛
x
equation jzj2 C m˛
zCm ˛
zN D 0. If m D 0, the line passes through the origin and is
transformed into the line ˛z C ˛ x zN D 0. The circle (8.3) with m ¤ 0 is mapped by
x
T onto the circle with equation jzj2 C m ˛
zCm ˛
zN C m1
D 0. If m D 0, the circle
(8.3) contains the origin and its image by T is the line ˛z C ˛ x zN C 1 D 0.
What has been proved justifies not making differences between straight lines
and circles. From now on, the term circle will be used to denote either a straight
line or a circle. Hence, it is said that homographic transformations send circles into
circles.
The remaining question is if, given two arbitrary circles, there is always a ho-
mographic transformation that takes one to the other. The affirmative answer is a
consequence of the following result.
Proposition 8.12. Given three different points z1 , z2 , z3 of S 2 and three more

points, also in S 2 and pairwise different, w1 , w2 , w3 , there exists a unique homo-
graphic transformation T such that T .zi / D wi , i D 1; 2; 3.
Proof. Being aware of the structure of the linear group, it suffices to see there exists
a homographic transformation T which sends z1 , z2 , z3 to 0, 1, 1, respectively, and
that a homographic transformation leaving the points 0, 1, 1 fixed is the identity.
In order to check the first assertion take
z z1 z2 z3
Tz D
z z 3 z2 z 1
if z1 ; z2 ; z3 ¤ 1. If, say, z1 D 1, then take

z2 z3
Tz D :
z z3
Finally, if T z D czCd
azCb
fixes 0, 1, 1, one has necessarily T z D da z C dc , because
T .1/ D 1. Now T .0/ D 0 gives T z D da z and T z D z, since T .1/ D 1.
Since every circle is determined by three different points, one obtains the fol-
lowing corollary.
Corollary 8.13. Given two circles there always exists a homographic transforma-
tion passing from one to the other.
One must observe that this homographic transformation is not unique; indeed,
one can obtain infinitely many of them by taking groups of three different points
on each circle.
Example 8.14. Given two circles C1 , C2 and two points z1 … C1 and z2 … C2 ,
there is a homographic transformation that sends C1 into C2 and z1 into z2 . Indeed,
one may pass, by two homographic transformations, C1 and C2 to the real axis and
then it is enough to find a homographic transformation that fixes the real axis and
sending z10 into z20 , where z10 , z20 are two points not on the real axis.
If z10 , z20 are on a line parallel to the real axis, the translation w D z C .z20 z10 /
works. Otherwise the line joining z10 and z20 intersects the real axis at a point z0
z 0 z
and one takes the transformation w D z0 C z20 z0 .z z0 /, which is either a
1 0
dilation with center z0 , or a dilation with center z0 followed by a rotation of angle
, according to the position of z10 and z20 with respect to the real axis.
Remark 8.2. In the proof of Proposition 8.12 it has been seen that a homographic
transformation T which satisfies T .0/ D 0, T .1/ D 1, T .1/ D 1 must be the
identity. More generally one may assert that a homographic transformation with
three fixed points is the identity. In other words, if T z D czCd
azCb
is not the identity,
then T has at most two fixed points. To see this, note that the equality T z D z is
equivalent to
cz 2 C .d a/z b D 0;
a second-degree equation that has at most two different solutions.
Example 8.15. We look first for the homographic transformation T z D czCd azCb
that sends 0, i , 1 into 1, 0, 1, respectively. Taking a D 1 and considering that

T .i/ D 0, we get T z D czCd
zi
. Now T .1/ D 1 gives c D 1 and T .0/ D 1 gives
d D i. It turns out, then, that
zi
Tz D :
zCi
Look now for the image of both axes by T . The imaginary axis contains 0, i , 1,
and, therefore, its image is a circle through 1, 0, 1. That is, it is the real axis. The
real axis contains 0, 1. Its image will be a circle through 1 and 1 perpendicular
to the image of imaginary axis, that is, to the real axis. Therefore, it is the unit
circle.
Consider now the upper half plane …C D fz W Im z > 0g; its image cannot
meet the unit circle and so it is either the unit disc or its exterior. Since T .i / D 0,
it must be the unit disc.
Example 8.16. Consider the inverse mapping of the homographic transformation

T in Example 8.15. If
zi
w D Tz D ;
zCi
it turns out that Sw D T 1 w D i 1Cw
1w
applies the unit disc conformally into the
upper half plane …C W fz W Im z > 0g. Now we can use the transformation S to
solve Dirichlet’s problem in …C , with boundary values given by '.x/ D 1Cx 1
2,
C
x 2 R D @… (Figure 8.6).
D
z D S.w/ …C
z
w
'.x/ D 1
1Cx 2
Figure 8.6
Start by transporting the function ' to the boundary of the disc. If w D e i 2 @D,
one has
1
.e i / D '.S.e i // D 1Cei 2
1 1e i
i
2e i
e 1 1
D D cos :
4 2 2
Now we have to solve Dirichlet’s problem in the disc with boundary values .e i /.
Extend the function to the whole disc D defining
1 1 1 1
u.w/ D u.re i / D r cos D
2 2 2 2
if w D re i D C i , 0 < r 1, 0 2. This function clearly satisfies the

equation u D 0 and, moreover, u.e i / D .e i /.
Now it is enough to transport the function u to the upper half plane …C , writing
1 1 1 1 zi
v.z/ D u.T .z// D Re.T .z// D Re
2 2 2 2 zCi
yC1
D 2 if z D x C iy;
x C y 2 C 2y C 1
so that v is harmonic on …C and v.x; 0/ D 1

1Cx 2
D '.x/.
8.3.2 The cross ratio

Consider four points of the Riemann sphere z1 , z2 , z3 , z4 with the condition that z2 ,
z3 , z4 are different. It is known that there is a unique homographic transformation T
such that T .z2 / D 1, T .z3 / D 0, T .z4 / D 1. The cross ratio of the given four
points, .z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 /, is defined as
.z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 / D T z1 :
Hence, if all the points are finite, we have

z1 z3 z2 z4
.z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 / D :
z1 z 4 z2 z 3
If, for example, z3 D 1, then one has
z2 z4
.z1 ; z2 ; 1; z4 / D :
z1 z4
The cross ratio of four points is invariant under homographic transformations.
Proposition 8.17. If z1 , z2 , z3 , z4 are different points of S 2 and T is a homographic
transformation, then one has
.z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 / D .T z1 ; T z2 ; T z3 ; T z4 /:
Proof. Writing Sz D .z; z2 ; z3 ; z4 /, S is the homographic transformation satisfy-

ing S z2 D 1, Sz3 D 0, Sz4 D 1 and Sz1 D .z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 /. Therefore, S T 1
transforms T z2 , T z3 , T z4 into 1, 0, 1, and this means that
.T z1 ; T z2 ; T z3 ; T z4 / D ST 1 .T z1 / D .z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 /:
As an application, if z1 , z2 , z3 are three different points, the homographic

transformation T sending them into w1 , w2 , w3 , also different, is given by
.z; z1 ; z2 ; z3 / D .Tz ; w1 ; w2 ; w3 /:
It is obvious that if z1 , z2 , z3 , z4 are on the real axis, then .z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 / is a

real number, and that if three of the previous points are real and .z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 / 2 R,
then the forth point must be real as well.
Combining this observation with Proposition 8.11, the following result is ob-
tained.
Proposition 8.18. The cross ratio of four points .z1 ; z2 ; z3 ; z4 / is real if and only
if they are located on a circle.
8.3.3 Symmetry
The concept of symmetric points with respect to an axis is quite clear: z, z are
symmetric with respect to the line L if L is perpendicular to the segment Œz; z at
its middle point.
Now we consider the symmetry of a pair of points with respect to an arbitrary
circle.
Definition 8.19. Two points z, z are said to be symmetric with respect to a circle
C if and only if there exists a homographic transformation T which sends C to the
real axis such that T z D T z.
This definition does not depend on T , because if S satisfies the same re-
quirements than T , then ST 1 is a real homographic transformation and S z D
S T 1 .T z / will be also the conjugate of Sz D S T 1 .T z/, because it is obvious
that real homographic transformations preserve conjugation.
The previous definition and Example 8.14 yields:
Proposition 8.20. The points z, z are symmetric with respect to the circle passing
through the points z1 , z2 , z3 if and only if
.z ; z1 ; z2 ; z3 / D .z; z1 ; z2 ; z3 /: (8.4)
So, given a circle C , for each point z there is only one point z , symmetric to z
with respect to C . The mapping z ! z is a bijection called symmetry with respect
to C .
The homographic transformations preserve symmetry, as stated next.
Proposition 8.21 (Symmetry principle). If a homographic transformation T sends

a circle C onto a circle C 0 , then it transforms each pair of symmetric points with
respect to C into a pair of symmetric points with respect to C 0 .
Proof. If C or C 0 is the real axis, the symmetry principle is the definition of sym-
metric points. Otherwise take a homographic transformation S sending C into the
real axis and then apply the previous case to S and to T S 1 .
Next, geometrical properties of symmetry with respect to C , z ! z , will be

studied.
If C is a straight line, one may take z3 D 1 and (8.4) becomes
z z2 zN zN 2
D ;
z1 z2 zN1 zN 2
which gives jz z2 j D jz z2 j. This means that z and z are equidistant from
any point z2 2 C , a condition that holds only if C is the perpendicular bisector of
the segment Œz; z .
If C is a circle of the plane with center a and radius r, then it is easy to see that
r2
z D a C : (8.5)
zN aN
Actually, if z1 ; z2 ; z3 2 C , then .zj a/.zNj a/N D r 2 , j D 1; 2; 3, holds and
applying repeatedly Proposition 8.17, it follows that
.z; z1 ; z2 ; z3 / D .z a; z1 a; z2 a; z3 a/

r2 r2 r2
D z a; ; ;
z1 a z2 a z3 a

r2 r2
D ; z1 a; z2 a; z3 a D C a; z1 ; z2 ; z3 ;
zN aN zN aN
which, according to (8.4), gives (8.5).
From equality (8.5) written in the form
.z a/.Nz a/
N D r2

a
one gets, jz ajjz aj D r 2 , and also that the quotient zza is a positive number.
Interpreting geometrically these results, it turns out that the points a, z and z
are aligned and that the product of distances from z to a and from z to a is r 2 . This
means that symmetry with respect to C is the inversion of center a and power r 2 .
The notion of symmetry with respect to a circle allows us to extend the reflection
principle with respect to the real axis to any circle. If C is a circle, a domain U
is said to be symmetric with respect to C if z 2 U implies z 2 U , where z is
the symmetric point of z with respect to C . Using homographic transformations to
carry a circle into the real axis and being aware of Proposition 8.21 and Remark 4.2,
one obtains the following result.
Proposition 8.22 (Reflection principle with respect to circles). Let U be a domain
symmetric with respect to a circle C and let U C be one of the regions in which C
divides U . Let f be a holomorphic function on U C and let there exist a circle C 0
such that f .z/ tends to a point of C 0 when z tends to a point of C . Then f has a
holomorphic extension to U that carries symmetric points with respect to C into
symmetric points with respect to C 0 .
8.4. Automorphisms of simply connected domains 343
8.4 Automorphisms of simply connected domains

According to Riemann’s theorem, there are essentially two kinds of simply con-
nected domains: the whole plane C and the unit disc D. It is interesting to know
the automorphism group of these two domains; then the automorphism group of
any simply connected domain U will be obtained, whenever a conformal mapping
from U onto D is known.
Let us start with automorphisms of C. If one considers a homographic trans-
formation T z D czCd
azCb
and wants it to be holomorphic on C, it must necessarily be
c D 0, that is, T is linear in z and not constant. These transformations form an au-
tomorphism group of C. It turns out, however, that they are all the automorphisms
of C.
Theorem 8.23. The automorphism group of C consists of linear transformations
T z D az C b with a; b 2 C, a ¤ 0.
Proof. We need to show that f W C ! C bijective and entire, implies f linear in
z. There are only two possibilities (see Example 5.22): either f is a polynomial,
or the point 1 is an essential singularity for f .
The latter case is not possible. If it were so, the image by f of the punctured
neighborhood of 1, fz 2 C W jzj > 1g should be dense in C, according to Casorati–
Weierstrass’s theorem (Theorem 5.6). But this is impossible because f being
injective, f fz W jzj > 1g does not intersect the open set f fz W jzj < 1g and so it
cannot be a dense set.
If f is a polynomial, it must be of first degree, because otherwise f would not
be bijective and, hence, f .z/ D az C b with a; b 2 C.
One may also find the automorphisms of the extended plane. Observe, first, that
a homographic transformation T z D czCd
azCb
, ad bc ¤ 0, is a bijective mapping
T W S ! S , holomorphic at every point of S 2 . Actually, T is holomorphic at
2 2
every finite point z ¤ d=c, and since

a C bz
T .1=z/ D ;
c C dz
it follows that T is also holomorphic at infinity, whenever c ¤ 0.
In case c D 0, or in order to see that T is holomorphic at the point d=c with
value 1, just remark that a function f with f .z0 / D 1 is holomorphic at z0 when
g.z/ D 1=f .z/, with g.z0 / D 0, is holomorphic at z0 .
The interesting fact is that homographic transformations are all the automor-
phisms of S 2 . In order to show this it is convenient to make some general consid-
erations on transformation groups of a domain.
If U is an open set of S 2 and G Aut.U / is an automorphism group of U , it
will be said that G is transitive on U if for all pair of points z; z 0 2 U there exists
a transformation ' 2 G such that '.z/ D z 0 .
If z 2 U , the isotropy group of z, Az , is the set of automorphisms of U that

leave z fixed, that is, Az D f' 2 Aut.U / W '.z/ D zg. The following result will be
useful.
Lemma 8.24. Let G Aut.U / be an automorphism group of the open set U of
S 2 . Suppose that the following conditions hold:
a) G is transitive on U .
b) There exists at least one point z0 2 U such that Az0 G.
Then G D Aut.U /.
Proof. Let ' 2 Aut.U /. Since G is transitive, there is a transformation 2 G so
that .z0 / D '.z0 /. Since . 1 B'/.z0 / D z0 , it turns out that 1 ı' 2 Az0 G,
and this implies that ' 2 G as well.
Theorem 8.25. The automorphism group of S 2 coincides with the homographic
transformations group.
Proof. Apply the previous lemma, taking as G the group of homographic trans-
formations. It is obvious that G is transitive on S 2 . Moreover, if z0 D 1, the
automorphisms of S 2 fixing z0 are the automorphisms of the plane, which, accord-
ing to Theorem 8.23, are homographic transformations. Thus, A1 G.
Next, automorphisms of D, the fundamental domain of the conformal mapping,
are studied. It is easy to find homographic transformations mapping the disc D into
itself. If a 2 D, define
za
a .z/ D ;
1 az
N
which is a homographic transformation with determinant 1 jaj2 ¤ 0. If z D e i ,
one has
e i a i e i a
a .e i / D D e ;
1 aeN i e i aN
so that ja .e i /j D 1. Thus, a transforms the unit circle into itself. Since a .a/ D
0, it turns out that a transforms D into D and the domain fz W jzj > 1g into itself.
Combining a with a rotation, z ! e i˛ z, one finds the homographic transfor-
mation za
'a;˛ .z/ D e i˛ ;
1 az
N
which is an automorphism of D for each a 2 D, ˛ 2 R. Let us check now that
mappings of the type 'a;˛ form a group. One may manage without the rotation and
multiply a by b . It follows that
N .a C b/
.1 C ab/z Az C B
.a B b /.z/ D D (8.6)
N
.aN C b/z C .1 C ab/
N Cz C D
8.4. Automorphisms of simply connected domains 345
with A D 1 C ab,N B D .a C b/, C D .aN C b/,

N D D 1 C ab,
N so that AN D D
and Bx D C . Hence,
Az C B A.z C B=A/
.a B b /.z/ D D ;
x C AN
Bz N C .B=
A.1 x A/z/
N
that is, a B b D 'c;˛ with c D B=A, e i˛ D A=A, N jcj < 1. Inequality jcj < 1 is
a consequence of
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇB ˇ ˇ a C b ˇ
ˇ ˇ
jcj D ˇ ˇ D ˇ ˇ ˇ D j .a/j; jaj; jbj < 1;
N ˇ
b
A 1 C ab
and it has already been noted that b takes D into D.

Taking b D a in (8.6) one finds a D a1 .
In turns out that the group G D f'a;˛ W a 2 D; ˛ 2 Rg contains all the auto-
morphisms of D. In order to prove this the following useful statement, known as
Schwarz’s lemma, is needed.
Lemma 8.26 (Schwarz’s lemma). If the function f is analytic on the unit disc D
and satisfies the conditions jf .z/j 1, for all z 2 D, and f .0/ D 0, then one has
jf .z/j jzj, for all z 2 D, and jf 0 .0/j 1. Equality jf .z/j D jzj at some point
z 2 D or jf 0 .0/j D 1 holds only when f .z/ D ˛z with j˛j D 1.
Proof. By hypothesis, g.z/ D f .z/=z is a holomorphic function on D. On the

circle fz W jzj D rg one has jg.z/j D jfjzj.z/j
1=r, and the maximum principle
gives jg.z/j 1=r for jzj r. Letting r ! 1 we obtain jg.z/j 1, that is,
jf .z/j jzj. Moreover, jf 0 .0/j D jg.0/j 1.
If equality holds at some point, the function jg.z/j reaches its maximum and,
therefore, it must be constant. Thus, g.z/ D ˛ with j˛j D 1 and f .z/ D ˛z.
Theorem 8.27. The automorphism group of the unit disc is the set of homographic
transformations of the form
za
'a;˛ .z/ D e i˛ ; a 2 D; ˛ 2 R:
1 az
N
Proof. Apply Lemma 8.24 to the group G of all transformations 'a;˛ . It is a
transitive group because for a; b 2 D, one has .b B a /.a/ D b. Let us check that
the isotropy group of the origin is contained in G.
If ' W D ! D is bijective and holomorphic with '.0/ D 0, Schwarz’s lemma
gives j'.z/j jzj, z 2 D. But applying the same lemma to ' 1 we get jzj j'.z/j,
for z 2 D. Hence j'.z/j D jzj, and once again Schwarz’s lemma implies that
'.z/ D e i˛ z for some ˛ 2 R. That is, ' D '0;˛ 2 G.
Example 8.28. Let f W D ! D be any holomorphic function and fix a point a 2 D.

Put w D a .z/ D 1za
N
az
and z D a1 .w/. Then the function in w, g.w/ D
f .a1 .w//f .a/
, is holomorphic on D and satisfies jg.w/j 1 and g.0/ D 0, by
1f .a/f .a1 .w//
Theorem 8.27. So Schwarz’s lemma gives, jg.w/ jwj, that is,
ˇ ˇ
ˇ f .z/ f .a/ ˇ ˇˇ z a ˇˇ
ˇ ˇˇ ˇ ; z 2 D:
ˇ ˇ 1 az
N
1 f .a/f .z/
Letting z ! a in the previous inequality, it yields
jf 0 .a/j 1
; a 2 D:
1 jf .a/j 2 1 jaj2
Now equality holds at some point if and only if f is an automorphism of the unit
disc.
Example 8.29. If a1 ; a2 ; : : : ; aN are points of D and ˛ 2 R, the function B.z/ D
Q za
e i˛ jND1 1ajjz , obtained as a product of transformations aj .z/ and e i˛ , is called
a Blaschke product of degree N . The function B has the following properties:
i) B is holomorphic on D and continuous on D x (indeed, it is holomorphic on
the disc of center 0 and radius minf jaj j W j D 1; : : : ; N g).
1
ii) jB.z/j D 1 if jzj D 1.

iii) B vanishes exactly at the points fa1 ; a2 ; : : : ; aN g.
If a function f satisfies i), ii) and iii), then f must be equal to B, except for the
factor e i˛ . Actually, observe that f =B as well as B=f are holomorphic functions on
D, continuous on D; x by ii) and the maximum principle they satisfy jf .z/=B.z/j 1
and jB.z/=f .z/j 1 for z 2 D. So, f =B must be a constant of modulus 1.
In Example 8.15 it has been shown that the homographic transformation T z D
zi
zCi
maps the half plane …C D fz W Im z > 0g onto the unit disc D. Let us now
exhibit, explicitly, the automorphisms of …C .
Consider, first of all, a homographic transformation S z D czCd
azCb
, ad bc ¤ 0,
and impose to it the condition that takes the real axis into itself. This happens if
a, b, c, d are real numbers, that is, if the homographic transformation is real. But
this condition is also necessary because coefficients a, b, c, d will be determined
by a system of linear equations with real coefficients if S x 2 R, for all x 2 R.
Without loss of generality one may suppose that ad bc D ˙1, and one finds
that S transforms the half plane …C into itself when ad bc D 1, a condition
aiCb
which implies Im ciCd > 0. It is then clear that the set of real homographic
transformations Sz D czCd with a; b; c; d 2 R, ad bc D 1 is an automorphism
azCb
group G of …C .
8.5. Dirichlet’s problem and Neumann’s problem in the half plane 347
Theorem 8.30. The automorphism group of the upper half space …C D fz W

Im z > 0g is the group G of real homographic transformations with determinant 1.
Proof. Apply once again Lemma 8.24: G is transitive because for every w D
a C ib 2 …C the homographic transformation of G, T z D a C bz sends i into w.
Let us check now that the isotropy group of the point i is contained in G. We need
to show that each element of this isotropy group is a homographic transformation.
Now, the mapping
zi
S ! T 1 B S B T with T z D
zCi
is an isomorphism between the isotropy group of the origin in Aut.D/ and the
isotropy group of the point i in Aut.…C /. The first group, as it has been seen in the
proof of Theorem 8.27, consists of rotations, and if S is a rotation, then T 1 B S B T
is a homographic transformation.
8.5 Dirichlet’s problem and Neumann’s problem in the half

plane
In this section homographic transformations will be used to transfer Dirichlet’s
problem and Neumann’s problem from the unit disc to the half space, using the
invariance of both problems under conformal transformations (Section 7.11).
First of all, to illustrate this method one may find the solution of Dirichlet’s
ˇ property. Let ' 2 C.T / and look for
problem in the disc using only the mean value
a function u 2 C.D/ x with u D 0 and U ˇ D '. Fix a point a 2 D and consider
T
the homographic transformation
zCa
.z/ D a .z/ D ;
1 C az
N
which is known (Section 8.4) to transform D into D and T into T . If u is the desired
solution, the function u B must be harmonic on D and in T will take the values
given by '. .t//. The mean value property yields
Z
1
.u B /.0/ D u.a/ D '. .z// jdzj:
2 T
Making the change of variable w D .z/, z D 1 .w/, it turns out that jdzj D
1jaj2
j1awj
N 2
jdwj and
Z
1 1 jaj2
u.a/ D '.w/ jdwj
2 T j1 awj
N 2
and one gets back the fact that u must be the Poisson’s integral of '.
Let us consider now the upper half plane …C D fz D x C iy W y > 0g. Start
noting that …C being unbounded, the maximum principle cannot be applied to show
the uniqueness of a solution of Dirichlet’s problem. For example, if '.x/ D 0, one
has the two solutions u1
0 and u2 .x; y/ D y.
However, there is uniquenessˇ if one just looks for bounded solutions. That is,
the problem u D 0 on …C , uˇR D ' has at most one bounded solution in …C ,
continuous on …C , because if u1 , u2 are two solutions, then u1 u2 is harmonic and
bounded on …C and has value 0 on R; from this it follows that u1 u2 D 0 on …C .
This is a consequence of the symmetry principle (see Exercise 10 in Section 7.13)
and Liouville’s theorem for harmonic functions.
Let us see now how the solution of Dirichlet’s problem in …C is obtained.
In Subsection 7.6.2 it was shown that the Poisson kernel of the disc PD .z; w/
x
1 1Cz w
is the real part of 2 x
1z w
:
1 1 C zw
x 1 1 jzj2
PD .z; w/ D Re D ; jzj < 1; jwj D 1:
2 1 zw
x 2 j1 z wj
x2
Take w D 1 and consider the function .z/ D 1Cz1z
that has positive real part for
jzj < 1. If Re w 0, the point z given by 1z D w, that is, z D wC1
1Cz w1
satisfies
2
1Cjwj 2 Re w
jzj2 D 1Cjwj 2 C2 Re w , 1jzj D j1Cwj2 and, therefore, jzj < 1. The transformation
2 4 Re w
is, then, conformal from D into the half plane fw W Re w > 0g. Considering
defined on C , it is a homeomorphism from D x onto fw W Re w 0g [ 1, the
imaginary axis w D i t being the image of T n f1g.
The transformation S.z/ D i 1Cz 1z
maps, therefore, D into …C and T n f1g into
R. Its inverse transformation is z D wCi .wi
If z D wCi
wi
and e it D xCi
xi
, one has
4 Im w 4jw xj2 2 dx
1 jzj2 D ; je it zj2 D and dt D :
jw C i j2 j1 C iwj2 .1 C x 2 / 1 C x2
This means that the Poisson formula in the disc becomes for the half plane
Z
1 C1 Im w
u.w/ D u.x/ dx
1 jw xj2
and suggests that, givenˇa function ' continuous and bounded on R, the solution of
the problem u D 0, uˇR D ' should be
Z
1 C1 Im w
u.w/ D '.x/ dx: (8.7)
1 jw xj2
Hence, the Poisson kernel of the half plane is P…C .w; x/ D 1 jwxj
Im w
2 and one can
check that the function u, the Poisson transform of ', given by (8.7) is harmonic
8.6. Level curves 349
on …C and satisfies
lim u.w/ D '.x/; x2R
w!x
w2…C
(see Exercise 15 of Section 8.11).
One may use the same calculations to find the solution of Neumann’s problem
in the upper half plane; that is, to solve
@u
u D 0; .x; 0/ D '.x/; x 2 R; with ' 2 C.R/:
@y
Here @y
@
is the derivative with respect to the unit normal vector to R D @ …C .
Define v; on D and T by means of the transformation S , that is,
v.z/ D u.S.z// D u.w/; .e it / D '.S.e it // D '.x/:

S 1
The inverse transformation w 7! wi
wCi
has derivative 2i
.wCi/2
with modulus
2
jwCij2
D 2
1Cx 2
, when w D x; moreover it preserves angles, so that
@u 2 @v it
.x; 0/ D .e /:
@y 1 C x @r
2
2
Therefore, @v
@r
.e it / D 1Cx2
.e it /, and so by Theorem 7.32, the solution of Neu-
mann’s problem in the disc is
Z
1 2 @v it
v.z/ D Log jz e it j .e / dt:
0 @r
Changing variables one gets
Z 1
1 4jw xj2
u.w/ D Log '.x/ dx
2 1 j1 C iwj2 .1 C x 2 /
and, up to a constant, it follows that
Z
1 1 jw xj
u.w/ D Log '.x/ dx: (8.8)
1 j1 C iwj
Now one may also check directly that function u, given by (8.8) is harmonic on
…C and satisfies @u
@y
.x; 0/ D '.x/, x 2 R (see Exercise 15 of Section 8.11).
8.6 Level curves

If f is an analytic function and z0 a point at which f 0 .z0 / ¤ 0, then w D f .z/ is a
conformal mapping from a neighborhood of z0 into a neighborhood of w0 D f .z0 /.
A way to understand the properties of f is to display the behavior of the conformal

mapping given by f , in a similar way as the graph of a function of a real variable
gives information about the behavior of the function. This visualization can be
obtained by considering the image curves by f of lines parallel to the coordinate
axes, and also the level curves of the functions Re f .z/ and Im f .z/ (Figure 8.7).
f
y v
z0 y D y0 w0
x D x0
u
z w
g D f 1
y v
z0 w0 v D v0
u D u0
u
z w
Level curves Image curves
Figure 8.7
Suppose, then, that w D f .z/ is a conformal mapping from the domain U of

the plane z D x C iy onto the domain U 0 of the plane w D u C iv and write
f .z/ D u.z/ C iv.z/, z0 D x0 C iy0 2 U and w0 D f .z0 / D u0 C iv0 . Let
g D f 1 be the conformal mapping from U 0 onto U , inverse of f .
The straight lines x D x0 , y D y0 give an orthogonal coordinate system
around the point z0 . Their images are the curves y ! .u.x0 ; y/; v.x0 ; y// and
x ! .u.x; y0 /; v.x; y0 //, respectively, which intersect each other orthogonally at
the point w0 . These two curves, linked to the conformal mapping f , may be also
considered an orthogonal coordinate system around w0 .
8.6. Level curves 351
Starting now from the lines u D u0 , v D v0 in the w-plane, their images by g

are the curves in the z-plane,
v ! g.u0 ; v/ D fz W u.z/ D u0 g;
u ! g.u; v0 / D fz W v.z/ D v0 gI
that is, they are the level curves of functions u and v, which intersect each other
orthogonally at the point z0 as well, since g D f 1 is conformal.
Some examples of determination of level curves are the following ones:
A) The function w D Log z is a conformal mapping from the z-plane up to the
ray .1; 0 onto the strip < v < of the w-plane.
The level curves u D Log jzj D u0 are circles with center at the origin, and
the curves v D Arg z D v0 are rays starting from the origin. These curves are the
images of straight lines u D u0 and v D v0 by the function z D e w (Figure 8.8).
z0
Figure 8.8
B) The level curves of the function w D z 2 are the curves u D x 2 y 2 D u0

and v D 2xy D v0 . Equations x 2 y 2 D u0 represent hyperbolas having as
asymptotes the bisectors of quadrants, and equations 2xy D v0 correspond to
hyperbolas with coordinate axes as asymptotes
p (Figure 8.9).
Regarding the level curves of z D w, since they are the image curves by
w D z 2 of x D x0 and y D y0 , one obtains
u D x02 y 2 ; v D 2x0 y;
u D x 2 y02 ; v D 2xy0 :
Equivalently
v 2 D 4x02 .x02 u/ and v 2 D 4y02 .y02 C u/;
z0
Figure 8.9
that describe parabolas of the w-plane, intersecting the u-axis at points x02 and y02 ,
respectively, and having their focus at the origin (Figure 8.10).
w0
Figure 8.10
C) Let us now study the level curves of the transformation w D Log zC1
z1
. They
are, for each point z0 , the curves
ˇ ˇ
ˇz 1ˇ
Log ˇˇ ˇ D u0 ; Arg z 1 D v0 ; with u0 C iv0 D w0 D Log z0 1 :
z C 1ˇ zC1 z0 C 1
Setting D .z/ D zC1 z1

, the level curves are the preimages by of level curves
of Log , that is, of the family of circles centered at the origin and the family of
rays starting from the origin in the -plane. Since .1/ D 0, .1/ D 1, the rays
8.7. Elementary conformal transformations 353
starting from the origin in the -plane correspond to the family of circles of the
z-plane centered at the origin and passing through points 1 and 1.
The concentric circles with center at the origin of the -plane correspond to the
circles with equation ˇ ˇ
ˇz 1ˇ
ˇ ˇ D ; > 0; (8.9)
ˇ
z C 1ˇ
which are orthogonal to the ones passing through 1 and 1. They are called Apollo-
nian circles with limit points 1 and 1; according to equation (8.9) they are the locus
of points whose ratio of distances to the points 1 and 1 is constant (Figure 8.11).
z0
z
1

Figure 8.11
z1
This double set of circles that, as said, are the level curves of Log zC1 , are called
Steiner’s circles with limit points 1 and 1.
8.7 Elementary conformal transformations

According to Riemann’s theorem, given two domains of the plane U and U 0 , simply
connected and different from C, there is always a conformal mapping from U onto
U 0 . In order to find effectively a conformal mapping between these domains, one
may proceed in the following way: look first for a conformal mapping from U onto
the unit disc D and then map conformally D onto U 0 . Hence, the problem is reduced
to finding conformal mappings of simply connected domains onto D. In order to
achieve this we can use, at least, the homographic transformations that have been
studied in detail, and the elementary functions e z , log z, z ˛ (˛ 2 R fixed), sin z, etc.
The aim of this section is to show, through several examples, how some elementary
domains can be mapped onto D with the help of these functions.
First of all, it is convenient to recall that the disc D and the half plane …C D
fz 2 C W Im z > 0g are conformally equivalent by means of the homographic
transformation T z D i 1Cz 1z
. Actually, T transforms 1, i , 1 into the points 0,
1, 1, respectively. That is, it transforms the unit circle into the real axis. Since
T .0/ D i, T maps D into …C . So, it makes no difference to transform a domain
into the disc D or into the half plane …C .
Some examples of elementary mappings are the following ones:
A) The transformation z ! z p with 0 < p < 2 maps the upper half plane …C
into the region U D fz D re i W 0 < r < 1; 0 < < pg. In particular, one
may go from any sector
S˛ D fz D re i W 0 < r < 1; 0 < < ˛g
to the half plane …C by means of the mapping z ! z =˛ (Figure 8.12).
z =˛ i 1Cz
1z
S˛ …C D
Figure 8.12
B) Another kind of elementary domains are the strips. Using rotations, dilations
and translations one may assume that we are dealing with the strip
B D fz D x C iy W < y < g:
The exponential function z ! e z maps B onto the domain C n f.1; 0g, which
pcan be mapped onto the half plane fz W Re z > C
in turn 0g with the transformation
z ! z. From this half plane one may rotate to get … and then go into the disc
(Figure 8.13).
C) The fact that homographic transformations preserve the family of circles
makes them helpful when transforming into the unit disc a domain bounded by arcs
of a circle. For example, consider a half disc
U D fz W jzj < 1; Im z > 0g
and let us see how it may be conformally mapped into a disc or a half plane. Observe
that the mapping z ! z 2 does not work, since it only opens U to the region
D n fŒ0; 1/g. Instead, the homographic transformation T z D zC1 z1
, satisfying
T .1/ D 1, T .1/ D 0, T .i / D i, T .0/ D 1, maps U into the second quadrant,
and then one goes into … D fz W Im z < 0g applying z ! z 2 (Figure 8.14).
i
B ez
i
Figure 8.13
U z1
zC1
1 1 0
Figure 8.14
D) One can show now the usefulness of trigonometric functions in the conformal
mapping. Starting with a half strip S D fz D x C iy W x > 0; < y < g, not
a full strip as in B), one cannot use the function e z because one would only obtain
the part of C n f.1; 0g that is outside D. If, using a similarity, one starts with
the half strip S0 ,
S0 D fz D x C iy W 0 < x < =2; y > 0g;
one may go to a quadrant thanks to the function sin z (Figure 8.15):
Q
S0 sin z
=2
0 x0 sin x0 1
Figure 8.15
The function sin z maps conformally the half strip S0 onto the first
quadrant, Q D fz D x C iy; x > 0; y > 0g.
To prove this assertion, recall the formulae in Subsection 2.2.5:
Re.sin z/ D sin x ch y; Im.sin z/ D cos x sh y
if z D x C iy, which tell us that sin z 2 Q when z 2 S0 . Analyze first the action
of sin z on the boundary of S0 . When x D 0, y > 0, one has sin z D i sh y, and
since sh y increases from 0 to C1 when 0 < y < C1, sin z describes the positive
imaginary axis on this piece of the boundary of S0 . If y D 0, 0 < x < =2, it is
clear that sin z increases from 0 to 1. Finally, since sin.=2 C iy/ D ch y, the part
of the boundary of S0 given by x D =2, y > 0 is mapped onto .1; C1/. So, the
boundary of S0 is transformed, by sin z, into the boundary of Q.
We can see now that each point of Q comes from only one point of S0 .
The vertical ray x D x0 , 0 < x0 < =2, y > 0 is mapped by sin z D w D
C i into the piece of the hyperbola
2 2
D1
sin2 x0 cos2 x0
that falls within Q, because D sin x0 ch y and D cos x0 sh y. Now, given a
point a C ib, a > 0, b > 0 of Q, the equation sin z D a C i b must be solved. To
this end, take x, 0 < x < =2 such that a C i b is in the hyperbola of equation
2 2
D 1:
sin2 x cos2 x
Now take as value of sin x the intersection point of the interval .0; 1/ and the
hyperbola passing through a C i b; afterwards choose y > 0 such that a D sin x
ch y, b D cos x sh y.
Therefore z ! sin z is bijective (and holomorphic) from S0 onto Q. Since
sin.Nz/ D sin z, we obtain (see Figure 8.16) that sin z maps the half strip S1 D
fz D x C iy W =2 < x < =2; y > 0g onto the half plane …C : Observe that
the function sin z, unlike the ones considered so far, does not map a straight line
into a line or a circle, but vertical lines go to hyperbolas.
E) Sometimes it may not be clear if a function f provides a conformal mapping,
but some changes in the expression of f may reduce it to a combination of well-
known transformations.
P An interesting example of this is the following one:
Take f .z/ D 1 nD1 nz n
D z C 2z 2 C 3z 3 C C nz n C and consider it on
the unit disc D, the disc of convergence of this power series. Observe that f .0/ D 0
and f 0 .0/ D 1. The question is to know if f is one-to-one in D. One has
1
X z
f .z/ D z nz n1 D ;
1
.1 z/2
…C
sin z
z z
zN zN
=2 0 =2 0
zN zN
Figure 8.16
P1 P1
because 1 nz n1 is the derivative series of 0 zn D 1
1z
, if jzj < 1. So,
2
z 1 1Cz 1
f .z/ D D
.1 z/ 2 4 1z 4
and one obtains an expression for f as a composition of well-known elementary
transformations.
The transformation z ! 1Cz 1z
maps D into the half plane fz W Re z > 0g, and
z ! z =4 opens this half plane to the whole plane except for the negative real axis;
2
so it turns out that f maps conformally the disc D onto the domain C n .1; 1=4
(Figure 8.17).
The function f is called Koebe’s function.
1Cz
1z
1 2
4
z z 1
4
Figure 8.17
F) In the last example we will consider a region which is simply connected in

the Riemann sphere S 2 , that is, its complement in S 2 is connected.
Take as domain U the complement of a segment in the Riemann sphere, for
example U D S 2 n Œ1; 1. The homographic
p transformation z ! zC1 z1
maps U
into C n .1; 0; next, using z ! z take it to the right half plane fz W Re z > 0g
and, finally, with the homographic transformation z ! zC1 z1
, to the unit disc D
(Figure 8.18). Hence, U is transformed into D by the function
q
zC1
z1
1
'.z/ D w D q ; '.1/ D 0;
zC1
z1
C 1
which may be written also in the form

p
w D z z 2 1; z 2 U: (8.10)
z zC1
z1
p
' z
z1
D w zC1
Figure 8.18
The inverse of this mapping, from D to U , is

1 1
zD wC : (8.11)
2 w
Setting D D fz 2 S 2 W jzj > 1g, one has w 2 D if and only if 1=w 2 D and,
therefore, the function in (8.11) also transforms D into U (w 2 D and 1=w 2 D
both go to the same point of U by (8.11)). Starting from a point z 2 U , the
corresponding point w 2 D is obtained from (8.10)
p p choosing the positive sign in
1. Changing p
z2 p the sign, we get the point z C z 2 1, which is in D , because
.z z 2 1/.z C z 2 1/ D 1.
Now look for the images by the transformation (8.11) of the family of circles
fw W jwj D r < 1g, and also for those of radius of the unit circle, fw W w D re i ,
0 r < 1g (Figure 8.19).
Note that they are as well the images by (8.11) of the family of circles fw W jwj D
r; r > 1g and of rays fw W w D re i ; r > 1g, 0 2.
We use polar coordinates, w D re i . The point z D x C iy given by (8.11) is
now written as

1 1 1 1
xD rC cos I y D r sin :
2 r 2 r
The cancellation of in these two equations yields
4x 2 4y 2
C D 1;
Œ.r C 1=r/2 Œ.r 1=r/2
D
D
w
Figure 8.19
which is the equation of an ellipse in the plane .x; y/ with axes r C1=r and r 1=r.
Starting now from a radius, arg w D , and cancelling r, it turns out that
x2 y2
D 1;
cos2 sin2
which is the equation of a hyperbola. Observe that the image of a radius w D re i ,

0 r < 1 is the part of a branch of this hyperbola inside the circle x 2 C y 2 D 1;
analogously the image of the ray w D re i , r > 1 is the part of the branch that
falls outside (Figure 8.20).
1
2
.w C 1=w/
z
w
Figure 8.20
Transformation (8.11), called Jowkowsky’s mapping, is very important in the

applications of conformal mapping, especially in fluid mechanics.
8.8 Conformal mappings of polygons

Consider a simply connected domain U bounded by a closed polygonal Jordan
curve (Figure 8.21). One says that U is a polygon. Assume it has n sides and the
vertices are the points z1 ; z2 ; : : : ; zn . At each vertex zk suppose the interior angle
of the polygon measures ˛k with 0 < ˛k < 2. Then the corresponding exterior
angle is ˇk with ˇk D 1 ˛k and 1 < ˇk < 1. One may easily prove that
ˇ1 C C ˇn D 2.
z2
z1
˛1 U z3
ˇ1
z6
z5 z4
Figure 8.21
Consider now a conformal mapping f of the polygon U onto the unit disc D.
By Theorem 8.70 it is known that f extends continuously to Ux and transforms
injectively each side of the polygon into an arc of @D (Figure 8.22).
w1
z2
w2
z1 z3
f
z6 D w3
z5 z4
w6 w4
w5
Figure 8.22
Now we will study in detail the mapping f and find an explicit formula for its
inverse. It will be easier to work in the half plane; so one goes from the disc D to
the upper half plane …C by means of a homographic transformation and denotes
by a1 ; : : : ; an the points on the real line which correspond to points wk D f .zk /,
8.8. Conformal mappings of polygons 361
k D 1; : : : ; n. Remark that one of these could be the point at infinity. Let g be the
mapping from the half plane …C onto U (Figure 8.23).
zkC1
…C
U
w
zk z
z D g.w/
ak akC1
Figure 8.23
The explicit form of the function g is given by the following result.

Theorem 8.31 (Schwarz–Christoffel formula). Let g be a conformal mapping from
the upper half plane …C onto a polygon of n sides which has interior angles with
measures ˛1 ; : : : ; ˛n and let a1 ; a2 ; : : : ; an be the points on the real axis mapped
into the vertices of the polygon. Then, fixing a point w0 2 …C , there exist complex
constants A, B such that
Z w
g.w/ D A .w a1 /˛1 1 .w an /˛n 1 dw C B; w 2 …C : (8.12)
w0
Remark 8.3. The integral in (8.12) may be taken along the line segment going
from w0 to w, but, indeed, the integral is the same for any path from w0 to w, not
leaving …C , as a consequence of Cauchy’s theorem.
Before starting the proof of this formula, observe that (8.12) is equivalent to
g 0 .w/ D A.w a1 /˛1 1 .w an /˛n 1 ; w 2 …C (8.13)
as well as to
g 00 .w/ ˛1 1 ˛n 1
0
D C C ; w 2 …C : (8.14)
g .w/ w a1 w an
The equivalence of (8.12), (8.13) and (8.14) follows by differentiation and in-
tegration. Equality (8.14) tells us that the function g 00 =g 0 has a simple pole with
residue ˛k 1 around the point ak . This fact suggests how to proceed to prove the
theorem.
Proof. As just said, we will study the behavior of the function g 00 =g 0 , which is
holomorphic on …C , around a point ak with g.ak / D zk .
Consider the function fk .w/ D .g.w/ zk /1=˛k , holomorphic on …C (Fig-

ure 8.24). When w tends to the real axis near the point ak , Im fk .w/ tends to
0 and, by the symmetry principle (Proposition 8.10), fk .w/ is holomorphic on a
neighborhood of ak with fk .ak / D 0 and fk0 .ak / ¤ 0. Indeed if fk0 .ak / D 0, then
there would be two points w1 ; w2 2 …C such that fk .w1 / D fk .S w2 / D fk .w2 /,
whence g.w2 / would not be inside the polygon.
w
g.w/ z 1=˛k
zk
ak 0
z
Figure 8.24
Therefore, fk .w/ D .g.w/ zk /1=˛k D .w ak /'k .w/ with 'k .w/ holo-
morphic on a neighborhood of ak and 'k .ak / ¤ 0. Taking a branch of 'k .w/˛k ,
denoted by hk .w/, one has
g.w/ zk D .w ak /˛k hk .w/; w 2 …C ;
where hk .w/ is holomorphic on a neighborhood of ak and hk .ak / ¤ 0.

00 .w/
Now, computing, it turns out that gg 0 .w/ equals
˛k .˛k 1/.w ak /˛k 2 hk .w/ C 2˛k .w ak /˛k 1 h0k .w/ C .w ak /˛k h00k .w/
˛k .w ak /˛k 1 hk .w/ C .w ak /˛k h0k .w/
and
g 00 .w/ ˛k 1 2˛k h0k .w/ C .w ak /h00k .w/ .˛k 1/h0k .w/
D : (8.15)
g 0 .w/ w ak ˛k hk .w/ C .w ak /h0k .w/
The right-hand side of (8.15) is a holomorphic function on the neighborhood of

ak because hk .ak / ¤ 0. Hence, g 00 =g 0 has an isolated singularity at the point ak
which is a simple pole with residue ˛k 1.
Finally, let us study the function g 00 =g 0 around the point at infinity. One may
assume that infinity corresponds to a point z0 of the boundary of the polygon which
is not a vertex, which is the same as considering it to be a vertex with angle , that
is, with ˛0 D 1. Then, arguing as before, one finds g will be of the form
1
g.w/ D z0 C C h.w/
w
with h.w/ analytic on a neighborhood of infinity. Calculating, we get

g 00 .w/ 2
0
D C if w 2 …C and jwj is big enough:
g .w/ w
Therefore, g 00 =g 0 is analytic and vanishing at infinity.
Consider now the function '.z/ defined on the lower half plane by the equality
'.z/ D g.z/;
N
so that ' is holomorphic on … . Fix an interval .ak ; akC1 / and apply to ' the
rotation that transforms the side Œzk ; zkC1 of the polygon into a segment of the real
axis. Then this rotated function of ' will be the reflection of g through .ak ; akC1 /
in the sense that it will join g continuously on this interval. If this is done for
each k D 1; : : : ; n, one finds several “reflections” of g to the lower half plane that
are different and, therefore, several extensions to … of g 0 and g 00 . However, the
value of g 00 =g 0 for all these extensions is the same, because applying a rotation is
just to multiply by a constant with modulus 1. Hence, it turns out that g 00 =g 0 is
a meromorphic function on the Riemann sphere that has a simple pole at each ak
with residue ˛k 1 and, moreover, it is analytic and vanishing at infinity. It must
be, therefore, of the form (8.14).
It is worth making some comments on the Schwarz–Christoffel formula.
a) Formula (8.12) holds also when g is the conformal mapping of D onto U
replacing points a1 ; : : : ; an by points w1 ; : : : ; wn in T such that g.wk / D zk . Just
use a homographic transformation between the disc and the half plane to conclude
that g 00 =g 0 has a simple pole at each wk with residue ˛k 1, and vanishes at infinity.
After that one may argue by reflection on the arcs that w1 ; : : : ; wn determine on the
unit circle. Hence, we get the formula corresponding to (8.14) and then it is enough
to integrate twice.
b) For better understanding formula (8.12), note that as w D x describes the
real axis, g.x/ must travel along the boundary of U , which is a polygonal line.
Actually, formula (8.13) leads to the equality (Figure 8.25)
arg g 0 .x/ D arg A C .˛1 1/ arg.x a1 / C C .˛n 1/ arg.x an /:
Since arg g 0 .x/ is the value of the rotation needed to pass from the real axis to
the boundary of the polygon, it follows that on each interval .ak ; akC1 /, arg g 0 .x/
remains constant. Therefore, g.x/ describes a line segment, but when passing
through ak , arg g 0 .x/ has an increase of .˛k 1/ D ˇk , that is, g.x/ jumps
to the next side of the polygon.
c) With the previous considerations it is easy to give now the proof of Riemann’s
theorem in the particular case that the simply connected domain U is the interior
of a triangle.
ˇ1 ˇ2 ˇ3
a1 a2 a3
Figure 8.25
with vertices z1 , z2 , z3 and interior

Suppose that U is the interior of a triangleP
angles ˛k , k D 1; 2; 3 with 0 < ˛k < 2 and 31 ˛k D 1. Consider the function
Z w
g.w/ D .w a1 /˛1 1 .w a2 /˛2 1 .w a3 /˛3 1 dw; w0 ; w 2 …C ; (8.16)
w0
where a1 < a2 < a3 are three arbitrary points of R. It is clear that g is holomorphic
on …C and moreover it extends continuously to R because 1 ˛k < 1, k D 1; 2; 3,
so the integral defining g is convergent around ak . But, in addition, this integral is
convergent at the point at infinity, because changing w to 1=w, (8.16) becomes
Z 1=w
.1 a1 w/˛1 1 .1 a2 w/˛2 1 .1 a3 w/˛3 1 dw;
1=w0
which is continuous at the origin. In b) it has been shown that, when w D x describes
the real axis (including the point at infinity), g.x/ travels along the boundary of
a triangle T , with vertices g.a1 /, g.a2 / and g.a3 / and interior angles ˛1 , ˛2 , ˛3 .
Moreover, the function g must be one-to-one on …C and it must send …C to the
interior of the triangle T .
In order to prove this last assertion, replace the half plane …C by the unit disc D
and apply the argument principle (Theorem 5.27). Even though g is not holomorphic
on D,x but it is only holomorphic on D and continuous on D, x Theorem 5.27 remains
true (consider gr .w/ D g.rw/ and let r ! 1). Since Ind.@T ; z/ D 1 for each
z 2 T , it turns out that g takes the value z exactly once in D (Figure 8.26).
Back to the half plane, it has been seen that the function g maps conformally
…C into the interior of T . Now, the triangle T and the starting triangle with vertices
z1 , z2 , z3 have the same angles and, therefore, are similar. Using, then, a similarity
after g, one will go conformally from …C to the given triangle, U .
Remark 8.4. Starting from four or Pmore points a1 < a2 < < an on the real
axis, and angles ˛1 ; : : : ; ˛n with ˛k D n 2, one can not guarantee that the
function g defined by (8.12) gives a conformal mapping of …C onto the interior of
a polygon of n sides. Indeed it could happen that as x describes the real axis, g.x/
travels along the boundary of a polygon which is not a Jordan curve, but instead
g.a3 /
D g ˛3
w z
T
˛1 ˛2
g.a1 / g.a2 /
Figure 8.26
has auto-intersections (Figure 8.27). There is no easy way to know, on the basis of
angles ˛k and points ak , whether the polygonal curve given by the function g.x/
of (8.12) for x 2 R is simple or not.
g
a1 a2 a3 a4
a1 a2 a3 a4 a5
Figure 8.27
d) The Schwarz–Christoffel formula may be extended to an unbounded domain

U limited by a polygonal curve which, now, will not be closed. In applications
one often deals with the case z0 D 1 is a vertex of the polygonal curve and the
mapping g W …C ! U satisfies g.1/ D 1. Then formulae (8.12), (8.13) and
(8.14) hold without any term corresponding to the point at infinity. This can be
shown by letting one of the parameters ak tend to 1.
P
Example 8.32. Suppose ˛1 , ˛2 , ˛3 are given with 0 < ˛k < 2 and 31 ˛k D 1.
Fix the size and the position of a triangle with angles ˛k , k D 1; 2; 3, choosing
the segment Œ0; 1 as one side and let z3 be the third vertex. The conformal mapping
g of …C onto the triangle satisfying g.1/ D 1, g.0/ D 0, g.1/ D z3 will be of
the form
Z w
g.w/ D A .w C 1/˛1 1 w ˛2 1 .w 1/˛3 1 dw C B:
0
Remark that, in this case, one may freely choose the points, a1 , a2 , a3 of the real
axis associated by g to the vertices of the triangle, because there is a homographic
transformation from …C into …C mapping a set of three real points into another
one (Figure 8.28).
z3
˛3
˛2 ˛1
z1 D 0 z2 D 0
Figure 8.28
Since g.0/ D 0, it must be B D 0 and A is uniquely determined because

g.1/ D z3 ; however the previous integral cannot be calculated explicitly.
Example 8.33. Consider now the conformal mapping g of …C onto the domain
U , the exterior region of a horizontal strip B D fz D x C iy W x > 0; a <
y < ag with a > 0. The polygonal curve bounding U has at the vertices ˙i a an
interior angle with measure 3=2 and at infinity, a vertex with angle 0. Take g with
g 1 .ia/ D 1, g 1 .i a/ D 1, g 1 .0/ D 0 (Figure 8.29).
U
ia
i a
Figure 8.29
This yields Z w
g.w/ D A .w 2 1/1=2 dw:
0
This integral may be computed (exercise) and gives
p
g.w/ D A.w 1 w 2 C arc sin w/:
Since g.1/ D A=2 D i a, we get
2a p
g.w/ D i .w 1 w 2 C arc sin w/:

Example 8.34. Let us exhibit a conformal mapping of the half plane …C into itself
with the vertical segment Œ0; i a, a > 0, removed.
ia U
˛ ˛
" 0 "
Figure 8.30
In this case, one looks at the domain U as the limit of domains U" obtained by
removing from …C a triangle with a small basis of length 2", and height a, when
" ! 0 (Figure 8.30). For U" , the conformal mapping g" such that g" .1/ D ",
g" .0/ D ia, g" .1/ D " is given by
Z w
g" .w/ D A .w C 1/˛1 w 22˛ .w 1/˛1 dw C B
0
(see the figure to understand the meaning of ˛). Now, when " ! 0, one has
˛ ! 1=2 and it follows that
Z w
w
g.w/ D A p dw C B;
0 w2 1
which yields p
g.w/ D A w 2 1 C B
with g.1/ D B D 0, g.0/ D iA D i a. Therefore,
p
g.w/ D a w 2 1:
8.9 Conformal mapping of doubly connected domains

Riemann’s theorem classifies simply connected domains, up to conformal mapping:
the plane C and the unit disc D.
What happens if one considers n-connected domains with n 2 (Defini-
tion 1.14)? That is, what are the classes of conformally equivalent n-connected
domains? This problem is much more complicated and will not be dealt with here.
We will refer, basically, to the case n D 2 without going into detail.
Consider, then, doubly connected domains, that is, simply connected domains
with a hole. The easiest examples are the annuli. If 0 < r < R, let C.r; R/ D
C.0; r; R/ D fz 2 C W r < jzj < Rg be an annulus centered at the origin. One
may prove that every doubly connected domain is conformally equivalent to an
annulus or to a punctured disc or to the punctures plane (which may be taken as
annuli as well). Considering this result, which will not be proved here, one gets that
in order to classify doubly connected domains it is enough, basically, to classify
annuli centered at the origin. The fact is that, in general, two different annuli are
not equivalent.
Dilating the annulus C.r; R/ by a factor ˛ > 0, that is, applying the trans-
formation z ! ˛z, one obtains the annulus C.r 0 ; R0 / with r 0 D ˛r, R0 D ˛R
(Figure 8.31).
Figure 8.31
These two annuli are conformally equivalent and their radii satisfy
R R0
D 0: (8.17)
r r
It is clear that condition (8.17) is sufficient for C.r; R/ and C.r 0 ; R0 / to be

equivalent, since one needs only to take z ! ˛z with ˛ D r 0 =r D R0 =R. The
crucial fact is that it is also necessary, as the following statement shows.
8.9. Conformal mapping of doubly connected domains 369
Theorem 8.35. Two annuli C.r; R/ and C.r 0 ; R0 / are conformally equivalent if
and only if the condition
R R0
D 0
r r
holds.
Proof. Applying dilations one may assume r D r 0 D 1. Let w D f .z/ be a

conformal mapping from C.1; R/ onto C.1; R0 / and let us show that R D R0 .
By Proposition 8.9, when jzj ! 1 in C.1; R/, we must have either jf .z/j ! 1,
or jf .z/j ! R0 . Changing f by R0 =f if necessary, one may get jf .z/j ! 1 when
jzj ! 1 and, consequently, jf .z/j ! R0 when jzj ! R (Figure 8.32).
R
R0
w D f .x/
1=R 1 1=R0 1
Figure 8.32
Now, applying the reflection principle (Proposition 8.22) with respect to the unit
circle one may extend f to a conformal mapping from the annulus fz W 1=R < jzj <
1g onto the annulus fw W 1=R0 < jwj < 1g. Applying once more this principle, now
with respect to the circle with radius 1=R, one will extend f to a mapping of
fz W R12 < jzj < R1 g onto fw W .R10 /2 < jwj < R10 g. Iterating this process one
will obtain a conformal mapping from the punctured disc D 0 .0; R/ onto D 0 .0; R0 /,
which has a removable singularity at the origin. So, one arrives at a conformal
mapping from D.0; R/ onto D.0; R0 /, still denoted by f , satisfying f .0/ D 0 and
sending the circle fz W jzj D 1g onto the circle fw W jwj D 1g.
Now, the function z ! f .Rz/
R0
is an automorphism of the unit disc D that sends
the point 0 to 0. Therefore, by Theorem 8.27, it is a rotation,
f .Rz/
D e i˛ z; ˛ 2 R; jzj < 1;
R0
or
z
f .z/ D R0 e i˛ ; jzj < R:
R
Taking jzj D 1, which implies jf .z/j D 1, it yields that R D R0 .
The theorem just proved states that every annulus of the plane is conformally
equivalent to some annulus of the family C.1; R/ with R > 0, and two different
annuli of this family are not equivalent to each other.
Other simple examples of doubly connected domains are the punctured disc,
D n f0g, and the punctured plane, C n f0g. These two domains are not equivalent
to each other and cannot be equivalent to any annulus, because the corresponding
conformal mapping would extend analytically to the point 0, according to part a)
of Theorem 5.5. As it has been said, one may prove that every doubly connected
domain of the plane is conformally equivalent to the punctured plane, or to the
punctured disc or to an annulus C.1; R/, R > 1. This result describes, up to
conformal mapping, all domains with connection degree equal to 2.
Example 8.36. Consider the ellipse centered at the origin with semi-axes 5=2 and
3=2 and let U be the interior of this ellipse with the segment Œ1; 1 removed. This
way U is a doubly connected domain, which must be, as just said, conformally
equivalent to an annulus. Example F) of Section 8.7 shows that this annulus will
be C.1=2; 1/ and that the mapping of U onto the annulus is given by the inverse of
Jowkowsky’s mapping (Figure 8.33).
1
U
1 1 1=2
Figure 8.33
As it was said at the beginning of this section, conformal mappings between

domains with connection degree greater than 2 are more complicated. One result
that extends in some way what has been proved about doubly connected domains
is the following one (see [1], p. 255):
If U is an n-connected domain, then U is conformally equivalent to an annulus
with n 2 arcs located in circles centered at the origin removed (Figure 8.34).
In this case there are two boundary contours of the components of C n U that
are mapped to the boundary of the annulus, while the other ones are mapped to the
arcs.
8.10. Applications of conformal mapping 371
C2
C30
C3
C10 C40
C20
C1 C4
C50
C5
Figure 8.34
8.10 Applications of conformal mapping

In this section two applications of conformal mapping to quite different problems
are given.
8.10.1 Transverse Mercator projection

The problem considered here is the basic problem of cartography, that is, the map-
ping of the surface of the Earth, or a piece of it, on a plane. Ideally this representation
should preserve distances, so that, except for a scaling factor, the distance between
two points on the Earth coincides with the distance between the corresponding
points on the plane. But this is impossible, because no part of the sphere can be
isometrically parameterizated by a plane. This fact is a consequence of a very im-
portant theorem in differential geometry, Gauss’s Theorem Egregium, but, in the
case of the sphere, it may be also proved with elementary considerations.
What kind of mappings are used in cartography, then, if they do not preserve
distances? Remark that a mapping of the Earth on a plane preserving distances
would preserve angles too; otherwise, representations used in cartography preserve
angles, although they cannot preserve distances. The idea of a conformal projection
(that is, preserving angles) of the Earth on a plane was conceived by Mercator, and
the projection used nowadays is a kind of Mercator projection, called transverse
Mercator projection. In this projection the conformal mapping plays an important
role, as explained below.
The Mercator projection is a representation of the Earth on a plane, namely of
coordinates .x; y/, that satisfies the following conditions:
a) It is conformal.
b) It maps the equator onto the y-axis, preserving distances (on the equator).
c) It maps the points of the Earth of positive longitude onto the right half plane
(x > 0) and the points of positive latitude onto the upper half plane (y > 0).
Mercator projection works because it is conformal and moreover parallels are

transformed into horizontal straight lines, and meridians, into vertical ones. But
it has the disadvantage that, as one moves far away from the equator, distances
are much distorted. This is why it has been replaced by the so-called transverse
Mercator projection. The idea behind this projection is to divide the region of the
Earth between the two polar circles into spindles of 6ı of width and apply to each
of these spindles a different Mercator projection where the central meridian of the
spindle plays the role of the equator.
Hence, consider the region R of the Earth between the two polar circles and
between two meridians giving a 6ı spindle, and let m0 be the central meridian of
this region. We want to find a projection of R on the plane .x; y/ such that the
following conditions hold:
a0 ) It is conformal.
b0 ) It maps the meridian m0 onto the y-axis.
c0 ) Distances are preserved on the meridian m0 .
Of course some scaling factors must be taken into account, which we do not
consider here.
In order to construct this projection, consider the Earth as an ellipsoid with
semi-axes a, b, so that R may be parameterized in the form
x D a cos u cos ;
y D a cos u sin ; .; u/ 2 V; (8.18)
z D b sin u;
where is the longitude of the point P .x; y; z/ counted from m0 , u is the angle
represented in Figure 8.35 and V is an open set of R2 . Observe that u is not the
latitude, ', of P , but it is really close. The latitude is the angle with the plane x; y
of the perpendicular to the ellipsoid through P , and one may easily set the relation
between u and '. Remark also that in the case of a sphere, a D b, u is the latitude,
and the parametrization (8.18) corresponds to spherical coordinates.
The function .x; y; z/ D f .; u/ given by (8.18), for .; u/ 2 V , exhibits R
as a surface parameterized by f . The parametrization f is said to be conformal if
the tangent linear mapping f 0 .; u/ of R2 into the tangent plane to R at the point
f .; u/ preserves angles, when the usual scalar product is taken in R2 and the scalar
product induced by the one of R3 is taken in the tangent space. It is known that f
is conformal when the matrix of vectors @f @
and @f
@u
is a multiple of an orthogonal
matrix, that is, when the matrix of their scalar products is

1 0
h.; u/ ; (8.19)
0 1
z
u ˛
Figure 8.35
where h.; u/ is a differentiable function non-vanishing at any point.

Thus, one has
@f
D .a cos u sin ; a cos u cos ; 0/;
@
@f
D .a sin u cos ; a sin u sin ; b cos u/;
@u
and the matrix of scalar products is
!
a2 cos2 u 1 0
0
D a cos u
2 2 2 ;
0 a2 sin2 u C b 2 cos2 u 0 tan2 u C ab
which is not of the form in (8.19). Now, if one introduces a new variable l, defined
by
s
Z 2
b
l D l.u/ D tan u C
2 du;
a
and changes u by l, it turns out that in coordinates .; l/ the new matrix of scalar
products is
2 2 1 0
a cos u.l/ ;
0 1
which actually has the form of (8.19). This means that the new parametrization of
R given by
f
V ! R;
.; l/ 7! f .; l/;
is conformal. Its inverse f 1 W R ! V is also conformal and maps the meridian

m0 , which corresponds to D 0, onto the l-axis. Hence, in order to make f 1
be the transverse Mercator projection, condition b0 ) about preservation of distances
between two points of m0 and their corresponding points in the plane must hold.
To this end, introduce complex notation writing w D C i l for the point .; l/
and look for a function F W V ! C such that the plane representation of R given
by the function F B f 1 W R ! C satisfies a0 ), b0 ) and c0 ). This will be achieved by
choosing F holomorphic, hence conformal, and then imposing it to transform the
imaginary axis into itself: F .i l/ D iy, if F D x C iy. Finally, the preservation of
distances on m0 may be obtained this way:
For each point P of m0 one has f 1 .P / D i l, where l is the parameter
corresponding to P . Let be the distance from P to the equator following m0 , so
as P changes, is a function of l, D .l/. This function is not explicitly known,
but it is easy to argue that it is a real analytic function (Figure 8.36).
f 1
P
.l/ il F i .l/
m0
Figure 8.36
If F can be chosen such that F .i l/ D i .l/, that is, the ordinate of F .i l/ coin-
cides with the distance to the equator of the point of parameters .0; l/, property b0 )
will hold. The problem, from the point of view of complex variables, is then to find a
holomorphic function F on V known on the imaginary axis through F .i l/ D i .l/,
where .l/ is analytic. The solution of this problem, locally Pat least,n is easy to find
because .l/ will be given by a power series, say .l/ D 1 0 cn l . Now take as
F the analytic extension of obtained by substituting l by the complex variable w,
indeed w= i, and define
X1 w n
F .w/ D i cn ;
0
i
P
so that F is holomorphic and F .i l/ D i 1 0 cn l D i .l/.
n
More details on the previous construction may be found in Joan Girbau’s paper:
“Si no es pot representar cap terreny a escala, que fan els cartògrafs?” (Les bases
matemàtiques de la civilització tecnològica, Fundació Caixa de Sabadell, 1999,
pages 73–81), on which this exposition is based.
8.10.2 Conformal mapping and hydrodynamics

Suppose that one wants to study the motion of a perfect, incompressible, homoge-
neous and irrotational fluid that flows through a simply connected plane region U
(see Subsection 7.1.3 for general notions on fluids). Using complex notation, one
will represent the velocity vector field of the fluid by a function f .z/, defined for
z 2 U , and will suppose that the velocity does not change with time.
The incompressibility means that div.f / D 0, that is, writing f D u C iv,
equation ux C vy D 0 holds. If is a closed path inside U with normal vector N Å,
Green’s formula gives Z
Å i ds D 0;
hf; N

which means that the flow of the fluid through is zero. One also says that there
are no sources in U , that is, intakes or outtakes of fluid at any point of U . It could
happen, however, that there are sources at points of the boundary of U .
Moreover the fluid being irrotational, that is, rot.f / D 0, equation vx uy D 0
holds and so the function f .z/ D u iv, the conjugate of the velocity vector
field, is holomorphic on U . Since U is simply connected, there is a holomorphic
antiderivative F of fN on U . Writing F D ' C i , the relation F 0 D fN becomes
Å Dr
r' Å? D f:
The function ' is, therefore, a potential function of the vector field f and the
holomorphic function F is called a complex potential of this vector field. The
function that appears in item d) of Subsection 7.1.3, but not depending on t
now, is harmonic because D Im F . This corresponds to Euler’s equation D
rot.f / D 0. The function is called a stream function of the fluid. The reason
for this name is the following: the level lines of ' are perpendicular to the vector
Å D f . As remarked in Subsection 7.1.1, the level lines of a pair of conjugated
r'
harmonic functions are perpendicular to each other. Therefore, level lines of are
tangent to f and, consequently, they are the trajectories of the vector field f which
are the trajectories of the fluid or stream lines.
Now it is convenient to consider the behavior of the fluid at the boundary of the
domain U . It has been supposed there were no sources in U , but there may be at
some points of @U . Observe that the word source has a relative meaning because
it may be an intake point of fluid as well as an outtake one: it depends on the sign
of the flow of the vector field f around the point.
Suppose that in case there is no source in a whole arc of @U , the velocity vector
Å i D 0 if N
field f is tangent to @U along this arc, that is, hf; N Å is the normal vector
to @U . Then this arc of @U may be considered as a stream line, and, therefore, the
stream function D Im F must be constant on this part of @U . An example is a
fluid flowing through the upper half plane …C D fw W Im w > 0g with an intake
source at the origin. The stream function is a harmonic function on …C , constant

on each ray .1; 0/ and .0; C1/. This function is c Arg w, with c constant. The
complex potential of the fluid is F .w/ D c Log w, w 2 …C , and the velocity vector
field
1
f .w/ D F 0 .w/ D c ;
x
w
given in Example 3.6 (see Figure 8.37). This vector field has a source at the origin
R
Å i ds D 2 c.
because if is the circle with center 0 and radius 1, one has hf; N
C
The flow of the vector field f entering into … is given by the previous integral
extended only to \ …C and equals c. If c > 0, there is a fluid intake; if c < 0,
a fluid outtake.
…C
0

Figure 8.37
Even in the case when there is no source in the boundary of the domain, the
fact that is harmonic on U and constant on @U does not determine the stream
function. For example in the upper half plane …C of the plane w D u C iv,
the function 1 .u; v/ D Av with A a real constant is harmonic and vanishing on
@…C . It corresponds to the complex potential F1 .w/ D Aw. But also the function
2 .u; v/ D Ae sin v that corresponds to the complex potential F2 .w/ D Ae is
u w
C
harmonic and vanishing on the boundary of … . In the first case the stream line
C
1 D 0 consists of @… while in the second one the line 2 D 0 consists of the real
axis plus the straight lines v D n, n 2 N, which are inside the domain, and Ae w is
the complex potential for the flow in a strip of width . In many cases, however, the
physical conditions of the problem make clear that the stream function is uniquely
determined, being harmonic on the domain and constant on its boundary. When
the domain is unbounded and there are no sources at the boundary, an analytic
condition that determines the stream function is a correct behavior at the point of
infinity, given by a condition of the kind limjwj!1 .F .w/ Aw/ D 0, for some
constant A where F is the complex potential.
Assume that in a simply connected domain U 0 one has a fluid flowing with a
velocity vector field f which has a complex potential F D ' C i . Let g be a
conformal mapping of another domain U onto U 0 sending the boundary of U into

the boundary of U 0 . Then harmonic functions ' B g and B g may be interpreted
as the potential of the velocity and as the stream function of a flow in the region U ,
having F Bg as complex potential. For example consider U 0 D …C and the uniform
flow given by the complex potential F .w/ D Aw, A a real constant, as done before
and let U be the first quadrant of the plane z D x C iy, U D fz W x; y > 0g;
then the transformation w D z 2 maps conformally U onto …C and preserves the
boundaries. The function Az 2 D A.x 2 y 2 C 2ixy/ is the complex potential of
a flow in U that has as stream function 2Axy. The stream lines are the hyperbolas
xy D c, c constant
p (Figure 8.38) and the velocity vector field is 2AzN D 2A.x iy/
of modulus 2A x 2 C y 2 . Consider now in a domain U a uniform flow, that is,
xx
Figure 8.38
corresponding to the uniform flow in the upper half plane of complex potential
Aw by means of a conformal mapping g W U ! …C which transforms @U into
@…0 . Then, the stream lines in U may be described in terms of the inverse mapping
h D g 1 W …C ! U by means of curves .t / D h.t C i c/, t 2 R, c constant. This
is what is done in the two following examples.
Example 8.37. Consider a fluid moving uniformly in the upper half plane with an
obstacle given by a vertical stick Œ0; i a, a > 0, so that there is no source on the
real axis (Figure 8.39).
Figure 8.39
In Example 8.34 it was seen that the conformal mapping from …C onto U D
C
… n Œ0; ia is given by the function
p
h.w/ D a w 2 1;
sending 1 to 1. Therefore, the stream lines are the trajectories
p
.t/ D h.t C i c/ D a .t C i c/2 1; t 2 R; c > 0:
Example 8.38. Let us study now the uniform motion of a fluid that flows horizon-
tally and jumps a step of height 1 (Figure 8.40). The corresponding domain is the
upper half plane with a step:
U D fz W Re z > 0; Im z > 0g [ fz W Re z < 0; Im z > 1g:
Figure 8.40
We look for the conformal mapping h from …C onto U with h.1/ D 1,

h.1/ D i , h.1/ D 0. Applying the Schwarz–Christoffel formula with angles
˛1 D 3=2, ˛2 D =2 yields that
Z w
1 1
h.w/ D A .w C 1/ 2 .w 1/ 2 dw C B; A and B constants.
0
This integral may be computed, turning it into a rational one using the change
of variable wC1
w1
D u, and this yields
p p
h.w/ D A. w 2 1 C Log.w C w 2 1// C B:
Using h.1/ D i , h.1/ D 0 one obtains
Ai C B D i; B D 0;
that is, A D 1=, B D 0,
Hence, the stream lines are the trajectories
.t/ D h.t C ic/
1 p p
D . .t C i c/2 1 C Log.t C i c C .t C i c/2 1//; t 2 R; c > 0:

8.11. Exercises 379
Example 8.39. Consider, finally, the uniform flow of a liquid that flows horizontally
and finds a semicylindrical obstacle. The model in this case is given by the domain
U D fz 2 …C W jzj > 1g (Figure 8.41). This domain is conformally mapped into
…C by the function
1 1
w D g.z/ D zC ;
2 z
that transforms the boundary of U into the real axis (Example F) of Section 8.7).
…C
U
g
w
r z
1 1

1 1
Figure 8.41
Taking polar coordinates in the plane z, z D re i , it turns out that

1 1
Re g.r; / D rC cos ;
2 r

1 1
Im g.r; e i / D r sin ;
2 r
so that the stream lines are the trajectories

1 1
Im g.re / Di
r sin D c; c > 0:
2 r
8.11 Exercises
1. Let D1 , D2 be two discs of the plane and z0 2 D1 , w0 2 D2 . Find a
conformal mapping f W D1 ! D2 such that f .z0 / D w0 .
2. Let f W U ! U be holomorphic where U D fz D x C iy W jyj < =2g; use
Schwarz’s lemma to prove that jf 0 .x/j 1 for x 2 R.
3. Let f 2 H.D/ with f .0/ D 1 and Re f .z/ 0, z 2 D. Show that
1 jzj 1 C jzj
jf .z/j ; z 2 D:
1 C jzj 1 jzj
What may be said when some one of the two previous inequalities is an
equality at some point z 2 D?
4. Let f be a continuous function on D x and meromorphic on D satisfying
jf .z/j D 1 if jzj D 1. Let a1 ; a2 ; : : : ; an and b1 ; b2 ; : : : ; bm be the zeros and
the poles of f in D, respectively (justify that there are only a finite number
of them). Writing a .z/ D 1za
N
az
when jaj < 1, show that the function
1 1
f .z/ b1 .z/ : : : bm .z/ for jzj < 1;
a1 .z/ an .z/
is a constant of modulus 1.
5. Let f W D ! U be a conformal transformation such that U D f .D/ is a
convex domain of the plane. Show that for each 0 < r < 1 the domain
f .D.0; r// is also convex.
Hint: For z1 ; z2 2 D.0; r/ with jz1 j jz2 j and 0 < t < 1 consider the
function '.z/ D tf .zz1 =z2 / C .1 t /f .z/.
6. Prove that a homographic transformation maps a pair of concentric circles into
another pair of concentric circles and the ratio of the radii remains constant.
P1
7. Let f W D ! D be holomorphic with Taylor series f .z/ D nD0 cn z
n
around the origin. Show, by induction, that for each n 2 N there is a Blaschke
product, Bn , of degree n (Example 8.29), having as Taylor series at the origin
Bn .z/ D c0 C c1 z C C cn1 z n1 C bn z n C ; bn 2 C:
That is, f and Bn have the same n first Taylor coefficients.

8. Find a conformal mapping of the upper half plane onto the domain U D
D n fx 2 R W 0 x 1g.
9. Let U be a Jordan domain and f 2 C.Ux / \ H.U / such that f is injec-
tive on @U . Show that f is a conformal mapping of U onto f .U / and a
homeomorphism of Ux onto f .U /.
Hint: Use the argument principle.
10. Find a conformal mapping of the upper half plane onto the exterior domain
of an ellipse with focuses at the points 1 and 1.
11. Let …C be the upper half plane and U D …C n fz Dpiy W 1 y < p C1g.
Prove that on U , continuous branches of the functions 1 C z 2 and 1 z 2
can be defined and use them to show that the transformation f .z/ D p z 2
1z
maps conformally …C onto U .
8.11. Exercises 381
Pthe originn and f W D ! Q a conformal mapping

12. Let Q be a square centered at
of D onto Q. Put f .z/ D 1 nD0 cn z , if jzj < 1. Show that cn D 0 if n is
not of the form n D 4k C 1, k 2 N.
Hint: The equality f .iz/ D if .z/ must hold for z 2 D.
13. Find a conformal mapping from the unit disc onto the exterior region of a
parabola with focus at the origin and vertex at the point 1.
14. Find a harmonic function u on the unit disc D such that limz!ei u.z/ D 0
if =2 < < =2 and limz!ei u.z/ D 1 if =2 < < 3=2. Show that
this problem has more than one solution.
15. a) Give precise hypotheses in order that the function u defined by equality
(8.7) is the solution of Dirichlet’s problem in the half plane …C with
boundary values equal to ' and prove it.
b) Proceed analogously for Neumann’s problem in …C with the function
defined by (8.8).
16. For c > 0, find the integral expression of a conformal mapping of the upper
half plane onto the domain U given by
fz 2 C W 0 < Re z < 1; Im z > 0g [ fz 2 C W Re z > 0; 0 < Im z < cg:
In the particular case c D 1, find explicitly the conformal mapping f W …C !
U such that f .0/ D 0, f .1/ D 1 and f .1/ D 1 C i .
17. Show that the function
Z z
d
f .z/ D p ; where 0 < k < 1;
0 .1 /.1 k 2 2 /
2
gives a conformal mapping of the upper half plane onto a rectangle. Find the
vertices of this rectangle by means of the parameters
Z 1 Z 1=k
dt 0 dt
KD p ; K D p ;
0 .1 t /.1 k t /
2 2 2 0 .t 1/.1 k 2 t 2 /
2
t 2 R. Prove that the transformation f 1 extends to a meromorphic function

on the whole complex plane and find its zeros and poles.
18. Show that functions
Z z Z z
d
fI .z/ D .1 n /2=n d and fE .z/ D .1 n /2=n ; n 2 N;
0 0
apply conformally the unit disc onto the interior and exterior domains, re-
spectively, of a regular polygon of n sides.
19. Find a conformal mapping from the domain U D fz 2 C W jzj > 1; Im z > 0g
onto the lower half plane which, when extended to Ux , fixes the points 1 and
1 and sends i to the origin.
20. Find a conformal mapping from the oval U D fz 2 C W jz 2 x02 j < r 2 g with
x0 2 R and 0 < x0 < r onto the unit disc.
Hint: Use the reflection principle.
21. Find a conformal mapping from the upper half plane …C onto the domain
U D …C n fz D x C i W x 0g.
22. Consider the domains
U1 D fz D x C iy W jyj < g n fz D x C iy W x D 0; jyj =2g;
U2 D fz D x C iy W jyj < g n fz D x C iy W jxj 1; y D 0g:
Find conformal mappings from both U1 , U2 onto the unit disc.

Chapter 9
The Riemann mapping theorem and Dirichlet’s
problem
The aim of this chapter is to prove Riemann’s theorem on conformal mapping. The
usual proof of this statement (due to Koebe) is based on the properties of uniformly
bounded sequences of holomorphic functions (normal families). Riemann’s theo-
rem may be also obtained from the existence of a solution of Dirichlet’s problem
in a simply connected domain. This way is longer, but it highlights the relationship
between conformal mapping and Dirichlet’s problem by means of Green’s func-
tion, and corresponds to Riemann’s point of view. Both proofs will be given, each
requiring an appropriate preparation. Namely, the study of normal families and the
construction of the Green’s function of a simply connected domain, respectively.
The properties of sequences of holomorphic or harmonic functions, which are dealt
with in detail, have an interest on their own, beyond the proof of Riemann’s theorem.
9.1 Sequences of holomorphic or harmonic functions

9.1.1 Local uniform convergence
In real variable function theory, functions are often defined as limits or sums of series
of known functions. So, given the function sequences .fn /; .gn /; n D 1; 2 : : :,
defined on a common domain U , we can consider the functions
f .x/ D lim fn .x/;

n!1
1
X x 2 U:
g.x/ D gn .x/;
nD1
P
It is clear that this is possible only when the sequence .fn / or the series gn
converge in some sense. At least, it is necessary to have pointwise
P convergence,
that is, for each x 2 U the sequence .fn .x// or the series 1 nD1 gn .x/ should be
convergent.
From now on, only function sequences will be considered.
The pointwise convergence of a sequence .fn / to f does not guarantee that
properties of the functions fn remain valid for f . For instance each fn could be
continuous without f being continuous. In order to ensure continuity, or other
properties of the functions fn , to be preserved, stronger ways of convergence must
384 Chapter 9. The Riemann mapping theorem and Dirichlet’s problem
be imposed, the most important of which is the uniform convergence. Thus, if the
functions fn are continuous and converge uniformly to f , then f is also continuous.
Now we will consider functions defined on an open set U of the complex
plane. Suppose that functions fn , n D 1; 2; : : : are continuous on U and f .z/ D
limn!1 fn .z/ is its pointwise limit. Bearing in mind the local character of con-
tinuity, that is, a function is continuous on U if and only if it is continuous on a
neighborhood of each point of U , we see that in order to ensure that f is continuous
on U it is enough that the following condition holds:
For each point a 2 U there exists a disc D.a; r/ U such that fn .z/ ! f .z/
uniformly for z 2 D.a; r/, when n ! 1.
If the previous condition is satisfied, the sequence .fn / is said to converge to f
locally uniformly on U (from now on the reference when n ! 1 will be omitted).
It is clear, as has been said, that if fn ! f locally uniformly on U and the functions
fn are continuous on U , then also f is so. One has the following statement:
Proposition 9.1. The functions .fn / converge locally uniformly to f on U if and
only if for every compact set K U , the functions .fn / converge uniformly to f
on K.
Proof. In one direction this is clear just taking K D D.a; x r/ U . In the other
S
direction, given K U , cover it by a finite quantity of discs, K N
iD1 D.ai ; ri /,
x i ; ri / U and remark that if there is uniform convergence on each disc
D.a
D.ai ; ri /, then there is also on K.
Due to the previous proposition, when fn ! f locally uniformly on U , it is
also said that .fn / converges to f uniformly on compact sets of U .
P
Example 9.2. Let f .z/ D 1 n
0 cn z be the sum P of a power series with radius of
convergence R > 0. It is known that the series cn z n converges
P uniformly to
x r/ with r < R. This means that cn z n converges
f .z/ on each compact disc D.0;
to f .z/ uniformly on compact sets of the open disc D.0; R/ because each compact
set x r/ for some r < R. However, the series
disc is contained in a disc D.0;
P of this
n
cn z may not converge uniformly
P on the whole disc D.0; R/. As an example
consider the geometric series 1 0 z with radius of convergence R D 1. The
n
convergence to the function 1z 1

is not uniform on D, because if it was so, the
general term z would tend uniformly to 0 on the disc D and this is false.
n

Here the interest is to consider sequences of functions .fn / that are holomorphic
or harmonic on an open set U such that f .z/ D limn fn .z/ for z 2 U , and to
decide if f is also holomorphic or harmonic on U . How must be the convergence
of functions .fn / to f in order to preserve holomorphicity or harmonicity?
Observe that being holomorphic or harmonic on U is also a local property, like
continuity. As a matter of fact, uniform convergence on compact sets is indeed
appropriate to ensure the preservation of holomorphicity and of harmonicity.
9.1. Sequences of holomorphic or harmonic functions 385
Theorem 9.3 (Weierstrass). Let fn , n D 1; 2; : : : be holomorphic functions on the

open set U of the complex plane and suppose that the sequence .fn / converges
to a function f uniformly on compact sets of U . Then f is holomorphic on U
and, furthermore, the sequence of derivatives .fn0 / tends to f 0 also uniformly on
compact sets of U .
Proof. We start by observing the following fact: if .t /, t 2 Œa; b is a path contained
in U , one has, under the hypotheses of the theorem,
Z Z
f .z/ dz D lim fn .z/ dz: (9.1)
n
Actually, since fn ! f uniformly on the compact set .Œa; b/, one has fn ..t //
0 .t/ ! f ..t// 0 .t / uniformly on Œa; b, and integrating it yields (9.1).
Now, to prove that f is holomorphic on U one has two possibilities. The first one
is using Morera’s theorem (Theorem 4.11). We already R know that f is continuous
on U ; if is any triangle contained in U , one has @
fn .z/ dz D 0 by Cauchy’s
theorem. Using (9.1) it turns out that
Z Z
f .z/ dz D lim fn .z/ dz D 0:
@
n @
So, according to Morera’s theorem, f is holomorphic on U .

x r/ U be
The second possibility is using Cauchy’s integral formula. Let D.a;
a disc and its boundary travelled in the positive sense. One has
Z
1 fn .w/
fn .z/ D dw; z 2 D.a; r/: (9.2)
2 i w z
fn .w/ f .w/
Since wz
! uniformly for w in and z fixed, it turns out that
wz
Z Z
1 fn .w/ 1 f .w/
f .z/ D lim fn .z/ D lim dw D ; z 2 D.a; r/
n n 2 i w z 2 i w z
and this shows that f .z/ is holomorphic on the disc D.a; r/.
x r/
To prove that fn0 .z/ ! f 0 .z/ locally uniformly fix, as before, a disc D.a;
U . Then (9.2) yields
Z
1 fn .w/
fn0 .z/ D dw; z 2 D.a; r/;
2 i .w z/2
which implies
Z Z
1 fn .w/ 1 f .w/
lim fn0 .z/ D lim dw D dw D f 0 .z/
n n 2 i .w z/ 2 2 i .w z/2
if z 2 D.a; r/. Finally, the convergence of .fn0 / to f 0 is uniform on the disc

x r 0 / with r 0 < r because, given " > 0, one has
D.a;
Z Z
1 jf .w/ fn .w/j " jdwj "r
jf 0 .z/ fn0 .z/j jdwj 0
D 0
2 jw zj 2 2 .r r/ 2 .r r/2
if n n0 , n0 big enough.
Remark 9.1. a) The previous result may be iterated to get that fn ! f uniformly
on compact sets of U implies that fn.m/ ! f .m/ also uniformly on compact sets
of U for each m D 1; 2; : : : .
b) Given a series of holomorphic functions uniformly convergent on compact
sets
1
X
f .z/ D fn .z/;
nD1
Weierstrass’ theorem states that one may differentiate term by term to obtain the
series of derivatives
1
X
f 0 .z/ D fn0 .z/;
nD1
also converging uniformly on compact sets. In particular, starting from a power

series
1
X
f .z/ D cn z n
0
with positive radius of convergence, we again get Theorem 2.31, stating that
1
X
0
f .z/ D ncn z n1 ;
0
in the interior of the disc of convergence.

c) Dealing with convergence of sequences of holomorphic functions, it is con-
venient to bear the maximum principle in mind. Indeed, if fn 2 C.Ux / \ H.U /,
where U is a bounded domain, the maximum principle ensures that if the sequence
.fn / converges uniformly on the boundary of U , then it converges uniformly on the
whole U ; actually, just use the Cauchy criterion and observe that
jfn .z/ fm .z/j " for z 2 @U implies jfn .z/ fm .z/j " for each z 2 U:
In Weierstrass’ theorem, two proofs of the fact that the uniform limit on compact
sets of a sequence of holomorphic functions is holomorphic were given. The one
based on Cauchy integral representation suggests an analogous result for harmonic
functions for which one has Poisson integral representation.
Theorem 9.4. Let .un / be a sequence of harmonic functions on the open set U and
suppose that u.z/ D limn!1 un .z/ uniformly on compact sets of U . Then u is
harmonic on U .
x r/ U and apply to each un Poisson’s formula (7.32) to
Proof. Take a disc D.a;
get Z
1 r 2 jz aj2
un .z/ D un .w/ ds.w/:
2 r C.a;r/ jw zj2
By the hypothesis on the uniform convergence of .un /, it yields
Z
1 r 2 jz aj2
u.z/ D lim un .z/ D u.w/ ds.w/;
n 2 r C.a;r/ jw zj2
proving that u is harmonic, since so is Poisson’s kernel,
r 2 jw aj
z ! :
jw zj2
Coming back to the case of a sequence of holomorphic functions .fn / converging
uniformly on compact sets to a function f , it is easy to prove that the univalence
of the functions fn is a property preserved whenever f is not constant.
Theorem 9.5 (Hurwitz). Let U be a domain of the complex plane and .fn / a
sequence of holomorphic functions on U with fn .z/ ¤ 0, z 2 U , n D 1; 2; : : :
converging uniformly on compact sets of U to a function f . Then either f is
identically zero on U , or f .z/ ¤ 0 for every point z 2 U .
Proof. Suppose f is not identically zero and fix a point z0 2 U . Since the zeros
of f (if there are any) must be isolated, there is r > 0 such that f .z/ ¤ 0 if
0 < jz z0 j r. In particular, jf .z/j ı > 0 if z 2 C.z0 ; r/, and, by the
uniform convergence, one will also have jfn .z/j ı=2 if z 2 C.z0 ; r/ and n n0 .
Hence, it turns out that fn1.z/ ! f .z/
1
uniformly on C.z0 ; r/ thanks to the above
lower bounds. It is also known that fn0 .z/ ! f 0 .z/ uniformly on C.z0 ; r/, by
Weierstrass’s theorem. So we may conclude that
Z Z
1 fn0 1 f 0 .z/
lim dz D dz:
n 2 i C.z ;r/ fn .z/ 2 i C.z0 ;r/ f .z/
0
Now, by the argument principle (Theorem 5.27) the integrals on the left-hand side
are zero because no function fn has zeros. The fact that the right-hand side integral
is zero means, by the same principle, that f .z0 / ¤ 0.
Corollary 9.6. Let U be a domain of the plane, fn 2 H.U /, n D 1; 2; : : : and
f .z/ D limn fn .z/, uniformly on compact sets of U . If each function fn is one-to-
one on U , then the function f is either one-to-one, or constant on U .
Proof. Suppose that f is not constant. If it was not one-to-one on U , one could
find two points z1 ¤ z2 of U with f .z1 / D f .z2 / D w. Take disjoint discs
D.z1 ; r/; D.z2 ; r/ U . On each one, fn .z/ w ! f .z/ w uniformly on
compact sets. Since the function f .z/ w is not identically zero and has a zero
in D.z1 ; r/ as well as in D.z2 ; r/, according to Hurwitz’s theorem the functions
fn .z/ w must have a zero in D.z1 ; r/ and in D.z2 ; r/ for n n0 . But this
means that fn , for n big enough, will take the value w in D.z1 ; r/ and in D.z2 ; r/,
a contradiction.
9.1.2 Normal families

To obtain new functions as limits of sequences of known functions, some criterion
stating when a given sequence has a limit is needed. Generally it is enough to
guarantee that, given a sequence of functions .fn / of a certain class, there is a
subsequence .fkn / having a limit, f .z/ D limn fkn .z/. Indeed, then f is a limit
of a sequence of functions of the class and will get the properties of the functions
fn if the convergence is good enough.
To deal with the problem of the existence of convergent partial sequences, re-
call first what happens in the case of numerical sequences. If .zn / is a sequence of
complex numbers which converges, then the sequence .zn / is necessarily bounded,
that is, supn jzn j < C1. The converse is not true; but the Bolzano–Weierstrass
theorem asserts that a bounded .zn / has at least a convergent subsequence. Hence,
in this case, boundedness is the criterion for a sequence to have a convergent sub-
sequence. The Bolzano–Weierstrass theorem is a basic principle of analysis which,
indeed, is equivalent to the completeness of the real field. It is also equivalent to
the statement that closed and bounded sets in the Euclidian space are exactly the
compact ones.
What happens if one replaces the sequence of points .zn / by a sequence of
functions .fn /? Suppose that functions fn are defined on a compact set K and
are continuous on K. If f .z/ D limn!1 fn .z/ uniformly on K, it follows easily
that the sequence .fn / must be uniformly bounded on K, that is, there is a constant
M > 0 such that jfn .z/j M , n D 1; 2; : : : and z 2 K. Now, assuming that
.fn / is uniformly bounded on K, is it true, as in the case of numerical sequences,
that there is a subsequence .fkn / uniformly convergent on K? The answer is no;
indeed it can happen that .fn / is uniformly bounded on K, but it has no subsequence
pointwise convergent on K, as the following example shows.
Example 9.7. Let K D Œ0; 2, fn .x/ D sin nx, n D 1; 2; : : : . Then jfn .x/j 1,
for x 2 K, n D 1; 2; : : : but, there cannot exist integer numbers .kn / such that
limn sin kn x exists for each x 2 K. Indeed, this would imply
lim.sin kn x sin knC1 x/2 D 0; x 2 Œ0; 2;

n
and, by the dominated convergence theorem,

Z 2
lim .sin kn x sin knC1 x/2 dx D 0:
n 0
But an easy computation shows that

Z 2n
.sin kn x sin knC1 x/2 dx D 2 if kn is an integer,
0
a contradiction.
What else is necessary, then, in order to ensure that a uniformly bounded se-
quence of continuous functions on K has a uniformly convergent subsequence on
K? The key notion is equicontinuity.
In a more general setting, consider a family F of continuous functions on a
compact K. Recall that the family F is said to be equicontinuous on K if, given
" > 0, there exists ı > 0 such that the condition
z; w 2 K; jz wj < ı H) jf .z/ f .w/j < "; for all f 2 F
holds. The point is that a uniformly convergent sequence of continuous functions

on K is equicontinuous on K. In the opposite direction, if a sequence of functions
is pointwise bounded and equicontinuous on K, then it has a uniformly convergent
subsequence on K. This is the content of the following classical result.
Theorem 9.8 (Arzelà–Ascoli). Let F be a family of continuous functions on a

compact set K. The following conditions are equivalent:
a) Every sequence of functions of the family F has a subsequence converging

uniformly on K.
b) The family F is pointwise bounded and equicontinuous on K.
Pointwise bounded means that for each z 2 K one has supf 2F jf .z/j < 1.
The proof of Theorem 9.8 may be found in [10], p. 156–158. Moreover, .fn / be-
ing pointwise bounded and equicontinuous implies that .fn / is uniformly bounded.
It is convenient to remark that the definition given above is the one of uniform
equicontinuity on K. There is also a notion of equicontinuity at a point z0 2 K.
The family F is said to be equicontinuous at the point z0 if for each " > 0 there is
ı > 0 such that
z 2 K; jz z0 j < ı H) jf .z/ f .z0 /j < "; for each f 2 F :
Using a covering argument, one gets the equivalence of both concepts.

Proposition 9.9. A family F of functions is equicontinuous (uniformly) on the

compact set K if and only if it is equicontinuous at each point of K.
Since the interest here is in studying sequences of holomorphic and harmonic

functions uniformly convergent on compact sets, a version of Arzelà–Ascoli’s theo-
rem in this context will be given.
Theorem 9.10. Let F be a family of continuous functions on an open set U of the

plane. The following conditions are equivalent:
a) Every sequence of functions of the family F has a subsequence converging

uniformly on compact sets of U .
b) The family F is pointwise bounded on U and equicontinuous at each point

of U .
Proof. The proof of a) ) b) is the same as the corresponding one in Theorem 9.8.
To show that b) ) a) take an exhaustive sequence of compact sets of U , that is,
a sequence of compact sets Kn U such that
ı
1) Kn K nC1 , n D 1; 2; : : : .
2) If K U is compact, there exists a number n 2 N with K Kn ,
according to Lemma 1.15.

Let now .fn / be a sequence of functions of the family F . By b), Proposition 9.9
and Theorem 9.8 applied to the compact set K1 , we can find a subsequence of .fn /,
called .fn1 /, uniformly convergent on K1 . By the same reason we can find a subse-
quence of .fn1 /, say .fn2 /, uniformly convergent on K2 , which will also converge
on K1 . Continuing this process we find for each m a sequence .fnm /nD1;2;::: , uni-
formly convergent on K1 ; K2 ; : : : ; Km . The diagonal sequence .fnn /nD1;2;::: is then
uniformly convergent on each compact set Kn and, by property 2), also on every
compact set of U .
According to Theorem 9.10, to show that a family F of continuous functions on

U has the property that every sequence of F has a subsequence uniformly conver-
gent on compact sets of U , it is enough to check that F is equicontinuous on U . In
the case that the functions of F are differentiable, a criterion for equicontinuity is
the uniform boundedness of the derivatives on compact sets of U or, equivalently,
their local uniform boundedness.
For example, suppose that we are dealing with a family of functions, F , differ-
entiable on the real line such that for each fixed x0 2 R, and each r > 0 there exists
Mr > 0 with
jf 0 .x/j Mr if jx x0 j < r; f 2 F :
The mean value theorem gives
jf .x/ f .x0 /j Mr jx x0 j if jx x0 j < r; f 2 F ;
which proves that F is equicontinuous at the point x0 . As well, for functions of

two real variables, the boundedness conditions
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ @f ˇ ˇ @f ˇ
ˇ .x; y/ˇM ; ˇ .x; y/ˇM
ˇ ˇ r ˇ ˇ r
@x @y
if d..x; y/; .x0 ; y0 // < r, for every f 2 F , imply F is equicontinuous at the point
.x0 ; y0 /.
It is an essential fact that a uniformly bounded family of holomorphic or har-
monic functions is automatically equicontinuous.
Proposition 9.11. Let F be a family of holomorphic functions on an open set U

of the plane that is uniformly bounded on each compact set of U . Then the family
F is equicontinuous at each point of U .
The same holds if F is a family of harmonic functions on U .
x 0 ; r/
Proof. Assume that functions of F are holomorphic; take z0 2 U and D.z
U . By hypothesis there exists Mr > 0 such that
jf .z/j Mr if jz z0 j r; f 2 F :
The first Cauchy inequality (Theorem 4.38 for n D 1) gives

Mr r
jf 0 .z/j 2 if jz z0 j ; f 2F;
r 2
x r=2/ D.z
because D.z; x 0 ; r/ when jz z0 j r=2.
Now, if z 2 D.z0 ; r=2/, integrating along the line segment joining z0 with z,
one has
ˇZ z ˇ Z z
ˇ ˇ Mr
jf .z/ f .z0 /j D ˇˇ f 0 .w/ dw ˇˇ jf 0 .w/jjdwj 2 jz z0 j
z0 z0 r
whenever jz z0 j r=2 and f 2 F . This proves that the family F is equicontin-

uous at z0 .
In the case that functions of F are harmonic, writing z D x C iy they will be
considered as functions of the real variables x, y. As said above, it is enough to
show, for z0 2 U fixed, the following estimates, for some r:
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ @u ˇ ˇ @u ˇ
ˇ .z/ˇ M ; ˇ .z/ˇ M ; if jz z0 j r; u 2 F :
ˇ ˇ r ˇ ˇ r
@x @y
They are equivalent to

ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ @u ˇ ˇ @u ˇ
ˇ .z/ˇ M ; ˇ .z/ˇ M ; jz z0 j r; u 2 F :
ˇ ˇ r ˇ ˇ r
@z @zN
Assume, in order to simplify the notation, z0 D 0 and Dx U . Represent u by
Poisson’s formula (7.19):
Z 2 Z 2
1 1 jzj2
u.z/ D PD .z; e /u.e / d D
i i
u.e i / d; jzj < 1:
0 2 0 j1 e i zj2
According to the hypotheses one has ju.e i /j M for u 2 F . Differentiating the

expression of u.z/ and estimating the result, one gets
ˇ ˇ Z 2 ˇ ˇ
ˇ @u ˇ 1 ˇ @ ˇ
ˇ .z/ˇ M ˇ P .z; e i /ˇ d;
ˇ ˇ 1=2 ˇ D ˇ
@z 2 0 @z
ˇ ˇ Z 2 ˇ ˇ
ˇ @u ˇ 1 ˇ @ ˇ
ˇ .z/ˇ M ˇ P .z; e i /ˇ d
ˇ ˇ 1=2 ˇ D ˇ
@zN 2 0 @zN
whenever jzj < 1, u 2 F .
@
Now we will show that both @z PD .z; e i / and @@zN PD .z; e i / are uniformly
bounded, with respect to , when jzj 1=2.
To this end, just write Poisson’s kernel in the form
1 jzj2 ze i N i
ze
2 PD .z; e i / D D 1 C C ;
j1 e i zj2 1 ze i 1 ze
N i
from which it follows that
@PD .z; e i / 1 e i @PD .z; e i / 1 e i
D ; D ;
@z 2 .1 ze i /2 @zN 2 .1 zN e i /2
and so
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ @PD .z; e i / ˇ ˇ @PD .z; e i / ˇ
ˇ ˇ; ˇ ˇ 1 1

2
if jzj
1
:
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
@z @zN 2 je i zj 2 2
Let us state now the basic result about holomorphic or harmonic function se-
quences.
Theorem 9.12 (Montel). Let F be a family of holomorphic functions on an open
set U of the plane. Then the following conditions are equivalent:
a) Every sequence of functions of the family F has a subsequence that is uni-
formly convergent on compact sets of U .
b) The family F is uniformly bounded on compact sets of U .

The same statement holds if F is a family of harmonic functions on U .
Proof. The implication a) ) b) holds for every family of continuous functions.
Indeed condition a) implies that the family F is equicontinuous and pointwise
bounded (Theorem 9.10), and then if z0 2 U , there exists ı > 0 with jf .z/
f .z0 /j < 1 if jz z0 j < ı, for f 2 F . Hence, jf .z/j jf .z0 /j C 1, jz z0 j < ı,
f 2 F , and the family F is locally uniformly bounded.
For b) ) a) just combine Theorem 9.10 with Proposition 9.11.
A family of holomorphic functions uniformly bounded on compact sets of U
is also called a normal family. We point out, however, that in Montel’s classical
terminology the term normal family is applied to a class of holomorphic functions
F such that every sequence of F has either a uniformly convergent subsequence,
or a subsequence converging uniformly to 1, on each compact set of U .
In the case of harmonic functions, there is another criterion of normality for a
given family that guarantees that every sequence has a uniformly convergent subse-
quence on compact sets, either to a harmonic function, or to 1. Namely, it is enough
that the family consists of positive harmonic functions. This criterion, known as
Harnack’s principle, is based on an inequality already proposed in Exercise 7 in
Section 7.13.
Proposition 9.13 (Harnack’s inequality). Let u be a harmonic and positive function
on the disc D.z0 ; R/. Then
Rr RCr
u.z0 / u.z/ u.z0 / if jz z0 j D r < R: (9.3)
RCr Rr
Proof. It is enough to consider the case z0 D 0, R D 1. We must show, then, that
1r 1Cr
u.0/ u.re i / u.0/ if 0 r < 1; 0 2: (9.4)
1Cr 1r
1r 2
If Pr . / D 1
2 12r cos. /Cr 2
, one has the inequalities
1r 1 r2 1 r2 1Cr
D 2Pr . / D ;
1Cr 1 C 2r C r 2 1 2r C r 2 1r (9.5)
0 r < 1; 0 2:
x Then
Since limr!1 u.rz/ D u.z/, we may suppose that u is continuous on D.
Poisson’s formula gives
Z 2
u.re i / D Pr . /u.e i / d :
0
Since u.z/ 0, multiplying (9.5) by u.e i /, integrating and using (by the mean
value property)
Z
1 2
u.e i /d D u.0/
2 0
yields (9.4).
Harnack’s principle can be given now.
Theorem 9.14. Let F be a family of positive harmonic functions on a domain U

of the complex plane. Then every sequence of functions of F has a subsequence
that converges, uniformly on compact sets of U , either to a harmonic function on
U or to infinity.
Proof. Let .un / be a sequence of functions of F . If .un .z// is bounded for every
z 2 U , then Harnack’s inequality implies that .un / is, in fact, locally uniformly
bounded, whence uniformly bounded on compact sets and so, by Montel’s theorem,
it has a subsequence uniformly convergent on compact sets.
Otherwise there is a point z0 2 U and a subsequence .ukn / with limn ukn .z0 / D
C1. In this case we claim that .ukn / converges to C1 locally uniformly. Indeed
consider
A D fz 2 U W lim ukn .z/ D C1g;
n
so that A ¤ ;; by Harnack’s inequality A is open and ukn .z/ ! C1 locally

uniformly on A. But U n A is also open by Harnack’s inequalities again and so
A D U.
Corollary 9.15. Let .un / be an increasing sequence of harmonic functions on a

domain U . Then .un / is uniformly convergent on compact sets of U , either to a
harmonic function on U or to infinity.
Proof. The sequence .vn / with vn .z/ D un .z/u1 .z/ consists of positive harmonic
functions and is increasing. Theorem 9.14 gives the conclusion for the sequence .vn /
and, therefore, also for the sequence .un /.
9.1.3 Topology of the space of continuous functions on an open set

In the previous subsections it has been highlighted how uniform convergence on
compact subsets of an open set is suitable for sequences of continuous functions as
well as for sequences of holomorphic or harmonic functions. We will show now
that this convergence is associated to a complete metric.
Fix an open set U of the complex plane and consider C.U /; the space of con-
tinuous functions on U . Let .Kn /nD1;2;::: be a sequence of compact sets of U as in
Lemma 1.15 (in fact it is enough that the sets Kn satisfy a) and b) of this lemma)
and for each function f 2 C.U / write
Mn .f / D supfjf .z/j W z 2 Kn g;
pn .f / D minfMn .f /; 1g;
X1
pn .f /
p.f / D n
:
nD1
2
Observe that 0 p.f / 1, for every continuous function f . Now define a
distance in the space C.U / by
d.f; g/ D p.f g/; if f; g 2 C.U /:
Since d.f; g/ D 0 if and only if f D g, to prove that d is a distance in C.U / it is
enough to check that
p.f C g/ p.f / C p.g/;
an inequality which follows from the definition of the functional p and the fact that
Mn .f C g/ Mn .f / C Mn .g/ for every n 2 N and f; g 2 C.U /.
Remark that the distance d just defined is invariant under translations, that is,
d.f; g/ D d.f C h; g C h/; if f; g; h 2 C.U /:
This means that it suffices to know the topology that d defines around the zero of
C.U /.
Proposition 9.16. A sequence of functions .fn /, fn 2 C.U /, has a limit f 2 C.U /
in the metric d , that is, limn d.fn ; f / D 0 if and only if .fn / converges to f
uniformly on compact sets of U .
Proof. As said above, it is enough to consider the case f D 0.
Suppose d.fn ; 0/ D p.fn / ! 0 when n ! 1. We must show that, given K
U compact and 0 < " < 1, there exists n0 2 N such that supfjfn .x/j W x 2 Kg < "
if n n0 . Take Km with K Km and n0 such that p.fn / < 2"m if n n0 . Then
one has pm .fn / 2m p.fn / < " if n n0 , giving Mm .fn / < " and, a fortiori,
jfn .x/j < ", for x 2 K, n n0 .
Conversely, suppose that fn ! 0 uniformly on compact sets of U . Given " > 0,
choose m with 21m < "=2. Then there exists n0 such that Mm .fn / < "=2 if n n0 .
Now, if f 2 C.U /, one has pn .f / pm .f / if n m and, therefore,
Xm
pm .f / X 1 1
p.f / n
C m
pm .f / C m :
nD1
2 n>m
2 2
Applying this inequality to fn for n n0 yields
1
d.fn ; 0/ D p.fn / Mm .fn / C < ":
2m
Corollary 9.17. The space C.U / with the distance d is a complete metric space.
Proof. If .fn / is a Cauchy sequence of C.U / with respect to the metric d , then
.fn / is a uniform Cauchy sequence on compact sets of U , by Proposition 9.16. So
.fn / must have a uniform limit f 2 C.U / on compacts sets of U , and again by
Proposition 9.16, f is the limit of .fn / with respect to the metric d .
Some results of Subsections 9.1.1 and 9.1.2 have more synthetic statements us-
ing the topology given by the metric d of the space C.U /. For example, Weierstrass’
theorem (Theorem 9.3) reads:
The space H.U / of holomorphic functions on an open set U is a closed

subspace of C.U /. The mapping f ! f 0 from H.U / into H.U / is
continuous.
Montel’s theorem (Theorem 9.12) has also an interesting reformulation in terms

of the topology of H.U /, induced by the one of C.U /. First, an appropriate
definition of a bounded set of C.U / must be given. Observe that defining a set
A C.U / to be bounded when its diameter is finite does not work because the
distance d satisfies d.f; g/ 1 for every pair f; g 2 C.U /, so every set would be
bounded. The suitable definition is the following:
A set of continuous functions A C.U / is said to be bounded if for each " > 0
there exists a constant 0 < ˛" < 1 such that d.˛" f; 0/ D p.˛" f / ", for every
function f 2 A.
Arguing as in Proposition 9.16, one can see that A C.U / is a bounded set in
the above sense if and only if A is uniformly bounded on compact sets of U . Now
Theorem 9.12 reads as follows:
A set of holomorphic functions F H.U / is compact if and only if

F is closed and bounded.
This result shows that compact sets in the topological space H.U / have the
same characterization as compact sets in Rn . This assertion is not true for compact
sets of C.U / as shown in Subsection 9.1.2 and Arzelà–Ascoli’s theorem is needed
to characterize them.
Of course, equivalent statements for the space h.U / of harmonic functions on
U hold: h.U / is a closed subspace of C.U / and the compact subsets of h.U / are
the close and bounded ones.
9.2 Riemann’s theorem

The aim of this section is to prove Riemann’s theorem on conformal mapping
(Theorem 8.5), which is next recalled.
9.2. Riemann’s theorem 397
Theorem 9.18 (Fundamental theorem of conformal mapping). Given a simply

connected domain of the plane U , U ¤ C, and a point z0 2 U , there exists a
unique conformal mapping f from U onto the unit disc D, normalized with the
conditions f .z0 / D 0, f 0 .z0 / > 0.
The proof given below is due, essentially, to Koebe and is based on the theory of
normal families. Later another proof will be given, closer to the original Riemann’s
spirit, based on the solution of Dirichlet’s problem.
First, let us prove the uniqueness of f . If f1 ; f2 W U ! D are conformal,
surjective and normalized, the function
T .w/ D f2 .f11 .w//
is an automorphism of the unit disc satisfying T .0/ D 0, T 0 .0/ > 0. According to

Theorem 8.27, one has T .w/ D w, for w 2 D, that is, f1 D f2 .
To show the existence of a normalized conformal mapping from U onto D,
consider the family F of holomorphic functions on U defined as follows:
8
ˆ
ˆ
<a) g is holomorphic and one-to-one in U ;
g 2 F ” b) jg.z/j < 1, for z 2 U ,
ˆ
:̂c) g.z / D 0; g 0 .z / > 0;
0 0
where z0 is the fixed point in U . The proof of Riemann’s theorem is done in the
three following steps:
A) F ¤ ;.
B) There exists a function f 2 F such that g 0 .z0 / f 0 .z0 /, for every g 2 F .
C) If f 2 F satisfies B), then f is the Riemann mapping, that is, f .U / D D,

f .z0 / D 0 and f 0 .z0 / > 0.
p
Proof of A). Since U ¤ C, one may take a point a … U . Let g.z/ D z a be
a branch of the square root of z a ¤ 0, z 2 U which exists by Theorem 6.22 f).
Hence, g 2 H.U / and it is clear that g is one-to-one in U . Moreover, if g takes
a value w in U , it cannot take the value w. It is known that g.U / is open and,
therefore, there exists r > 0 with D.g.z0 /; r/ g.U /. So, one has D.g.z0 /; r/\
g.U / D ;, that is jg.z/ C g.z0 /j r, for z 2 U . The function g1 .z/ D c=.g.z/ C
g.z0 // with c constant is holomorphic and one-to-one in U and satisfies jg1 .z/j < 1,
z 2 U , provided jcj is small enough. Finally, composing g1 with an automorphism
of the unit disc, the function g0 D B g1 satisfies, in addition, g0 .z0 / D 0,
g00 .0/ > 0, that is, g0 2 F .
Proof of B). Remark that by condition b) above and Montel’s theorem the family
F is normal.
Let M D sup fg 0 .z0 / W g 2 F g, M C1. Consider a sequence of functions
gn 2 F with limn gn0 .z0 / D M . Since F is normal, by Theorem 9.12, there exists
a subsequence .gkn / uniformly convergent on compact sets of U to a function f .
By Theorem 9.3, f is holomorphic on U and, in addition, gk0 n .z/ ! f 0 .z/, also
uniformly on compact sets. In particular, M < C1 and f 0 .z0 / D M . Now, by
Corollary 9.6, f must be either one-to-one or constant, because each gn is one-to-
one. But f 0 .z0 / D M > 0 since F ¤ ;. So, f is not constant and it is one-to-one.
Since f .z0 / D limn gkn .z0 / D 0 and f 0 .z0 / > 0, one has f 2 F and, finally,
g 0 .z0 / f 0 .z0 / if g 2 F , by the definition of the number M .
Proof of C). We show that if f is the function in B), then f .U / D D. Suppose
there is a point w0 2 D, w0 … f .U /. A function g1 2 F such that g10 .z0 / > f 0 .z0 /
will be constructed, in contradiction to B). The function .f .z/ w0 /=.1 w
x0 f .z//
is holomorphic and one-to-one from U into D and, moreover, does not vanish on U .
Therefore, there exists a branch of its square root
s
f .z/ w0
g.z/ D
1w x0 f .z/
which is one-to-one and holomorphic on U and satisfies jg.z/j < 1 as well. Now
the function
jg 0 .z0 /j g.z/ g.z0 /
g1 .z/ D 0
g .z0 / 1 g.z0 /g.z/
has the same properties as g and, in addition, is normalized, that is, g1 2 F . Indeed,
specifying the value of g10 .z0 / yields
jg 0 .z0 /j
g10 .z0 / D
1 jg.z0 /j2
and, by the relationship between g.z/ and f .z/, one has
1 C jw0 j
g10 .z0 / D p f 0 .z0 / > f 0 .z0 /;
2 jw0 j
because p 0j
1Cjw
> 1 is equivalent to .1 jw0 j/2 > 0.
2 jw0 j
9.3 Green’s function and conformal mapping

Let U be a bounded domain of the complex plane and let us recall what Green’s
function of U is. As said in Section 7.5, to get Green’s function of U with pole at
9.3. Green’s function and conformal mapping 399
the point z0 2 U one must find a function h, harmonic on U and continuous on Ux ,

such that h.z/ D 2
1
Log jz z0 j if z 2 @U . Then the function
1
GU .z0 ; z/ D Log jz z0 j h.z/
2
is the sought Green’s function.
The function GU .z0 ; z/, in the variable z, has the following properties:
a) GU .z0 ; z/ is continuous on Ux n fz0 g and harmonic on U n fz0 g.
b) GU .z0 ; z/ 1
2
Log jz z0 j is harmonic on U .
c) GU .z0 ; z/ D 0 when z 2 @U .
It is easy to show that these properties determine the function GU .z0 ; z/. Actually,
if GzU .z0 ; z/ also satisfies a), b) and c), then the function GU .z0 ; z/ G zU .z0 ; z/
x
would be harmonic on U , continuous on U and vanishing on the boundary of U ;
hence by the maximum principle (Corollary 7.20) it should be identically zero in U .
Clearly the function h used to construct Green’s function is the solution of
Dirichlet’s problem in U with boundary values '.z/ D 2 1
Log jz z0 j. Therefore,
knowing how to solve Dirichlet’s problem in U implies knowing how to construct
Green’s function of U with pole at any point of U .
Green’s function has several important properties. For instance, the symmetry.
If z, w are two points of U , z ¤ w, the equality GU .z; w/ D GU .w; z/ holds,
according to Proposition 7.23. Another property is the conformal invariance of
Green’s function. This property is given in the following proposition. It states that
a conformal mapping between two domains transforms Green’s function of one of
them into Green’s function of the other.
Proposition 9.19. Let U , U 0 be two bounded domains of the plane, z0 2 U , w0 2

U 0 and f W U 0 ! U a conformal mapping from U 0 onto U such that f .w0 / D z0 .
Suppose that the domain U has Green’s function with pole at z0 , GU .z0 ; z/. Then
the function GU .z0 ; f .w// is the Green’s function of U 0 with pole at w0 , that is,
GU 0 .w0 ; w/ D GU .z0 ; f .w//; w 2 Ux 0 n fw0 g:
Proof. It is enough to show that the function of w, GU .z0 ; f .w// satisfies conditions
a), b) and c) in the domain U 0 , for the point w0 2 U 0 .
First, by Proposition 8.9, if w approaches a point of @U 0 , then f .w/ approaches
the boundary of U . Since GU .z0 ; z/ vanishes on @U , this proves that GU .z0 ; f .w//
is continuous up to @U 0 and vanishes there. It is clear that this function is harmonic
on U 0 n fw0 g, because it is the composition of a holomorphic function with a
harmonic one.
1
Finally, there is a function h harmonic on U with GU .z0 ; z/ 2 Log jz z0 j D
h.z/, z 2 U . Hence, GU .z0 ; f .w// 2 Log jf .w/ z0 j D h.f .w// is
1
harmonic on U 0 . So,
1
GU .z0 ; f .w// Log jw w0 j
2
1 1
D h.f .w// Log jw w0 j C Log jf .w/ z0 j;
2 2
a harmonic function on U 0 , since
ˇ ˇ
ˇ f .w/ f .w0 / ˇ
ˇ
Log jf .w/ z0 j Log jw w0 j D Log ˇ ˇ
ˇ
w w0
f .w/f .w0 /
and ww0
is holomorphic and non-vanishing around w0 .
Example 9.20. Take as domain the unit disc D. The Green’s function of D with
pole at the origin is
1
GD .0; z/ D Log jzj;
2
since it satisfies conditions a), b) and c). To find Green’s function with a pole
at another point z0 2 D, use the conformal mapping W D ! D, which satisfies
.z0 / D 0. It is the function
z z0
.z/ D ;
1 zN 0 z
and, therefore, Proposition 9.19 gives
ˇ ˇ
1 ˇ z z0 ˇ
GD .z0 ; z/ D Log ˇˇ ˇ:
2 1 zN 0 z ˇ
Example 9.21. Let now U be a bounded simply connected domain of the plane,
z0 2 U and look for Green’s function of U with pole at z0 . By now it is unknown if
Dirichlet’s problem can be solved in U (later on it will be seen that it can). Anyway,
by Riemann’s theorem, there exists a conformal mapping f from U onto the unit
disc D such that f .z0 / D 0. Proposition 9.19 yields
1
GU .z0 ; z/ D Log jf .z/j; z 2 U n fz0 g:
2
So, according to the previous example, the knowledge of the conformal mapping
of a simply connected domain onto the disc allows constructing Green’s function
of the domain. Now it will be shown that, conversely, the knowledge of Green’s
function allows constructing the conformal mapping.
9.3. Green’s function and conformal mapping 401
Proposition 9.22. Let U be a bounded simply connected domain of the plane and
z0 2 U . If there exists the Green’s function of U with pole at z0 , then there is
a conformal mapping f from U onto the unit disc D such that f .z0 / D 0 and
f 0 .z0 / > 0.
Proof. If GU .z0 ; z/ is the Green’s function with pole at z0 , there is a function h,
continuous on Ux and harmonic on U , such that
1
GU .z0 ; z/ Log jz z0 j D h.z/:
2
Since U is simply connected, the function h has a conjugated harmonic function
Q Consider the function f .z0 ; z/ defined by
on U , say h.
Q
f .z0 ; z/ D .z z0 /e 2.h.z/Ci h.z// :
Then f .z0 ; z/ is a holomorphic function of z on U that has a simple zero at the

point z0 and jf .z0 ; z/j D jz z0 je 2h.z/ has value 1 when z 2 @U , because
h.z/ D 2 1
Log jz z0 j, if z 2 @U . Since jf .z0 ; z/j is continuous on Ux , it turns
out, by the maximum principle, that jf .z0 ; z/j 1, z 2 U ; that is, f .z0 ; z/ maps
U into the unit disc and vanishes at the point z0 . We will now show that f .z0 ; z/ is
one-to-one in U and takes every value w 2 D. Then the proposition will be proved
taking f .z/ D f .z0 ; z/, since the condition f 0 .z0 / > 0 is obtained by changing
f .z/ by e i f .z/, with a suitable 2 R.
a) f .z0 ; z/ is one-to-one in U .
If z1 2 U define the function of z,
f .z0 ; z/ f .z0 ; z1 /
'.z0 ; z1 ; z/ D
1 f .z0 ; z1 /f .z0 ; z/
so that ' is holomorphic on U , j'.z0 ; z1 ; z/j 1 and '.z0 ; z1 ; z1 / D 0. Since the
function f .z1 ; z/, constructed similarly to f .z0 ; z/ replacing z0 by z1 , has a simple
zero at the point z1 , it turns out that
'.z0 ; z1 ; z/
h.z/ D
f .z1 ; z/
is holomorphic on U and jh.z/j ! 1 if z tends to @U . By the maximum principle,
one has jh.z/j 1, z 2 U . Hence,
ˇ ˇ
ˇ f .z0 ; z1 / ˇ
jh.z0 /j D ˇˇ ˇ 1;
f .z1 ; z0 / ˇ
and by symmetry, jf .z0 ; z1 /j D jf .z1 ; z0 /j, which leads to jh.z0 /j D 1. Hence,
the function jhj reaches its maximum at a point of U and so jh.z/j D 1, for z 2 U .
The definition of h gives now
j'.z0 ; z1 ; z/j D jf .z1 ; z/j ¤ 0 if z ¤ z1 ;
and, therefore, f .z0 ; z/ ¤ f .z0 ; z1 / if z ¤ z1 . This proves that f .z0 ; z/ is one-

to-one.
b) f .z0 ; z/ is surjective.
Let w 2 D and suppose that f .z0 ; z/ does not take the value w in U . Then the
function
f .z0 ; z/ w
g.z/ D
1 wf
x .z0 ; z/
is holomorphic from U into D with g.z/ ¤ 0, z 2 U . However, jg.z/j ˇ 1! ˇ 1 if z
1
tends to @U , and so the function g.z/ would be also holomorphic, with ˇ g.z/ ˇ ! 1 if
z tends to @U . The maximum principle implies that jg.z/j D 1 for z 2 U , and this
is impossible because, taking z D z0 yields jg.z0 /j D jwj < 1. This contradiction
proves assertion b).
Proposition 9.22 allows us to prove Riemann’s theorem avoiding the use of

normal families on which the proof given in Section 9.2 is based. First, by what has
been done in part A) of the proof of Riemann’s theorem we may assume that the
domain is bounded. Next, we need to show that every bounded simply connected
domain U has a Green’s function. As known, this means we must solve Dirichlet’s
problem in U , with a particular boundary behavior.
This new strategy to show the fundamental theorem of the conformal mapping
was, precisely, the one followed by Riemann, but his proof was incomplete due to
the lack of rigor in the existence of a solution for the Dirichlet problem.
The existence of a solution of Dirichlet’s problem was announced by Dirichlet
himself in 1857, but neither Riemann when he established his theorem in the year
1851, nor Dirichlet provided a correct proof. This existence was, nevertheless,
admitted to be true based on the so-called Dirichlet principle. This principle has
been dealt with in Section 7.12, and now it is recalled here.
If U is a bounded domain and a ' continuous
ˇ function on @U , one looks for a
ˇ
function u such that u D 0 on U and u @U D '. Then the so-called Dirichlet
integral is considered Z
I.u/ D Å 2 dx dy:
jruj
U
Now,ˇ one minimizes the functional I among all functions u 2 C 1 .Ux / that
satisfy uˇ@U D '. It turns out that if u0 is a global minimum of this problem, u0 is
a harmonic function on U and, therefore, u0 is the solution of Dirichlet’s problem
in U with boundary value '. The mistake of Dirichlet was not proving the existence
of a function minimizing the Dirichlet integral.
9.4. Solution of Dirichlet’s problem in an arbitrary domain 403
Therefore, to give Riemann’s proof one has to show in a rigorous way that
Dirichlet’s problem has a solution in a bounded simply connected domain. As said
at the end of Section 7.12, this can be done using Perron’s method, explained in the
next section.
9.4 Solution of Dirichlet’s problem in an arbitrary domain

Perron’s method for the solution of Dirichlet’s problem is completely general and
not limited, therefore, to the case of simply connected domains. It is based on
subharmonic functions which are presented below.
9.4.1 Subharmonic functions

2
In one variable the Laplace equation is written ddxu2 D 0, and its solutions, that is, the
harmonic functions, are of the form u D ax C b, with a and b constants. Imposing
to a function v that, for each interval of the line, it is below the linear function that
equals v at end-points of the interval, means that v is convex. The same approach
in two variables (and also in more variables) leads to the notion of subharmonic
function. That is, a subharmonic function v is a function that on any region of
the plane is below the harmonic function that equals v at its boundary. Since this
formulation involves solving Dirichlet’s problem, an alternative definition will be
given.
Definition 9.23. A real function v, continuous on an open set U of the complex
plane, is said to be subharmonic on U if it satisfies
Z 2
1
v.z0 / v.z0 C re i / d; (9.6)
2 0
x 0 ; r/ U .
for each z0 2 U and r > 0 such that D.z
Inequality (9.6) is called mean value inequality. Clearly every real harmonic
function on U is subharmonic on U because, in this case, equality in (9.6) holds.
Obviously if u is harmonic on U , then juj is subharmonic on U . Hence, if f is
holomorphic, jf j is subharmonic.
The following properties are direct consequences of the definition.
Proposition 9.24. If v1 and v2 are subharmonic functions on U , then the following
functions are also subharmonic:
a) v1 C v2 ,
b) ˛ v1 if ˛ > 0,
c) v D maxfv1 ; v2 g.
x 0 ; r/
Proof. Assertions a) and b) are evident from (9.6). For c) suppose that D.z
U . Then one has
Z 2 Z 2
1 1
vj .z0 / vj .z0 C re / d
i
v.z0 C re i / d; j D 1; 2;
2 0 2 0
R 2
and, therefore, v.z0 / 21
0 v.z0 C re / d.
i

A remarkable property of subharmonic functions is that, like harmonic functions,
they fulfill the maximum principle.
Proposition 9.25 (Maximum principle for subharmonic functions). Let v be a
subharmonic function on a domain U such that v.z/ M , z 2 U , where M is a
constant. If there exists a point z0 2 U such that v.z0 / D M , then v.z/ D M , for
all z 2 U .
Proof. We argue as in the proof of Theorem 7.19. If D.zx 0 ; r/ U , from (9.6) it
follows that Z
1
v.z0 / v.z/ d m.z/:
r 2 D.z0 ;r/
Therefore, one has now
Z
1
Œv.z/ v.z0 / d m.z/ 0;
r2 D.z0 ;r/
but the integrand satisfies v.z/ v.z0 / 0 if v.z0 / D M and so it must be

identically zero on the disc D.z0 ; r/.
Corollary 9.26. Let u be a harmonic function on the domain U , continuous on Ux ,
and let v be a subharmonic function on U such that limz! v.z/ u. / for each
2 @U . Then one has v.z/ u.z/ for all z 2 U .
Proof. Since v u is subharmonic, one may assume limz! v.z/ 0, 2 @U
and to prove that v.z/ 0, z 2 U . Now, the function w.z/ D max.v.z/; 0/
is subharmonic and satisfies limz! w. / D 0, 2 @U . Therefore, defining
w. / D 0 when 2 @U , w is continuous on Ux , subharmonic on U and zero on
@U . Hence, the function w has its maximum at some point z0 2 Ux . If w.z0 / > 0,
then z0 2 U , and, by Proposition 9.25, w would be constant, a fact that contradicts
w. / D 0, if 2 @U . Therefore, w.z0 / D 0, which gives w.z/ D 0, z 2 U and so
v.z/ 0, z 2 U .
This corollary shows that a subharmonic function is below a harmonic func-
tion that equals it at the boundary of a domain. As said, this is analogous to the
behavior of convex functions of one real variable. In this case, it is also known
that the function v is convex if and only if v 00 0, at least in the case that v is
twice differentiable. Analogously it may be proved that if v has continuous partial

derivatives of second order, then v is subharmonic on U if and only if v.z/ 0,
z 2 U (see Exercise 13 in Section 3.8 and Exercise 3 in Section 7.13).
Recall that Dirichlet’s problem in a disc D has been already solved in Theo-
rem 7.26 (see also Example 7.51). It is known that if ' is continuous on @D, then
the solution of Dirichlet’s problem in D with boundary values ' is given by the
Poisson integral of ', denoted by P Œ'. So, P Œ' is a harmonic function on D,
satisfying limz!z0 P Œ'.z/ D '.z0 / for each z0 2 @D.
Let now v be a subharmonic function on the open set U and D a disc such that
Dx U . Define the function vQ on U by
´
Q
v.z/ D P Œv.z/ if z 2 D;
(9.7)
Q
v.z/ D v.z/ if z 2 U n D:
That is, vQ is the function v outside the disc D and inside D it is the harmonic
function which has value v on @D.
The maximum principle has as a consequence the following proposition.
Proposition 9.27. Let v be a subharmonic function on U , D a disc such that
x U and vQ the function defined on U by (9.7). Then vQ is subharmonic on U and
D
v.z/ v.z/,
Q z 2 U.
Proof. By the maximum principle (Corollary 9.26) one has v.z/ v.z/, Q if z 2 D.
Therefore, v.z/ v.z/,
Q for z 2 U . It is also clear that v.z/
Q is continuous on U .
R 2
Now, if z0 2 D, one has v.z
Q 0 / D 2 1
Q 0 C re i / d, if r is small enough,
0 v.z
because vQ is harmonic on D. If z0 … D and D.z x 0 ; r/ U , then
Z 2 Z 2
1 1
Q 0 / D v.z0 /
v.z v.z0 C re i / d Q 0 C re i / d
v.z
2 0 2 0
and, so, vQ is subharmonic on U .
9.4.2 Perron’s method

Let U be a bounded domain of the plane and let ' be a real and continuous function
on the boundary of U . Perron’s method associates to the pair U , ' a harmonic
function u on U that is below ' at the boundary of U . Under appropriate regularity
conditions on @U , u is the solution of Dirichlet’s problem in U with boundary
values '.
In order to construct the function u, define the class P .'/ of functions v that
satisfy the following conditions:
a) v is subharmonic on U .
b) limz! v.z/ '. /, for each 2 @U .
Observe that the class P .'/ is not empty. Actually, since ' is continuous on the
compact set @U , there is a constant M > 0 such that M '.z/ M , z 2 @U
and the constant function equal to M belongs to P .'/. Applying Corollary 9.26
one gets that each function v 2 P .'/ satisfies v.z/ M , for z 2 U .
The harmonic function we are looking for is defined as follows:
u.z/ D supfv.z/ W v 2 P .'/g; z 2 U: (9.8)
As said above, one has u.z/ M for z 2 U , if j'.z/j M , z 2 @U .
Proposition 9.28. The function u given by (9.8) is harmonic on U .
Proof. It is enough to choose a disc D with D x U and prove that u is harmonic

on D.
Fix a point z0 2 D. By the definition of u there exist functions vn 2 P .'/,
n D 1; 2; : : : , such that limn vn .z0 / D u.z0 /. Put Vn D maxfv1 ; : : : ; vn g and for
each n let Vzn be the function that equals Vn on U n D and that is the harmonic
function on D with value Vn at @D (defined according to (9.7)). It is clear that the
sequence .Vn / is increasing and so is the sequence .Vzn /, by the maximum principle.
Due to Propositions 9.25 and 9.27, Vn as well as Vzn belong to P .'/.
The inequalities
vn .z0 / Vn .z0 / Vzn .z0 / u.z0 /
prove that limn Vzn .z0 / D u.z0 / M . Now, by Corollary 9.15, the sequence Vzn
converges on D to a harmonic function u. Q This function satisfies u.z/
Q u.z/, for
z 2 D and u.z Q 0 / D u.z0 /. If one shows that u.z1 / D u.z
Q 1 / for any other point
z1 2 D, the proposition will be proved, because then u
uQ on D and u will be
harmonic.
Fix now z1 2 D and repeat the previous argument. Take functions wn 2 P .'/,
n D 1; 2; : : : with limn wn .z1 / D u.z1 /, replace wn by wn0 D maxfvn ; wn g and
next write Wn D maxfw10 ; : : : ; wn0 g. So Wn will be the function equal to Wn on
U n D and harmonic on D with value Wn on @D. Since .W n / is an increasing
sequence of functions in P .'/ which are harmonic on D, it will converge to a limit
uQ 1 .z/, a harmonic function on D satisfying
Q
u.z/ uQ 1 .z/ u.z/; z 2 D and uQ 1 .z1 / D u.z1 /:
Therefore, the function uQ uQ 1 takes its maximum value equal to zero at the point
z0 and, by the maximum principle, one has u.z/ Q D uQ 1 .z/, z 2 D. So, u.z
Q 1/ D
uQ 1 .z1 / D u.z1 / as claimed.
In order to solve Dirichlet’s problem in U with boundary values ', it remains

to check that limz!z0 u.z/ D '.z0 / for each point z0 2 @U . We introduce the
following definition.
Definition 9.29. A point 0 of the boundary of a bounded domain U is called a

regular point of @U if the condition
lim u.z/ D '. 0 /

z!0
z2U
holds for every function ' defined and continuous on the boundary of U , where u
is the harmonic function on U defined by (9.8).
It is worth noting at this point that if Dirichlet’s problem in U with boundary

values ' has a solution, then this solution necessarily is Perron’s, given by (9.8). To
see this, just observe that if h is a solution of Dirichlet’s problem, then h 2 P .'/,
and hence, h.z/ u.z/, z 2 U . But also each function v 2 P .'/ satisfies
limz! v.z/ '. / D h. / if 2 @U and, by the maximum principle, it follows
that v.z/ h.z/, z 2 U and, consequently, u.z/ h.z/, z 2 U .
Example 9.30. To give an example of a non-regular point, consider the punctured

disc U D D n f0g and the point 0 2 @U . Let ' be the function with value 0 on
the unit circle and '.0/ D 1; then the corresponding Dirichlet’s problem has no
solution and, therefore, the origin is not a regular point of U . Actually, if u was
continuous on Ux with value ' on @U and harmonic on U , the origin would be a
removable singularity of u (Corollary 5.21), that is, u would be harmonic on the
whole disc D and zero on @D. By the maximum principle u should be identically
zero on D, but u.0/ D '.0/ D 1.
In order to find conditions for a point 0 2 @U to be regular, Dirichlet’s problem

will be solved for some special boundary values. Fix 0 2 @U and assume that 0
is a regular point. Take '. / D j 0 j, 2 @U , and let u be the corresponding
Perron’s solution. Since the function jz 0 j is subharmonic, it belongs to P .'/
and, therefore, u.z/ jz 0 j, z 2 U . Writing now h.z/ D u.z/, h is a harmonic
function on U satisfying
lim h.z/ D '. 0 / D 0; lim h.z/ j 0 j < 0; for 2 @U; ¤ 0 :

z!0 z!
z2U
That is, the function h is harmonic, vanishing at 0 and has a strictly negative “value”
at the points of @U different from 0 .
The argument above justifies the following definition.
Definition 9.31. If 0 is a point of the boundary of the bounded domain U , a barrier

at the point 0 is a harmonic function h on U such that
lim h.z/ D 0 and lim h.z/ < 0; for 2 @U; ¤ 0 :

z!0 z!
Example 9.32. a) If U D D is the unit disc and 0 2 @D, a barrier at 0 is the

function h.z/ D Re.z N0 / 1. Just remark that Re.z N0 / D 1 is the equation of the
tangent line to @D at the point 0 .
b) Assume now that 0 2 @U and there is a line segment L having 0 as an
endpoint, with L n f 0 g contained in the exterior of U . Then one can construct a
barrier at the point 0 in the following way: if 1 is the other endpoint of L, the
function .z 0 /=.z 1 / does not vanish on the simplypconnected domain C n L
and, therefore, there exists a holomorphic branch of .z 0 /=.z 1 / in this
domain (we can assume the domain is in C applying the mapping z D z1 ). This
branch maps C n L into a half-plane bounded by a straight line through the origin,
which may in turn be mapped into the imaginary axis by a rotation of angle ˛, for
some ˛ 2 R. This means that the harmonic function
s !
z 0
h.z/ D Re e i˛
z 1
is negative in @U n f 0 g and satisfies h. 0 / D 0.

c) A particular case of b) is when the boundary of U consists, around 0 , of a C 1
curve with non-null derivative. Then C n U contains in its interior a line segment
in the normal direction to @U .
The following result shows that the existence of barriers is not only necessary,
but also sufficient for the regularity at a point of the boundary.
Proposition 9.33. Let 0 be a point of the boundary of the bounded domain U and
suppose there exists a barrier at the point 0 . Then 0 is a regular point of @U .
Before starting the proof of this result, let us make a useful remark on Perron’s
method. It associates to each continuous function ' on @U a harmonic function u
on U according to (9.8) and Proposition 9.28. This correspondence is superlinear
in the following sense:
Let '1 ; '2 2 C.@U / and let u1 , u2 be the harmonic functions associated to '1 ,
'2 by (9.8). Then the harmonic function associated to '1 C '2 is greater than or
equal to u1 C u2 . Equivalently,
supfv.z/ W v 2 P .'1 C '2 /g supfv.z/ W v 2 P .'1 /g C supfv.z/ W v 2 P .'2 /g:
This inequality follows from the definition of the class P .'/.

Proof of Proposition 9.33. Let ' be continuous on @U and assume j'. /j M ,

M > 0, for 2 @U . Fix 0 2 @U and let h be a barrier at the point 0 . If u is the
harmonic function associated to ' by (9.8), one has to show that
lim u.z/ D '. 0 /:
z!0
To this end it is enough to prove, for all " > 0, the two inequalities
lim u.z/ '. 0 / C "; lim u.z/ '. 0 / ":
z!0 z!0
Given " > 0, choose a ı > 0 such that

'. 0 / " '. / '. 0 / C " if 2 @U \ Dı . 0 /:
Let m D supfh.z/ W z 2 U n Dı . 0 /g. By the maximum principle and since
limz! h.z/ < 0 if ¤ 0 , one has m < 0. Write now
h.z/
v.z/ D '. 0 / " .M C '. 0 //
m
so that v is harmonic on U and satisfies
lim v.z/ '. 0 / " '. / if 2 @U \ Dı . 0 /
z!
and
lim v.z/ M " '. / if 2 @U n Dı . 0 /:
z!
Therefore, v 2 P .'/, v.z/ u.z/, z 2 U , and consequently

lim u.z/ lim v.z/ D '. 0 / ":
z!0 z!0
Repeating now the previous argument replacing ' by ' and u by Perron’s function
associated to ', say u1 , we get
lim u1 .z/ '. 0 / ":
z!0
Now, by the remark after Proposition 9.33 we know that u.z/ C u1 .z/ 0. Hence,
u.z/ u1 .z/ and lim u.z/ lim .u1 .z// D lim u1 .z/ '. 0 / C ";
z!0 z!0 z!0
which is the other needed inequality.

Corollary 9.34. Dirichlet’s problem can be solved in any bounded domain U such
that each point of @U is the endpoint of a segment having all the other points in
the exterior to U . This happens, in particular, if @U consists of a finite number of
regular curves.
Proof. According to parts b) and c) of Example 9.32, there is a barrier at each point
of @U and now Proposition 9.33 applies.
9.4.3 Construction of barriers for simply connected domains

and Riemann’s theorem
As said in Section 9.3, to prove the fundamental theorem of conformal mapping
following Riemann, one needs to show that Dirichlet’s problem has a solution in
every bounded simply connected domain. For this it suffices, according to Propo-
sition 9.33, to prove the following result.
Proposition 9.35. If U is a bounded simply connected domain of C, there is a
barrier at every point of the boundary of U .
Proof. Let us fix 0 2
˚ @U and construct a barrier at 0 . If 1 … U is far enough
from U , the set A D z W jz 0 j < 1e jz 1 j is an open set containing U . Since
U is simply connected, the function Log z 0
has a holomorphic branch on U , call
z1
ˇ ˇ
it f . Now, if z 2 U A, one has Re f .z/ D Log ˇ z0 ˇ < 1, that is, f takes
z1
values in the half-plane fw W Re w < 1g (Figure 9.1).
1 1=2
Figure 9.1
The mapping w ! w1 transforms this half-plane into the disc D.1=2; 1=2/ and
1
so, the function f .z/ , holomorphic on U , takes its values in the disc D.1=2; 1=2/.
The function h.z/ D Re f .z/ 1
is harmonic on U and satisfies limz! h.z/ 0, if
2 @U . But limz! h.z/ D 0 only if limz! Re f .z/ D 1, and this is only
possible if D 0 . Therefore, h is a barrier at the point 0 .
Corollary 9.36. Dirichlet’s problem has a solution in every bounded simply con-
nected domain of the plane.
Remark 9.2. Proposition 9.35 does not follow from Corollary 9.34 because if U is
simply connected and 0 2 @U , it may happen there is no segment with an endpoint
9.5. Exercises 411
at 0 and contained in C n U . For example, consider a strip with decreasing width,

rolled like a spiral, U , winding infinitely many times around the origin. Then U
is simply connected, 0 2 @U but, travelling from the origin in any direction, one
finds points of U (Figure 9.2).
Figure 9.2
Summarizing, let us show how all these facts combine to give the second proof
of Riemann’s theorem (Theorem 9.18).
If U ¤ C is a simply connected domain, it is easy to see that U may be con-
formally mapped on a bounded simply connected domain. p It is enough, following
the proof of A) in Section 9.2, to take g.z/ as a branch of z a, a … U , which
is holomorphic and one-to-one on U and satisfies jg.z/ C g.z0 /j r for some
point z0 2 U and some r > 0. Then the function g1 .z/ D g.z/Cg.z 1
0/
sends U
conformally into a bounded domain.
Supposing, then, that U is bounded and simply connected, one can solve Dirich-
let’s problem in U with boundary values z ! 2 1
Log jz z0 j, according to Corol-
lary 9.36. Now, if the harmonic function h is the solution of this Dirichlet problem,
the function GU .z0 ; z/ D 2
1
Log jz z0 j h.z/, z 2 U n fz0 g, is the Green’s func-
tion of U with pole at z0 (Section 9.3), and one just has to apply Proposition 9.22
to finish the proof of Riemann’s theorem.
9.5 Exercises
1. Show the space H.D/ \ L1 .D/ is a closed subspace of L1 .D/.
2. Let U be a domain of C and F a family of holomorphic functions on U .
Assume for each point z 2 U there is a neighborhood V .z/ U such that F
is normal on V .z/. Prove that F is normal on U . (Normal family understood
in Montel’s sense.)
3. Let U be a domain of C and fn 2 H.U / with limn fn .z/ D f .z/ uniformly

on compact sets of U . Suppose f 6
0 and f has m different zeros in U .
Show that, for n big enough, the functions fn have at least m different zeros
on U .
4. Let .cn /n2N bePa bounded sequence of complex numbers. Prove that the
function series 1 cn z n
nD1 1z n converges uniformly on compact sets of D. Show
P1
also that if the series nD1 cn is convergent, then the same function series
converges uniformly on compact sets of C n T to a holomorphic function g.
P
1
Prove in this last case that defining f .z/ D cn z n on D, the equalities
nD1
1
X 1
X
g.z/ D f .z / if jzj < 1
n
and g.z/ D f .z n / if jzj > 1;
nD1 nD0
hold.
5. Let U be a simply connected domain of the plane, U ¤ C and f W U ! U a

holomorphic function. Assume there is a point z0 2 U with f .z0 / D z0 and
jf 0 .z0 /j < 1. Show that the sequence of iterates of f , .fn /, where fn .z/ D
.f B B f /.z/ for n D 1; 2; : : : , is uniformly convergent on compact sets
n times !
of U and find the function limn .fn /.
Show also that this assertion does not hold if U is any domain of C.
6. Prove that a family of holomorphic functions on a domain U taking no value

in a fixed disc of positive radius is a normal family in U (in Montel’s sense).
7. Let U be a domain of C and let fn 2 H.U /, n D 1; 2; : : : , be such that

supn jfn .z/j < C1, for each z 2 U . Show there is a subset Uz U ,
open and dense in U , and a function f 2 H.Uz / with f .z/ D limn fn .z/,
uniformly on compact sets of Uz .
Hint: Use Baire’s theorem.
8. Let U be a domain and fn 2 H.U /, n D 1; 2; : : :, z0 2 U with fn ! f

uniformly on compact sets of U and f 0 .z0 / ¤ 0. Show that there exist a
neighborhood V of z0 , a neighborhood W of f .z0 / and n0 2 N such that
for n n0 , fn and f are one-to-one on V , W fn .V / and fn1 ! f 1
uniformly on W . Find out what happens in the case one assumes f 0 .z0 / D
f 00 .z0 / D f .m1/ .z0 / D 0, f .m/ .z0 / ¤ 0, for some m 2 N, m 1.
Ssimply connected domains of C with Un UnC1 ,

9. Let .Un / be a sequence of
n D 1; 2; : : : and U D 1 nD1 Un ¤ C. Let fn W Un ! D be the conformal
9.5. Exercises 413
mapping given by Riemann’s theorem (fn .z0 / D 0, fn0 .z0 / > 0, for a fixed
point z0 2 U1 ). Show that U is a simply connected domain and that func-
tions fn converge uniformly on compact sets of U to the conformal mapping
f W U ! D with f .z0 / D 0, f 0 .z0 / > 0.
10. Let f be a continuous function on a domain U C. For each r > 0 write

Ur D fz 2 U W d.z; U c / > rg and define on Ur the function
Z 2 Z r
1
fr .z/ D f .z C e i / d d:
r2 0 0
Prove that f is holomorphic on U if and only if there is a sequence of positive

numbers .rn / ! 0 such that frn is holomorphic on Urn for each n D 1; 2; : : : .
11. Prove that a continuous R function f on a domain U is holomorphic on U if

x U.
and only if it satisfies @D f .z/dz D 0, for every disc D such that D
Hint: Use the previous exercise and Exercise 2 in Section 9.5.
12. Let U be a domain of the plane, and K a compact set, K U . Show there
exist two constants m, M > 0 with m u.z/=u.w/ M for every positive
harmonic function u on U and every pair of points z; w 2 K.
13. Let U be a bounded domain. Define d.z; w/, if z; w 2 U , as the infimum

of the set of numbers Log C , where C is any constant C > 1 satisfying
1=C u.z/=u.w/ C for every positive harmonic function u on U . Show
i) d.z; w/ d.z; / C d.; w/ if z; w; 2 U .

ii) limn d.zn ; z0 / D 0 if and only if jzn z0 j ! 0, zn ; z0 2 U .
iii) Compute d.z; w/ in the case U is the unit disc.
14. Let U be a simply connected domain such that 0 2 U D and let F be

the family of functions f W U ! D, holomorphic and one-to-one on U with
f .0/ D 0. If z0 2 U , z0 ¤ 0, let S D supfjf .z0 /j W f 2 F g. Prove that
there is a function g 2 F such that jg.z0 /j D S and this function g maps U
conformally onto D.
15. Let v W D ! R be a subharmonic function. Show the following conditions

are equivalent:
Z 2
i) sup0<r<1 v.re .i/ /d < 1.
0
ii) There exists a function u harmonic on D with v.z/ u.z/, z 2 D.
16. Let U be a bounded domain and ' a function with continuous second-order
derivatives on Ux . Show that ' may be written in U as the difference of two
subharmonic functions.
Hint: One can assume that ' has compact support contained in a neighbor-
hood of Ux . Write ' as the difference of two positive functions and apply
Exercise 13 in Section 3.8.
17. Prove that every simply connected domain of C (that is, its complement is
connected in C ) is conformally equivalent to one (and only one) of the three
following domains:
a) The compactified plane C .
b) The finite plane C.
c) The unit disc D.
18. Show that the Green’s function GU .z0 ; z/ of a domain U is jointly continuous
with respect to the two variables for z ¤ z0 .
19. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane whose boundary is an analytic Jordan
curve (see Section 8.2). Prove the following properties of Green’s function
of U with pole at z0 2 U , G.z0 ; z/:
i) G.z0 ; z/ > 0, if z 2 U , z ¤ z0 .
z 0 ; z/ is the harmonic reflection of G through , then G.z
ii) If G.z z 0 ; z/ < 0
x
if z … U .
iii) @G .z0 ; z/ < 0, for z 2 @U , where N Å is the exterior normal unit vector
Å
@N
to .
20. Let U be a bounded domain of C such that C n U consists of a finite number
of compact connected sets with more than one point. Show that Dirichlet’s
problem has a solution in U . Show that, on the other hand, this problem may
have no solution in U if some of the compact connected sets in C n U is
reduced to a point.
Chapter 10
Runge’s theorem and the Cauchy–Riemann
equations
The first part of this chapter deals with the problem of approximating holomorphic
functions by simpler ones, concretely by rational or polynomial functions. The
basic result is Runge’s theorem, asserting that it is possible to approximate every
holomorphic function on an open set by rational functions with the poles located
at prescribed points outside the open set. This theorem is applied to two classical
problems in complex analysis. The first one is about constructing a meromorphic
function with predetermined poles, as well as its principal part at these poles. The
exact formulation is given by Mittag-Leffler type theorems.
The second problem deals with the solution of the non-homogeneous Cauchy–
Riemann equations, that is, one looks for functions f such that @f N D , where
is a given function. The treatment of this problem is parallel to the one done for the
Poisson equation, 4u D , in Section 7.7. When the data has compact support
in C, the solution of @fN D is given by the Cauchy integral of , which plays a
role similar to the Riesz potential in the equation with the Laplacian. For the case
of a general on an open set of the plane, the solution of the Cauchy–Riemann
equations is based on Runge’s theorem. Finally, we deal with Dirichlet’s problem
corresponding to the operator @, N that is, the solution of the equation @f
N D in a
domain with conditions on f at its boundary.
10.1 Runge’s approximation theorems

Typical examples of holomorphic functions are rational functions and polynomials,
and, to some extent, they are the simplest ones. In this section it will be proved
that, in general, polynomials and rational functions approximate all holomorphic
functions.
We start specifying what it is understood by approximation of functions. Two
kinds of results will be obtained: the first one deals with approximation of functions
on compact sets, and the second one with approximation of functions on open sets
of the plane.
When dealing with continuous functions on a compact set K C, the suitable
notion of approximation is uniform approximation on K. The fact that every func-
tion of a class A of continuous functions on K can be uniformly approximated by
functions of another class B on K means that for every f 2 A and every " > 0
416 Chapter 10. Runge’s theorem and the Cauchy–Riemann equations
there is a function g 2 B such that

jf .z/ g.z/j < "; z 2 K:
Giving to " the values 1=n, n D 1; 2; : : : ; and choosing the corresponding functions
gn 2 B, it turns out that the uniform approximation of the functions of A by
functions of B is equivalent to the fact that every function f 2 A is the uniform
limit on K of a sequence .gn / of functions of B. A more abstract point of view is
considering the metric space C.K/ of continuous functions on K with the distance
d.f1 ; f2 / D max jf1 .z/ f2 .z/j:
z2K
Then the approximation just described is expressed by A B x in C.K/.

When dealing with the approximation by continuous functions on an open set U
then, since these functions are in general not bounded on U , the appropriate notion
of convergence is not the uniform convergence on U , but the uniform convergence
on compact sets of U (see Subsection 9.1.1). A function f of a class A of continuous
functions on an open set U can be uniformly approximated on compact sets of U by
functions of the class B, if for every compact set K U and every " > 0 there is a
function g 2 B such that jf .z/g.z/j < " for z 2 K. It is easy to check that every
function of A can be uniformly approximated on compact sets of U by functions of
B if and only if for every function f 2 A there exists a sequence .gn / of functions
of B such that limn!1 gn D f , uniformly on each compact set of U . Actually,
we need only use Lemma 1.15 and take, for each compact set Kn , "n D 1=n and
gn 2 B the function that approximates f on Kn with an error smaller than "n .
We will often use the following transitivity property: if a class B approximates
all the functions in the class A and a class C approximates all the ones in B, then
the class C approximates the class A. The proof is immediate.
When dealing with the approximation by rational functions, the Cauchy integral
formula suggests how to proceed; indeed an integral is a limit of Riemann sums and
in the case of the Cauchy integral, each of these sums is a rational function. This
is the contents of the following proposition, a warm-up for Runge’s approximation
theorem.
Proposition 10.1. Let be a path in the complex plane and F the holomorphic
function on C n defined by the Cauchy integral
Z
1 f .w/
F .z/ D dw; z … ;
2 i w z
where f is a continuous function on . Let K be a compact set of C disjoint from
and " > 0 arbitrary. Then there is a rational function R with simple poles on
such that
jF .z/ R.z/j < "; z 2 K:
10.1. Runge’s approximation theorems 417
Proof. Let be defined by .t /, a t b. By the uniform continuity of the

function f ..t//=..t / z/ for t 2 Œa; b and z 2 K, there is a partition a D t0 <
t1 < < tn D b of Œa; b such that
ˇ ˇ
ˇ f ..t// f ..ti // ˇˇ 2"
ˇ
ˇ .t/ z .t / z ˇ < M.b a/ ; ti t tiC1 ; z 2 K;
i
M being an upper bound of j 0 .t /j, a t b. Consider now the rational function
1 X f ..tj //
n1

R.z/ D .tj C1 / .tj / :
2 i .tj / z
j D0
Then one has

ˇ Z ˇ ˇ n1 Z tj C1 ˇ
ˇ 1 f .w/ ˇ ˇ 1 X f ..t // f ..tj // 0 ˇ
ˇ ˇ ˇ
dw R.z/ˇ D ˇ .t /dt ˇˇ
ˇ
2 i .w z/ 2 i tj .t / z .tj / z
j D0
1 2"
M .b a/ D ":
2 M.b a/
The following proposition explains the so-called method of translation of poles.
It allows changing the location of poles of rational functions approximating a given
function.
Proposition 10.2. Let K be a compact set of C. Then one has:
a) If V is a connected component of C n K and a; b 2 V , the function 1=.z a/
can be uniformly approximated on K by polynomials in 1=.z b/ (that is,
rational functions holomorphic at the point 1 with a unique pole at the
point b).
b) If V1 is the unbounded component of C n K and a 2 V1 , the function
1=.z a/ can be uniformly approximated on K by polynomials.
c) Conversely, if a … K and 1=.z a/ can be uniformly approximated by
polynomials on K, then a 2 V1 .
Proof. To prove a) consider, for fixed b 2 V , the set
A D fa 2 V W 1=.z a/ is a uniform limit on K of polynomials in 1=.z b/g:
The set A is closed in V because if points an 2 V approach a 2 V , then d.an ; K/

m > 0, for some m. Hence
ˇ ˇ
ˇ 1 1 ˇ ja an j
ˇ ˇD m2 ja an j; for all z 2 K;
ˇ ˇ
z a .z an / jz ajjz an j
and so 1=.z an / converges uniformly to 1=.z a/ on K. Transitivity yields

x r/ V , let us show
a 2 A. The set A is also open in V ; indeed, if a 2 A and D.a;
that every point w 2 D.a; r/ is in A. Consider the expansion
X1
1 1 1 .w a/n
D D D ; z 2 K;
zw z a .w a/ .z a/ 1 wa
za nD0
.z a/nC1
ˇ ˇ
uniformly convergent on K, since ˇ wa za
ˇ < r < 1, D.a;
jzaj
x r/ V and z … V .
This means that 1=.z w/ is uniformly approximated on K by polynomials in
1=.z a/; now, 1=.z a/ is uniformly approximated on K by polynomials in
1=.z b/ and, therefore, also its powers. By transitivity, one gets w 2 A. Hence,
A is open and closed in V , trivially b 2 A and, therefore, A D V .
To prove b) let M D maxfjzj W z 2 Kg and b 2 C with jbj > M C 1; clearly
b 2 V1 , and the expansion
1 X z n
1
1 1
D z D
zb b b 1 b nD0 b
ˇ ˇ
is uniformly convergent on K because ˇ bz ˇ MMC1 < 1 if z 2 K. This means that
1=.z b/ and, therefore, polynomials in 1=.z b/ can be uniformly approximated
by polynomials on K. If a 2 V1 , by part a), 1=.z a/ can be approximated
by polynomials in 1=.z b/ and, by transitivity, 1=.z a/ is approximated by
polynomials on K.
In order to prove c) let us show that if a … K and a belongs to a bounded
component V of C n K, then 1=.z a/ cannot be uniformly approximated by
polynomials on K. It is clear that @V K; hence, if Pn .z/ ! 1=.z a/ uniformly
on K with Pn polynomials, we would have, in particular, thatˇ the sequenceˇ.Pn / is
uniformly convergent on @V . Then for " > 0 we would get ˇPn .z/ za 1 ˇ
< " if
n is big enough and z 2 @V . From here it turns out that
j.z a/Pn .z/ 1j < "jz aj < 1=2; z 2 @V;
if " < 1
Now, by the maximum principle, we obtain j.z a/Pn .z/ 1j
2 diam.Vx /
.
x
1=2 for z 2 V and this inequality is impossible if z D a 2 V .
Theorem 10.3 (Runge’s theorem for compact sets). a) If K is a compact set of
C and C n K is connected, then every holomorphic function on a neighborhood
of K can be uniformly approximated on K by polynomials. Conversely, if this
approximation is possible for every function holomorphic on a neighborhood of K,
then C n K is connected.
b) If C n K is not connected and A C is a set intersecting each bounded
component of C n K, then every holomorphic function on a neighborhood of K
can be uniformly approximated on K by rational functions that have their poles at

points of A.
Proof. Let f be a holomorphic function on a neighborhood U of K and " > 0. By
Lemma 6.6 there is a chain in U n K such that
Z
1 f .w/
f .z/ D dw; z 2 K:
2 i w z
Then by Proposition 10.1 there is a rational function R with poles on C n K
such that
jf .z/ R.z/j < "=2; z 2 K:
The function R.z/ is a linear combination of functions 1=.z aj /, with aj … K.
If C n K is connected, by Proposition 10.2 b), each of these functions can be
uniformly approximated on K by polynomials; hence, there is a polynomial P
satisfying jR.z/ P .z/j < "=2 if z 2 K, and so jf .z/ P .z/j < ", z 2 K. In
other words, the poles that are in the unbounded component of K may be translated
to 1, and then one obtains polynomials.
Suppose now that C n K is not connected and A intersects all the bounded
components of C n K; write R D R1 C R2 , where R1 has poles in the unbounded
component of CnK and R2 has all its poles in the bounded components. As shown,
there is a polynomial P such that jR1 .z/ P .z/j < "=4, z 2 K. To end with, it
is enough to see that all the poles in bounded components may be translated to A,
to obtain R3 with poles in A and jR2 .z/ R3 .z/j < "=4, z 2 K. The function
R2 .z/ is a linear combination of functions 1=.z aj / with aj … K, aj … V1 ,
and therefore it suffices to show that 1=.z a/, a … K, a … V1 can be uniformly
approximated on K by rational functions with poles inside A. If V is the bounded
component of C n K containing a, by hypothesis there is a point b 2 V \ A, and
Proposition 10.2 a) finishes the proof.
The converse of item a) is a consequence of Proposition 10.2 c): if C n K
is not connected, it has a bounded component V , and if a 2 V , the function
1=.z a/, which is holomorphic on a neighborhood of K, cannot be approximated
by polynomials.
Rational functions with poles in the set A of item b) of Theorem 10.3, approxi-
mating a given holomorphic function, are of the form
R D P C R1 ;
where P is a polynomial and R1 .z/ is a linear combination of polynomials in
1=.z a/, a 2 A. For example, if K is the closed annulus K D fz W 0 < R2
jzj R1 < C1g, considering A D f0g we find that every holomorphic function
on a neighborhood of K is uniformly approximated on K by functions of type
P1 .z/ C P2 .1=z/
with P1 and P2 polynomials. This fact is already known, and furthermore, it is

explicitly known which the polynomials P1 and P2 are, since according to The-
orem 5.10 they correspond to partial sums of the Laurent expansion of f in an
annulus C.0; R2 "; R1 C "/, " > 0.
If K has two holes, for example,
K D fz W 1 jzj; 1 jz 2j; jzj 5g;
with A D f0; 2g we get that every holomorphic function on a neighborhood of K

is the uniform limit of functions of type P1 .z/ C P2 .1=z/ C P3 .1=.z 2// with
P1 , P2 , P3 polynomials.
Theorem 10.4 (Runge’s theorem for open sets). a) An open set U C has the
property that every holomorphic function on U is the uniform limit on compact sets
of U of a sequence of polynomials, if and only if C n U has no bounded connected
component.
b) If C n U is not connected and A C is such that AN intersects all the
bounded connected components of C n U , then every holomorphic function on U
is the uniform limit on compact sets of U of a sequence of rational functions with
their poles at points of A.
Proof. Let f be a holomorphic function on U . To prove that approximations in a)

and b) are possible, we must show that, given a compact set K U and a number
" > 0, there exists a function g of the desired kind, that is, a polynomial in case
a) and a rational function with poles in A in case b) such that jf .z/ g.z/j < ",
z 2 K. To this end we can assume that K is one of the compact sets Kn , of the
exhaustive sequence of compact sets of U , given by Lemma 1.15. If C n U has no
bounded connected components, then neither has CnKn , that is, it is connected and
the result follows from Theorem 10.3 a). If C n Kn has some bounded component
V , V is a bounded open set of C containing a bounded component W of C n U . By
hypothesis, AN \ W ¤ ;; hence, AN \ V ¤ ; and being that V is open, A \ V ¤ ;.
Thus A intersects all bounded components of C n Kn , and the statement follows
from Theorem 10.3 b).
It remains only to prove the converse in a); that is, assuming C n U has some
bounded component C , one has to find f 2 H.U / not approachable on compact
sets by polynomials. As in Proposition 10.2 c), consider, for a 2 C , the function
f .z/ D 1=.z a/. If there is a bounded open set V of C, with a 2 V and @V U ,
then one can repeat the proof of Proposition 10.2 c) and arrive at a contradiction in
case that f could be approximated by polynomials on @V . The existence of V is
a purely topological fact, which is a consequence of the following general result,
M
known as Sura-Bura’s theorem (see [3], p. 32):
If F is a closed set of C and C a bounded connected component of F ,

then C is the intersection of all compact and relatively open subsets of
F containing C .
In our case, taking F D CnU it turns out that if CnU has bounded components,
then in C n U there are compact sets A ¤ ; open in C n U . Consider then
B D .C n U / n A, which is closed in C n U and, so, closed in C. The set C n B
is an open set of C containing the compact set A; hence, there is a bounded open
set V with A V Vx C n B. Since @V intersects neither A nor B, one has
@V C n .A [ B/ D U . Summarizing, it has been shown that if U has holes,
there are bounded open sets V of C with @V U and V \ .C n U / ¤ ;; taking
a 2 V \ .C n U / and f .z/ D 1=.z a/ one gets that f 2 H.U / and f is not
uniformly approachable by polynomials on compact sets of U .
In the particular case that U is a disc, the approximation by polynomials of a
function f 2 H.U / given in Theorem 10.4 a) is already provided by the partial
sums of the Taylor series of f .
In general, the easiest set A, when C n U is not connected, consists of a point in
each bounded component of C n U . Then every function f 2 H.U / is uniformly
approximated on compact sets of U by functions of the type
X
0 1
P .z/ C Qa
za
a2A
with P , Qa polynomials and the sum finite. When U is a punctured disc U D

D 0 .0; R/ and A D f0g, these functions are P .z/CQ.1=z/ with P , Q polynomials;
in this case, the Laurent expansion of f in D 0 .0; R/ gives explicitly the result. In
general, it is not easy to find explicitly rational functions approaching a given
function. For instance, if U D D.0; 2/ n Œ1; 1, one can take A D f0g and every
function f 2 H.U / is the uniform limit on compact sets of U of a sequence of
functions of the kind Pn .z/ C Qn .1=z/, but it is not easy to specify the polynomials
Pn , Qn .
Remark that neither in Theorem 10.3 nor in Theorem 10.4 is it assumed that K
or U is connected. This is the case in the following examples.
The characteristic function of any set A will be denoted by 1A .
Example 10.5. Using Runge’s theorems, the existence of a sequence of polynomials
Pn such that
lim Pn .z/ D 0 if z … R; lim Pn .z/ D 1 if z 2 R

n n
will be proved. Consider the compact sets
Kn D fz D z C iy W jzj n; y D 0 or 1
n
jyj ng
and the open sets Vn D fz D x C iy W jxj < n C 1; jyj < 1=3ng. The function
1Vn is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Kn and C n Kn is connected. Therefore,
there are polynomials Pn such that j1Vn .z/ Pn .z/j 1=n if z 2 Kn , that is,
jPn .z/j < 1=n if jxj n, 1=n jyj n and j1 Pn .z/j 1=n if z 2 Œn; n.
Then, clearly Pn .z/ ! 1 if z 2 R and Pn .z/ ! 0 if z … R.
Example 10.6. We construct now a sequence of polynomials Pn such that Pn .0/ D
0 and Pn .z/ ! 1 if z ¤ 0. Writing Pn .z/ D z Qn .z/, it is enough to find
polynomials Qn such that Qn .z/ ! 1=z if z ¤ 0, that is, Qn tends to 1=z pointwise
in C n f0g. Notice that according to the argument used in Proposition 10.2 c) there
cannot exist any sequence of polynomials Qn with Qn .z/ ! 1=z uniformly on
compact sets of C n f0g.
In order to get Qn , consider the compact sets (Figure 10.1)

² ³
1 S 1
Kn D ;n z W jzj n; d.z; RC / :
n n
0 1=n n
Figure 10.1
The function 1=z is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Kn and C n Kn is

connected. Therefore,
S there is a polynomial Qn such that j1=z Qn .z/j < 1=n if
z 2 Kn . Since 1nD1 n D Cnf0g and Kn KnC1 , it turns out that Qn .z/ ! 1=z
K
if z ¤ 0.
A consequence of Runge’s theorem is the following result:
Theorem 10.7. Let K U with K compact and U open, then the following
assertions are equivalent:
a) No connected component of U n K is relatively compact in U .
b) Every bounded component of C n K intersects C n U .
10.2. Approximation of harmonic functions 423
c) Every holomorphic function on a neighborhood of K can be approximated,

uniformly on K, by functions holomorphic on U (indeed, by rational functions
with poles outside U ).
d) For every point z 2 U n K there is a holomorphic function h 2 H.U / such

that jh.z/j > maxw2K jh.w/j.
Proof. To see a) ) b), let V be a bounded component of C n K. If V U , V

would be a component of U n K with @V K U , and so relatively compact in
U . Hence, V intersects C n U . Theorem 10.3 gives b) ) c). Implication c) ) a)
is like in Proposition 10.2 c). The fact that d) implies a) is based on the same idea:
if C is a component of U n K relatively compact in U , then @C K, and, by the
maximum modulus principle, one has
jh.z/j max jh.w/j; z 2 C;

w2K
contradicting a). Finally, suppose a) holds and let z 2 U n K. The compact set
K [ fzg also satisfies a) and, therefore, c). Consider the function f with value 0
on a neighborhood of K and 1 on a neighborhood of z; by c), there is a function
h 2 H.U / such that jf .z/ h.z/j < 1=2 in K [ fzg. Then jh.z/j > 1=2 and
jh.w/j < 1=2, w 2 K. This proves d).
Notice that compact sets Kn constructed in Lemma 1.15 satisfy the properties
of Theorem 10.7 with respect to U .
10.2 Approximation of harmonic functions

In this section an approximation theorem for harmonic functions will be stated,
analogous to the ones in the previous section. It is convenient to be aware of the
results of Section 6.7. In particular, recall that if U is an n-connected domain, every
real harmonic function u on U can be written as
X
n1
u.z/ D aj Log jz ˛j j C Re f
j D1
with ˛j … U , f 2 H.U / and aj 2 R. For any domain U it will be shown that

every harmonic function can be approximated, uniformly on compact sets of U , by
functions of this kind.
Theorem 10.8. a) Every real-valued function
P u harmonic on a neighborhood of a
compact set K can be written as u.z/ D jmD1 aj Log jz ˛j j C Re f for some
m 2 N, with aj 2 R, ˛j … K and f holomorphic on a neighborhood of K.
b) Let U be an open neighborhood of the compact set K such that every com-
ponent of C n K intersects C n U . Then every real-valued function u harmonic on
a neighborhood of K can be approximated, uniformly on K, by harmonic functions
on U of the kind X
0
aj Log jz ˛j j C Re R
with ˛j … U , aj 2 R and R a rational function with simple poles outside U .
c) Every real-valued function u harmonic on a domain U is the uniform limit
on compact sets of U of a sequence of harmonic functions .un /, written as
X .n/
0
un .z/ D aj Log jz ˛j.n/ j C Re Rn ;
with ˛j.n/ … U , aj.n/ 2 R and Rn rational without poles in U .

P
The notation 0 means that the sum only has a finite number of terms.
Proof. For part a) it is enough to note that if U is an open set, U K, by Re-
mark 6.1 there is a polygonal domain U0 with piecewise regular boundary, therefore,
n-connected for some n, (see Section 6.6) such that K U0 Ux0 U . After-
wards, consider Theorem 6.26.
Let K and U satisfy the hypotheses of b) and let u be harmonic on a neighbor-
hood of K written as in item a) with f holomorphic on a neighborhood of K. Then
by Runge’s theorem, f can be uniformly approximated on K by rational functions
Rn with simple poles outside U and, therefore, Re f is approximated by Re Rn .
Consequently, it is enough to show that Log jz ˇj, with ˇ … K fixed, satisfies the
statement of b). Suppose first ˇ 2 V , being V a bounded component of C n K, and
let ˛ … U be a point of this same component V . Define
W D f 2 V W Log jz j is uniformly approximated on K by
functions of the kind Log jz ˛j C Re f; f holomorphicg;
so that ˛ 2 W .
Arguing as in the proof of Proposition 10.2 we get that W is closed in V .
Now it will be shown that W is open in V . If 2 W and D.; r/ V with
r < d.;K/
2
, let us prove that D.; r/ W . If w 2 W , any holomorphic branch of
z
log zw on a neighborhood of K (which exists by Proposition 3.21) has real part
Log jz j Log jz wj. If jw j < r, the expansion
z w X
1
.w /nC1 1
log D log 1 C D .1/n
zw zw nD0
n C 1 .z w/nC1
is uniformly convergent on K because jw j < r < jz wj if z 2 K. Taking

real parts yields that Log jz j Log jz wj can be uniformly approximated by
Re g with g holomorphic. In conclusion, W D V and ˇ 2 W .
10.3. Decomposition of meromorphic functions into simple elements 425
If ˇ belongs to V1 , the unbounded component of C n K, then Log jz ˇj is

uniformly approachable on K by functions of the kind Re f , with f holomorphic.
Indeed, repeating the previous argument one can replace ˇ by any point ˛ 2 V1
with j˛j big enough. Now, in this case, any branch of log.˛ z/ (which exists by
Proposition 3.21) has real part Log jz ˛j, and expanding in power series one has
z X1
z nC1
log.˛ z/ D log ˛ C log 1 D log ˛ ;
˛ nD0
.n C 1/˛ nC1
with uniform convergence on K, if j˛j > maxfjzj W z 2 Kg.

Item c) follows from b) and Lemma 1.15.
10.3 Decomposition of meromorphic functions into simple

elements
10.3.1 Mittag-Leffler’s theorems
Let f be a meromorphic 1function
on C with
a finite number of poles z1 ; : : : ; zn
1
and principal parts P1 zz1
; : : : ; Pn zzn , where P1 ; : : : ; Pn are polynomials
without independent term. Then
X
n
1
g.z/ D f .z/ Pi
z zi
iD1
is an entire function. If, further, f has a pole at infinity, that is, limjzj!1 f .z/ D 1,
then g is a polynomial, P , and f is a rational function, being
X n
1
f .z/ D P .z/ C Pi
z zi
iD1
the decomposition of f into simple fractions.

This section is devoted to study the general case when the function f , meromor-
phic on C, has infinitely many poles .zn /n2N . For convenience it will be assumed
that f has a pole at the origin z0 D 0 and that the points zn are all1 different,
with
limn jzn j D C1. The principal parts are written as P0 z1 , Pn zz n
, where P0 ,
Pn are polynomials without a constant term.
First we will show that there is no restriction for the points zn nor for the principal
parts of f at these points.
Theorem 10.9 (Mittag-Leffler). Let z0 D 0, .zn /n2N be a sequence of points in the
plane with jzn j ! C1 when n ! 1 and .Pn /1 nD0 any sequence of polynomials
without constant term. Then there is a meromorphic
1 function
on C having its poles
exactly at the points zn with principal parts Pn zz n
, for n 2 N [ f0g.
The most obvious choice would be, simply, to take the function
X
1
f .z/ D Pn
n
z zn
whenever this series is convergent in the sense that will be specified now. For each
compact set K C, only a finite number of points zn are in K, so that
X
1
Pn
z zn
zn …K
is a series of holomorphic functions on a neighborhood of K.

P If this series
converges
1
uniformly on K, then it is said that the complete series, n Pn zz n
, converges
uniformly on compact sets. Of course, one P may consider this kind of convergence
for any series of meromorphic functions n gn .z/, with each gn having a unique
pole at the point zn .
Under the above hypothesis, the function f P defined before has the desired
1
properties in Theorem 10.9, but in general the series n Pn zz n
will not converge
uniformly on compact sets and one needs to introduce some correction terms.
Proof of Theorem 10.9. The idea is to introduce polynomials Qn such that the series
X X 1
def 1 1
gn .z/ D P0 C Pn Qn .z/ (10.1)
n
z nD1
z zn
converges uniformly on compact sets. Since Qn are polynomials,

P the principal part
of each term of the series is Pn zz1
n
and the function f .z/ D n gn .z/ will have
the right behavior.
The choice
of polynomials Qn is not unique and it is easy to do. The function
Pn zz 1
n
is holomorphic on the disc D.0; jzn j/. Write
1
X
1
Pn D cn;m z m
z zn mD0
x jzn j=2/ this expansion converges

for its Taylor expansion. On the compact set D.0;
P n
uniformly and, therefore, we can consider a partial sum Qn .z/ D N mD0 cn;m z
m
with Nn big enough such that

ˇ ˇ
ˇ 1 ˇ
ˇP Qn .z/ˇˇ 2n if jzj jzn j=2:
ˇ n
z zn
These polynomials Qn will work because, fixing a disc D.0; x R/, one will have
x R/.
R < jzn j=2 for n big enough and (10.1) will converge uniformly on D.0;
In Theorem 10.9 a meromorphic function with prescribed principal parts at

given points has been constructed. The result may be reinterpreted as a theorem
about the structure of all meromorphic functions.
Corollary 10.10. The
1 general
expression of a function F meromorphic on C with
principal parts Pn zzn
, n D 0; 1; 2; : : : at the points z0 D 0, .zn /n2N is
X 1
1 1
F .z/ D h.z/ C P0 C Pn Qn .z/ ;
z nD1
z zn
where h is an entire function and the functions Qn are polynomials such that the
series converges uniformly on compact sets.
Proof. Just take the meromorphic function f constructed in the proof of Theo-
rem 10.9 and observe that another meromorphic function F has the same poles and
the same principal parts as f if and only if F f is entire.
1 ˛n
In the case all the poles are simple one has, Pn zzn D zz n
, ˛n 2 C, and
the expansion of this fraction in D.0; jzn j/ is
1
X
˛n ˛n ˛n zm
D D D ˛n :
z zn zn z zn 1 z
zn mD0
znmC1
P n zm
If Qn is the n -th partial sum, Qn .z/ D ˛n mD0 z mC1 , then the difference
n
˛n
zzn
Qn .z/ is
1
z n C1 n C1
X zm ˛ n zn ˛n z
˛n D D :
znmC1 zn 1 zn z
z zn zn
mD n C1
Corollary 10.11. The general expression of a function F meromorphic on C with

simple poles at the points z0 D 0, .zn /n2N and residue ˛n at the pole zn is
1 n C1
˛0 X ˛n z
F .z/ D h.z/ C C ;
z nD1
z z n zn
where the numbers n are positive integers such that the series converges uniformly
on compact sets and h is an entire function.
If the residues ˛n are uniformly bounded, the conditions of the previous corol-
lary hold if the numbers n make the series
X jzj n C1
n
jzn j n C2
P
converge uniformly on compact sets. For instance, if n jz j1C2 < C1 for some
n
positive integer , then one can take n D , for every n 2 N.
2
Example 10.12. Consider the meromorphic function f .z/ D sin2 z that has a
double pole at each integer point zn D n, n 2 Z. To find the principal part around
each pole consider first the expansion of sinz around the point n,
.1/n
D C c1 .z n/ C :
sin z zn
Now, squaring yields
2 1
D C :
.sin z/2 .z n/2
In this case the series of principal parts already converges and one has
C1
X
2 1
D C h.z/
2
sin z nD1
.z n/2
with h an entire function. To determine the function h, consider the square QN

centered at the origin and with side 2N C 1; one has j sin zj2 D sin2 x C sh2 y,
a quantity bounded below by 1 for jxj D N C 1=2 as well as for jyj D N C 1=2,
that is, bounded below if z 2 @QN , independently of N . Also if z 2 @QN , one has
ˇX ˇ X X
ˇ 1 ˇ 1 1
ˇ ˇ < C1:
n
.z n/ 2
n
jz nj 2
n
.n 1=2/2
So, by the maximum modulus principle, the function h is bounded on each square
QN by a bound which does not depend on N and, by Liouville’s theorem, it must
be equal to a constant C . Letting z D iy and y ! C1, we get C D 0. Hence, it
turns out that
C1
X X
2 1 1 1
D D C :
2
sin z nD1
.z n/ 2 z 2 .z n/2
n¤0
In particular,
X1
1 2 1 2
2 2
D lim 2
2
D :
nD1
n z!0 sin z z 3
Similarly, the decomposition
C1
X
cot z 1
3 D :
2
sin z nD1
.z n/3
can be obtained.
Example 10.13. Consider now the function f .z/ D cot z D cos z

sin z
. It has
simple poles at the integers, zn D n 2 Z, with residue 1. Since
X 1 X 1
D < C1;
jzn j2 n2
zn ¤0 n¤0
one can consider n D 0 for every n, that is, Qn .z/ D n1 and it turns out that
cos z 1 X 1 1
1
1 X 2z
D h.z/ C C C D h.z/ C C :
sin z z n¤0
zn n z nD1 z 2 n2
n2Z
Now the function cot z is also bounded on the boundary of squares QN with
center 0 and side 2N C 1 considered in Example 10.12. Actually, one has
cos2 x C sh2 y
2 j cot zj2 D 2
sin2 x C sh2 y
so that for jxj D N C 1=2,
sh2 y
2 j cot zj2 D 2 2
1 C sh2 y
and for jyj D N C 1=2,

21 C sh2 .N C 1=2/ 1
j cot zj
2 2
2 1 C 2 ; for every N:
sh .N C 1=2/
2
sh 3=2
A similar argument to the one of Example 10.12 gives h

0 and, finally, we obtain
1
cos z 1 X 2z 1 X 1 1
D C D C C :
sin z z nD1 z n
2 2 z zn n
n¤0
If instead the function sinz is considered, the poles are the same points zn D n
and the residues .1/n . One has then
X1
1 .1/n
D C 2z :
sin z z nD1
z 2 n2
Theorem 10.9 holds on any domain U . The proof is similar to the case U D C;
just choose the correction terms Qn – in this case, rational functions with poles
outside U – using Runge’s theorem.
Theorem 10.14. Let U be a domain of the plane and A U a discrete closed set
in U . For each point a 2 A, suppose a polynomial Pa without constant term is
given. Then there is a meromorphic
1 function on U having its poles at the points
a 2 A with principal part Pa za .
Proof. Let .Kn /1

nD1 be a sequence of compact sets as in Lemma 1.15. Let
X
1
Qn .z/ D Pa ;
za
a2A\.Kn nKn1 /
where the sum is finite because A has a finite number of points in every compact
set. Each function Qn is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Kn1 ; as in the proof
of Theorem 10.4, there is a rational function Rn with poles in C n U such that
jQn .z/ Rn .z/j < 2n , z 2 Kn1 . Then the function
1
X
Q1 .z/ C .Qn .z/ Rn .z//
nD2
works.
10.3.2 Cauchy’s method

One of the difficulties that appear when applying Corollary 10.10 is how to find
the entire function h. For this reason it is convenient to consider besides Mittag-
Leffler’s theorem another method, due to Cauchy, which allows us to develop a
meromorphic function on C into simple elements. It is explained below (see [11]).
Start with a meromorphic
1 function on C, f , with poles at points .zn /n2N and
principal parts Pn zz . One can assume f is holomorphic around the origin
n
because if z0 D 0 was a pole with principal part P0 z1 , we would consider the
function f .z/ P0 .1=z/.
Let C D @D.0; R/ be a circle centered at the origin not passing through any
pole of f (C could also be the boundary of a square centered at the origin) and
consider the integral
Z
1 f .w/
dw with jzj < R; z ¤ zn ; for all n 2 N:
2 i C wz
By the residue theorem this integral equals f .z/ plus the sum of the residues of
the function fwz
.w/
at each point zn with jzn j < R. Let us show that the residue of
1 1 Pr cl
this function at zn is Pn zz n
. Write Pn wz n
D lD1 .wz /l
and f .w/ D
n

Pn 1
wzn
C fn .w zn / with fn holomorphic around zn . Then one has
X .w zn /k1 1
f .w/ 1 f .w/
D wzn D f .w/
wz z zn 1 zzn .z zn /k
kD1
X
r
X1
cl .w zn /k1
D fn .w zn / C ;
.w zn /l .z zn /k
lD1 kD1
Pr cl
and the coefficient of 1
wzn
is lD1 .zzn /l D Pn 1
zzn
. Using now
1 1 1 z z k1 zk
D D C 2 C C k C k ;
wz w.1 z=w/ w w w w .w z/
which holds for any natural k, it follows that
Z Z
1 f .w/ 1 1 z z k1
dw D f .w/ C 2 C C k dw
2 i C w z 2 i C w w w
Z
1 z k f .w/
C dw:
2 i C w k .w z/
The value of the first integral on the right-hand side is the sum of the residues
of its integrand at the points of the set f0g [ fzn W jzn j < Rg. These residues are
Z
1 1 z z k1
f .w/ C 2 C C k dw
2 i Cn w w w
if Cn is a small circle around zn if n 1 and C0 surrounds the origin (Figure 10.2).
Denoting these residues by Q0 .z/ at the origin and Qn .z/ at the point zn , Q0 .z/
is the sum of the k first terms of the Taylor series of f around the origin (recall that
f is holomorphic at the origin) and Qn .z/ is a polynomial in z of degree smaller
than k.
Summarizing, we get
X Z
1 1 f .w/
f .z/ D Pn C dw
z zn 2 i C w z
jzn j<R
X
k1
f .l/ .0/ l X 1
D z C Pn Qn .z/ (10.2)
lŠ z zn
lD0 jzn j<R
Z
1 z k f .w/
C dw:
2 i C w k .w z/
We now claim that Qn .z/ is the sum of the first k terms of the Taylor series of
Pn zz1
n
around the origin. Actually, Qn .z/ is the residue of the function
C1 R
z1
C0
0 Cn
zn
z2
C2
Figure 10.2
1 1 z k1

Pn wz n w
C w
z
2 C C w k at the point zn . This function is rational and
has one pole at the origin and one pole at the point zn ; moreover it is holomorphic
at infinity. Then, by Proposition 5.24, the sum of its residues must be zero and the
claim is proved because
1 the residue at the origin is just the Taylor polynomial of
degree n 1 of Pn zz n
.
Finally, assume f satisfies the following growth condition:
There exist circles C.0; Rn /, Rn ! C1, and numbers "n > 0 with
"n ! 0 such that
jf .z/j "n jzjk ; if z 2 C.0; Rn / .k a fixed natural number).
In this case one can write formula (10.2) for each C.0; Rn / and let Rn ! C1.
The last integral in (10.2) tends to zero because it is bounded in absolute value by
jzjk "n Rnk Rn

2Rn D jzjk "n ! 0; when n ! 1:
2 Rn .Rn jzj/
k Rn jzj
Hence we get the following decomposition of f :
X 1
f .l/ .0/ l X
k1
1
f .z/ D z C Pn Qn .z/ ;
lŠ nD1
z zn
lD0
1
where, recall, Qn .z/ is the Taylor polynomial of degree k 1 of Pn zzn
around
the origin. 1 ˛n
If all the poles zn are simple, then Pn zz D zz with ˛n D Res.f; zn / and
˛n P
k1 z l n n
so Qn .z/ D zn lD0 zn .
Assume, in addition, that f is uniformly bounded on a sequence of circles

C.0; Rn /, Rn ! 1, say jf .z/j M , z 2 C.0; Rn /, n D 1; 2; : : : ; then
f .z/ M
!0 if z 2 C.0; Rk /
jzj Rk
and we may take k D 1, that is, Qn .z/ D ˛znn .
Example 10.15. The expansion of the function cot z of Example 10.13 is im-
mediately obtained with Cauchy’s method. Actually, since the function f .z/ D
cot z z1 is bounded on the boundary of the squares QN of Example 10.13, we
can take k D 1. Then we compute

1 1
f .0/ D 0; Pn D if n 2 Z; n ¤ 0;
zn zn
and since the poles are simple with residue 1, we get Qn .z/ D n1 . So, cot z D
P 1
1
z
C n¤0 zn C n1 .
Example 10.16. Let w, w 0 be two non-zero complex numbers such that w=w 0 … R
and consider the set of points of the plane
D fmw C nw 0 W m; n 2 Zg:
Considering at each point of the straight lines directed by w and w 0 , a division

of the plane by a grid of parallelograms is obtained.
Let us now look for a meromorphic function on C having a simple pole with
residue 1 at each point of . To this end P enumerate the points of by z0 D 0,
z1 ; z2 ; : : : ; zn ; : : : . It is easy to check that 1nD1 jzn j3 < C1. Indeed, for k 1
1
let Gk be the set of points of obtained with m D ˙k and k P n k, or

n D ˙k and k m k. There are 8k of these points. If Sk D zn 2Gk jz 1j3
n
and ı is the distance from the origin to the grid of parallelograms (see Figure 10.3),
one has jzn j kı if zn 2 Gk and
1 8 1
Sn 8k 3
D 3 2
.ık/ ı k
P P
so that 1
n jzn j3 D k Sk < C1.
1
In this case, Pn zzn
D zz
1
n
and we can take as Qn .z/ the two first terms in
1
the Taylor expansion of zzn around the origin. That is,
1 z
Qn .z/ D 2:
zn zn
ı w0
0 w
Figure 10.3
So, the function we are looking for is

1
1 X 1 1 1
.z/ D C C C 2 ;
z nD1 z zn zn zn
where zn , n 1 are, as said above, the non-zero points of the set . The function
.z/ is called Weierstrass’ -function.
10.3.3 The method of residues

Another way to expand a meromorphic function into simple elements and, also, of
summing series is based on the residue theorem.
To illustrate this method fix a meromorphic function on the plane, ', having
only simple poles at a sequence of points of the kind zn D z0 C n, z0 2 C, n 2 Z,
with residues ˛n , n D 0; ˙1; ˙2; : : : . Let f be a meromorphic function on an
open set U and let be a closed path of U such that Ind.; z/ D 0 or 1, for every
z 2 C, not passing through any singularity of ' nor f . Then
Z X X
1 0 0
f .z/'.z/dz D ˛n f .z0 C n/ C Res.f '; w/;
2 i n w
with the first sum taken at the poles of ' at which f is regular and the second
one taken at the singular points of f , considering, for ' as well as for f , just
the singularities that are in the interior of . Suppose now f is a rational func-
tion such that jzf .z/j ! 0 if jzj ! 1 and take as the boundary, N , of a
square of sides x D ˙.a C N /, y D ˙.a C N / with a > 0 fixed and N nat-
ural. If, in addition,
R the function ' is uniformly bounded on N , for all N , then
limN !1 21 i N f .z/ '.z/dz D 0. Actually, jzj N if z 2 N and the length
of N is 8N C 8a so that for j'.z/j M on N , one gets

ˇZ ˇ ˇZ ˇ
ˇ
ˇ
ˇ
ˇDˇ
ˇ dz ˇˇ M.8N C 8a/
ˇ f .z/'.z/dz ˇ ˇ zf .z/'.z/ sup jzf .z/j ! 0:
N N z ˇ N jzjDN N !1
Summarizing, we obtain the formula

1
X X
˛n f .z0 C n/ D Res.f '; w/; (10.3)
nD1 w
with the sum on the left-hand side taken at the points z0 C n where f is regular,
and the sum on the right, taken at the poles of f .
Example 10.17. Considering '.z/ D cot z, the poles are the points zn D n 2 Z
and the residues are ˛n D 1; one can use N D @QN , where QN are the squares
in Example 10.12. Then if f is rational with jzf .z/j ! 0, jzj ! 1, one has
1
X X
f .n/ D Res.f .z/ cot z; w/
1 w
with the sum on the left-hand side extended to the integers n that are not poles of
f and the sum on the right-hand side extended to the poles of f .
If f .z/ D z12 , it turns out, in particular, that
1
X
1 1
2 D Res 2 cot z; 0 :
1
n2 z
The origin is a pole of order 3 of the function z 2 cot z and we must compute the
coefficient of z in the expansion of cot z. Writing cot z D a1 z
C a0 C a1 z C
and identifying coefficients in the equality cos z D sin z cot z, we obtain a1 D 13 .
Therefore, Res.z 2 cot z; 0/ D 2 =3 and
X1
1 2
D :
nD1
n2 6
Pfunctions cosec
Using the P z, tan z and
P sec z one can sum up series
of the form .1/n f .n/, f .n C 1=2/ and .1/n f .n C 1=2/, where f is of
the kind considered above.
Example 10.18. Another remarkable application of formula (10.3) is the decompo-

sition of the meromorphic function ' into simple fractions. Suppose, for example,
that the simple poles of ' are the integer numbers with residue ˛n and that ' is
uniformly bounded on @QN (the squares of Example 10.12). Take f .z/ D 1

w 2 z 2
with w 2 C, w not integer; then (10.3) yields
1
X ˛n C ˛n X
˛0 1
C D Res '.z/; z D ˙w
w 2
nD1
w 2 n 2 w 2 z2
1
D .'.w/ '.w// :
2w
That is, changing now w to z,
1
'.z/ '.z/ ˛0 X .˛n C ˛n /z
D C 2 n2
:
2 z nD1
z
If ' is an odd function, this expansion will be the one of ' and if, in addition, the
residues all have value 1, one gets '.z/ D cot z. If the residues are ˛n D .1/n ,
then it turns out that '.z/ D sinz .
10.4 The non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equations in

the plane. The Cauchy integral
Harmonic functions are the solutions of the homogeneous Laplace equation
u D 0. In Chapter 7 it has been shown that it is also important to solve the
non-homogeneous Laplace equation u D , with a given function. In a similar
way, holomorphic functions are solutions of the homogeneous Cauchy-Riemann
equations @f N D 0. We consider now the non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann
equations @f N D , first in the whole plane and afterwards in any domain.
The equation @f N D is quite different from the equation u D ; first of all,
N@ is a first-order operator and a second-order one. Moreover the Laplacian is a
real operator, and so the study of the equation u D may be done, without loss
of generality, for real functions. Instead, the operator @N D 12 @x
@
C i @y
@
transforms
real functions into complex functions. Writing f D u C iv, D ˛ C iˇ and
separating real and imaginary parts, the equation @f N D is equivalent to
1 1
.ux vy / D ˛; .vx C uy / D ˇ:
2 2
These are two connected real equations of first order, that is, they cannot be taken
separately. If one is only interested in real solutions (v D 0/, the above equations
become
1 1
ux D ˛; uy D ˇ
2 2
that is, du D 2.˛dxCˇdy/. As it is known, this equation, saying that ˛dxCˇdy is
an exact form, does not always have a solution. It is necessary for ˛ and ˇ to satisfy
10.4. The non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equations in the plane 437
a compatibility condition; for a simply connected domain and ˛, ˇ differentiable

this condition is ˛y D ˇx . Analogously, if the data is real (ˇ D 0), then simply
take f D u real (v D 0) with u depending only on x and u0 .x/ D 2˛.
N D , has a solution f0 , it has infinitely many because
If the equation @f
adding any holomorphic function to f0 another solution is obtained. So to obtain
uniqueness for the solution it will be necessary, as usual, to add some condition to
the problem.
Next a parallel development to the one in Section 7.7 will be done, replacing
N
the operator by the operator @.
N is a
Proposition 10.19. a) If f is a differentiable function on C such that @f
continuous function with compact support and limjzj!1 f .z/ D 0, then one has
Z N
1 @f .w/
f .z/ D d m.w/; z 2 C:
C wz
In particular, this equality holds if f 2 Cc1 .C/ (cf. Lemma 6.7).
b) Given a function 2 Cc .C/, if there is a solution f differentiable on C of
N D , with limjzj!1 f .z/ D 0, then this solution is unique and is
the equation @f
given by Z
1 .w/
f .z/ D d m.w/; z 2 C: (10.4)
C wz
Proof. Applying Theorem 4.2 to a disc D.0; R/ big enough so that it contains the
N , we get
support of @f
Z Z N
1 f .w/ 1 @f .w/
f .z/ D dw d m.w/; jzj < R:
2 i C.0;R/ w z C wz
Now f is holomorphic for jwj > R and, since limjzj!1 f .z/ D 0, it has a remov-
P
able singularity at infinity; therefore it can be expanded as f .w/ D 1nD1 cn w
n
f .w/
for jwj big enough. With a fixed z, the function wz is holomorphic at infinity as
well, with an expansion of the kind d2 w 2 C O.w 3 /; that is, it has residue 0 at
the point 1. Then (Subsection 5.5.2) one has
Z
f .w/
dw D 0
C.0;R/ w z
for R big enough and a) is proved. Obviously, b) is a reformulation of a).

Part b) in the proposition above does not prove that the function f defined by
N D for 2 Cc .C/. Observe that, since the integral
(10.4) is a solution of @f
is extended only to K D spt./, f is holomorphic outside K and, therefore, the
N D D 0 holds outside K. As for the Laplacian, it is convenient to
equality @f
extend the integral of (10.4) to any measure.
Definition 10.20. Given a real or complex measure with compact. support

K C and jj.K/ < C1, the integral
Z
1 d.w/
C./.z/ D
C zw
is called the Cauchy integral of . If D d m, we will write C./ D C./
Proposition 10.21. The Cauchy integral C./.z/ is defined at all points z … K D
spt./ and gives a holomorphic function on C n K.
Proof. It is totally analogous to the proof of Proposition 7.34.
Proposition 10.22. If 2 Cc1 .C/, the Cauchy integral C./ is of class C 1 on C

N
and satisfies @C./ D . If 2 Cck .C/, then C./ 2 C k .C/.
Proof. With a change of variable one has

Z
1 .z w/
C./.z/ D d m.w/:
C w
Applying Proposition 7.36, on differentiation of convolutions, it turns out that
Z N Z N
N 1 @.z w/ 1 @.w/
@C./.z/ D d m.w/ D d m.w/ D .z/;
C w C zw
where the last equality is a consequence of Proposition 10.19.
Example 10.23. Let us compute C./ for a radial function .z/ D h.jzj/ with h
locally integrable on Œ0; C1/. Integrating in polar coordinates, one has
Z ²Z 2 ³
1 1 d
C .z/ D h.r/r dr:
0 0 z re i
Using, for example, residues it can be easily checked that the integral with respect
to has value 0 for jzj < r and 2=z for jzj > r, so that
Z jzj
2
C .z/ D h.r/rdr:
z 0
Rr
N
If g.r/ D 0 h.s/sds, one has therefore, C .z/ D z2 g.jzj/. Now, since @.jzj/ D
1 z
1=2
2 zN
, it turns out that
1=2
N .z/ D 2 g 0 .jzj/ 1 z
@C D
1
h.jzj/jzj D h.jzj/ D .z/:
z 2 zN jzj
10.4. The non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equations in the plane 439
There is a close relation between Cauchy integral C./ and Riesz potential
G./, which on C is the logarithmic potential,
Z
1
G./.z/ D .w/ Log jz wjd m.w/:
2
Differentiating yields
Z
1
@G./.z/ D .w/@z Log jz wjd m.w/:
2
Now,
1 1
@z Log jz wj D @z Log jz wj2 D @z .Log.z w/ C Log.zN w//
N
2 2
1 1
D :
2zw
That is, if 2 Cc .C/, one has
C./ D 4@G./:
In general, C./ is not defined everywhere, but it exists at almost every point
with respect to Lebesgue measure.
Proposition 10.24. The Cauchy integral, C./.z/, of a measure with compact
support K and jj.K/ < C1 is defined for almost all z 2 C and C./ 2 L1loc .C/.
Proof. Since 1=z is locally integrable (Lemma 4.1), one has, for R > 0,
Z Z Z
1 d jj.w/
jC./j.z/d m.z/ d m.z/
D.0;R/ D.0;R/ K jz wj
Z Z
1 1
d jj.w/ d m.z/
K D.0;R/ jz wj
M jj.K/ < C1;
where M is a constant depending on R.
Definition 10.25. Let be a measure of locally finite mass on a domain U of C.
N D in U in the
A function u 2 L1loc .U / is said to be a solution of the equation @u
weak sense if for every function ' 2 Cc .U / one has
1
Z Z
N
u.z/@'.z/d m.z/ D '.z/d.z/:
U U
The same comments made in Subsection 7.7.2 apply here. Namely, if u 2

N D in the weak sense, then @u
C 1 .U / and @u N D in the usual pointwise sense.
Theorem 10.26. If is a measure with compact support and finite mass on C, then
N
@C./ D in the weak sense on C.
Proof. As in Theorem 7.42, one has for ' 2 Cc1 .C/,
Z Z Z
N 1 d.w/ N
C./.z/@'.z/d m.z/ D @'.z/d m.z/
C C C zw
Z ´ Z N μ
1 @'.z/
D d m.z/ d.w/
C C zw
Z
D '.w/d.w/;
thanks to Proposition 10.19.

Analogously one may deal with weak solutions of the equation @v D , in the
domain U . They are functions v 2 L1loc .U / such that
Z Z
v.z/@'.z/d m.z/ D '.z/d.z/
U U
for every ' 2 Cc1 .U /.

The definition of weak solution for the operators @, @, N does not depend on
hypotheses of regularity and it can be applied to any locally integrable function. It
is easy to check from the definitions that u1 ; u2 ; u3 2 L1loc .U / and
N 1 D u2
@u and @u2 D u3 ;
N 1 D 4@u2 D 4u3 in the weak sense
in U in the weak sense, imply u1 D 4@@u
in U .
Proposition 10.27. Let U be a domain of the plane and let the function u 2 L1loc .U /
N D 0 in the weak sense. Then u is holomorphic on
satisfy in U the equation @u
U . For every measure with compact support and finite mass on C one has
@G./ D 14 C./ in the weak sense.
N D 0 in the weak sense, then u D 4@@u
Proof. If @u N D 0 in the weak sense. By
N D0
Weyl’s lemma (Theorem 7.45) it turns out that u 2 C 1 .U / and, therefore, @u
N
in the pointwise sense and u is holomorphic on U . Also, @@G./ D 14 G./ D
1 N
in the weak sense. Thus, @.4@G./ C.// D 0 in the weak sense and
4
4@G./ C./ is an entire function. Since this function vanishes at infinity, it
must be identically zero and it turns out that 4@G./ D C./.
Combining the previous proposition with Proposition 7.38 and Theorem 7.46
one obtains the following result.
10.5. The non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equations in an open set 441
Theorem 10.28. a) If 2 L1

c .C/, then C./ satisfies
a Lipschitz condition of type
jC./.z/ C./.w/j D O jz wj Log jzwj1
, on compact sets.
b) If 2 Cc .C/ is locally Lipschitz, that is, satisfies a local Lipschitz condition
with positive exponent:
j.z/ .w/j c.z/jz wj˛ ; ˛ > 0; c.z/ 0; if jz wj ı.z/;
N
then C./ is of class C 1 on C and satisfies @C./ D .
Example
Rr 10.29. If is radial and bounded, .z/ D h.jzj/, the function g.r/ D
0 h.s/sds in Example 10.23 satisfies
Z r2
1
jg.r1 / g.r2 /j jh.s/jsds khk1 .r22 r12 /; 0 < r1 < r2 :
r1 2
Since C./.z/ D z2 g.jzj/, assuming jz1 j jz2 j, we get
ˇ ˇ
ˇ g.jz1 j/ g.jz2 j/ ˇˇ
jC./.z1 / C./.z2 /j D 2ˇˇ
z z2 ˇ
ˇ 1 ˇ ˇ ˇ
2 ˇˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ C 2jg.jz j/jˇ 1 1 ˇ
ˇ
ˇg.jz j/ g.jz j/
2 ˇ 1 ˇ
z1 z2 ˇ
1
jz2 j

jz2 j2 jz1 j2 jz1 j2 jz1 z2 j
khk1 C
jz2 j jz1 jjz2 j

jz2 j C jz1 j jz1 j
D khk1 jz1 z2 j C
jz2 j jz2 j
3khk1 jz1 z2 j:
Therefore when is bounded and radial, the Cauchy transform, C./, satisfies a
stronger condition than one given in a) of Theorem 10.28.
10.5 The non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equations in

an open set. Weighted kernels
So far the properties of the Cauchy integral C./, where is a measure on C
with compact support K and jj.K/ < 1, have been considered, as well as the
N D . To solve the equation @f
solutions in the weak sense of the equation @u N D
with 2 C.U / in a bounded domain U C one may take, simply, the measure
D d mjU , whenever 2 L1 .U /.
Proposition 10.30. Let U be a bounded domain of C and 2 L1 .U / \ C.U /.
Then the Cauchy integral
Z
1 .w/
C./.z/ D d m.w/; z 2 U
U zw
N
defines a continuous function on U satisfying @C./ D in the weak sense in U .
1 N
If is locally Lipschitz on U , then C./ 2 C .U / and @C./ D in the classical
sense in U .
N
Proof. It is known that C./ 2 L1loc .C/ and @C./ D d mjU in the weak sense
on C and, therefore, also on U . To see that is continuous on U , fix a disc
x 0 ; r/ U , consider a function 2 Cc1 .U / such that D 1 on D.z
D.z x 0 ; r/
and define 1 D , 2 D .1 /. Then C./ D C.1 / C C.2 /; C.1 / is
continuous on C (because 1 is bounded and Theorem 10.28 a) applies) and C.2 /
is holomorphic on D.z0 ; r/; thus C./ is continuous on D.z0 ; r/. Since this disc is
arbitrary, C./ 2 C.U /. If in addition satisfies a local Lipschitz condition, it is
so for 1 and, by Theorem 10.28 b), C.1 / is in C 1 .C/, and C./ 2 C 1 .U /.
N D on U .
If … L1 .U /, one has, a priori, no way to solve the equation @f
Analogously, one has, at the moment, no way to solve the equation @f N D on C
if has no compact support. Other methods for solving this equation, based on the
following result, will be undertaken now.
Theorem 10.31. Let U be any domain of C and H.z; w/ a continuous function
on U U such that H.z; z/ D 1 if z 2 U and H.z; w/ is holomorphic in z for all
w 2 U . Suppose that is a continuous function on U and that
Z
A.z/ D jH.z; w/jj.w/jd m.w/ (10.5)
U
is a locally bounded function on U . Then,

Z
1 .w/
CH ./.z/ D H.z; w/ d m.w/; z2U
U zw
N H ./ D in the weak sense. If
defines a continuous function on U such that @C
N H ./ D holds in the
is locally Lipschitz on U , then CH ./ 2 C .U / and @C
1
classical sense.
Proof. The hypotheses on H imply this function may be written as
H.z; w/ D 1 C .z w/G.z; w/
with G.z; w/ holomorphic in z. Hence, formally,

Z
1
CH ./.z/ D C./.z/ C G.z; w/.w/d m.w/
U
N H ./ D . However,
is the sum of C./ with a holomorphic function and, thus, @C
the hypotheses do not guarantee the convergence of the two terms on the right-hand
x 0 ; r/ U ;
side of the equality and another argumentation is needed. Fix a disc D.z
1
let be a function in Cc .U / such that D 1 on D.z x 0 ; r/ and take 1 D ,
2 D .1 /. Since 1 2 Cc .U /, C.1 / is continuous on C by Theorem 10.28 a)
and G.z; w/ is also jointly continuous in z, w on U U . Therefore, if K D spt./
one has
jG.z; w/j C; if z 2 D.z x 0 ; r/ and w 2 K:
This proves the continuity of the function
Z
1
z! G.z; w/1 .w/d m.w/;
U
which is holomorphic on D.z0 ; r/ by Morera’s theorem. On the other hand, we can
prove now that the function
Z
1 2 .w/
CH .2 /.z/ D H.z; w/ d m.w/
jwz0 jr zw
is also holomorphic on D.z0 ; r/. Once again, by Morera’s theorem, it is enough to

show that it is continuous and, according to the dominated convergence theorem, it
suffices to prove the inequality
Z
supjzz0 j r jH.z; w/jj.w/jd m.w/ < C1: (10.6)
2
U
By the Cauchy integral formula, one has

Z 2
supjzz0 j r jH.z; w/j C jH.z0 C re i ; w/jd;
2
0
and (10.6) is dominated by

Z Z 2 Z 2
jH.z0 C re ; w/jj.w/jdd m.w/ D
i
A.z0 C re i /d < C1;
U 0 0
where A is the function defined in (10.5)

So, in the disc D.z0 ; r/, CH ./ is the sum of C.1 / and a holomorphic func-
N H ./ D .
tion, a fact that implies the continuity of CH ./ and the equality @C
Furthermore, CH ./ will have the same local regularity as C./ and this proves
the second part of the theorem.
Example 10.32. With suitable hypotheses on a measure , Theorem 10.31 can be
generalized so that writing
Z
1 d.w/
CH ./.z/ D H.z; w/ ; z 2 U;
U zw
N H ./ D in the weak sense. For

one may conclude that CH ./ 2 L1loc .U / and @C
example, when D ıa (Dirac’s delta) with a 2 U , we get
1 H.z; a/
CH .ıa /.z/ D :
za
N H .ıa / D ıa in the weak sense is shown, formally, in the following
The fact that @C
way: since H is holomorphic in z, one has

N H .ıa / D H.z; a/@N 1 1
@C :
za
1
Now @N 1
za
D ıa , by Theorem 10.26, and
N H .ıa / D H.z; a/ıa D H.a; a/ıa D ıa :
@C
A more restrictive hypothesis, but quite general to be applied in many interesting
cases, is that the function H.z; w/ of Theorem 10.31 satisfies the condition
jH.z; w/j ‰1 .z/‰2 .w/ (10.7)
with ‰1 ; ‰2 continuous on U . Then the function A.z/ of (10.5) is locally bounded
on U whenever Z
‰2 .w/j.w/jd m.w/ < C1
U
holds. This condition allows us to solve the equation @f N D for functions

2 C.U /, not necessarily integrable on U , and the larger the class of admis-
sible functions will be the faster the decrease to zero of ‰2 .w/ when w ! @U .
For example, if U is the unit disc, one may take
k
1 jwj2
H.z; w/ D ; k 2 N;
1 z wN
so that k
1 jwj2
jH.z; w/j ; jzj; jwj < 1;
1 jzj
which is (10.7) with ‰1 .z/ D .1 jzj/k and ‰2 .w/ D .1 jwj2 /k . One has then
the following result:
R
Proposition 10.33. If 2 C.D/ and D j.w/j.1 jwj2 /k d m.w/ < C1 for
some k 2 N, then the function
Z
def 1 1 jwj2 k .w/
fk .z/ D Ck ./.z/ D d m.w/
D 1 z wN zw
N k D in the weak sense; if is
is continuous on D and satisfies the equation @f
N k D in the classical sense on D.
locally Lipschitz, then fk 2 C 1 .D/ and @f
The solution fk of the proposition above is related to a decomposition formula

similar to the Cauchy–Green formula.
Proposition 10.34. If f 2 C 1 .D/ and, for k 2 N,

Z
.1 jwj2 /k1 jf .w/jd m.w/ < C1;
D
Z
N .w/jd m.w/ < C1;
.1 jwj2 /k j@f
D
then one has, for z 2 D,

Z Z N .w/
k .1 jwj2 /k1 1 .1 jwj2 /k @f
f .z/ D f .w/d m.w/ C d m.w/:
D .1 z w/
N kC1 D N k zw
.1 z w/
Proof. Consider the form

D .rjwj / f .w/ 2 k
x "/
dw in the domain D.0; r/ n D.z;
N k wz
.1z w/
for r < 1, jzj < r and " small enough. Computing yields
N .w/
.r jwj2 /k @f f .w/ .r jwj2 /k1 .rz w/
d
D d N
w ^ dw C k d wN ^ dw
N k wz
.1 z w/ wz .1 z w/
N kC1
and, applying Stoke’s theorem,

Z Z Z Z
.r jwj2 /k f .w/
d
D
D dw:
x
D.0;r/nD.z;"/ C.0;r/ C.0;r/ C.z;"/ N k wz
.1 wz/
Letting r ! 1, " ! 0 and using the dominated convergence theorem the proof is
finished.
Using Proposition 10.34 one can also check that the function fk given by Propo-
N k D . Actually, if f 2 C 1 .D/ is any solution of @f
sition 10.33 satisfies @f N D ,
then Proposition 10.34 and the definition of fk give
Z
k .1 jwj2 /k1
f .z/ fk .z/ D f .w/d m.w/;
D .1 z w/
N kC1
N k D @f
which is a holomorphic function in z and, therefore, @f N D .
Corollary 10.35. If f is holomorphic and integrable on D, then

Z
1 f .w/
f .z/ D d m.w/; z 2 D:
D .1 z w/
N 2
Like the Cauchy integral formula, this is a reproducing formula for holomorphic
functions, but there is an essential difference with respect to the Cauchy integral:
here all the values of f on D are involved and not just the values of f on @D. The
kernel 1=.1 z w/N 2 is called the Bergman kernel of the unit disc (see Exercise 21
in Section 4.7).
N D have
Hence, for the unit disc D, two kinds of solutions of the equation @f
been obtained. The first is the one given by the Cauchy integral,
Z
1 .w/
C./.z/ D d m.w/;
D zw
defined when 2 C.D/ \ L1 .D/. The second one is given by Proposition 10.33
with k D 1, that is,
Z
1 1 jwj2 .w/
f1 .z/ D C1 ./.z/ D d m.w/
D 1 z wN z w
whenever 2 C.D/ and
Z
j.w/j.1 jwj2 /d m.w/ < C1:
D
We proceed to study them in more detail.

Clearly, C./ 2 C.D/; moreover if 2 L1 .D/ \ C.D/, then C./ is contin-
x by Theorem 10.28 a). This happens, in particular, if 2 C.D/.
uous on D, x
In the following statement the notations are those of Proposition 7.28.
Theorem 10.36. If 2 L1 .D/ \ C.D/, among all the solutions of the equation
N D , f D C./ is the only continuous solution on D
@f x that satisfies f 2 A0 .T /,
that is, which is perpendicular to the space A.T / with respect to the scalar product
of L2 .T /.
Proof. According to Proposition 7.28 we need to check that C./jT has vanishing
Fourier coefficients at every non-negative integer:
Z 2
C./.e it /e i nt dt D 0; n 0:
0
Using Fubini’s theorem, it is enough to show the same equalities for the function
.z w/1 , w 2 D:
Z Z 1
X
2
e i nt 2
i nt
D e w m e i.mC1/t dt D 0; n 0;
0 e it w 0 mD0
and clearly this is so.

Conversely, assume that f 2 C.D/ N D and fjT 2

x satisfies the conditions @f
N C.// D 0, that is, ' D f C./ is holomorphic. Hence '
A0 .T /. Then @.f
is a function of A.T / and also belongs to A0 .T / because f and C./ are in this
space. Therefore, h'; 'i D 0 in L2 .T /, and so
Z 2
j'.e it /j2 dt D 0:
0
As a consequence ' D 0, that is, f C./ D 0 on T , and being holomorphic, this

yields f C./ D 0.
Example 10.37. Take .z/ D zN n , n 2 N. Clearly, f D nC1 1 N D
zN nC1 satisfies @f
and restricted to T belongs to A0 .T /. Then, C./ D f and
Z
1 wN n 1
d m.w/ D zN nC1 ; jzj < 1:
D zw nC1
x D gN and let h be a
More generally, let g be holomorphic on D, continuous on D,
0
holomorphic antiderivative of g, h D g, with h.0/ D 0. Then the same argument
proves that C./ D hN because @N hN D hx0 D gN D and C./ D h is holomorphic
and vanishing at the origin.
The orthogonality of C./ with respect to A.T / just described amounts to
saying that among all solutions f 2 C.D/ N D , C./ is the
x of the equation @f
one minimizing the quantity
Z
jf .z/j2 jdzj:
T
Regarding the solution f1 .z/, the corresponding statement is the following.

Theorem 10.38. If 2 L1 .D/ \ C.D/, among all the solutions of the equation
N D , the function f D f1 D C1 ./ is the only one being perpendicular to
@f R
A.D/ with respect to the scalar product of L2 .D/: hf; gi D D f .z/g.z/d m.
R
Proof. We need to prove that D f1 .z/g.z/d m.z/ D 0 for g 2 A.D/. By Fubini’s
theorem it is enough to show that
Z
1
g.z/d m.z/ D 0; w 2 D:
D .1 z w/.z
N w/
ˇ zw ˇ
Consider the form
D Log ˇ 1z wN
ˇ g.z/d z,
N which is continuous on D x n D.w; "/
with " > 0 small enough and satisfies
ˇ z w ˇ ˇ zw ˇ
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
d
D @ g.z/ Log ˇ ˇ dz ^ d zN D g.z/@ Log ˇ ˇ dz ^ d z:
N
1 z wN 1 z wN
ˇ zw ˇ
Now, @z Log ˇ 1z wN
ˇ D 1 @z log zw D 1 1jwj2 . Since
D 0 when
2 1z wN N
2 .zw/.1z w/
jzj D 1 (because jz wj D j1 z wj
N if jzj D 1), Stokes’ theorem yields
Z Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 .1 jwj2 / ˇ ˇ
g.z/dz ^ d zN D Log ˇ ˇ g.z/d zN
2 DnD.w;"/ .z w/.1 z w/
N C.w;"/ 1 z N
w
and letting " ! 0 we obtain the desired result, because the integral on the right-hand
side is bounded by " Log 1" .
N D with the same properties, arguing
Conversely, if f is another solution of @f
as in Theorem 10.36 one proves
Z
jf f1 j2 d m.z/ D 0;
D
and so f D f1 .
Example 10.39. If g 2 A.D/, D gN and h0 D g with h.0/ D 0, once again f D hN

N D . So if F 2 A.D/,
satisfies @f
Z Z
F .z/f .z/d m D F .z/h.z/d m.z/ D F .0/h.0/ D 0;
D D
because h.0/ D 0. Hence, C1 ./ D hN as well.
Another way to express the orthogonality property is to say that, among all the
N D , the function f1 D C1 ./ is the one minimizing the quantity
solutions f of @f
Z
jf .z/j2 d m.z/:
D
Let us apply now Theorem 10.31 with U D C and
H.z; w/ D exp.z wN jwj2 /:
First, one needs to find a quite general condition on 2 C.C/ such that
Z
A.z/ D j exp.z wN jwj2 /j j.w/jd m.w/
C
is a locally bounded function. A suitable condition is the following one:

Z
def
kk2 D j.w/j2 exp.jwj2 /d m.w/ < C1:
C
Indeed, by Schwarz’s inequality, one has

Z
jA.z/j exp.Re z wN jwj2 /j.w/jd m.w/
C
²Z ³1=2
kk exp.2 Re z wN jwj2 /d m.w/
C
²Z ³1=2
D kk exp jzj2 exp.jz wj2 /d m.w/
C
D C kk exp jzj2 M;
where M is a constant, if z belongs to a compact set.

Hence, one obtains the following result.
Proposition 10.40. If 2 C.C/ and kk < C1, then
Z
1 .w/
f .z/ D exp.z wN jwj2 / d m.w/
C zw
N D in the weak sense; if is locally
is a continuous function on C that satisfies @f
N D in the classical sense.
Lipschitz, then f 2 C 1 .C/ and @f
The methods developed so far allow us to solve the equation @f N D , on a
domain U , for functions 2 C.U / that are integrable on U with respect to certain
weights. However they do not work for an arbitrary function 2 C.U /, without
any integrability condition. Next this question will be discussed in its more general
formulation, using Runge’s theorem.
Theorem 10.41. Let U be a domain of C, bounded or not, and let be a measure
of locally finite mass on U , that is, for every compact set K U , one has jj.K/ <
C1. Then there exists a function f 2 L1loc .U / satisfying @f N D in the weak
sense in U . Moreover, on every open set V U where d D dw with locally
Lipschitz, the function f belongs to C 1 .V /, and if 2 C k .V /, then f 2 C k .V /,
1 k 1, as well.
Proof. Consider the compact sets Kn U of Lemma 1.15 and let n 2 Cc1 .U /
be functions with n D 1 on a neighborhood of Kn : take '1 D P 1 and 'n D
1
n n1 if n > 1, so that 'n D 0 on a neighborhood of Kn1 and 1 'n D 1
on U . Consider now the measure 'n d with compact support and finite mass, and
its Cauchy integral,
Z
1 'n .w/
C.'n d/.z/ D d.w/;
wz
N
which, as it is known, satisfies @.C.'n d// D 'n d in the weak sense, on C.
Of course, C.'n d/ is a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of Kn1 and,

by Theorem 10.7, there are functions fn 2 H.U / such that
jC.'n d/.z/ fn .z/j 2n if z 2 Kn1 :
Now let us show that the series

1
X
f .z/ D .C.'n d/.z/ fn .z//
nD1
defines the desired function f . A compact set K U being fixed, all the terms of
the series, for n big enough, are holomorphic functions on a neighborhood W of K
and the series is uniformly convergent on compact sets of W . That is, for fixed K
there is a natural number N and a neighborhood W of K such that
X
N
f D C.'n d/ fn .z// C holomorphic function on W
nD1
X
N
D C.'n d/ C holomorphic function on W:
nD1
N D d in the
Hence, f 2 L1loc .U / and the same decomposition above shows that @f
weak sense. If d D d m on an open set V U , then f C./ is holomorphic
N D has the same local regularity properties
on V ; therefore, any solution of @f
as C./.
An important difference with respect to solutions found in Theorems 10.36 and
10.38 is that here there is no linear operator giving the solution. That is, one cannot
assure that f depends linearly on .
Corollary 10.42. The Poisson equation u D has a solution u 2 L1loc .U / in
the weak sense, for any measure of locally finite mass on U .
Proof. Use the equality D 4@@. N First, with the help of Theorem 10.41 choose
N D . Now one must solve the equation
a function f 2 L1loc .U / such that @f
4@u D f , which is equivalent to 4@uN D fN, and this is done with the same theorem.
N

10.6 The Dirichlet problem for the @N operator

As shown above, the Cauchy–Riemann equation @f N D in a domain U always
has a solution f 2 L1loc .U /, for any data 2 C.U /. The general solution is then,
f C h with h 2 H.U /. If we want to set a problem with a unique solution, it is
10.6. The Dirichlet problem for the @N operator 451
necessary to impose some additional condition to f . For example, it was shown in

Proposition 10.19 that, in the case U D C, the Cauchy potential C./ is the only
solution vanishing at infinity, and in the case of the unit disc two results in this sense
are Theorem 10.36 and Theorem 10.38.
One possibility is to prescribe the values of f on the boundary of the domain
and to set a problem of Dirichlet kind: given ' 2 C.@U / and 2 C.U /, look for
a function f 2 C.Ux / such that f D ' on @U and @f N D on U . The solution
of this problem, if one exists, is unique, because if f1 , f2 are two solutions, then
f1 f2 is holomorphic on U and vanishes on @U and so f1 D f2 . However, it is
easy to convince oneself that this is a non-well posed problem that, in general, has
no solution. The reason is that the data ', must satisfy a compatibility condition.
From now on it will be assumed that U is a bounded domain with piecewise
positively oriented regular boundary and also that there are solutions on U , in the
classical sense, of the equation @fN D . Given ' 2 C.@U / and 2 C.Ux /, if
f 2 C 1 .Ux / satisfies f D ' on @U and @f N D on U , then for every function h
x
holomorphic on a neighborhood of U we will have
Z Z Z Z
'hdz D f hdz D d.f hdz/ D hd zN ^ dz:
@U @U U U
Consequently, in order for the Dirichlet type problem to have a solution we need
the data ', to satisfy the following compatibility equation:
Z Z
'.z/h.z/dz D h.z/.z/d zN ^ dz; (10.8)
@U U
for every function h holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux .

In the homogeneous case, D 0, the discussion is about which functions
' 2 C.@U / are the boundary values of continuous functions on Ux and holomorphic
on U . The necessary condition is
Z
'.z/h.z/dz D 0; (10.9)
@U
for every function h holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux .

Now, by Runge’s theorem, these functions h are uniform limits on Ux of rational
functions with (simple) poles in C n Ux , so that condition (10.9) is equivalent to
Z
'.z/
dz D 0; w … Ux : (10.10)
@U z w
It will be shown now that this condition is a sufficient one for the existence of a
solution of this holomorphic Dirichlet problem.
Theorem 10.43. A function ' 2 C.@U / has a continuous extension to Ux , holomor-
phic on U , if and only if the equivalent conditions (10.9) or (10.10) are satisfied.
Proof. We just need to prove that the conditions are sufficient. The desired function,
F 2 C.Ux / \ H.U / with Fj@U D ', must be, by the Cauchy integral formula,
Z
1 '.w/
F .z/ D dw:
2 i @U w z
Using (10.10) we have to show that lim z ! a F .z/ D '.a/, for a 2 @U . Every
z2U
point z 2 U , close enough to @U , has a well-defined projection .z/ 2 @U , in the

sense that .z/ is the point of @U nearest to z. That is,
d.z; @U / D minfjz wj W w 2 @U g D jz .z/j
and this point is unique by the regularity of @U . Denote by z a point located on
the exterior normal to @U at the point .z/, with a distance of d.z; @U / from .z/
(Figure 10.4). Then z … Ux and one has
Z
'.w/

dw D 0:
@U w z
1
2
U
.z/
z 3
z
4
Figure 10.4
Consequently,
Z
1 1 1
F .z/ D '.w/ dw
2 i @U w z w z
Z
1 z z
D '.w/ dw:
2 i @U .w z/.w z /
Consider now the kernel
z z
P .z; w/ D
.w z/.w z /
10.6. The Dirichlet problem for the @N operator 453
and notice the following properties:

R
a) 21 i @U P .z; w/dw D 1 if z 2 U ,
b) jP .z; w/j c d.z;@U

jzwj2
/
if w 2 @U , z 2 U ,
R
c) @U jP .z; w/jjdwj c if z 2 U ,
where c is a constant.
The first one is a consequence of equalities
Z Z
1 dw 1 dw
D 1; D 0:
2 i @U w z 2 i @U w z
For the second one, observe that
jz wj d.z; @U / C j.z/ wj 3jz wj (10.11)
(because j.z/ wj d.z; @U / C jz wj 2jz wj), and the same holds for
z . Then,
1 1
jz wj .d.z; @U / C j.z/ wj/ jz wj;
3 3
proving b). Property c) is a consequence of b) (Exercise 21 of Section 10.7).
These properties are analogous to the ones of the Poisson kernel of the disc
(Subsection 7.6.1). Now the proof follows the pattern of the solution of Dirichlet’s
problem in the disc (indeed, F is also the solution of Dirichlet’s problem). Write
Z
1
F .z/ '.a/ D .'.w/ '.a//P .z; w/dw
2 i @U
and note that, due to the continuity of ', given " > 0 there is a ı > 0 such that
j'.w/ '.a/j < ", if jw aj < ı, w 2 @U . The contribution of fw W jw aj < ıg
to the integral above is then, in absolute value, bounded by
Z
" c"
jP .z; w/jdw :
2 @U 2
The contribution of fw W jw aj ıg is dominated by
Z Z
2k'k1 k'k1 d.z; @U / jdwj
jP .z; w/jjdwj : (10.12)
jwajı jz wj
2 2
jwajı
If jz aj < ı=2 and jw aj ı, then jw zj ı=2 and the right-hand side term
of (10.12) is less than or equal to C ı 2 d.z; @U / with C constant. Thus it is smaller
than " if z is close enough to the point a.
If Ux is simply connected (that is, C n Ux is connected), we know that every

holomorphic function on a neighborhood of Ux is the uniform limit on Ux (therefore,
on @U ) of a sequence of polynomials. Then condition (10.9) becomes
Z
'.z/z n dz D 0; n D 0; 1; 2; : : :
@U
as in the case of the disc (Subsection 7.6.1)

To finish, the non-homogeneous Dirichlet’s type problem will be dealt with for
the operator @.N If the data ' 2 C.@U / and 2 C.Ux / satisfy the compatibility
condition (10.8), choose first f D C./, which is a continuous function on Ux and
N D in the weak sense. If h is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux ,
satisfies @f
one has
Z Z Z
.'.z/ f .z//h.z/dz D hd zN ^ dz f .z/h.z/dz:
@U U @U
Now,
Z Z Z
1 .w/
f .z/h.z/dz D d m.w/ h.z/dz
@U @U U zw
Z Z
1 h.z/
D .w/ dzd m.w/
U @U z w
Z
D 2i .w/h.w/d m.w/
Z U
D hd wN ^ dw:
U
As a consequence, the function ' f satisfies condition (10.9), and by Theo-

rem 10.43 it is the value on @U of some F 2 C.Ux /, F holomorphic on U . With all
this, f C F is the solution of the non-homogeneous problem, because f C F D '
N C F / D @f
on @U and @.f N D on U .
Hence, the following result has been proved:
Theorem 10.44. Given the functions 2 C.Ux / and ' 2 C.@U /, the problem
N D on U and f D ' on @U has a solution f 2 C.Ux / if and only if and '
@f
satisfy the compatibility condition (10.8).
Once again, if Ux is simply connected, it is enough to impose (10.8) to polyno-

mials h.z/ D z n , n 2 N, so that (10.8) is equivalent to
Z Z
'.z/z n dz D .z/z n d zN ^ dz; n D 0; 1; 2; : : : :
@U U
10.7. Exercises 455
Example 10.45. If .z/ D zN and U is the unit disc D, the condition on ' is
Z Z Z 1 Z 2
'.z/z n dz D N n d zN ^ dz D 2i
zz r nC2 e i.n1/ drd;
@D D 0 0
for n D 0; P1; 2; : : : . This last integral is 0 for n ¤ 1, and i for n D 1. If

'.e i / D C1 kD1 y
'.k/e ik
is the Fourier series expansion of ', the integral in the
left-hand side is 2 i '.ny 1/. Hence, '.1/
y D 0, '.k/
y D 0 for k 3 and
y
'.2/ D 12 , that is,
1
1 2i X
'.e i / D e C y
'.k/e ik
:
2
kD0
N D is
The extension f of ' with @f
X 1
1
f .z/ D zN 2 C y
'.k/z k
:
2
kD0
Unlike Dirichlet’s problem for the Laplacian, it makes no sense in general, to

set the problem
N D on U; f D 0 on @U:
@f
This problem just has a (unique) solution if satisfies the condition
Z
hd m D 0; for h holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux :
U
Instead of imposing the vanishing of the solution f on @U , it is most natural to

look for “the smallest possible one” in the sense, for example, of minimizing the
value of the integral Z
jf .z/j2 jdzj
@U
among all the solutions of @f N D . An example of a solution of this problem in

the case of the unit disc is Theorem 10.36.
10.7 Exercises
1. Decide whether there can exist a sequence of polynomials .Pn / such that
Pn .z/ ! 1 if Im z > 0; Pn .x/ ! 0 if x 2 R;

n!1 n!1
Pn .z/ ! 1 if Im z < 0:
n!1
2. Let 0 < a < b be fixed. For each n 2 N construct a polynomial Pn such

that, for jzj < n,
1
jPn .z/j if Im z 0 or Im b;
n
jPn .z/j n if Im z D a
holds. Use .Pn / to find a sequence of polynomials converging pointwise to

zero on C and uniformly on every compact set of C n R, but not converging
uniformly on any neighborhood of any point of the real axis.
x r/, a 2 C, r > 0 and
3. Let f be a continuous function on the disc D.a;
x r/ of
holomorphic on D.a; r/. Show that f .z/ is the uniform limit on D.a;
a sequence of polynomials in z a. Prove also that if f is continuous on
x r/, then f .z/ is the uniform limit
C n D.a; r/ and holomorphic on C n D.a;
on C n D.a; r/ of a sequence of polynomials in 1=.z a/.
4. Let U be a bounded domain of the plane such that @U is a finite union of

circles. Show that every continuous function on Ux and holomorphic on U can
be uniformly approximated on Ux by rational functions with poles outside Ux .
What are the continuous functions on Ux that can be uniformly approximated
on Ux by polynomials?
Hint: If C.z0 ; r0 / is the exterior boundary of U and C.zi ; ri /, i D 1; : : : ; m,
the other components of @U , prove that a function f under the hypotheses
of the problem may be decomposed as f D f0 C f1 C C fm in such a
way that each fi satisfies some of the hypotheses of Exercise 3 of this section
with respect to D.zi ; ri /.
5. Let U D fz W jzj < 1 and j2z 1j 1g and f 2 H .U /. Answer the

following questions:
i) Are there polynomials .Pn /n2N such that Pn ! f uniformly on compact

sets of U ?
ii) Are there polynomials .Pn /n2N such that Pn ! f uniformly on U ?
iii) What can be said if f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of Ux ?
6. Let K U , K a compact set, U an open set of C. Define
Ky D KyU D fz 2 U W jf .z/j supw2K jf .w/j for any function f 2 H.U /g:
Prove the following facts:

y
i) Ky is a compact set, Ky D Ky and Ky is contained in the convex hull of K.
10.7. Exercises 457
ii) Ky is the union of K and the connected components of U n K that are

relatively compact in U .
7. Let U1 U2 be two open sets of C. Show the following statements are
equivalent:
i) Every function f 2 H.U1 / can be approximated by functions in H.U2 /,
uniformly on compact sets of U1 .
ii) If U2 nU1 D L[F with L a compact set, F closed in U2 and L\F D ;,
then one must have L D ;.
iii) For each K U1 , K compact, one has KyU2 D KyU1 .
iv) For each K U1 , K compact, one has KyU2 \ U1 D KyU1 .
v) For each K U1 , K compact, then KyU2 \ U1 is compact.
8. Construct a meromorphic function on the unit disc with simple poles and
2 i
residue 1 at the points znk D .1 2n /e n k , k D 0; 1; : : : ; n 1 and
n D 0; 1; : : : .
P
9. Show that f .z/ D 1 1
nD1 z 3 n3 defines a meromorphic function on the
whole plane. Find the poles of f and principal parts at each pole. Write f
in terms of trigonometric functions.
10. Prove the formula
1
X 1 1
tg.z/ D 2z for z ¤ k C ; n 2 Z:
1 2 2
nD1 n 2
z2
11. For a; b 2 R, a … Z, b ¤ 0, compute

C1
X C1
X
.1/n .1/n
and :
1
.n C a/2 1
n2 C b 2
12. Prove the equality

1
X .1/n 3
D :
nD0
.2n C 1/3 32
13. Prove the formulae

1
sin ˛z 2 X n sin n˛
a) D .1/n 2 ,
sin z nD1 z n2
1
cos ˛z 1 2z X cos n˛
b) D C .1/n 2
cos z z nD1 z n2
with ˛ 2 R and ˛ ¤ k, k integer, in item a).
S
14. Let U D j1D1 Uj with U , Uj open sets and fj a meromorphic function
on Uj for each j D 1; 2; : : : such that fj fk 2 H.Uj \ Uk / for every
couple j; k. Show that there exists a function f , meromorphic on U , such
that f fj 2 H.Uj / for j D 1; 2; : : : .
S
15. Let U D j1D1 Uj with U , Uj open sets and gj k 2 H.Uj \ Uk / for j; k D
1; 2; : : : such that the following conditions hold:
gj k D gkj ; gj k C gkl C glj D 0 on Uj \ Uk \ Ul for all j; k; l 2 N:
Prove there exist functions gj 2 H.Uj / such that
gj k D gk gj on Uj \ Uk ; j; k D 1; 2; : : : :
16. For 2 C 1 .D/ bounded

R on D show directly that the Cauchy integral of
, C./.z/ D 1 D .w/
wz
dw, is continuous on C, is of class C 2 on D and
N
satisfies @C./ D 0 on D.
17. Generalize Propositions 10.33 and 10.34 taking

1 jwj2
H.z; w/ D ' ;
1 z wN
where ' is a holomorphic function on the half-plane … D fz W Re z > 0g
and continuous on …x satisfying '.1/ D 1. Show that under appropriate
hypotheses on 2 C.D/, the function
Z
1 1 jwj2 .w/
u.z/ D ' d m.w/
D 1 z wN z w
N D on D.
is a solution of the equation @u
18. Generalize Proposition 10.40 taking H.z; w/ D '.z wN jwj2 / with ' an
entire function such that '.0/ D 1.
19. Prove the following decomposition formula, accompanying the formula of

N satisfy appropriate conditions
Proposition 10.40: if f 2 C 1 .C/ and f and @f
(set which ones), then one has
Z Z N .w/
N 2 1 N 2 @f
f .z/ D c e z wjwj f .w/d m.w/ C e z wjwj d m.w/;
C C zw
c a constant. What is the value of the constant c?

10.7. Exercises 459
20. If f 2 L1 .D/ and k 2 N define

Z
k .1 jwj2 /k1
Tk f .z/ D f .w/d m.w/ for z 2 D:
D .1 z w/
N kC1
a) Show that for f 2 L1 .D/ \ H.D/ one has
Tk f .z/ D f .z/; Tk fN.z/ D f .0/; z 2 D:
b) Show there is a constant c > 0 such that
kTk f k2 c kf k2
for every function f 2 L2 .D/.

Hint: Compute Tk f .z/ with f .w/ D w n , n D 0; 1; 2; : : : .
21. Prove that property c) of the kernel P .z; w/ is a consequence of b), as stated
in the proof of Theorem 10.43.
Chapter 11
Zeros of holomorphic functions
The first part of this chapter is devoted to the construction of holomorphic functions
with prescribed zeros, either on the whole plane or on any domain. The solution
of this problem is given by the Weierstrass factorization theorem, expressing the
desired functions as an infinite product of elementary factors. For this reason prop-
erties of infinite products are studied in detail, both of complex numbers and of
functions. Also, Weierstrass’ theorem is used to interpolate a sequence of num-
bers by an entire function. This problem can also be solved using the existence
of solutions of a non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equation, proved in Chap-
ter 10.
Next, the relationship between the zeros of holomorphic functions and the Pois-
son equation is analyzed. It turns out that having a method to solve the Poisson
equation gives a procedure to construct holomorphic functions with prescribed ze-
ros. In the case of the unit disc, the explicit formula to solve the Poisson equation
leads to the so-called Jensen formula. This provides a relationship between the
distribution of the zeros of a holomorphic function on the disc and its behavior on
the unit circle. Jensen’s formula is used to study the distribution of the zeros of an
entire function of finite order.
At the end of the chapter we deal with the closed ideals of the algebra of holo-
morphic functions on a domain of the plane. The ideals of this algebra are closely
related to the zero sets of holomorphic functions, and so their description depends
on the results previously obtained.
11.1 Infinite products

The definition of a convergent infinite product given below, suggested by the one
of convergent series, seems quite natural.
1
Definition
Q1 11.1. Given a sequence .pn /nD1 of complex Q1numbers, the infinite prod-
uct nD1 pn is said to converge
Q to P and it is written nD1 pn D P , if the sequence
of partial products Pn D nkD1 pk converges to P , when n ! 1.
Q
Example 11.2. 1 nD2 1 n2 D 2 because it is easy to check that Pn D 2 n .
1 1 1 nC1
Observe that with the definition above, if there is a term pn DQ0, then the infinite
product converges to zero. It is clear as well that if the product 1
nD1 pn converges
11.1. Infinite products 461
Q Q1
to P , then 1 nD1 jpn j converges to jP j. The convergence of nD1 rn with rn > 0
is clearly equivalent to the condition
1
X
1 Log rn < 1
nD1
and, in this case, one has

1
Y 1
X
rn D exp Log rn ;
nD1 nD1
Q
interpreting that exp.1/ is 0. Note that we can have an infinite product 1 nD1 pn
with
P1 n p ¤ 0 for all n such that it converges and the product vanishes: this is so if
nD1 Log jp n j D 1. For example, the product
1
Y
1
1
nD2
n
P
has this property because Log 1 n1 n1 and, hence, 1 nD1 Log 1 n D
1
1. In this case, one may consider the partial products and it turns out that
1 2 3 n1 1
Pn D D ! 0; n ! 1:
2 3 4 n n
Q
Since pn D PPn1n
, it follows that if 1nD1 pn converges to P ¤ 0, then pn ! 1,
when n ! 1. But a product can converge to zero without having pn ! 1; for
instance, this happens if pn D p, for every n 1 with 0 < p < 1.
Q
A finite product N nD1 pn is zero if and only if some of its factors are zero. For
Q
a finite product of polynomials, P .z/ D N nD1 pn .z/, a number is a zero of P if
and only if it is a zero of some of the factors pn and the multiplicity it has as a
zero of P is the sum of its multiplicities as a zero of each pn . When studying zeros
and multiplicities of an infinite product of functions, one would like this property
to hold as well; for an infinite product of numbers we would like that
1
Y
pn D 0 ” a finite number of factors are zero: (11.1)
nD1
Q
In particular, in an infinite product 1
nD1 pn D P we would like that pn ¤ 0 for
every n 1 entails P ¤ 0.
As usual, Log denotes the principal branch of the logarithm, corresponding to
the principal branch of the argument, < Arg z .
462 Chapter 11. Zeros of holomorphic functions
Proposition 11.3. If .pn /1 nD1Q is a sequence of complex numbers with pn ¤ 0 for

1
all
P1 n, then the infinite product nD1 pn converges to P ¤ 0 if and only if the series
nD1 Log pn D S is convergent and, in this case, one has P D e S .
P Q1
Proof. It is clear that if the series 1 nD1 Log pn converges to S , then nD1 pn
converges to P D e S . The converse is obvious Pn if p n > 0, as said above, but for
complex
Qn pn a proof is needed. Let Sn D kD1 Log pk and assume e D Pn D Sn
kD1 pk converges to P ¤ 0; we must show that the sequence Sn is convergent.

This is not true for any sequence Sn (for example, if Sn D 2 ni ) and the additional
information SnC1 Sn D Log pnC1 ! 0 when n ! 1 (because pn ! 1) must
be used.
With the previous notation one has Log Pn D Sn C 2 i kn for kn 2 Z and
2 i.knC1 kn / D Log PnC1 Log Pn C Sn SnC1

(11.2)
D Log PnC1 Log Pn Log pnC1 :
If P is not a negative real number, then Log Pn ! Log P and, since pn ! 1, the
right-hand side term of (11.2) approaches zero when n ! 1. Therefore, kn is
constant for n big enough and then Sn D Log Pn 2 i kn is convergent. If P is
real and negative, one can argue similarly with the branch of the logarithm given
by 0 < arg z < 2 and one gets log Pn D Sn C 2 i ln with ln 2 Z. This yields
2 i.lnC1 ln / D log PnC1 log Pn C Sn SnC1

D log PnC1 log Pn Log pnC1
and one concludes as before that Sn converges.

Q1
If nD1 pn is an infinite product with limn!1 pn D 1, then pn ¤ 0 for n n0 ,
P
and if nn0 Log pn converges to S, we have
1
Y 0 1
nY
pn D e S pn
nD1 nD1
and property (11.1) holds. In addition to this property, one also wants that infinite
products are unconditionally convergent, that is, their character and their product
are independent of the order of the factors. The following proposition gives a class
of infinite products enjoying both desired properties, large enough for applications.
Proposition 11.4. a) P Let .pn /1nD1 be a sequence of complex numbers Q such that
limn!1 pn D 1 and nn0 j Log pn j < C1 for some n0 2 N. Then 1 nD1 pn
is an unconditionally convergent infinite product satisfying property (11.1).
b) Let pn W A ! C, n 2 N, be bounded functions of a variable 2 A, where A
is an arbitrary set, such that pn ./ ! 1 uniformly on A when n ! 1, and assume
P
the series nn0 j Log pn .j is uniformly convergent on A for some n0 2 N. Then
the infinite product
Y1
P ./ D pn ./
nD1
Qn
is uniformly convergent on A, that is, writing Pn ./ D nD1 pn ./, the limit
P ./ D lim Pn ./

n!1
exists uniformly on A. Moreover, property (11.1) holds, that is, P ./ D 0 if and
Q1 if pn ./ D 0 for a finite number of values of n. Finally, equality P ./ D
only
kD1 pnk ./ also holds, uniformly on A, for any permutation k ! nk of N.
P
Proof. The series nn0 Log pn converges, since it converges absolutely; there-
Q P Qn0 1
fore, 1 nD1 pn is convergent to expQ nn0 Log pn nD1 pn . The same is true
1
changing the order of the terms: p
kD1 nk is convergent for any permutation
k ! nk . If some factor P
pn is zero, bothP
infinite products above are zero; else they
are also equal because n Log pn D k Log pnk , since absolutely convergent
series are unconditionally convergent. Now it Premains to show that under the hy-
pothesis of uniform convergence of the series nn0 j Log pn ./j on A in b), the
equality
X 0 1
nY
P ./ D exp Log pn ./ pn ./;
nn0 nD1
Pn
holds uniformly on A. Writing Sn ./ D kDn0 Log pk ./, the hypothesis implies
X
n
jSn ./j j Log pk ./j M;
kDn0
for a constant M < C1. Now the uniform convergence of Sn , say to S , yields the
uniform convergence of exp.Sn / to exp.S / because
j exp.Sn .// exp.S.//j c jSn ./ S./j;
c being a constant such that j exp.z1 / exp.z2 /j c jz1 z2 j if jz1 j, jz2 j M .

The way Proposition 11.4 is used is explained in the following theorem.

Theorem 11.5. Let U be a domain of C and fn 2 H.U /, n D 1; 2; : : : . As-
sume fn .z/ ! 1, when n ! 1, uniformly on compact sets of U and the series
P
nn0 .K/ j Log fn .z/j is uniformly convergent on each compact set K U , for
no .K/ that may depend on K. Then the infinite product

1
Y
F .z/ D fn .z/
nD1
S
converges uniformly on compact sets of U , F 2 H.U /, Z.F / D n Z.fn / and
1
X
m.F; z/ D m.fn ; z/; for all z 2 U:
nD1
Proof. On each compact set K U we can apply Proposition 11.4 to get that the
product converges uniformly on compact sets of U . Each partial product
infiniteQ
Fn D nkD1 fk is a holomorphic function, and Theorem 9.3 givesS F 2 H.U /.
Since the infinite product satisfies property (11.1), Z.F / D 1 nD1 Z.fn /, that
is, a point a 2 U is a zero of F if and only if a is a zero of some function
fn (for a finite number of values of n, because fn .z/ ! 1). Fix now a disc
x
D.a:r/ QU ; we will have fn .z/ ¤ 0, if n n0 and z 2 D.a; r/ and, thus, the
function 1 f .z/ D G.z/ is holomorphic without zeros on D.a; r/. Then,
0 C1 k
QnkDn
F .z/ D nD1 fn .z/G.z/ and, clearly,
0
0 1
nX 1
X
m.F; a/ D m.fn ; a/ D m.fn ; a/:
nD1 nD1
The function Log.1 C w/ has a power series expansion around the origin: w
w C;
1 2
2
so, j Log.1 w/j jwj for jwj ! 0. Using this estimate the following
statement equivalent to Proposition 11.4 and Theorem 11.5 is obtained.
P Q1
Theorem 11.6. a) If 1 nD1 j1 pn j < C1, then nD1 pn is an unconditionally
convergent infinite product for which property (11.1) holds.
b) If U is aPdomain of C and fn 2 H.U /, n D 1; 2; : : : , are functions such
that the series n j1 fn .z/j
Q is uniformly convergent on compact sets of U , then
the infinite product F .z/ D 1 nD1 fn .z/ has the properties of Theorem 11.5.
In the previous chapters we have often used the fact that the logarithmic deriva-
tive f 0 =f of f 2 H.U / is a meromorphic function on U with simple poles at the
zero set of f and residues given by the multiplicity of these zeros. For a finite
product F D f1 fn , one has
F0 Xf0 n
D i
;
F fi
iD1
that is, the logarithmic derivative is the sum of logarithmic derivatives. Now let us
show that this result also holds for infinite products.
Theorem
P1 11.7. Let U be a domain of C, fn 2 H.U /, n D 1; 2; : : : such that
j1f n .z/j is uniformly convergent on compact sets of U , and define F .z/ D
Q1nD1
f
nD1 n .z/. Then the equality
X1
F 0 .z/ fn0 .z/
D
F .z/ f .z/
nD1 n
holds, uniformly on compact sets of U .

Proof. Fix a compact set K U ; the hypothesis implies that fn .z/ ! 1 uniformly
on K, and so
1
j1 fn .z/j ; for each z 2 K; n n0 .K/:
2
Therefore, jfn .z/j 12 , for z 2 K, if n n0 D n0 .K/. Hence, the terms of the
P fn0
series fn
, for n big enough, are holomorphic functions on a neighborhood of K.
Let, as before,
Yn0
F .z/ D fn .z/G.z/
nD1
Q1
with G.z/ D n0 C1 fn .z/. We then have
F0 Xn0
fn0 G0
D C
F f
nD1 n
G
G0 P1 fn0
and, thus, it is enough to prove that the equality G
D n0 C1 fn holds uniformly
on K.
Consider the partial products
0 Cl
nY
Gl .z/ D fn .z/
n0 C1
converging uniformly to G on K, when l ! 1. Since G.z/ ¤ 0 if z 2 K, there

is a ı > 0 such that 1=ı > jG.z/j ı if z 2 K, and, by the uniform convergence,
one has 2ı > jGl .z/j 2ı if z 2 K, for l big enough. On the other hand, the fact
that Gl0 ! G 0 uniformly on K and the inequalities
ˇ 0 ˇ
ˇ G .z/ Gl0 .z/ ˇ jG .z/G 0 .z/ G.z/Gl0 .z/j
ˇ ˇD l
ˇ G.z/ Gl .z/ ˇ jG.z/jjGl .z/j
jGl .z/jjG 0 .z/ Gl0 .z/j C jGl0 .z/jjGl .z/ G.z/j

.ı=2/2
0
c jG .z/ Gl0 .z/j C jG.z/ Gl .z/j ; c constant;
G0 0
show that Gll ! GG uniformly on K, when l ! 1. Finally observing that
Gl0 P fn0
Gl
D nn00 Cl
C1 fn , the theorem is proved.
11.2 The Weierstrass factorization theorem

We want to construct an entire function with zero set some prescribed set of points
zn 2 C and given multiplicities, mn 2 N. The zero set A D fzn W n 2 Ng is any
closed set of isolated points (therefore, jzn j ! 1 when n ! 1, if A is not finite)
and the sequence of multiplicities .mn / is arbitrary. Without loss of generality,
suppose zn ¤ 0.
Of course, if A D fz1 ; : : : ; zN g is a finite set, just take the polynomial
N
Y mn
z
P .z/ D 1 :
nD1
zn
In general it is quite natural to consider an infinite product of the type

1
Y m n
z
F .z/ D 1
nD1
zn
whenever
it satisfies the hypotheses of Theorem 11.6. Considering that the factor
1 zn is repeated mn times, we find that the suitable condition is the convergence
z
of the series ˇ ˇ
X1
ˇz ˇ
mn ˇˇ ˇˇ
nD1
zn
uniformly on every disc of the plane, or equivalently
X1
mn
< C1:
jz j
nD1 n
Q
For instance, the product 1 nD1 1 n2 provides an entire function vanishing once
z
at each point zn D n2 , n D 1; 2; : : : . In general, the previous condition does not

hold (for example, if zn D n) and we need to introduce some factors An .z/, without
zeros, correcting the infinite product so that
Y1
z mn
F .z/ D 1 An .z/ (11.3)
nD1
zn
is uniformly convergent on compact sets. Since the factors An .z/ cannot have zeros,
we look for them in the form An .z/ D exp.Bn .z//. To search for the functions
11.2. The Weierstrass factorization theorem 467
Bn , observe that by Theorem 11.7 the logarithmic derivative of F will be
X1
F 0 .z/ mn
D Qn .z/ with Qn D Bn0 :
F .z/ nD1
z zn
Accordingly, the functions Qn D Bn0 should be correction terms, so that the previous
series represents a meromorphic function with simple poles at the points zn and
residues mn .
This observation establishes a link with Mittag-Leffler’s theorem. In the proof
of Theorem 10.9, it has been shown that the most natural choice of correction terms
mn
Qn is to take a partial sum of the expansion of zz n
in power series on the disc
D.0; jzn j/. So they will be written as
X
n
zk
Qn .z/ D mn :
kD0
znkC1
Notice now that equality Qn D Bn0 holds taking
n C1
X k
1 z
Bn D mn :
k zn
kD1
Therefore, define
² n C1
X k ³
1 z
An .z/ D exp mn
k zn
kD1
and look for conditions that numbers n should satisfy so that the hypotheses of
Theorem 11.5 hold. Write pn D 1 C n and define
X
p
zk
Ep .z/ D .1 z/ exp ; p 2 N;
k
kD1
which are the so-called Weierstrass elementary factors. So

1
Y mn 1
Y
z z
F .z/ D 1 An .z/ D Epmnn :
nD1
zn nD1
zn
Now we need an estimate of j Log Ep .z/j. Except for an integer multiple of 2 i ,

one has
X
p 1
X
zk zk
Log Ep .z/ D Log.1 z/ C D ; if jzj < 1:
k k
kD1 kDpC1
If jzj < 1
2
the quantity above is bounded in absolute value by
1
X
1 1 jzjpC1 2
jzjk D < jzjpC1 < 2p :
pC1 p C 1 1 jzj pC1
kDpC1
Given r > 0, assuming jzj r and considering only points zn with jzn j 2r, we
have
X ˇˇ ˇ
z ˇˇ X mn

r pn C1
ˇ Log E mn 2 ;
ˇ pn
zn ˇ pn C 1 jzn j
nn0 .r/ jzn j2r
for some n0 .r/ depending on r. Thus we have proved the following result in which
the series
X mn r pn C1
(11.4)
pn C 1 jzn j
jzn j2r
has a main role.

Theorem 11.8 (Weierstrass). If the series (11.4) converges for all r > 0, then the
Q mn z
infinite product 1nD1 pn zn defines an entire function vanishing exactly at the
E
points zn 2 C with multiplicities mn 2 N.
There is always a suitable choice of pn 2 N, for example pn D nmn . One can
take pn D p, independently of n, if
1
X mn
< C1:
jz
nD1 n
jpC1
Example 11.9. Take zn D n and mn D 1 for n 2 Z. The simplest entire function

vanishing at integer points with multiplicity 1 is
Y
z z=n
F .z/ D z 1 e
n
n¤0
which will be computed explicitly next. At the same points, if one wants now
mn D jnj, one needs to take p D 2 to obtain
Y z z

1 z
2
jnj
F .z/ D 1 exp C
n n 2 n
n¤0
1
Y n
z2 z2
D 1 exp ;
nD1
n2 n
an entire function with F .0/ D 1 and a zero of order jnj at each point n 2 Z,
n ¤ 0.
In the same way that Mittag-Leffler’s theorem implies a result about the decom-
position of a meromorphic function into simple functions, Weierstrass’ theorem
leads to the factorization of an entire function.
Theorem 11.10. Every entire function with a zero of multiplicity k at the origin
and zeros of multiplicity mn > 0 at the points zn 2 C can be factorized as
1
Y
z
F .z/ D z k Epmnn exp g.z/;
nD1
zn
where the numbers pn 2 N make the series (11.4) convergent for each r > 0, and
g is an entire function.
By means of the logarithmic derivative one can obtain factorization of several
entire functions from the examples of Subsection 10.3.1.
P 1the function F .z/ D sin z that has simple zeros at the

Example 11.11. Consider
integer points. Since n2
< C1, one can take pn D 1 in Theorem 11.10 to
obtain Y
z z=n
sin z D z 1 e exp g.z/:
n
n¤0
Taking the logarithmic derivative and using the expansion of cot z of Exam-
ple 10.13, we get g 0 .z/ D 0 and so g is constant. Since limz!0 sinzz D , we
must have e g.z/ D , and so
Y z z=n
sin z D z 1 e :
n
n¤0
Also gathering the terms in n and n,

1
Y
z2
sin z D z 1 :
nD1
n2
Example 11.12. The simplest entire function vanishing at the negative integers is
1
Y
z z=n
F .z/ D 1C e :
nD1
n
Comparing with the example above yields

sin z
zF .z/F .z/ D :

The function F .z 1/ vanishes at the negative integers and also at zero, so that
F .z 1/ D zF .z/ exp g.z/;
for some entire function g. Taking logarithmic derivative, one has

1
X X1
1 1 1 1 1
D C g 0 .z/ C ;
nD1
z1Cn n z nD1
zCn n
which implies g 0 .z/ D 0 and, therefore, g is a constant that will be called . Thus,
F .z 1/ D zF .z/e and the function H.z/ D F .z/e z satisfies H.z 1/ D
zH.z/. Setting z D 1 in F .z 1/ D zF .z/e one obtains
1
Y
1 1
1 D F .0/ D e F .1/; e D 1C e n;
nD1
n
which means
1 1
D lim 1C C C Log n :
n!1 2 n
This constant is called Euler’s constant. The function .z/ D zH.z/ 1
is mero-
morphic on C with simple poles at points 0; 1; 2; : : : , satisfying the equation
.z C 1/ D z.z/ and .1/ D 1. In particular, one has .n/ D .n 1/Š if n 2 N.
From the equality
e z Y z 1 z
1
.z/ D 1C en
z nD1 n
we get

.z/.1 z/ D ;
sin z
p
and, taking z D 12 , . 12 / D . Hence, one has
e z Y z 1 z
n
.z/ D lim 1C ek
z n!1 k
kD1
nŠ Pn 1 nz nŠ
D e z lim e z kD1 k D lim :
n!1 z.z C 1/ .z C n/ n!1 z.z C 1/ .z C n/
The function is called Euler’s function. At points z 2 C with Re z > 0 we

claim that Z 1
.z/ D e t t z1 dt:
0
To see this, let G.z/ denote the function defined by the integral above. Integrating
by parts one may easily check that G also satisfies the equation G.z C 1/ D zG.z/.
To show G.z/ D .z/ if Re z > 0, it is enough to prove, for z D s, 0 < s < 1, the
equality
G.s/s.s C 1/ .s C n/ G.s C n C 1/
lim s
D lim D 1; 0 < s < 1:
n!1 n nŠ n!1 ns nŠ
From the definition of G and breaking the integral into two pieces, from 0 to n and
from n to C1, it turns out that
Z 1 Z n Z 1
G.s C n C 1/ D e t t sCn dt ns t n e t dt C ns1 t nC1 e t dt;
0 0 n
Z n Z C1
G.s C n C 1/ ns1 t nC1 e t dt C ns t n e t dt:
0 n
R1 R1
Integrating by parts, one has n t nC1 e t dt D nnC1 e n C n .n C 1/t n e t dt and
R n nC1 t Rn
0 t e dt D nnC1 e n C 0 .n C 1/t n e t , which lead to
Z 1 Z 1
G.s C n C 1/ ns t n e t dt C e n nnCs C ns1 t n e t dt;
Z0 1 Z nn
n t n nCs
G.s C n C 1/ n s
t e dt e n Cn s1
t n e t dt:
0 0
These inequalities show the equivalence G.s C n C 1/ n nŠ is true for n ! 1,

s
as claimed.
Example 11.13. Now an entire function will be constructed with simple zeros at
points zkl 2 C of integer coordinates, zkl D
P k C li, k; l 2 Z. We are inter-
ested in finding a number p 2 N such that k;l jz jpC1 < C1; according to
1
kl
Example 10.16, we may choose p D 2. Therefore, let us consider
Y z

z
²
1 z
2 ³
.z/ D z 1 exp C ;
k C li k C li 2 k C li
k;l
called Weierstrass’ function. The logarithmic derivative of is

0 .z/ 1 X 1 1 z
D C C C ;
.z/ z z .k C li / k C li k C li
k;l
that has a simple pole at each point zkl , k; l 2 Z.

Next Weierstrass’ theorem for an arbitrary domain will be proved; in fact, the
statement below prescribes poles as well as zeros.
Theorem 11.14. Let U be a domain of C , U ¤ C , let A D fzn W n 2 Ng be a
discrete and closed subset of U , and let .mn / a sequence of integers, mn ¤ 0. Then
there exists a function f meromorphic on U and a neighborhood Vn of zn , so that
f .z/ D .z zn /mn gn .z/; z 2 Vn
holds with gn holomorphic on Vn and gn .zn / ¤ 0 (hence, if mn > 0, f has a
zero of order mn at the point zn and if mn < 0, f has a pole of order jmn j at the
point zn ).
Proof. Writing A D A1 [ A2 so that points zn 2 A1 correspond to mn > 0, and

points zn 2 A2 , to mn < 0, it is enough to consider the case mn > 0 for all n
(because if f1 has zeros of multiplicity mn at points of A1 and f2 has zeros of
multiplicity mn at points of A2 then f D ff12 works). Applying, if necessary, a
linear transformation we can assume 1 2 U but 1 … A, so that C n U is a
compact set of C; finally, we can also assume that A is infinite. For each point zn ,
let wn 2 C n U be such that d .zn ; C n U / D jzn wn j. Since A cannot have
accumulation points in U , we must have limn jzn wn j D 0. Now we mimic the
proof of Theorem 11.8 with pn D nmn and write
1
Y m n 1
Y
zn w n zn w n
f .z/ D Epn D mn
fn .z/ with fn .z/ D Epn :
nD1
z wn nD1
z wn
Each factor fn is holomorphic on U , so we need to check that hypotheses of

Theorem 11.5 are satisfied. If K is a compact
ˇ ˇset of U , there is an integer n0 .K/
ˇ zn wn ˇ
such that jz wn j > 2jzn wn j or, ˇ zwn ˇ < 12 , if z 2 K and n n0 .K/.
Just before the statement of theorem 11.8 it has been shown that j Log Ep .z/j is
dominated by pC12
jzjpC1 when jzj 12 , and so we obtain
X X n
1 1
mn j Log fn .z/j < C1:
n 2
nn0 .K/ nn0 .K/
Corollary 11.15. Every meromorphic function on a domain U of the plane is the

quotient of two holomorphic functions on U .
Proof. Let f be meromorphic on U with poles zn of order mn and let F be holo-

morphic with zeros of multiplicities mn at the same points zn ; then g D f F has
only removable singularities; therefore, g 2 H.U / and f D Fg .
Corollary 11.16. For each domain U there is a function f holomorphic on U that

cannot be analytically continued to any point of the boundary of U , that is to say
f cannot extend to a holomorphic function on U 0 if U 0 is any domain containing
U strictly.
Proof. Consider a discrete and closed set A U such that every point of @U is
an accumulation point of A. For example, A may be constructed in the following
way: let .zn /1
nD1 be a sequence containing the points of U with rational coordinates
and put
S rn D d .zn ; C n U /. Let Kn be an increasing sequence of compact sets
with n Kn D U as in Lemma 1.15. For each n let wn … Kn , wn 2 U , such that
jzn wn j < rn and wn ¤ wm if n ¤ m. Since wn … Kn , A D fwn W n 2 Ng is
discrete. If a 2 @U and " > 0 there is a point zn with ja zn j < 2" ; therefore,
11.3. Interpolation by entire functions 473
rn 2" and ja wn j ja zn j C jzn wn j < 2" C rn ". Thus, every point

a 2 @U is an accumulation point of A.
Now take as f a function vanishing exactly at the points of A. We claim that
there is no disc D.a; "/ centered at a point a 2 @U such that f extends analytically
to a function g 2 H.D.a; "//. Indeed, in this case, the zeros of g would have an
accumulation point in D.a; "/, hence g
0 and, therefore, f
0.
11.3 Interpolation by entire functions

If z1 ; : : : ; zn are different points of C and a1 ; : : : ; an are arbitrary complex values,
there is a unique polynomial P of degree less than or equal to n 1 such that
P .zj / D aj , 1 j n. Observe that this fact imposes n conditions on the
polynomial, while the space of polynomials of degree less than or equal to n 1
has dimension precisely n. This statement may be proved writing
P .z/ D c1 C c2 z C C cn z n1
and imposing the conditions
P .zj / D c1 C c2 zj C C cn zjn1 D aj ; 1 j n:
The matrix of this linear system in the unknowns c1 ; c2 ; : : : ; cn has Vandermonde’s

determinant
0 1
1 z1 z12 : : : z1n1
B C
B1 z z 2 : : : z n1 C Y
B 2 2 2 C
det B : CD .zi zj / ¤ 0:
B :: C
@ A i<j
1 zn zn2 : : : znn1
Therefore, there is a unique solution for all data. The polynomial P is called the
Lagrange interpolating polynomial. To exhibit P it is not necessary to solve the
above system. Setting Q.z/ D .z z1 /.z z2 / : : : .z zn /, one has
X
n
Q.z/
P .z/ D ai :
Q0 .zi /.z
zi /
iD1
Q
Indeed the polynomials Qi .z/ D Q0 .zQ.z/ i /.zzi /
D Q01.zi / j ¤i .z zj / satisfy
Qi .zj / D ıij , their degree is less than or equal to n 1 and, therefore,
X
n X
n
P .zj / D ai Qi .zj / D ai ıij D aj :
iD1 iD1
Now we want to solve the same problem but with infinitely many points .zn /1nD1 ,
with no finite accumulation point. The data are arbitrary complex values .an /1 nD1
and we look for an entire function f (“polynomial of infinite degree”) such that
f .zn / D an , for n 1. Let F be an entire function with a simple zero at each one
of the points zn W F .zn / D 0, F 0 .zn / ¤ 0. Then the functions
1 F .z/
Fn .z/ D
F 0 .z n / .z zn /
are entire and Fn .zm / D ın;m . If the series

1
X 1
X an F .z/
f .z/ D an Fn .z/ D 0
nD1 nD1
F .zn / .z zn /
converges uniformly on compact sets, as it happens when

1
X jan j
< C1;
nD1
jF 0 .zn /jjzn j
then f will be a solution of the problem.

Example 11.17. Consider the interpolation problem f .n/ D an , n 2 Z. The
most simple entire function F vanishing at integer points is F .z/ D sin z, with
F 0 .n/ D cos n D .1/n . Hence, if the series
X an
h.z/ D .1/n
zn
n2Z
converges uniformly on compact sets (in the usual sense, after canceling a finite
number of terms for z in a fixed compact set), then the function 1 F .z/h.z/ solves
the interpolation problem. The uniform convergence on compact sets of the series
defining the function h holds if
1
X jan j
< C1:
jnj
n¤0
By Hölder’s inequality, if 1
p
C 1
q
D 1, one has
jan j X 1 1=p X 1=q

1
X
jan j q
:
jnj jnjp
n¤0
P1 P
Since nD1 np converges if p > 1, it is enough to impose jan jq < C1
for some value of q, 1 q < 1. Observe that the series that defines h may
11.3. Interpolation by entire functions 475
be uniformly convergent on compact sets without being absolutely convergent. In

P n
Example 10.13 it was shown that the series n2Z .1/
zn
is uniformly convergent

on compact sets, with sum sin z :
1
1 X 2z
D C .1/n 2 :
sin z z nD1 z n2
Thus another way to ensure the uniform
P convergence on compact sets of the series
defining h is imposing the condition n2Z jan anC1 j < C1, according to Abel’s
criterion (Theorem 2.14).
P Ultimately, then, in the vector space of all sequences .an /n2Z that satisfy
Pn2Z n ja j q
< C1, 1 q < C1, as well as in the one of all sequences with
ja
n n a nC1 < C1, the operator
j
1 X an
.an /n2Z 7! sin z .1/n
zn
n2Z
is an interpolating linear operator.

The convergence condition stated just before Example 11.17 does not hold in
general, and therefore we need to modify the definition of the function f . Suppose,
without loss of generality, that zn ¤ 0 for all n and F is like in Weierstrass’theorem:
1
Y
z
F .z/ D Epn
nD1
zn
with
1
X r pn
< C1 if r > 0:
p jz jpn
nD1 n n
Then writing
1
X q n
an F .z/ z
f .z/ D 0 .z / z z
;
nD1
F n n zn
with qn suitable natural numbers, we will have a solution of the interpolation prob-
lem. We need to choose qn such that
1
X jan j r qn
< C1 for all r > 0 (11.5)
nD1
jF 0 .zn /j jzn jqn C1
and, to this end, it suffices to take qn % C1 satisfying

1
jan j 1 qn
C; C constant:
jF 0 .zn /j jzn j
Summarizing, one has the following result.
Theorem 11.18. If fzn W n 2 Ng is a closed and discrete set of C, that is,

limn jzn j D C1, and .an /1 nD1 is any sequence of complex numbers, then there
is an entire function f such that
f .zn / D an ; for n D 1; 2; : : : :
Example 11.19. In the interpolation problem f .n/ D an , n 2 Z, of Example 11.17

where F .z/ D sin z, the condition that exponents qn must satisfy so that (11.5)
holds is
jan j
C qn ; C constant:
jnj
If the sequence .an /n2Z is bounded or, more generally, jan j D O.jnj/ when jnj !
C1, we may take any sequence qn % C1, for instance, qn D jnj. Hence,
1 X .1/n an z jnj
.an /n2Z 7! sin z
zn n
n2Z
is an interpolating linear operator on the space of bounded sequences. In general,

the choice of the sequence .qn / will depend on .an / and one cannot exhibit an
interpolating linear operator acting on all sequences.
We will show now that Theorem 11.18 may be improved prescribing also, at
each point zn , a finite number of derivatives. That is to say, suppose for each n 1,
a number kn 2 N and arbitrary values an0 ; an1 ; : : : ; ankn 2 C are given and one wants
to find an entire function f such that
f .i/ .zn / D ani ; for i D 0; : : : ; kn ; n 1:
This problem can be solved combining Weierstrass’ theorem with Mittag-Leffler’s

theorem. However, a different method based on the existence of solutions of the
inhomogeneous Cauchy–Riemann equation will be used. This is a useful method to
solve interpolation problems in other contexts. The idea is to solve first the problem
with a function 2 C 1 .C/ having small @ N on the neighborhood of zn and after
that to correct the solution to get a holomorphic function. Consider the polynomials
X
kn
ai n
n .z/ D .z zn /i
iŠ
iD0
with n.i/ .zn / D ani , i D 0; 1; : : : ; kn . If "n > 0 are small enough numbers so that
the discs D.zn ; "n / are pairwise disjoint, consider
1
X
jz zn j
.z/ D n .z/
nD1
"n
11.4. Zeros of holomorphic functions and the Poisson equation 477
where is an even C 1 function on R with compact support contained on Œ1; 1,

with .t/ D 1 if jt j 12 . Then 2 C 1 .C/ and .z/ D n .z/ on the disc
D.zn ; "n =2/; therefore, .i/ .zn / D ani . Let F be an entire function with zeros
of multiplicity kn at the points zn . Let us look now for the solution f of the
interpolation problem, under the form
f D C uF
N D 0, we must
with u to be determined; since we want f to be entire, that is, @f
have
N
N D @
0 D @f N C F @u
N or @uN D @ :
F
N
N D 0 on this disc and, therefore, @
Since D n on D.zn ; "=2/, one has @ is
F
1
a well-defined C function on C. Theorem 10.41 asserts that, indeed, there is a
N
N D @
function u 2 C 1 .C/ satisfying @u , and consequently f is a solution of
F
the problem.
11.4 Zeros of holomorphic functions and the Poisson

equation
This section is devoted to establishing a link between two apparently independent
topics. On the one hand, it is known (Corollary 10.42) that on each domain U C
the Poisson equation
u D ;
where is a measure of locally finite mass in U , has a solution u 2 L1loc .U / in the
weak sense; that is, for every function ' 2 Cc1 .U /, the equality
Z Z
u'dA D 'd
U U
holds. On the other hand, for every closed and discrete set fzn W n 2 Ng of U and
every sequence of multiplicities .mn / there is a function f 2 H.U / with a zero of
multiplicity mn at the point zn , for each n.
Proposition 11.20. Let f be a holomorphic function on the domain U , f 6
0 and
let Z.f / D fzn W n 2 Ng be the zero set of f ( finite or countable) and .mn / the
sequence of the respective multiplicities. Then, the function u D Log jf j is locally
integrable on U and one has, in the weak sense,
X
u D 2 mn ızn ;
n
where ızn is the measure with mass 1 at the point zn (Dirac’s delta at the point zn ).
P
Observe that D n mn ızn is a measure of locally finite mass because each
compact set of U contains only a finite number of points zn .
Proof. Fix a compact set K U . Then zn … K for n n0 .K/. So in a

neighborhood V of K, we may write
Y
n0
f .z/ D .z zk /mk g.z/
kD1
with g holomorphic on U and g.z/ ¤ 0 if z 2 V , and so
X
n0
Log jf .z/j D mk Log jz zk j C Log jg.z/j; z 2 V:
kD1
The function Log jg.z/j is harmonic on V (Corollary 4.31) and, thus, it is locally
integrable. ByRLemma 7.11 each function Log jz zk j is also integrable on K and,
consequently, K j Log.f .z/jd m.z/ < C1.
Theorem 7.42 states that Log jz zk j D 2ızk in the weak sense, whence
X
n0 X
n0
Log jf .z/j D mk 2ızk C Log jgj D 2 mk ızk
kD1 kD1
on V .
The interesting point in the proposition above is that the converse is also true,
whenever the domain U is simply connected.
Theorem 11.21. Let U be a simply connected domain, fzn W n 2 Ng a closed and
discrete set in U , .mn / a sequence
P of multiplicities, and consider the measure
of locally finite mass, D n mn ızn . Then every solution u 2 L1loc .U / of the
Poisson equation u D 2 may be written as u D Log jf j, with f holomorphic
on U , vanishing exactly at the points zn with multiplicity mn .
Proof. Let u be a solution of u D 2. By Weierstrass’ theorem, there is

a function g 2 H.U / vanishing at points zn with multiplicities mn and, thus,
Log jgj D 2, by Proposition 11.20. Hence,
.u Log jgj/ D 0:
By Weyl’s lemma, uLog jgj is a harmonic function on U . If U is simply connected,

according to Theorem 6.22 there is a function h 2 H.U /, without zeros, such that
u Log jgj D Log jhj. Then one has u D Log jf j with f D gh and f has the
same zeros and multiplicities as g.
11.4. Zeros of holomorphic functions and the Poisson equation 479
Hence, in a simply connected domain, there is a one-to-one correspondence

between solutions of the Poisson equation u D 2 and holomorphic functions
with “encoded zeros” by the measure . So every method for constructing holo-
morphic functions with prescribed zeros and multiplicities leads to a way of solving
the Poisson equation, and conversely.
To justify what has been said above, apply Weierstrass’ theorem, according to
which the function
1
Y 1
Y m n X
p
z z 1 z k
f D Epmn D 1 exp mn
nD1
zn nD1
zn k zn
kD1
vanishes at points .zn / with multiplicities .mn /, whenever

X mn
< C1:
n
jzn jpC1
P – conclusion and hypothesis – in terms of Log jf j and the

Rewrite everything
measure D n mn ızn . We have
1
X ² ˇ ˇ k ³ Z
zˇ X1
p
ˇ z
Log jf .z/j D mn Log ˇˇ1 ˇˇ C Re D Kp .z; w/d.w/
nD1
z n k zn C
kD1
with
ˇ k
z ˇˇ X 1
p
ˇ z
Kp .z; w/ D Log ˇ1 ˇ C Re ; p 2 N: (11.6)
w k w
kD1
Moreover, we can also write
X mn Z
1
D d.w/:
n
jzn jpC1
C jwjpC1
The following result states the above conclusion for an arbitrary measure.
R on C of locally finite mass, vanishing on a

Theorem 11.22. Let be a measure
neighborhood of the origin, with C jwjp1 d jj.w/ < C1, for some p 2 N.
Then the integral Z
u.z/ D Kp .z; w/d.w/;
C
with the kernel Kp .z; w/ given by (11.6), defines a function u 2 L1loc .C/ such that
u D 2 in the weak sense.
Proof. The identity
X1 z p k X1
z 1 z k
Log 1 C D ; if jwj > jzj;
w k w pC1
k w
kD1
implies, taking real parts,

1
1 X jzjk 1 jzj pC1 1
jKp .z; w/j D :
p C 1 pC1 jwjk p C 1 jwj jzj
1 jwj
Consequently, one has

pC1
2 jzj
jKp .z; w/j if jwj > 2jzj:
pC1 jwj
For r > 0 fixed, decompose the function u, on the disc D.0; r/, into three parts:
Z Z
u.z/ D Kp .z; w/d.w/ C Kp .z; w/d.w/
jwj2r jwj>2r
Z
D Log jz wjd.w/
jwj2r
Z !
Xp
1 z k
C Log jwj C Re d.w/
jwj2r k w
kD1
Z
C Kp .z; w/d.w/
jwj>2r
D u1 C u2 C u3 :
The integral defining u2 is, in fact, extended to fw W " < jwj < 2rg, " > 0, by
the hypothesis on ; the integrand is a harmonic function in z and bounded in w
and, therefore, u2 is a harmonic function ( has finite mass by hypothesis). On the
domain fw W jwj > 2r > 2jzjg it has been shown that jKp .z; w/j D O.jwjp1 /
and Kp .z; w/ is harmonic for w 2 Cnfzg; as a consequence, u3 is also well defined
and harmonic. Finally, u1 is 2 times the logarithmic potential of jD.0;2r/ and,
by Theorem 7.42, u D 2 on D.0; 2r/. Since r > 0 is arbitrary, we conclude
that u D 2.
In the opposite direction, a method for solving the Poisson equation leads to
a procedure to construct holomorphic functions with prescribed zeros. This will
be shown, for a bounded simply connected domain, in Section 11.6. Since these
domains are conformally equivalent to the unit disc, it will suffice to consider this
particular domain.
11.5. Jensen’s formula 481
11.5 Jensen’s formula

Formula (7.32) in Section 7.8 allows to solve the non-homogeneous Dirichlet prob-
x R// one has
lem on a disc D.0; R/. For u 2 C 2 .D.0;
Z
1 R2 jzj2
u.z/ D u.w/ds.w/
2R C.0;R/ jw zj2
Z (11.7)
1 jw zjR
C Log 2 u.w/d m.w/:
2 D.0;R/ jR wzj
N
If f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of D.0; x R/, we will apply this formula

to the function u D Log jf .z/j. Especially interesting is the case in which f
has zeros; then u D Log jf .z/j does not belong to C 2 .D.0; x R//, however, it will
be shown that the formula obtained by formally replacing u.z/ with Log jf .z/j is
P
correct. Since Log jf .z/j D 2 N nD1 mn ızn on D.0; R/, where z1 ; : : : ; zN are
the zeros of f in this disc with multiplicities m1 ; : : : ; mN (the number of zeros of
f in D.0; R/ is finite because f is holomorphic on a neighborhood of D.0; x R/),
formula (11.7) gives
Z
1 R2 jzj2
Log jf .z/j D Log jf .w/jds.w/
2R C.0;R/ jz wj2
(11.8)
XN
jzi zjR
C mi Log 2 ; jzj < R:
jR zN i zj
iD1
In order to justify this formula, we first need to show that the function Log jf j is
integrable on the circle C.0; R/. If f has no zeros there, it is clear; if f .a/ D 0
with jaj D R and m is the multiplicity of a as a zero of f , then jf .w/j jw ajm
and, therefore, Log jf .w/j m Log jw aj. Now,
Z "
j Log jtjjdt < C1; if " > 0;
"
so that Log jf j is integrable on C.0; R/.

To prove (11.8), observe that if z is one of the zeros z1 ; z2 ; : : : ; zN of f , then
both terms in (11.8) are 1. The interesting case is, then, when z ¤ z1 ; : : : ; zN .
Whether f has zeros in C.0; R/ or not, there is always a ı > 0 such that f has
noSzeros in fw W R ı < jwj < Rg. Consider the domain U D D.0; R "/ n
N
D.z x "/ , with " > 0 small enough, and apply the second Green’s
x i ; "/[ D.z;
iD1
identity (7.6) to U , taking u D Log jf .w/j (which is of class C 2 on Ux ) and for v,
Green’s function of D.0; R/ with pole at z, that is,
1 jw zjR
v.w/ D Log 2 :
2 jR wzj
N
1 R2 jzj2
Recall that @v
Å
D if jwj D R, which is the Poisson kernel of D.0; R/.
2R jwzj2
@N
Both u and v are harmonic on U and of class C 2 on Ux . One has, therefore,
Z Z
@v @u @v @u
u v ds.w/ D u v ds.w/
C.0;R"/ @NÅ @NÅ C.z;"/ Å
@N @N Å
XN Z
@v @u
C u v ds.w/:
C.z i ;"/ @ Å
N @ Å
N
iD1
Since v.w/ D 0 if jwj D R, the limit of the left-hand side term, when " ! 0, is
Z Z
@v 1 R2 jzj2
u ds.w/ D Log jf .w/j ds.w/:
C.0;R/ @N Å 2R C.0;R/ jw zj2
In order to deal with the limit of the first term in the right when " ! 0, observe
that v is the difference of 12 Log jw zj and a function without a pole at the point
z, and u is regular. Then arguing as in the proof of Theorem 7.13 we get
Z
@v @u
lim u v ds.w/ D u.z/ D Log jf .z/j:
"!0 C.z;"/ Å
@N @NÅ
Finally, for the last term we proceed in the same way, but interchanging the
roles of u and v. On the neighborhood of zi , v is regular and u is the difference of
mi Log jz zi j and a regular function.
This yields
Z
@v @u
lim u v ds.w/
"!0 C.z ;"/ Å
@N Å
@N
i
Z
@u
D lim v ds.w/
"!0 C.z ;"/ @N Å
Z i
@
D lim v .mi Log jz zi j/ ds.w/
"!0 C.z ;"/ @N
i
Å
jzi zjR
D 2 mi v.zi / D mi Log 2 :
jR zN i zj
Setting z D 0 in formula (11.8) we obtain the following result.
Theorem 11.23 (Jensen’s formula). Let f be a holomorphic function on a neigh-
x R/, f .0/ ¤ 0, and z1 ; : : : ; zN the zeros of f in D.0; R/
borhood of the disc D.0;
with multiplicities m1 ; : : : ; mN . Then one has
Z X
N
1 2
jzi j
Log jf .0/j D Log jf .Re it /jdt C mi Log :
2 0 R
iD1
11.5. Jensen’s formula 483
If f has a zero of multiplicity k at the origin, we can apply Theorem 11.23 to

f .k/ .0/
the function g.z/ D fz.z/
k , which satisfies g.0/ D kŠ
, to obtain
ˇ .k/ ˇ Z X
N
ˇ f .0/ ˇ 1 2
jzi j
ˇ ˇ
Log ˇ ˇD Log jf .Re it /jdt k Log R C mi Log :
kŠ 2 0 R
iD1
Example 11.24. Jensen’s formula with f .z/ D z ˛, j˛j < 1, ˛ ¤ 0, gives

Z 2
1
Log je it ˛jdt D Log jf .0/j Log j˛j D 0:
2 0
If ˛ D 0, trivially the integral is zero. Hence, if P is a polynomial with all its zeros
inside the unit disc, the following holds:
Z 2
Log jP .e it /jdt D 0:
0
Another interesting consequence of formula (11.8) comes from the fact that all
the terms of the sum are negative (every Green’s function is negative).
Corollary 11.25. If f is a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of the

x R/, then the function Log jf .z/j is subharmonic on D.0; R/, in the sense
disc D.0;
that
Z 2
1 R2 jzj2
Log jf .z/j Log jf .Re it /jdt; jzj < R:
2 0 jz Re it j2
Assume f has no zeros on the circle C.0; R/; then formula (11.8) shows that
the values of jf j on this circle and the zeros of f determine jf .z/j for z 2 D.0; R/.
Now, it is known that every holomorphic function f is determined by jf j, up to a
constant with modulus 1; therefore, it seems natural to try to obtain the values of
f .z/ in a straightforward manner. To this end consider the function
Y
N
.R2 zN i z/mi
g.z/ D f .z/
.z zi /mi R
iD1
which does not vanish and satisfies jg.z/j D jf .z/j if jzj D R. The function
x R/ and (11.8) is written as
Log jgj is harmonic on a neighborhood of D.0;
Z
1 R2 jzj2
Log jg.z/j D Log jg.w/jds.w/;
2R C.0;R/ jz wj2
expressing Log jgj as the Poisson transform of its boundary values. Consider now
the holomorphic function
Z
1 wCz
h.z/ D Log jg.w/j ds.w/
2R C.0;R/ wz
Z 2
1 Re it C z
D Log jg.Re it /jdt:
2 0 Re it z
If jwj D R, one has
wCz Re.w C z/.wN zN / R2 jzj2

Re D D :
wz jw zj2 jw zj2
This means that the real part of h is Log jgj and, consequently, h.z/ differs from a
branch of log g.z/ by an imaginary constant:
Z 2
1 Re it C z
log g.z/ D Log jf .Re it /jdt C i ˛; ˛ 2 R:
2 0 Re it z
Hence, the following result has been proved.
Theorem 11.26. Let f be a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of the disc
x R/, without zeros in C.0; R/. Then
D.0;
Y
N ² Z 2 ³
.z zi /mi R 1 Re it C z
f .z/ D C exp Log jf .Re it
/jdt ;
.R2 zN i z/mi 2 0 Re it z
iD1
where zi , i D 1; : : : ; N , are the zeros of f in D.0; R/, mi , i D 1; : : : ; N , their

multiplicities and C a constant with jC j D 1.
11.6 Growth of a holomorphic function and distribution of

the zeros. The Blaschke condition
As shown in Section 11.5, Jensen’sP formula is a consequence of the equation
Log jf j D 2, with D n mn ızn , satisfied by a holomorphic function
f with zeros zn of multiplicities mn and, in fact, it establishes a quantitative link
between jf j and .
An interesting example in which this link is explicit appears when dealing with
bounded holomorphic functions on the unit disc D. If f is bounded and holomorphic
on D, with zeros zn of multiplicities mn , Jensen’s formula yields
X R
mn Log C; for R < 1;
jzn j
0<jzn j<R
11.6. Growth of a holomorphic function and distribution of the zeros 485
with C a constant independent from R. This means

X 1
mn Log C;
jzn j
zn ¤0
which is equivalent to X
mn .1 jzn j/ < C1:
n
This condition is called Blaschke’s condition. Hence, if f is holomorphic and

bounded on the unit disc or, more generally, if f 2 H.D/, f 6
0 and there is a
constant C 0 such that
Z 2
Log jf .Re it /jdt C; 0 R < 1;
0
then the zeros of f satisfy the Blaschke condition.

As seen above, Jensen’s formula is (11.7) for z D 0,
Z 2 Z
1 1 jwj
u.0/ D u.Re it /dt C Log u.w/d m.w/;
2 0 2 D.0;R/ R
applied to u D Log jf j. For a function u 2 C 2 .D/ with u 0 (or, more

generally, with u D , in the weak sense, where is a positive measure), the
condition Z 2
supR u.Re it /dt < C1;
0
that holds in particular if u is bounded, implies the Blaschke condition, written now
as Z
1
Log u.w/d m.w/ < C1:
D jwj
So this is a condition related to the Laplace equation, which can be formulated in
any dimension. For example, on the unit ball B of Rn , if u 2 C 2 .B/ with u 0
satisfies Z
sup0<R<1 u.Ry/d .y/ < C1;
S
the Blaschke condition is
Z
.1 jxj/u.x/d V .x/ < C1:
B
Proposition 7.52 shows that the potential

Z ˇ zw ˇ
1 ˇ ˇ
u.z/ D Log ˇ ˇ d.w/
2 D 1 wz
N
is well defined when is a positive measure satisfying the Blaschke condition

Z
.1 jwj2 /d.w/ < C1:
D
P
Then u is integrable
R on D and u D in the
P weak sense. Taking D 2 mn ızn ,
the condition D .1 jwj /d.w/ D 2 n mn .1 jzn j / < C1 is the Blaschke
2 2
condition for the points zn and the integers mn , and then u must be of the form
Log jf .z/j with f 2 H.D/ vanishing at points zn with multiplicities mn . Moreover
since u 0, f will be bounded by 1. Since now
X ˇ ˇ
ˇ z zn ˇ
u.z/ D ˇ
mn Log ˇ ˇ;
n
1 zN z ˇ n
it is natural to consider the infinite product

Y z zn
m n
n
n
1 zN n z
with jP
n j D 1 as a candidate
ˇ for f .z/.
ˇ The choice of the n will be such that the
series nn0 .r/ mn ˇ Log n 1 zzn ˇ
zN n z
x r/,
converges uniformly on each disc D.0;
0 < r < 1, or, equivalently, that
X ˇ ˇ
ˇ z zn ˇˇ
mn ˇˇ1 n
n
1 zN n z ˇ
converges uniformly on each compact disc D.0;x r/. For j1 zN n z n z C n zn j to

be dominated by 1 jzn j, if zn D rn wn with jwn j D 1, rn D jzn j ¤ 0, the quantity
1 rn wN n z n z C n rn wn
must vanish when rn D 1, that is, one must have 1 wN n z n z C n wn D 0.

Therefore, let us take n D wN n D jzzN nn j if zn ¤ 0. With this choice, one has that
zN n z

1 zNn z n z C n zn D 1 zN n z C jz j
jzn j D .1 jzn j/ C z zN n jz1n j 1 D
z zN n
n
.1 jzn j/ 1 C jz nj
has absolute value less than or equal to .1 jzn j/.1 C jzj/.
Then the series
X ˇ ˇ X
ˇ
ˇ
z zn ˇˇ .1 jzn j/.1 C jzj/
mn ˇ1 n ; dominated by mn ;
1 zN z ˇ
n 1 jzj
zn ¤0 zn ¤0
x r/.
is, indeed, uniformly convergent on each disc D.0;
Summarizing, the following result has been proved.
11.7. Entire functions of finite order 487
Theorem 11.27. Let f be a bounded holomorphic function on the unit disc, f 6

0.
Then the zero set fzn W n 2 Ng with multiplicities .mn / of f satisfies the Blaschke
condition X
mn .1 jzn j/ < C1:
n
Conversely, given the points zn 2 D and the integers mn 1, n 2 N, satisfying

this condition, the infinite product
Y zN n zn z mn
B.z/ D z k
zn 1 zN n z
zn ¤0
converges uniformly on compact sets of D. The function B is holomorphic on D,

satisfies jB.z/j 1, z 2 D and vanishes exactly at the points zn with multiplici-
ties mn .
The infinite product defining B is called a Blaschke product (see Example 8.29).
Example 11.28. The sequence .zn /n2N with zn D 1 1=n cannot be the zero set
of a bounded function f 2 H.D/ because
X X1
.1 jzn j/ D D C1:
n n
n
Instead, if zn D 1 1=n˛ with ˛ 2 R and ˛ > 1, then .zn /n2N is the sequence of
zeros of a bounded function f holomorphic on D; more precisely,
Y1 Y1
n˛ z 1 n˛ z
f .z/ D D :
nD1
1 n˛ z nD1
n˛ z
11.7 Entire functions of finite order

Starting from an entire function f , Jensen’s formula can be applied to f on any
disc centered at the origin. One may take advantage of this fact in order to analyze
the relationship between the growth of f and the distribution of its zeros.
Let f be an entire function with f .0/ D 1. The growth of f is measured by
the function
M.r/ D Mf .r/ D maxfjf .z/j W jzj D rg; r 0:
By the maximum modulus principle one has M.r/ D maxfjf .z/j W jzj rg and,
therefore, M.r/ is an increasing function of r. Indeed, it is strictly increasing if f
is not constant. To prove this let r1 < r2 and assume M.r1 / D M.r2 /; then jf j
would have a local maximum at a point of the disc D.0; r2 / and, by the maximum
modulus principle, f would be constant on D.0; r2 / and, therefore, on the whole

of C.
The growth of M.r/ can be of different kinds. By Cauchy’s inequalities, if M.r/
has a polynomial growth, that is, M.r/ D O.r N / for some natural N , then f is
a polynomial of degree less than or equal to N (Section 4.7, Exercise 11). Other
kinds of growth may be quantified by means of the order of an entire function.
In general, if '.r/ 0 is an increasing function of r, for r > 0, the order of '
is the number 0 defined by
Log '.r/
D lim sup :
r!C1 Log r
This means that is the infimum of the set of numbers > 0 such that
'.r/ D O.r /; r ! C1:
Definition 11.29. The order D .f / of an entire function f is the order of the

function Log M.r/, that is to say
Log Log M.r/
D lim sup :
r!C1 Log r
Hence is the infimum of the set of numbers > 0 such that
jf .z/j D O.exp.jzj //; jzj ! 1:
Example 11.30. Polynomials have order zero and the exponential function, f .z/ D
e z , has order 1. The order may be infinite; for example, f .z/ D exp.exp.z// has
infinite order.
Example 11.31. The function f .z/ D sin z has order 1, because j sin zj2 D
sin2 x C sh2 y if z D x C iy, and so
sh2 r M.r/2 1 C sh2 r;
giving that M.r/ behaves like e r .

Let .zn /1
nD1 be the sequence of zeros of an entire function f with jzn j
jznC1 j and .mn /1nD1 the respective multiplicities. The radial distribution of zeros
of f is encoded by means of the counting function nf .r/, which computes (with
multiplicities) the number of zeros in each disc D.0; r/:
X
n.r/ D nf .r/ D mn ; if r > 0:
jzn jr
Hence, n.r/ is an increasing step function, constant between jzn j and jznC1 j (if
jzn j < jznC1 j), jumping mn at the point jzn j.
of n.r/ when r increases controls the convergence or divergence

The behavior P
of series of type n mn .jzn j/ with W .0; 1/ ! .0; 1/ differentiable and de-
creasing. Actually, applying Fubini’s theorem, for r > 0 fixed one has
X X Z 1
mn .jzn j/ D mn 1Œ0; .jzn j/ .t /dt
0
jzn jr jzn jr
Z 1
D #fn W jzn j r; .jzn j/ t gdt
0
Z 1
1
D #fn W jzn j min.r; .t /gdt (11.9)
0
Z 1
1
D n. .t //dt C n.r/ .r/
.r/
Z r
0
D n.t /j .t /jdt C n.r/ .r/
0
(the notation #A is used to denote the number ofPelements of a finite set RA).
r
Taking .x/ D Log xr one gets the equality jzn jr mn Log jzrn j D 0 n.t/ t
dt ,
and Jensen’s formula can be written as
Z r Z 2
n.t / 1
Log jf .0/j C dt D Log jf .re i /jd: (11.10)
0 t 2 0
Lemma 11.32.
P Let W .0; 1/ ! .0; 1/ be decreasing and differentiable.
R1 Then
the series n mn .jzn j/ is convergent if and only if the integralP0 n.t /j 0 .t /jdt
is convergent and, in this case, n.r/ .r/ ! 0 and n mn .jzn j/ D
R1 0
r!C1
0 n.t/j .t/jdt .
Proof. The equality between the first and the last term of (11.9) proves that the
integral is convergent if the series is, because n.r/ .r/ 0. If the integral is
convergent, then
Z 1
n.r/ .r/ n.t /j 0 .t /jdt ! 0;
r r!C1
and the same equality proves the convergence of the series.

The exponent of convergence of a sequence of points .zn /1
nD1 , zn ¤ 0, with
multiplicities .mn / is defined as
˚ P
D inf > 0 W mn jzn j < C1 :
By Lemma 11.32, one has
˚ R1 n.t/

D inf > 0 W 0 t C1
dt < C1 :
Lemma 11.33. The exponent of convergence of a sequence of points .zn /, zn ¤ 0,

with multiplicities .mn /, coincides with the order of the counting function n.r/,
n.r/
Q D lim supr!C1 Log Log r
.
Q . If D C1 there is nothing to prove; if

Proof. Let us show first that P
< C1 and > , then mn jzn j < C1 implying n.r/ D O.r / and,
therefore, Q . Since is arbitrary, it turns out that Q . For the reverse
inequality, if Q < C1 and > , Q the fact that n.r/ D O.r / shows that the
integral
Z 1
n.t /
C1C"
dt
0 t
converges for " > 0; thus one must have C ", and since " > 0 is arbitrary, it
yields . This holds for all > Q and, therefore, .
Q
Example 11.34.
P P k Let k 2 N be fixed and take zn D nk , n 2 Z: the series

jzn j D n converges exactly when k > 1; therefore, the exponent of
convergence of .zn / is 1=k. Taking now as .zn / the sequence of prime numbers,
the prime number distribution theorem implies that the corresponding function n.r/
behaves like r= Log r, so that the order and the exponent of convergenceP are both
equal
P n to 1. For a geometric sequence zn D n
with > 1, trivially jzn j D
converges if and only if > 1 and the exponent of convergence is 0.

Theorem 11.35 (Hadamard). If f is an entire function of order and is the

exponent of convergence of the zeros of f , then it is .
Proof. Assuming f .0/ D 1, Jensen’s formula (11.10) gives

Z r Z 2
n.t / 1
dt D Log jf .re i /jd Log M.r/:
0 t 2 0
Since n.t/ is increasing, it turns out that

Z er Z er
n.t / n.t /
n.r/ dt dt Log M.er/:
r t 0 t
From this we obtain

Log n.r/ Log Log M.er/
D lim sup lim sup
r!C1 Log r r!C1 Log r
Log Log M.r/
D lim sup D :
r!C1 Log r
Thus, if an entire function f has order and zeros .zn / with multiplicities .mn /,
the following inequality holds:
X
mn jzn j" < C1 for any " > 0:
n
P
Let p be the entire part of , p D Œ ; since pC1 > , the series n mn jzn jp1
converges and one can consider the canonical product
1
Y
z
F .z/ D Epmn : (11.11)
nD1
zn
Theorem 11.36 (Hadamard). Every entire function f of finite order can be

factorized as
f .z/ D z m exp.P .z//F .z/;
where m is the multiplicity of the origin as a zero of f , P is a polynomial of degree
less than or equal to and F is the canonical product (11.11).
.m/
Proof. Replacing f by f =cm z m , where cm D f mŠ.0/ , we may assume that f .0/ D
1. Fix R > 0, suppose f .z/ ¤ 0 if jzj D R and let z1 ; : : : ; zN be the zeros of f
with jzn j < R, n D 1; 2; : : : ; N . By Theorem 11.26 one has
YN ² Z 2 ³
.z zn /mn R 1 Re it C z
f .z/ D C exp Log jf .Re /jdt :
it
nD1
.R2 zN n z/mn 2 0 Re it z
Consider now, with p D Œ , the partial product
Y
N Y
N XN Xp
z 1 z k
FR .z/ D Epmn D CR .z zn / mn
exp mn ;
nD1
zn nD1 nD1
k zn
kD1
f .z/
where CR is constant. Consider as well the function hR .z/ D FR .z/
, without zeros
in D.0; R/, and its logarithm,
X
N XX 1 z k N p
1
log hR .z/ D dR C mn Log 2 mn
nD1
R zN n z nD1 kD1
k zn
Z 2
1 Re it C z
C Log jf .Re it /jdt; jzj < R;
2 0 Re it z
for some constant dR .

Differentiating p C 1 times the previous equality we get
X
N
pŠ zNnpC1
.log hR .z//.pC1/ D mn
nD1
.R2 zN n z/pC1
Z
.p C 1/Š 2 2Re it
C Log jf .Re it /jdt dt:
2 0 .Re it z/pC2
In terms of M.R/ and n.R/ D nf .R/ it turns out that, for jzj D r < R,
pŠ n.R/ .p C 1/Š 4R

j.log hR .z//.pC1/ j C Log M.R/ :
.R r/ pC1 2 .R r/pC2
When R ! C1, the functions log hR converge uniformly on compact sets of C
to log h, where h D Ff and, therefore, the derivatives converge as well. Since
Log M.R/ D O.RC" / and n.R/ D O.RC" / for all " > 0, letting R ! C1
we get that log h has derivative of order p C 1 identically zero and so it must be a
polynomial of degree p.
Example 11.37. If is an integer and P a polynomial of degree smaller than or
equal to , the function z m exp P .z/ with m 2 N, has order . If is not an integer,
the factor F in Theorem 11.36 with infinitely many terms must necessarily appear;
otherwise the order of f would be the degree of P . Thus, if an entire function has
non-integer order, it has necessarily infinitely many zeros.
Remark that Hadamard’s theorem implies that the canonical product F has also
finite order. The aim now is to find what is exactly the order of a canonical product.
Recall F is given by
Y1
z
F .z/ D Epmn ;
nD1
zn
where p is the smallest integer such that
X mn
< C1:
n
jzn jpC1
We need some estimates of functions Log jEp .z/j more precise than the ones used
in Section 11.2.
Lemma 11.38. The Weierstrass elementary factors Ep .z/ satisfy the following
inequalities:
pC1
a) Log jEp .z/j Cp jzj
1Cjzj
, p > 0, z 2 C and Cp constant.
b) Log jE0 .z/j Log.1 C jzj/, z 2 C.

Proof. Part b) is evident. Recall now that for jzj < 1, one has
1
X zk
Log Ep .z/ D :
k
kDpC1
It follows that
1
X jzjk 1 jzjpC1 2
Log jEp .z/j jzjpC1 ;
k p C 1 1 jzj pC1
kDpC1
for jzj < 1

2
. If jzj > 1, one has, trivially,
X
p
jzjk
jEp .z/j .1 C jzj/ exp .1 C jzj/ exp .pjzjp / exp Œ.p C 1/jzjp :
k
kD1
pC1
Since jzj
1Cjzj
is of the order of jzjpC1 for jzj < 12 , of the order of jzjp for jzj > 1
and it is bounded below and above for 12 jzj 1, these estimates prove a) for a
constant Cp .
P
Proposition 11.39. If n jz mjpC1 n
< C1, then the canonical product F .z/ D
Q mn z n
n Ep zn
satisfies the estimate
²Z r Z 1 ³
n.t / n.t /
Log jF .z/j Bp r p pC1
dt C r dt ;
0 t r t pC2
where r D jzj, n.t / is the counting function of fzn I mn g and Bp is a constant.
Proof. If p D 0, using item (b) of Lemma 11.38 and Lemma 11.32, it turns out
that Z 1
X1
r n.t /
Log jF .z/j mn Log 1 C Dr dt
nD1
jzn j 0 t .t C r/
which in turn is bounded above by
Z r Z 1
n.t / n.t /
dt C r dt:
0 t r t2
If p > 0, item a) of Lemma 11.38 and Lemma 11.32, give
X r pC1
Log jF .z/j Cp mn
n
jzn jp .r C jzn j/
Z 1
p 1
D Cp r pC1 C n.t /dt:
0 t pC1 .t C r/ t p .t C r/2
Separating the contributions of 0 t r and of t > r, the proof is finished.
Theorem 11.40 (Borel). The order of a canonical product is equal to the exponent
of convergence of its zeros.
Proof. Let be the exponent of convergence of the zeros of the product F defined
by (11.11); ifP is not an integer, p D Œ works, and for an integer, take p D 1
if the series n jzmnnj converges, and p D if it diverges. Suppose first < p C1;
if C " < p C 1, one has n.t / D O.t C" / and Proposition 11.39 implies
² Z r Z 1 ³
Log jF .z/j Bp r O.1/ C
p
t C"p1
dt C r t C"p2
dt
0 r
D Bp r p O.r C"p / D O.r C" /:
This shows P if is the order of the product F . Suppose now D p C 1, that

is, the series n jzmnnj converges. By Lemma 11.32, the convergence of this series
is equivalent to the convergence of the integral
Z 1 Z 1
n.t / n.t /
C1
dt D dt:
0 t 0 t pC2
This gives Z Z
r 1
n.t / n.t /
pC1
dt C r dt D O.r/
0 t r t pC2
and, by Proposition 11.39, we get
Log jF .z/j D O.r pC1 / D O.r /;
from where follows. Theorem 11.35 gives the opposite inequality, .

Combining Hadamard’s and Borel’s theorems the following result is obtained.
Theorem 11.41. A sequence of points of the plane .zn /, zn ¤ 0 with multiplicities
.mn / is the sequence
P of zeros of an entire function of order less than or equal to
if and only if n mn jzn j" < C1 for every " > 0.
11.8 Ideals of the algebra of holomorphic functions

One of the most interesting topics when dealing with an algebra is the knowledge
of its ideals. A very natural and easy example is the algebra of the polynomials in
one variable on an arbitrary field. Let us consider CŒz and let I be an ideal of this
algebra. If we choose a polynomial P 2 I of minimal degree among all the non-zero
polynomials of I , it is easy to see that every other polynomial H 2 I is a multiple of
P , that is, H D P Q, with Q 2 CŒz. Actually, we need only divide H by P , which
gives H D P Q C R with deg.R/ < deg.P / and R 2 I . So R D 0. Hence, the
11.8. Ideals of the algebra of holomorphic functions 495
ideal I is generated by P , that is I D hP i D fH 2 CŒz W H D P Q; Q 2 CŒzg,

and considering now the zeros of P , namely z1 ; z2 ; : : : ; zN counted with their
multiplicities m1 ; m2 ; : : : ; mN , it turns out that a polynomial H is in I if and only
if H vanishes at each of the points zi , i D 1; : : : ; N , with multiplicity greater than
or equal to mi .
A natural generalization of this example is the algebra of power series with
complex coefficient or algebra of formal power series CŒŒz. It is easy to show that
in this algebra, as well as in CŒz, every ideal has just one generator. If now we
consider power series with an infinite radius of convergence, we are dealing with
the algebra of entire functions. The aim of this section is to study the ideals of
the algebra of holomorphic functions on any domain of the complex plane. It will
be shown that, in this case, we can only characterize the ideals that satisfy some
restrictions.
Fix, then, a domain U of the complex plane and consider the space of the
holomorphic functions on U , H.U /. It is clear that H.U / is a C-algebra, that
is to say, a vector space on complex numbers that, in addition, has ring structure.
Recall also that H.U / as a subspace of C.U / has a topology coming from a complete
metric. The convergence corresponding to this topology is the uniform convergence
on compact sets of U (see Subsection 9.1.3), and the operations of the algebra are
continuous with respect to this topology.
The easiest ideals in any algebra are principal ideals, that is, ideals with only
one generator. Choose a function f 2 H.U /, f 6
0, and consider the principal
ideal
I D hf i D fg D f h W h 2 H.U /g:
Let .zn / be the sequence of the zeros of f and denote by mn 1 the multiplicity
of zn . Clearly each function g 2 I vanishes at each point zn with a multiplicity
m0n mn . Conversely, if a function g 2 H.U / vanishes at each zn with multiplicity
m0n mn , it follows that g 2 I . Actually, the function g=f is holomorphic
on U n fzn g, and around each point zn one has f .z/ D .z zn /mn f1 .z/ and
0
g.z/ D .z zn /mn g1 .z/ with f1 ; g1 holomorphic and non-vanishing. Therefore,
0
g.z/
f .z/
D .z zn /mn mn fg11 is holomorphic at the point zn . Writing h D fg 2 H.U /
we get the desired conclusion. It has been shown, then, that the principal ideal
I D hf i is formed, exactly, by the functions of H.U / vanishing at each zero zn of
f with multiplicity greater than or equal to mn . In particular, applying Theorem 9.3,
it follows:
Proposition 11.42. If I is a principal ideal of H.U /, then I is a closed set of

H.U /.
Start now from a set Z D fzn I mn gn2N composed by a closed and discrete set
of points fzn g of U and a sequence of integers mn 1, and consider the set of
holomorphic functions
I.Z/ D fg 2 H.U / W g.zn / D g 0 .zn / D D g .mn 1/ .zn / D 0; n D 1; 2; : : :g;

(11.12)
which vanish at each point zn with multiplicity greater than or equal to mn . It is
clear that I.Z/ is an ideal of H.U /. Is it principal? The answer is yes and follows
from Weierstrass’ theorem (Theorem 11.8). Actually, according to this theorem,
there is a function f 2 H.U / vanishing at each point zn with multiplicity mn . This
means that f 2 I and, as said above, I D hf i.
From now on, a set of type Z D fzn I mn gn2N with fzn g discrete and closed in
U and mn 1 integers, will be called a zero set in U . Then, the following result
has been proved.
Proposition 11.43. There is a one-to-one correspondence between principal ideals

of H.U / and zero sets in U . The correspondence is obtained by associating to each
zero set Z the ideal I.Z/ defined by (11.12).
Remark 11.1. In order for this proposition to be true, the empty set Z D f;I ;g
must be accepted as a zero set as corresponding to the ideal generated by a function
non-vanishing on U . It is clear this ideal is the whole algebra H.U /. As usual, an
ideal I of H.U / such that f0g ¤ I ¤ H.U / will be called a proper ideal; then
principal proper ideals correspond to non-empty zero sets.
As a next step in studying the ideals of H.U / one considers ideals with a finite
number
Pn of generators. They can be written as I D hf1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fn i D fg D
iD1 hi fi W hi 2 H.U /g. One may ask: is the ideal I closed? Or even more: is
the ideal I principal? The positive answer to these questions will be given below.
Start by noting that I being principal means that there exists a function f0 2
H.U / such that fi 2 hf0 i, i D 1; : : : ; n. If f0 has some zero in U , then all functions
f1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fn should vanish at the zeros of f0 . Therefore, if f1 ; : : : ; fn have no
common zeros, f0 cannot have zeros and one should have I D hf0 i D H.U /. The
following result tells that, indeed, this is the case.
Theorem 11.44. Let f1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fn 2 H.U / be holomorphic functions with-

Pn common zeros in U . Then there exist g1 ; g2 ; : : : ; gn 2 H.U / such that
out
iD1 fi gi D 1; that is, hf1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fn i D H.U /.
Proof. Let us proceed by induction on the number n of functions. The case n D 1

is trivial, but the case n D 2 is needed in order to carry out the induction.
Suppose f1 ; f2 2 H.U / such that f1 and f2 do not vanish simultaneously at
any point of U . Define the functions
fN1 fN2
'1 D ; '2 D ;
jf1 j2 C jf2 j2 jf1 j2 C jf2 j2
that are C 1 on U because jf1 j2 C jf2 j2 > 0 on U and in addition, satisfy the
condition f1 '1 C f2 '2 D 1. The problem consists in replacing '1 , '2 by two
holomorphic functions g1 , g2 so that this equality remains true. To this end look
for a function , C 1 on U as well, such that defining
g1 D '1 C f2 ; g2 D '2 f1 ;
the functions g1 , g2 work. The equation f1 g1 C f2 g2 D 1 is clearly satisfied and

the question is to choose so that g1 , g2 2 H.U /. Imposing @g N 1 D @g N 2 D0
yields the equations
N 1 C @N f2 D 0;
@' N 2 @N f1 D 0;
@'
or,
N 1
@' N 2
@'
@N D I @N D : (11.13)
f2 f1
An easy computation, beginning with the definition of '1 and '2 , gives
N 1
@' fN10 fN2 fN1 fN20 N 2
@' fN20 fN1 fN2 fN10
D I D
f2 .jf1 j2 C jf2 j2 /2 f1 .jf1 j2 C jf2 j2 /2
so that these two functions are of class C 1 on U . Furthermore, the relation f1 '1 C
f2 '2 D 1 makes both equations of (11.13) to be the same and, finally, one needs
to find such that
N 1
@' N 2
@'
@N D D on U:
f2 f1
Theorem 10.41 ensures the existence of this function , C 1 on U , and this finishes
the proof for the case n D 2.
Let us suppose now that the theorem holds for n1 functions and let f1 ; f2 ; : : : ;
fn 2 H.U / without common zeros. If f1 ; : : : ; fn1 do not have any common zeros,
applying the induction hypothesis we are done. If not, let Z D fzk I mk g be the set
of common zeros to f1 ; : : : ; fn1 , where mk is the minimum of the multiplicities
of zk as a zero of each fi , i D 1; : : : ; n 1. By Weierstrass’ theorem, there
is a function f vanishing exactly at each point zk with multiplicity mk . Then
f1 =f; : : : ; fn1 =f are holomorphic on U without common zeros. Therefore, by
the induction hypothesis, one can find h1 ; : : : ; hn1 2 H.U / such that
X
n1
fi hi D f:
iD1
But fn does not have common zeros with f (because zeros of f are also zeros of
f1 ; : : : ; fn1 ); therefore, by the case n D 2 there are functions gn ; g 2 H.U / such
that fg C fn gn D 1. That is,
X
n1
fi .hi g/ C fn gn D 1;
iD1
and this ends the proof.
Corollary 11.45. Every ideal of H.U / with a finite number of generators is prin-
cipal and, therefore, closed.
Proof. Let I D hf1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fn i with fi 2 H.U /. If the functions f1 ; : : : ; fn do

not have common zeros, Theorem 11.44 gives I D H.U / D h1i. If the generators
of I have common zeros, take a divisor f of f1 ; : : : ; fn so that f1 =f; : : : ; fn =f do
not have common zeros, as in the last part of the P proof of Theorem 11.44. Then
n
there are functions, g1 ; : : : ; gn 2 H.U / such
Pn that iD1 fi gi D f ; that is, f 2 I
and it is clear that every function g D iD1 fi hi 2 I must be divisible by f
because g must vanish at the common zeros of f1 ; : : : ; fn , which are the ones of f .

So far it has been shown that if I is an ideal with a finite number of generators,
then I D I.Z/ where Z is a zero set in U . Now it is natural to ask if this result
holds in general, that is, if every ideal I of H.U / is associated to a zero set Z in U .
In order for this to be possible, some restriction to I must be imposed. Actually, the
ideal I must be closed because if the terms of a sequence of holomorphic functions
on U , .fn /, vanish on Z and fn ! f , uniformly on compact sets of U , then f
vanishes on Z too. We will show that this necessary condition is also sufficient in
order that I be associated to a zero set in U . This implies, in particular, that if I is
a closed proper ideal, then the set of common zeros of all the functions of I is not
empty. In other words, the ideals without common zeros are to be excluded. What
are these ideals? Before answering this, let us introduce a useful notation.
If I is an ideal of H.U /, define the setTZ.I / of zeros of I in the following
way: Z.I / D fzn I mn gn2N , where fzn g D f 2I Z.f / is the discrete and closed
set of U formed by points at which all functions of I vanish; moreover for each zn ,
take mn D inffm.f; zn / W f 2 I g. We admit the possibility Z.I / D ;, that is, the
functions of I do not vanish, simultaneously, at any point of U .
Proposition 11.46. If I is an ideal of H.U / such that Z.I / D ;, then I is dense
in H.U /.
Proof. In order to see that I is dense we have to show that given f 2 H.U /, a
compact set K U and " > 0, there is a function h 2 I such that supfjf .z/
h.z/j W z 2 Kg < " (see Subsection 9.1.3). We may assume that no connected
component of U n K is relatively compact in U (if there were components with
this property we would join them to K passing to a bigger compact set). Since
Z.I / D ;, we have
\
Z.I / \ K D .Z.f / \ K/ D ;:
f 2I
Now K being compact this is so for Z.f / \ K and we get T that there must be a
finite number of functions f1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fn 2 I such that niD1 Z.fi / \ K D ;.
That is, we can find an open set V U , with K V and f1 ; f2 ; : : : ; fn without
common zeros on V . Now we may apply Theorem 11.44 to conclude that there
exist functions g1 ; g2 ; : : : ; gn 2 H.V / with f1 g1 C Cfn gn D 1, on V (if V was
not connected, we would apply the theorem to each connected component of V ).
Finally, a version of Runge’s theorem (Theorem 10.7) allows us to approximate
P each
gi 2 H.V / by a function hi 2 H.U / uniformly on K. Hence, h D niD1 f fi hi
satisfies the required condition if the hi are quite close to the functions gi .
Corollary 11.47. If I is a closed proper ideal of H.U /, then Z.I / ¤ ;.

Example 11.48. Now one may show how a dense ideal in H.U / can be. Take a
sequence of points .zn / of U converging to a point in the boundary of U . Defining
I by
I D ff 2 H.U / W there is n0 .f / such that f .zn / D 0 if n n0 .f /g;
then I is an ideal with Z.I / D ; and, therefore, it is dense.

Finally, one can prove that closed ideals of H.U / are associated to their zero
sets.
Theorem 11.49. Let I be a closed ideal of H.U /. Then one has I D I.Z.I //. In
particular, I is a principal ideal.
Proof. It is clear that I I.Z.I //. For the converse, let f be a generator of
the principal ideal I.Z.I // and write I1 D fg 2 H.U / W fg 2 I g. Clearly I1
is an ideal and I I1 . Therefore, Z.I / Z.I1 /, but now let us show that
Z.I1 / D ;. Actually, if z0 2 Z.I /, there is a function f0 2 I such that z0 has
the same multiplicity as a zero of f0 as well as a zero of f . Therefore, z0 is not
a zero of the holomorphic function g D ff0 and g 2 I1 ; hence, z0 … Z.I1 /. By
Proposition 11.46, I1 is a dense ideal in H.U /. If Tf W H.U / ! H.U / is the
operator given by Tf .h/ D f h, h 2 H.U /, one has
I.Z.I // D Tf .H.U // D Tf .IN1 / Tf .I1 / IN D I;
so that I D I.Z.I // D hf i.
Hence, Proposition 11.43 may be reformulated with the same statement but
replacing principal ideals by closed ideals.
In every ring it is interesting to find maximal ideals as well. In the case of H.U / it
is easy now to determine the maximal ideals that are also closed. Observe that, since
H.U / has dense ideals, it must also have dense maximal ideals. Now, if M H.U /
is a closed maximal ideal, one must have Z.M / ¤ ;, by Proposition 11.46, and
Z.M / must consist of a unique point with multiplicity 1, that is, Z.M / D fz0 I 1g;
otherwise M would not be maximal. Hence, M is generated by the function z z0
and it yields
M D fh.z/.z z0 / W h 2 H.U /g; z0 2 U:
It is clear that every ideal of this kind is maximal and closed and, therefore, these
ideals are in a one-to-one correspondence with the points of U .
11.9 Exercises
1. Let f be a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of the disc D.0; x R/ that
has the zeros z1 ; z2 ; : : : ; zN in D.0; R/. Show the inequality
ˇ ˇ ˇ ˇ
ˇ z z1 ˇ ˇ z zN ˇ
jf .z/j RN ˇˇ ˇˇ ˇ supfjf .z/j W jzj D Rg if jzj < R;
R2 zN z ˇ ˇ R2 zN z ˇ
1 N
which improves Corollary 4.35 in the case U D D.0; R/.

Q
2. Write Pn .z/ D nkD1 1 kz2 , n 2 N, and let an 2 C, n D 1; 2; : : :, with
P1
1 jan j < C1.
Q
a) Prove that the infinite product 1 1 kz2 and the series f .z/ D
P1 kD1
kD1 ak Pk .z/ converge uniformly on compact sets of C.
b) Compute
Z
zf .z 2 /
dz if D C.0; n C 1=2/ for n D 1; 2; : : : .
Pn .z 2 /
3. Define on the unit disc D the sequence of holomorphic functions

z.1 2z/
f1 .z/ D ; fnC1 D f1 B fn ; n D 1; 2; : : : :
2z
Q
Show that the infinite product 1 2fn .z/ n
nD2 fn1 .z/ and the sequence .2 fn .z//,
converge uniformly on compact sets of D and calculate f .0/ and f 0 .0/ if
f .z/ D limn 2n fn .z/.
n
Hint: Use the inequalities jfn .z/j jzj 1C2jzj
2Cjzj
, z 2 D, n 1.
11.9. Exercises 501
4. Let a 2 C, jaj < 1. Prove that the function

1
Y
.z/ D .1 C a2n1 e z /.1 C a2n1 e z /
nD1
is entire and find its zeros. Show also that the equation
.z/ D ae z .z C 2 Log a/; z2C
holds.
e z .z/
Hint: Show that the function .zC2 Log a/
has two periods that are linearly
independent.
5. Let F be an entire function written as in Theorem 11.10 with pn D p 1,

for all n, and g a polynomial of degree less than or equal to 1. Suppose that
F .z/ is real when z is real and the zeros of F are real. Prove that the zeros of
F 0 are also real and between each two consecutive zeros of F there is exactly
one zero of F 0 .
Hint: Show that the logarithmic derivative of F has imaginary part different
from zero outside the real axis.
6. Prove the following formulae for the derivative of the logarithmic derivative
of function :
X 1 Z 1
d 0 .z/ 1 1 2zt
D D 2C cot t 2 dt:
dz .z/ nD0
.z C n/ 2 2z 0 .z C t 2 /2
Hint: Integrate w ! .zCw/

cot w
2 on the boundary of the rectangle with vertical
sides on Re w D 0 and Re w D n C 1=2 and the horizontal ones on Im w D

˙M ; then let M; n ! C1.
7. Prove Legendre’s formula
22z1
.2z/ D p .z/ .z C 1=2/:

8. Show the result about interpolation by an entire function and its derivatives,
on page 476, using Weierstrass’ theorem (Theorem 11.8) and Mittag-Leffler’s
theorem (Theorem 10.9).
9. Let U be a bounded domain of C and A @U a countable set of points dense

in @U . Let .wn /n2N be a sequence containing each point of A infinitely many
P
times. For each n 2 N choose a point zn 2 U such that n jzn wn j < C1.
Prove that the infinite product
Y1
z zn
F .z/ D
nD1
z wn
converges uniformly on compact sets of U and represents a function F holo-

morphic on U which cannot be analytically continued to any neighborhood
of any point of @U .
10. Let f be an entire function, fzn I mn gn2N its zero set and M.r/ D supfjf .z/j W
R1 M.r/
jzj D rg, r > 0. Assume for > 0 that 1 Log dr < C1 and show
P
r C1
that the series n mn jzn j is convergent.
11. Let f be holomorphic on the unit disc D satisfying
Z 2
1
sup0<r<1 LogC jf .re i /j d D M < C1:
2 0
Prove the inequality

1 C jzj
jf .z/j exp M ; z2D
1 jzj
is satisfied. Let now f be holomorphic on D with jf .z/j 1 for z 2 D;
show that
jf .z/j jf .0/j2=1jzj ; z 2 D:
12. Deduce Weierstrass’ theorem from Mittag-Leffler’s theorem (Theorem 10.9):

If zn 2 C, .zn / ! 1 and mn 2 N, n D 1; 2; : : :, then there exists an
entire function vanishing exactly at the points zn with multiplicities mn , for
n D 1; 2; : : : .
Hint: Consider a meromorphic function h having a simple pole at each zn
with residue mn and after that take f with f 0 =f D h.
13. If B is a Blaschke product, show that
Z
lim Log jB.re i /j d D 0:
r!1
14. Find all the entire functions f satisfying jf .z/j D 1 when jzj D 1.
15. Prove that the order .f / of an entire function f has the following properties:
i) If .f1 / < .f2 /, then .f1 C f2 / D .f2 /.
11.9. Exercises 503
ii) .f1 f2 / maxf .f1 /; .f2 /g.

iii) If .f / D and P is a polynomial, then .f P / D . If f =P is entire,
then .f =P / D .
iv) .f / D .f 0 /.
16. If f1 , f2 are entire functions so that f1 =f2 is also entire, show that .f1 =f2 /
max f .f1 /; .f2 /g.
P
17. Let f .z/ D 1 n
0 cn z be an entire function of order . Prove the formula
1 Log 1=jcn j
D lim inf :
n!1 n Log n
Hint:
p
i) The inequality n
jcn j n˛ for n n0 implies 1=˛.
˛ p
ii) The inequality M.r/ e r for r r0 implies n jcn j c n1=˛ if
n n0 , c constant.
18. Let f be an entire function of order , being a fractional number. Prove:
a) The exponent of convergence of the zeros of f is equal to .
b) The function f takes all the complex values infinitely many times.
19. Let U be a simply connected domain, f 2 H.U / and n 2 N. Show that f
has an n-th root holomorphic on U if and only if the multiplicity of each zero
of f in U is divisible by n.
20. Let U be a domain of the plane, f1 ; : : : ; fn 2 H.U / and ' D gcd .f1 ; : : : ; fn /.
Show that there exists a unit u in the ring H.U / and functions g2 ; : : : ; gn 2
H.U / such that
u' D f1 C g2 f2 C C gn fn :
Chapter 12
The complex Fourier transform
The Fourier representation in the real field exhibits, under suitable conditions, any
function as an infinite linear combination of sines and cosines of all frequencies.
In this chapter the extension of the Fourier transform to the complex field will be
studied; it is obtained by replacing the real frequencies by a complex parameter.
The complex Fourier transform identifies some subspaces of L2 .R/ with spaces
of entire functions defined by growth conditions. The precise statement is given by
the Paley–Wiener theorems. An important case is the one of bandlimited functions,
which, according to the Shannon–Whittaker theorem, are determined by their sam-
ples on a discrete set of points. This fact has a great interest in signal processing
theory.
The Laplace transform, which is a complex Fourier transform defined on the
so-called causal functions, will be also studied in detail. The properties of this
transformation make it very useful in applications. One of the more typical appli-
cations is outlined, namely the one to the solution of linear differential equations
with constant coefficients.
The chapter ends by considering some discrete analogs of the Laplace transform,
such as Dirichlet’s series, that are important in number theory, or the Z-transform,
which has applications in finite difference equations.
12.1 The complex extension of the Fourier transform.

First Paley–Wiener theorem
Let E be a measurable subset of R and f a measurable function on E with real or
complex values. As usual, we will write
Z Z
1=2
kf k1 D jf .x/jdxI kf k2 D jf .x/j dx
2
E E
and
L1 .E/ D ff W E ! R or C W f is measurable and kf k1 < C1g;
L2 .E/ D ff W E ! R or C W f is measurable and kf k2 < C1g:
The space L1 .E/ with k k1 and the space L2 .E/ with k k2 are Banach spaces.
We will be usually interested in the case that E is the whole line, or a half-line or
an interval.
12.1. The complex extension of the Fourier transform. First Paley–Wiener theorem 505
The Fourier transform, fO, of a function f of the space L1 .R/ is defined by

means of the formula
Z C1
O
f . / D f .t/ e 2 it dt; 2 R:
1
The function fO is continuous on R and vanishes at infinity, but is not necessarily

integrable. If fO is integrable on R, the inversion formula
Z C1
f .t/ D fO. / e 2 it dt for almost all t 2 R (12.1)
1
holds. The inversion formula holds also under other hypotheses.

If f 2 L1 .R/ \ L2 .R/, then fO 2 L2 .R/ and Parseval’s identity
Z C1 Z C1
O
jf . /j d D
2
jf .t /j2 dt (12.2)
1 1
is satisfied. Then the Fourier transform of a function f 2 L2 .R/ can be defined in

the following way:
Z Ch
fO. / D lim f .t / e 2 it dt;
h!C1 h
where the limit is taken in L2 .R/. Actually, the last integral is fOh . / with fh .t / D
f .t/1.h;Ch/ .t/ and we have
Z
O O
kfh fk k D kfh fk k2 D
2 2
jf .t /j2 dt ! 0:
h<jtj<k h;k!C1
The pointwise equality

Z Ch
fO. / D lim f .t/ e 2 it dt for almost every 2 R;
h!C1 h
also holds, though this result is much deeper and more difficult to prove (Carleson’s
theorem).
With the above definition of fO for f 2 L2 .R/, equality (12.2) is true for every
function f 2 L2 .R/. The same equality also holds replacing fO by the function fL
defined by
Z Ch
fL.t/ D lim f . / e 2 it d ; f 2 L2 .R/;
h!C1 h
with the limit taken in L2 .R/ as well.

506 Chapter 12. The complex Fourier transform
The transformations f 7! fO and f 7! fL are inverse to each other on a dense

subspace of L2 .R/ (by the inversion formula) and we conclude that the Fourier
transform is an isometry from L2 .R/ onto L2 .R/ (Parseval’s theorem).
We will be interested in considering the complex Fourier transform, which
consists in the formal substitution of the real frequency parameter by a complex
frequency z. Hence we will write
Z C1
O
f .z/ D f .t/ e 2 itz dt (12.3)
1
whenever this integral makes sense. In this case, the function fO. / has a complex
extension.
Definition 12.1. For a > 0, we denote by H 2 .Ba / the space of holomorphic
functions F on the strip Ba D fz 2 C W j Im zj < ag, satisfying
Z C1
kF k22 D sup jF .x C iy/j2 dx < C1:
jyj<a 1
Further, by L2a we denote the subspace of L2 .R/ consisting of functions f 2 L2 .R/

such that Z C1
kf k22;a D jf .t/j2 e 4ajtj dt < C1:
1
Theorem 12.2 (First Paley–Wiener theorem). The complex Fourier transformation
given by (12.3) establishes, for each a > 0, a topological isomorphism between the
spaces L2a and H 2 .Ba /; that is, f 7! fO D F is a linear isomorphism satisfying
m kf k2;a kF k2 M kf k2;a , for some constants m, M not depending on a.
Proof. Writing z D x C iy, one has for jyj < a,
Z C1
jfO.z/j jf .t/j e 2 ty
1
Z C1 1=2 Z C1 1=2
(12.4)
jf .t/j e
2 4ajtj
dt e 4.tyajtj/
dt
1 1
< C1;
if f 2 L2a .
So F .z/ D fO.z/ is well defined if jyj < a. Furthermore, if jyj b < a, then
sup jf .t/ e 2 itz j jf .t /j e 2 tb
x2R; jyjb
and the right-hand side function is integrable by (12.4). The same inequality (12.4)
guarantees that the integral defining f .z/ is continuous with respect to z, by the
12.1. The complex extension of the Fourier transform. First Paley–Wiener theorem 507
continuity of an integral with respect to a parameter. Therefore, the function F is

continuous on Ba and using Morera’s theorem and Fubini’s theorem, it turns out
that F is holomorphic on Ba . Notice that f 2 L2a implies f 2 L1 .R/, so that fO
is not only continuous, but also has a holomorphic extension to Ba . Writing
Z C1 Z C1
F .z/ D f .t/ e 2 itz dt D f .t / e 2 ty e 2 itx dt;
1 1
one gets that for fixed y, with jyj < a, the function x 7! F .x C iy/ is the Fourier
def
transform of f .t/ e 2 ty D fy .t / and fy 2 L2 .R/ because f 2 L2a . By Parseval’s
theorem, one has
Z C1 Z C1 Z C1
jF .x C iy/j dx D
2
jf .t/j e
2 4 ty
dt jf .t /j2 e 4ajtj dt;
1 1 1
an inequality that gives kF k2 kf k2;a and so F 2 H 2 .Ba /.

Conversely, let F 2 H 2 .Ba / and write Fy .x/ D F .x C iy/. It is known that
F .x/ D fO.x/ with
Z Ch
f .t/ D lim F .x/ e 2 itx dx on L2 .R/:
h h
Fix y, with jyj < a, and let Q be the rectangle with vertices ˙h, ˙h C iy. By
Cauchy’s theorem applied to the function F .z/ e 2 itz and to @Q, it turns out that
Z Ch Z Ch
F .x/ e 2 itx
dx F .x C iy/ e 2 it.xCiy/ dx
h h
Z y Z y
D F .h C i s/ e 2 it.hCis/
ids F .h C i s/ e 2 it.hCis/ ids D 0:
0 0
(12.5)
Now it will be shown that there is a sequence of numbers hj ! C1 such that the
last two integrals of (12.5) have limit zero for every value t 2 R, when h D hj and
j ! 1. For example, the first one is bounded by
Z y Z y 1=2 Z y 1=2
2 ts 4 ts
jF .h C i s/j e ds jF .h C i s/j ds 2
e ds
0 0 0
and it is enough to check that there are values hj ! C1 such that

Z y
jF .˙hj C i s/j2 ds ! 0; if j ! 1:
0
Ry
Writing '.h/ D 0 jF .h C i s/j2 ds, the hypothesis F 2 H 2 .Ba / and Fubini’s
theorem give
Z C1 Z y Z C1
'.h/dh D jF .h C i s/j2 dsdh ykF k22 :
1 0 1
Therefore, the function '.h/ C '.h/ is integrable and, consequently,
Z j C1
.'.h/ C '.h// dh ! 0:
j j !C1
Since ' is continuous, this last integral coincides with '.hj / C '.hj / for some
values hj , j hj j C 1. Since
Z Chj
f .t/ D lim F .x/ e 2 itx dx on L2 .R/;
j hj
there exists a partial sequence .hjk / of .hj / providing pointwise convergence a: e:

in the above equality. Therefore, by (12.1) and (12.5)
Z Chj
k
f .t/ D lim F .x C iy/ e 2 it.xCiy/ dx for a: e: t 2 R:
k hjk
This means that for the function f , inverse Fourier transform of F , the equality
Z Chj
k
2 ty
f .t/ D e lim F .x C iy/ e 2 itx dx
k hjk
holds. Hence the function e 2 ty f .t/ is the inverse transform of x 7! F .x C iy/,

and Parseval’s theorem implies
Z C1 Z C1
e 4 ty jf .t/j2 dt D jF .x C iy/j2 dx kF k22 :
1 1
Letting now y ! a, we obtain
Z C1
jf .t/j2 e 4 ta dt kF k22 ;
0
and letting y ! a,
Z 0
jf .t/j2 e 4ajtj dt kF k22 :
1
The easiest example of a pair of functions f , F that satisfy the conditions of
Theorem 12.2 is f .t/ D e 2jtj and
1 1
F .z/ D ;
1 C z2
which restricted to R is the Poisson kernel.
12.2. The Poisson formula 509
12.2 The Poisson formula

One of the most important results in Harmonic Analysis is the Poisson formula
stating the equality X X
f .n/ D fO.n/; (12.6)
n2Z n2Z
under certain restrictions on f and its Fourier transform fO, which must guarantee,
in particular, that both members of the equation are well defined. In this section this
formula will be proved, with methods of complex variables, when f and fO D F
satisfy some additional hypothesis. Concretely assume that F 2 H 2 .Ba / and
sup jF .x C iy/j '.x/ (12.7)

jyj<a
with ' 2 L1 .R/ and '.x/ ! 0 when jxj ! C1. Then F is integrable on R and
Z C1
f .t/ D F .x/ e 2 itx dx; (12.8)
1
is a continuous function.
Theorem 12.3. If F 2 H 2 .Ba / satisfies (12.7) with ' 2 L1 .R/ and '.x/ ! 0
when jxj ! C1, then the function f defined by (12.8) satisfies

jf .t/j D O e 2bjtj for every b < a:
Furthermore, one has

Z C1
F .z/ D f .t/e 2 itz dt; for j Im zj < a
1
and X X
f .n/ D lim F .n/ (Poisson formula):
N !1
n2Z jnjN
Proof. First, as in Theorem 12.2 we will show that the function f is given by
Z C1
f .t/ D e 2 ty F .x C iy/ e 2 itx dx; jyj < a (12.9)
1
(hypothesis (12.7) implies that x 7! F .x C iy/ is integrable for each y). With the
same notations of Theorem 12.2, it is enough to prove that the integral
Z
jF .h C i s/j e 2 ts ds
I
has limit zero when h ! C1, for each value of t , where I is either R the interval
Œ0; y or Œy; 0. This is clear because it is dominated by '.h/ I e 2 ts ds. If
b < a and we take y D b when t > 0 or y D b when t < 0 in (12.9) we
obtain jf .t/j D O. e 2bjtj /. So f 2 L1 .R/ and the inversion formula shows that
F .x/ D fO.x/; alternatively we give now a proof of this fact using arguments of
complex variable.
For t 0 we use (12.9) with y D b > 0, b < a, obtaining
Z 1 Z 1 ²Z C1 ³
2 itx 2 tb
f .t/ e dt D e F .s C i b/ e 2 its
ds e 2 itx dt;
0 0 1
which, by Fubini’s theorem, equals

Z C1 ²Z 1 ³ Z C1
2 it.xsib/ 1 F .s C i b/
F .s C i b/ e dt D ds:
1 0 2 i 1 s C i b x
Similarly, for t 0 (12.9) is used with y D b to find
Z 0 Z C1
1 F .s i b/
f .t/ e 2 itx dt D ds:
1 2 i 1 s i b x
Consider the rectangle Qh with vertices ˙h ˙ i b. By the Cauchy integral formula,
one has Z
1 F .z/
F .x/ D dz; if jxj < h:
2 i @Qh z x
Using (12.7) it is easy to see that the integrals on both vertical sides of Qh converge
to zero when h ! C1, so that
Z C1 Z C1
1 F .s i b/ 1 F .s C i b/
F .x/ D ds ds
2 i 1 s i b x 2 i 1 s C i b x
Z C1
D f .t/ e 2 itx dt:
1
Thus, fO.z/ and F .z/ are two holomorphic functions on Ba that are equal for
z D x 2 R. By the analytic continuation principle, it follows that fO.z/ D F .z/,
z 2 Ba .
Next the Poisson formula will be proved. Consider G.z/ D F .z/=. e 2 iz 1/,
which is meromorphic on Ba with simple poles at the integer points n 2 Z and
residue .2 i/1 F .n/. Apply the residue theorem to the function G and to the
rectangle QN with vertices ˙.N C 1=2/ ˙ i b, with N integer and b > 0. It yields
X Z
F .z/
F .n/ D 2 iz 1
:
@QN e
jnjN
12.2. The Poisson formula 511
On a vertical segment z D ˙.N C 1=2/ C i s, b < s < b, the quantity

e 2 iz 1 D e 2s e ˙2 i.N C1=2/ 1 D .1 C e 2s /
has modulus greater than 1; the contribution of this segment to the integral is,
therefore, controlled by '.˙.N C 1=2//2b and goes to zero when N ! C1. On
the other hand, if z D s ˙ i b, one has e 2 iz D e 2 is e ˙2b , so that j e 2 iz 1j
is bounded below and the integrals on the horizontal sides of QN are convergent
when N ! C1, F .s ˙ i b/ being integrable. The conclusion is that the limit
X Z Z
F .z/ F .z/
lim F .n/ D dz dz
N !C1 L1 e
2 iz 1 L2 e
2 iz 1
jnjN
exists, where L1 , L2 are the lines L1 D fz W Im z D bg, L2 D fz W Im z D bg

travelled from the left to the right. For z 2 L1 one has z D s i b and e 2 iz D
e 2b e 2 is has modulus e 2b 1 so that
1
X
1
D e 2 iz e 2 i nz
e 2 iz 1 nD0
with uniform convergence for z 2 L1 . For z 2 L2 , z D s C i b and e 2 iz D

e 2b e 2 is has modulus e 2b < 1, and so
1
X
1
D e 2 i nz uniformly for z 2 L2 :
e 2 iz 1 nD0
The uniform convergence and the fact that F .s ˙ i b/ is integrable in the variable s
allows us to integrate term by term both series yielding
X 1 Z
X 1 Z
X
lim F .n/ D F .z/ e 2 i nz dz C F .z/ e 2 i nz dz;
N !C1
jnjN nD1 L1 nD0 L2
P
which equals n2Z f .n/, by (12.9).
It is worth noticing that the Poisson formula holds under more general hypothe-
ses than the ones presented here (see Exercise 11 of Section 12.8).
Observe that if F satisfies condition (12.7), then the same condition holds for
each function F .x C h/, h being any fixed number. Writing, as before, F D fO,
then F .x C h/ is the Fourier transform of f .t/ D e 2 ith . Hence, one has
X X
F .n C h/ D f .n/ e 2 i nh ;
n n
showing
P that f .n/ is the n-th Fourier coefficient of the 1-periodic function
n F .n C h/.
Example 12.4. When F is the Poisson kernel, F .z/ D 1 1Cz 1

2 , then f .t / D
2jt j
e and
1 X 1 X
D e 2jnj e 2 i nh ;
1 C .n C h/2
n2Z n2Z
which is equivalent to
1
1 X 1 X
D2 e 2 n cos 2 nh:
1 C .n C h/2 nD0
n2Z
2 2
Example 12.5. If F .z/ D e z then f .t/ D e t and, therefore, taking F .z/ D
z2 2
a1=2 e a e 2 ibz with a; b 2 R, a > 0, one gets f .t / D e a.tCb/ . So the
equality
X 2
X n2
e a.nCb/ D a1=2 e a e 2 i nb
n2Z n2Z
follows.
The theta function is X 2
#.t / D e n t :
n2Z
It is important in analytic number theory. When b D 0, the equality of Example 12.5

gives the functional relation
#.t / D t 1=2 #.1=t /; t > 0:
12.3 Bandlimited functions. Second Paley–Wiener theorem

If the function f 2 L2 .R/ has compact support, it is clear that the complex Fourier
transform Z C1
fO.z/ D f .t/ e 2 itz dt
1
is defined for every z 2 C and is an entire function. More generally, fO.z/ is an

entire function whenever
Z C1
jf .t/j e 2 ty dt < C1; for all y 2 R:
1
In this section we will characterize the functions fO for f 2 L2 .R/ with compact
support. If F .x/ D fO.x/, then Fy .x/ D f .x/ and so the following definition is
appropriate.
12.3. Bandlimited functions. Second Paley–Wiener theorem 513
Definition 12.6. A function F 2 L2 .R/ is said to be bandlimited if Fy has compact

support.
As said above every bandlimited function F 2 L2 .R/ has an entire extension.
Let I be the smallest interval containing the support of Fy ; if 2 denotes the length
of I , some translation of Fy has support contained in .; /, so that for some a 2 R,
the function e 2 iax F .x/ can be written
Z
e 2 iax
F .x/ D f .t / e 2 ixt dt;

with f 2 L2 .; /. Without loss of generality, assume a D 0. First we will

characterize the entire functions F of type
Z C
F .z/ D f .t/ e 2 itz dt; f 2 L2 .; /; > 0: (12.10)

Theorem 12.7. An entire function F can be written as in (12.10) if and only if it

satisfies
Z C1
jF .x C iy/j2 dx C e 4jyj ; y 2 R (12.11)
1
with C a constant.
Proof. If F is given by (12.10), x 7! F .x C iy/ is the Fourier transform of
f .t/ e 2 ty and Parseval’s theorem gives
Z C1 Z C Z C
jF .x C iy/j dx D
2
jf .t/j e
2 4 ty
dt e 4jyj
jf .t /j2 dt:
1
Conversely, if F is entire and satisfies (12.11), then F 2 H 2 .Ba / for all a > 0,
and according to Theorem 12.2 one gets F D fO with
Z C1 Z C1
1
jf .t/j e
2 4ajtj
dt sup jF .x C iy/j2 dx C1 e 4a ;
1 m jyj<a 1
C1 a constant. Hence,
Z C1
jf .t/j2 e 4a.jtj/ dt C1
1
for all a > 0. Letting a ! C1, in this inequality we get f .t / D 0 a: e: if jt j > .

So, F D fO with f 2 L2 .; /.
The aim now is to describe the space of entire functions for which condition
(12.11) holds in an alternative and more useful way.
Definition 12.8. For > 0, the Paley–Wiener space P W is the set of entire
functions F satisfying
Z C1
jF .z/j D O. e 2jzj
/ and kF k2 D
2
jF .x/j2 dx < C1:
1
It will be shown that this space is the same as the one defined by condition
(12.11). A result of Phragmen–Lindelöf, related to the maximum modulus princi-
ple, will be needed.
Theorem 12.9 (Phragmen–Lindelöf). Let F be a holomorphic function on a cir-
cular sector S˛ of angle =˛, with ˛ > 0, and continuous on Sx˛ . Suppose that
jF .z/j D O.exp jzjˇ /; z 2 S˛ with ˇ < ˛;
and jF .z/j M for a constant M > 0, if z 2 @S˛ . Then one has jF .z/j M for
all z 2 Sx˛ .
Proof. Without loss of generality, suppose that S˛ is the sector fz W j Arg zj <
=2˛g. Take ˇ < < ˛ and using the principal branch of z consider the
holomorphic function g.z/ D F .z/ exp."z / with " > 0. If z D r e i , then
jg.z/j D jF .z/j exp."r cos /; moreover, if j j =2˛, one has jj < =2
and there exists ı > 0 such that cos > ı; therefore,
jg.z/j C exp.r ˇ ı"r /; C constant;
so that jg.z/j tends to zero when jzj ! C1. This yields that jg.z/j has a global
maximum that, by the maximum principle, must be reached on the boundary of S˛ .
But for z 2 @S˛ one has

jg.z/j D jF .z/j exp "r cos jF .z/j M:
2˛
In conclusion, jg.z/j M if z 2 S˛ , and letting " ! 0 we get jF .z/j M .
Corollary 12.10. a) Let F be an entire function such that there are constants C ,
M with jF .z/j C e jzj for z 2 C, > 0 and jF .x/j M for x 2 R. Then one
has jF .x C iy/j M e jyj , for x; y 2 R.
b) Let F be an entire function such that there are constants C , M with jF .z/j
C e jzj for z 2 C, > 0 and
Z C1
jF .x/jp dx M p ; 1 p < C1:
1
Then Z C1
jF .x C iy/jp dx M p e pjyj for x; y 2 R:
1
Proof. In order to prove item a) assume y > 0; let g.z/ D F .z/ e i.C"/z , " >
0, so that jg.x/j D jF .x/j M and jg.iy/j D jF .iy/j exp.. C "/y/
C exp."y/ ! 0 when y ! C1. Applying the Phragmen–Lindelöf theo-
rem separately to the first and the second quadrants, one obtains jg.z/j M if
y D Im z > 0, that is,
jF .z/j M exp.. C "/y/:
Letting " ! 0 ends the proof of a) for y > 0. For y < 0, we argue analogously.
For b) we must prove that ' being a function of Cc .R/ with
Z C1
1 1
j'.x/jq dx D 1; C D 1;
1 p q
one has ˇZ ˇ
ˇ C1 ˇ
ˇ jF .x C iy/j'.x/dx ˇˇ M e jyj :
ˇ
1
Considering the entire function
Z C1
G.z/ D F .z C t /'.t /dt; z 2 C;
1
we have to check the inequality jG.iy/j M e jyj . Now,

Z C1 Z
jG.z/j jF .z C t /j j'.t /jdt C e .jzjCjtj/ j'.t /jdt C 0 e jzj ;
1
0
C constant, and, by Hölder’s inequality,
Z C1 1=p Z C1 1=q
jG.x/j jF .x C t /jp dt j'.t /jq dt
1 1
Z C1 1=p
jF .x C t /jp dt D kF kpp M:
1
By item a), already proved, we obtain jG.z/j M e jyj as claimed.

Theorem 12.11 (Second Paley-Wiener theorem). Let F be an entire function and
> 0. Then the following conditions are equivalent:
a) F satisfies condition (12.11).
b) F 2 P W .
c) FjR 2 L2 .R/ and jF .z/j D O. e 2j Im zj /.
Consequently, the complex Fourier transform establishes an isometry between the

spaces L2 .; / and P W .
Proof. If F satisfies condition (12.11), F can be written as in (12.10) and by
Parseval’s theorem one has
Z C Z C
2 j Im zj
jF .z/j jf .t/ e 2 t Im z
dt e jf .t /jdt
(12.12)
.2 / kf k2 e
1=2 2j Im zj
:
Hence, a) ) c). The implication c) ) b) is trivial. Finally, if F 2 P W , F satisfies

the hypotheses of part b) of Corollary 12.10 with 2 instead of and p D 2, so
that (12.11) holds.
Now the last statement is a consequence of Theorem 12.7.
The space P W is a relevant space in signal processing. The reason is that
bandlimited functions correspond to several signals that are important in the appli-
cations of Fourier analysis; for example acoustic signals that fall inside the range
of perception of the ear. The Fourier representation
Z C1
F .x/ D Fy . / e 2 ix d
1
exhibits that every signal of finite energy, described by a function F 2 L2 .R/ is the
superposition of the oscillations e 2 ix D cos 2x C i sin 2x with amplitude
Fy . /. Bandlimited functions are those in which only frequencies with j j
for a > 0 take part. This is the case of acoustic signals, where only frequencies
under a certain threshold are perceptible.
So far it has been proved that every bandlimited function has an entire extension
and when multiplied by e 2 iaz for some a 2 R it belongs to the space P W .
Now the properties of these functions will be analyzed in more detail. The aim
is the Shannon–Whittaker theorem, which is the theoretical basis of digitalization
processes.
A fundamental result of Fourier will be used. It will be formulated in the
context of Hilbert space. The space L2 .; /, > 0, is a Hilbert space with the
(correlation) scalar product
Z C
hf; gi D hf; giL2 .;/ D f .x/g.x/dx

and norm kf k22 D hf; f i. Naturally, L2 .; / is identified with the space of
functions defined on R, 2-periodic and that are square integrable on one period.
The most characteristic of these functions are the 2 -periodic cosine and sine,
cos n

x, sin n

x, n 2 Z. The result of Fourier states that “every 2 -periodic
function is the superposition of the 2 -periodic sine and cosine”. We use complex
n
exponentials e xi D cos n
x C i sin n

x and the notion of orthonormal basis to
formulate Fourier’s result. The complex exponentials are normalized:
1 n
en .x/ D p e xi ; n 2 Z;
2
so that ken k2 D 1. Then Fourier’s result reads as follows.
Theorem 12.12 (Fourier). The family of functions fen W n 2 Zg is an orthonormal
basis of the space L2 .; /.
Recall this means that the functions en satisfy hen ; em i D ın;m , n; m 2 Z and
for each f 2 L2 .; /, one has
X
f D lim hf; en ien in L2 .; /:
N !C1
jnjN
In particular,
X X C1
X
kf k22 D lim k hf; en ien k22 D lim jhf; en ij2 D jhf; en ij2 ;
N !C1 N !C1
jnjN jnjN 1
which is Parseval’s theorem in the periodic case. When fen W n 2 Zg is an orthonor-

mal basis, we write symbolically
C1
X
f hf; en ien
1
and the series on the right-hand side is called Fourier series of f . The proof of
Theorem 12.12 can be found in [6], p. 140.
Under hypotheses of regularity of the function f , the convergence of the Fourier
series of f to f is with respect to more precise norms, e.g. to the uniform one. In
some cases it is pointwise for every value of x:
X
f .x/ D lim hf; en ien .x/:
N !C1
jnjN
Carleson’s deep theorem states that the above holds at almost every point of .; /
if f 2 L2 .; /. Here only Fourier’s statement in the form of Theorem 12.12 will
be needed. Observe that this result can be also formulated in terms of the functions
sine and cosine: the normalized 2-periodic functions
1 1 n 1 n
p ; p cos x; p sin x; n D 1; 2; 3; : : :
2
are an orthonormal basis of L2 .; /.
Being aware of the equalities

Z
1 n 1 n
hf; en ien .x/ D p f .x/ e xi dx p e xi ; n2Z
2 2
it is usual to write the Fourier series as
C1
X
fO.n/ e xi :
n
f
1
Now Z C
1
fO.n/ D
n
f .x/ e xi dx;
2
is the so-called n-th Fourier coefficient of f . Parseval’s theorem is written

Z C Z C ˇX ˇ2 X
ˇ ˇ
fO.n/ e xi ˇ dx D 2 jfO.n/j2 :
n
jf .x/j dx D
2
ˇ
n
According to Theorem 12.11, the complex Fourier transform

Z C
f 7! F .z/ D f .x/ e 2 ixz dx

is an isometry between L2 .; / and P W , that is, writing F D fO and G D gO

for f; g 2 L2 .; /, one has
Z C Z C1
f .x/g.x/dx D hf; giL2 .;/ D hF; GiL2 .R/ D F .x/G.x/dx:
1
Since fen ; n 2 Zg is an orthonormal basis of L2 .; /, the entire functions

fen ; n 2 Zg will be an orthonormal basis of P W . We may write down these
functions explicitly:
Z C Z C
1 n 1 n
en .z/ D p e e xi 2 ixz
dx D p e 2 ix . 2 z / dx
2 2
ˇxDC
1 1 ˇ p sin .n 2 z/
p e 2 ix . 2 z / ˇˇ
n
D n D 2 :
2 i 2 z 2 xD .n 2 z/
Definition 12.13. The sine cardinal function is the entire function

sin z
sinc z D :
z
p
Thus, one has en .z/ D 2 sinc.n 2 z/. Moreover if fO D F , the correlation
hf; en i is written
Z C n
1 n 1
hf; en i D p f .x/ e xi dx D p F D hF; en i:
2 2 2
Hence, for every function F 2 P W one has
X n
F .z/ D lim F sinc.n 2 z/ on L2 .R/:
N !C1 2
jnjN
Now, inequality (12.12) has as a consequence that the convergence in L2 .R/ implies
the uniform convergence on each horizontal strip and so for F 2 P W , the equality
C1
X n
F .z/ D F sinc.n 2 z/
1
2
holds uniformly on each horizontal strip fz W j Im zj < ag, a > 0. Parseval’s
theorem reads now
Z C1
1 X ˇˇ n ˇˇ2
X C1
jF .x/j2 dx D jhF; en ij2 D ˇF ˇ :
1 n
2 1 2
Pthat fen ; n 2PZg is an

The fact orthonormal basis of L2 .; / also means that
f D n n en with n jn j < C1 is the general expression of a function
2
f 2 L2 .; /. In other words,

C1
X C1
X
F .z/ D n sinc.n 2 z/; jn j2 < C1
nD1 1
is the general expression of a function F 2 P W . Summarizing, we get the

following result, which in communication theory is known as Shannon–Whittaker’s
theorem.
Theorem 12.14 (Shannon–Whittaker). Every function F bandlimited to .; /
(that is, F 2 L2 .R/ and spt.Fy / .; /) is completely determined by its values
n
at the points 2 , n 2 Z, by means of cardinal series
C1
X n
F .z/ D F sinc.n 2 z/;
1
2
n convergent on each horizontal strip fz W j Im zj < ag, a > 0.

which is uniformly
The values F 2 determine F in a stable way, that is,
Z C1 Xˇ
C1 n ˇ2
ˇ ˇ
jF .x/j2 D ˇF ˇ if F 2 P W :
1 1
2
P
Conversely, given a sequence of numbers .n /n2Z with n jn j2 < C1, the series
C1
X
F .z/ D n sinc.n 2 z/
1
defines a function F 2 P W , satisfying F .n/ D n for each n 2 Z.

A sequence .an /n2Z of real numbers is called a sampling sequence for the space
P W if there are constants m; M > 0 such that
C1
X
m kF k22 jF .an /j2 M kF k22 ; for each F 2 P W :
1
This means, as before, that the values fF .an / W n 2 Zg determine F in a stable way.
A sequence .an /n2Z is called P an interpolating sequence for the space P W if for
every sequence .n /n2Z with n jn j2 < C1 there is a function F 2 P W such
that F .an / D n , n 2 Z.
Hence, Shannon–Whittaker’s theorem asserts that the regularly spaced sequence
an D 2 n
n2Z
is simultaneously sampling and interpolating for the space P W .
1 1
The quantity 2 is called Nyquist frequency. It can be shown that if < 2 , the
sequence .n /n2Z with n D n is sampling but not interpolating, and for > 2 1
,
it is interpolating but not sampling.
This section ends with a reproducing formula for functions in the space P W .
Theorem 12.15. If F 2 P W , one has
Z C1
F .z/ D 2 F .x/ sinc 2 .z x/dt:
1
Proof. If F D fO one has

Z C
F .z/ D f .x/ e 2 ixz dz D hf; ez iL2 .;/ ;

where ez .x/ D e 2 ix zN ; therefore, F .z/ D hF; ez iL2 .R/ . Computing ez it turns out
that
Z C ˇxDC
1 ˇ
ez .w/ D e N
2 ix.zw/
dx D e N
2 ix.zw/ ˇ
2 i.Nz w/ ˇ
xD
sin 2 .Nz w/
Ds
.zN w/
and so
Z C1 Z C1
sin 2 .z x/
F .z/ D F .x/eyz .x/dx D F .x/ dx:
1 1 .z x/
12.4. The Laplace transform 521
It is interesting to remark that the previous properties of functions in the space

P W can be obtained directly without using the representationP(12.10). For example
(assuming D 12 ) to obtain the convergence of the series n jF .n/j2 when F 2
P W we may use the mean value property on the discs with center n and radius
1
2
to bound this sum by the integral of jF j2 on the union of these discs. Since
this union is inside the strip fz W j Im zj < 1g, inequality (12.11) implies that this
last integral is finite. A similar argument gives that F .x/ ! 0 when x ! C1.
Let us prove now directly the Shannon–Whittaker formula (Theorem 12.14); since
sin .n z/ D .1/nC1 sin z, we have to set the equality
XC1
F .z/ F .n/
D .1/n ; (12.13)
sin z 1
.z n/
a formula that will be proved with the same

P methods used in Section 10.3. Observe
first that the convergence of the series n jF .n/j2 and Schwarz’s inequality imply
that the series of the right-hand side term of (12.13) converges uniformly on compact
sets and defines, therefore, a meromorphic function on the whole plane, with poles
at the points n 2 Z and residues .1/n F .n/=, the same as those of F .z/= sin z.
Hence the difference between both terms of (12.13) is an entire function h. Let us
show that h is constant in a similar way as in Example 10.12, checking first that
both terms of (12.13), and so h, are bounded on the boundary of the square QN
centered at the origin and with side 2N C 1 by a constant independent from N .
For the right-hand side term this fact has been already proved in Example 10.12,
and for the function F .z/= sin z it comes from jF .z/j D O.e jyj / and the fact
that j sin zj2 D sin2 x C sinh2 y is bounded below by ce 2jyj on the boundary
of QN , with c a constant independent from N . So h is constant. To see that this
constant is zero take z D m C 12 in both terms of (12.13) and let us check that they
have limit zero when m ! C1. This has been shown before for F .m C 1=2/
while for the series
C1
X F .n/
.1/n ;
nD1
.m C 12 n/
P
the convergence to zero when m ! C1 is a consequence of n jF .n/j2 < C1.
12.4 The Laplace transform

12.4.1 The Laplace transform of locally integrable functions
In this section the Laplace transform will be analyzed. It is an integral transforma-
tion defined on functions vanishing at almost all points of the half-line .1; 0/.
These are called causal functions and correspond to signals depending only on
time (positive values of the parameter). Throughout this subsection as well as in

Section 12.5 it will be assumed that
f W Œ0; C1/ ! C
is a measurable function such that
Z R
jf .t/jdt < C1; for every R > 0:
0
Definition 12.16. The Laplace transform of f , Lf , is defined by

Z 1 Z R
tz
Lf .z/ D e f .t/dt D lim e zt f .t /dt
0 R!C1 0
for complex values of z for which the limit above exists.

So formally, the Laplace transform of f is the function fO 2z i whenever f
vanishes on .1; 0/ and fO denotes the complex Fourier transform. We can also
write
fO. / D Lf .2 i /:
Note that L is applied only to causal functions and that it is defined for complex
arguments of the variable. This makes L having some additional properties and
some advantages with respect to the Fourier transform. For example, the transform
fO may not exist, but Lf does exist.
Example 12.17. Consider f .t/ D 1, t 0. Then
Z R ˇ
zt 1 zt ˇˇtDR 1
e f .t/dt D e ˇ D .1 e Rz /; z ¤ 0:
0 z tD0 z
If Re z > 0, one has j e Rz j D e R Re z ! 0 when R ! C1. Hence, Lf .z/ is
defined if Re z > 0 and has value 1=z. Instead, fO. / is not defined.
Example 12.18. Consider f .t/ D e ˛t for t 0, with ˛ 2 C. Then
Z 1 Z 1
1
L.f /.z/ D e tz f .t/dt D e t.˛z/ dt D ;
0 0 z˛
for Re z > Re ˛. If f .t/ D cos ˛t D 12 . e i˛t C e i˛t /, then

1 1 1 z
L.f /.z/ D C D ; for Re z > j Im ˛j
2 z i˛ z C i˛ z2 C ˛2
and if f .t/ D sin ˛t D 1
2i
. e i˛t e i˛t /, one obtains

1 1 1 ˛
L.f /.z/ D C D ; for Re z > j Im ˛j:
2 z i˛ z C i˛ z2 C ˛2
Example 12.19. If f D 1 Œ0;T , T > 0, it turns out that

Z T
1h itDT 1
L.f /.z/ D e tz dt D e tz D .1 e T z /:
z tD0 z
0
Examples 12.17 and 12.18 show an interesting feature of the Laplace trans-
form. They deal with functions that are neither in L1 .0; 1/ nor in L2 .0; 1/ so
that in principle they do not have a well-defined Fourier transform. However,
the corresponding Laplace transforms are defined on a half plane and even make
sense on the boundary of this domain. It has been already observed that formally
fO. / D Lf .2 i /, and so Lf .2 i / should be a Fourier transform. For example,
when f D 1 on Œ0; C1/, one has Lf .z/ D z1 and formally
1
fO. / D Lf .2 i / D :
2 i
If f .t/ D sin t on Œ0; C1/, then Lf .z/ D 1
z 2 C1
and
1 1
fO. / D D :
.2 i / C 1
2 1 4 2 2
This extension of the Fourier transform by means of the Laplace transform can be
rigorously done using the theory of distributions.
Another advantage of the Laplace transform is that it includes the values of f
and of the derivatives of f at the origin, in the formulation of the differentiation
and integration rules for Lf . This will be shown later on, when the applications
of the Laplace transform are considered.
Of course, it may happen that Lf .z/ is not defined for any value of z, for
example, if f .t/ D exp.t 2 /. We say that the function f has exponential growth if
there is a real constant a such that
jf .t/j D O. e at /; t > 0:
Then one has
Z C1 Z C1 Z C1
jf .t/j j e tz jdt D jf .t/j e t Re z dt C e t.aRe z/ dt;
0 0 0
so that the left-hand side integral is absolutely convergent, so convergent, whence

Lf .z/ is defined for Re z > a.
The first question to be considered is to find the domain of convergence of the
Laplace transform of f , that is, the region
C.f / D fz 2 C W L.f /.z/ is convergentg:
As it will be seen, there is a parallelism with power series for which, as it is known,
the domain of convergence is given by the radius of convergence of the series.
Lemma 12.20. Suppose that L.f /.z0 / converges. Then L.f /.z/ converges uni-
formly on the whole sector Sˇ D fz W jArg.z z0 /j ˇg if ˇ < =2. That is, for
every " > 0 there is a number R0 D R0 ."; ˇ/ such that for R > R0 , one has
ˇ Z R ˇ
ˇ ˇ
ˇLf .z/ e tz
f .t/dt ˇ < "; z 2 Sˇ :
ˇ ˇ
0
Proof. Write, for R1 < R2 ,

Z R2 Z R2
tz
e f .t/dt D e t.zz0 / e tz0 f .t /dt
R1 R1
and consider
Z C1 Z t
sz0
g.t/ D e f .s/ds D L.f /.z0 / e sz0 f .s/ds:
t 0
Then integration by parts gives,

Z R2 ˇtDR2 Z R2
ˇ
e tz f .t/dt D e t.zz0 / g.t /ˇ .z z0 / e t.zz0 / g.t /dt
tDR1
R1 R1
(this equality can be directly proved by Fubini’s theorem). Given " > 0, let R0 be
such that jg.t/j < " if t > R0 . If z 2 Sˇ and R1 > R0 , then
ˇ Z R2 ˇ
ˇ ˇ 2" 1
ˇ tz ˇ
e f .t/dt ˇ 2" C jz z0 j 2" 1 C
ˇ Re.z z0 / cos ˇ
R1
and, by Cauchy’s criterion, the result is obtained.

Definition 12.21. The abscissa of convergence of the Laplace transform L.f / is
the number ˛f defined as
˛f D inff˛ 2 R W there exists z 2 C with Re z D ˛ and L.f /.z/ convergesg:
Lemma 12.20 implies that C.f / contains the half plane fz W Re z > ˛f g and
that C.f / is contained in fz W Re z ˛f g if ˛f is finite. If C.f / D ; one has
˛f D C1 and ˛f D 1 implies C.f / D C.
As for power series, in general nothing can be said about the behavior of Lf .z/
for Re z D ˛f .
Example 12.22. When f .t/ D 1, t 0 or, more generally, f coincides on
.0; C1/ with a polynomial, one has ˛f D 0 and L.f /.z/ does not converge if
Re z D 0. If f is integrable on .0; C1/,
Z C1
jf .t/jdt < C1;
0
then
Z C1 Z C1 Z C1
tz t Re z
jf .t/j j e jdt D jf .t/j e dt jf .t /jdt; Re z 0
0 0 0
so that C.f / contains fz W Re z 0g. For example, the Laplace transform of

f .t/ D 1Ct
1
2 has abscissa of convergence equal to 0 and L.f /.z/ converges if and
only if Re z 0.
Remark that ˛f 0 whenever f 2 Lp .0; 1/ with 1 p C1, because for
Re z > 0,
Z C1 Z C1 1=p Z C1 1=q
jf .t/j e t Re z dt jf .t/jp dt e qt Re z dt < C1
0 0 0
if 1 < p < C1 and 1

p
C 1
q
D 1, and
Z C1 Z C1
t Re z
jf .t/j e dt
jf .t/jdt if p D 1;
0 0
Z C1 Z C1
jf .t/j e t Re z dt kf k1 e t Re z dt if p D C1:
0 0
One can also introduce the notion of abscissa of absolute convergence:

˚ R C1
ˇf D inf ˇ 2 R W 0 jf .t /j e ˇ t dt < C1 :
It is easy to prove that L.f /.z/ converges absolutely if Re z > ˇf and that it
does not if Re z < ˇf . Clearly, ˛f ˇf , but as well as an integral may be
convergent without being absolutely convergent, it may happen that ˛f < ˇf . This
fact establishes a difference to power series, for which both notions coincide. When
f 2 Lp .0; C1/, 1 p C1, it has already been noticed that ˇf 0.
Hence, if 1 ˛f < C1, the set fz W Re z > ˛f g is the biggest open set
on which L.f / is defined. It is the analog of the disc of convergence of a power
series.
Proposition 12.23. If ˛f < C1, then L.f / is a holomorphic function on the half
plane fz W Re z > ˛f g.
Proof. Let Z n
Fn .z/ D e tz f .t/dt; z 2 C; n 2 N:
0
By Lemma 12.20, the sequence .Fn / converges uniformly on every compact set of
fz W Re z > ˛f g. Since each Fn is an entire function, it follows from Theorem 9.3
that L.f / is holomorphic on fz W Re z > ˛f g.
The analogous result to Theorem 2.31 is the following one.
Proposition 12.24. Suppose ˛f < C1 and consider the functions fk .t / D t k f .t /

for k 2 N. Then the abscissa of convergence of L.fk / is less than or equal to ˛f
and one has
L.fk /.z/ D .1/k L.f /.k/ .z/; if Re z > ˛f :
Proof. This equality is obtained by differentiating formally k times the equality

defining L.f /.z/. In order to prove it rigorously observe that, with the notations
of Proposition 12.23, Theorem 9.3 implies
Z n
L.f / .z/ D lim Fn .z/ D lim
.k/ .k/
.t /k e tz f .t /dt
n!1 n!1 0
uniformly on compact sets of fz W Re z > ˛f g. This already shows that the abscissa
of convergence of L.fk / is less than or equal to ˛f and finishes the proof.
Example 12.25. Taking f .t/ D 1, t 0, in Proposition 12.24 and using Ex-

ample 12.17 which gives L.1/ D z1 , for Re z > 0, one obtains that the Laplace
P
transform of a polynomial P .t/ D nkD0 ak t k is
X
n
kŠ ak
L.P /.z/ D :
z kC1
kD0
The analog of Abel’s theorem (Theorem 2.20) for the Laplace transform is the
following result:
Proposition 12.26. Suppose ˛f < C1 and L.f /.z0 / converges at the point
z0 2 C with Re z0 D ˛f . Then one has
lim L.f /.z/ D L.f /.z0 /

z!zo
for z approaching z0 inside a sector fz W j Arg.z z0 /j ˇg, ˇ <

2
.
RR
Proof. It is an immediate consequence of Lemma 12.20, because 0 e tz f .t /dt
is an entire function for each R < C1.
As a consequence of Lemma 12.20 we get that Lf .z/ vanishes at infinity.
Proposition 12.27. If ˛f < C1, one has limjzj!C1 Lf .z/ D 0 for z converging
to 1 inside a sector fz W j Arg.z z0 /j ˇg with ˇ < 2 and Re z0 D ˛f .
Proof. It has been proved that the equality

Z R
Lf .z/ D lim e tz f .t /dt
R!C1 0
holds uniformly on the circular sector. Hence, we just need to show that for fixed
R this integral converges to zero when Re z ! C1 and this is a consequence of
the estimate ˇZ R ˇ Z R
ˇ ˇ
ˇ e tz
f .t/ dt ˇ e t Re z jf .t /j dt
ˇ ˇ
0 0
and the dominated convergence theorem.
Example 12.28. Consider f .t/ D sint˛t . Since tf .t / D sin ˛t has as Laplace

2 , (Example 12.18), Proposition 12.24 shows that Lf .z/ has as
˛
transform z 2 C˛
derivative the function z 2 C˛
˛
2 . Hence Lf .x/ D arctan ˛ C k and since it must
x
converge to zero when x ! C1, Proposition 12.27 yields k D 2 . It is well known

that the integral Z 1
sin ˛t
dt
0 t
is convergent but not absolutely convergent, that is, 0 2 C.f /. By Proposi-
tion 12.26, it turns out that
Z 1
sin ˛t x
dt D Lf .0/ D lim Lf .x/ D lim arctan D :
0 t x!0C x!0 2 ˛ 2
P P
Let cn z n be a power series with Pjcn j < C1. Then the radius of con-
vergence R satisfies R 1 and f .z/ D n cn z n is continuous on D.0; x R/. The
analog of this fact for the Laplace transform is the following proposition.
Proposition 12.29. If f 2 L1 .0; 1/, then ˇf 0 and Lf .z/ is continuous on
fz W Re z 0g.
Proof. It has already been observed that ˇf 0. Since
jf .t/j j e tz j D jf .t/j e t Re z jf .t /j;
the statement is a consequence of the dominated convergence theorem.
Next the uniqueness theorem for the Laplace transform will be proved.
Theorem 12.30. The Laplace transformation is one-to-one; more generally, if
˛f < C1, ˛g < C1 and Lf .z/ D Lg.z/ for Re z big enough, then f .t / D g.t /
for a. e. t > 0.
Proof. Working with h D f g, we need to show that Lh.z/ D 0 for Re z large

enough entails h.t / D 0 for a. e. t > 0. Obviously, by the principle of analytic
continuation, we have Lh.z/ D 0 for Re z > ˛h , that is,
Z 1
e tz h.t /dt D 0; Re z > ˛h :
0
The idea is simply to specify z at the points of the kind ˛h C n, n D 1; 2; : : : , which

implies Z 1
e t˛h e tn h.t /dt D 0; n D 1; 2; : : : ;
0
next to make the change of variable x D e t , dx D e t dt , which yields

Z 1
x n1 h .Log x/ x ˛h dx D 0; n D 1; 2; : : : ;
0
and then to use the density of the polynomials in the space L1 .0; 1/. However, since
the integrals that appear need not be absolutely convergent, we have to integrate by
parts before. So, introduce, for z0 fixed with Re z0 > ˛h , the function
Z t
g.t / D e sz0 h.s/ds
0
and integrate by parts to obtain

Z R Z R
sz
e h.s/ds D e s.zz0 / e sz0 h.s/ds
0 0
Z R
(12.14)
R.zz0 / s.zz0 /
D e g.R/ C .z z0 / e g.s/ds:
0
The function g is continuous on Œ0; C1/; furthermore, lim t!C1 g.t / exists and
equals Lh.z0 / D 0 and equality (12.14) implies
Z 1
Lh.z/ D .z z0 / e s.zz0 / g.s/ds:
0
Therefore, this last integral is zero if Re z > Re z0 . Specifying at z D z0 C n,

n D 1; 2; : : : , we find Z 1
e sn g.s/ds D 0
0
and writing x D e s ,
Z 1
x n g .Log x/ dx D 0; n D 0; 1; 2; : : : :
0
Now G.x/ D g .Log x/ is a continuous function on Œ0; 1 and so we can conclude

that G
0. Therefore, g.t / D 0 for all t > 0 and so h.t / D 0 for a: e: t > 0,
because g.t/ is absolutely continuous with derivative e tz0 h.t / a: e:
Next we analyze which explicit inversion formulae can be found to express f

in terms of Lf . It is clear this is a question deeply related with the inversion of the
Fourier transform. For x > ˛f ,
Z C1 Z C1
.xCiy/t
Lf .x C iy/ D e f .t/dt D e tx f .t / e iyt dt
0 0

formally equals gO x y
2
, where gx .t / D e tx f .t /. Therefore one has
Z C1
e tx f .t/ D gx .t / D gO x . / e 2 it d
1
Z C1 y
1
D gO x e ity dy
2 1 2
Z C1
1
D Lf .x C iy/ e ity dy:
2 1
So, independently of the value of x, x > ˛f , we get

Z Z xCiT
1 1
f .t/ D Lf .z/e tz dz D lim Lf .z/ e tz dz:
2 i Re zDx T !C1 2 i xiT
This formal inversion formula holds if Lf satisfies some additional hypotheses,

as in the case of the Fourier transform. A result of this kind is the following one,
analogous to Theorem 12.3.
Theorem 12.31. Assume ˇf < C1 and for ˇ > ˇf ,
sup jLf .x C iy/j '.y/

x>ˇ
with ' 2 L1 .R/ and '.y/ ! 0 when jyj ! C1. Then f .t / equals for almost
every t > 0 the continuous function
Z C1 Z
1 1
e tx Lf .x C iy/ e ity dy D Lf .z/ e tz dz
2 1 2 i Re zDx
independently of the value

R of x, x > ˇ.tz
For t < 0 one has Re zDx Lf .z/ e dz D 0.
Proof. As in the proof of Theorem 12.3, Cauchy’s theorem and the hypothesis imply
that the function Z
1
g.t / D Lf .z/ e tz dz
2 i Re zDx
is independent from x, x > ˇ and continuous on R. Letting x ! C1 in the
estimate
Z Z
e tx C1 e tx C1
jg.t/j jLf .x C iy/jdy '.y/dy
2 1 2 1
we get g.t/ D 0 if t < 0. Now the equality Lg.z/ D Lf .z/ if Re z > ˇ will be
proved; then the uniqueness theorem gives f D g a: e: Fixing z with Re z > ˇ, we
choose x with Re z > x > ˇ such that
Z C1 Z C1 Z
tz 1
Lg.z/ D g.t / e dt D Lf .w/ e dw e tz dt:
tw
0 0 2 i Re wDx
The double integral is absolutely convergent and we may interchange the order
of integration to obtain
Z Z C1
1
Lg.z/ D Lf .w/ e t.wz/
dt dw
2 i Re wDx 0
Z
1 Lf .w/
D dw:
2 i Re wDx w z
Now, applying Cauchy’s formula to the square QR with vertices x ˙ iR, R ˙ iR
with R > x big enough such that z is in its interior, one has
Z xCiR
1 Lf .w/
Lf .z/ D dw C I1 C I2 C I3 ;
2 i xiR w z
where I1 and I2 correspond to the horizontal sides and I3 to the vertical side
fw W Re w D Rg of QR . The following estimates hold:
Rx
jI1 j; jI2 j '.R/ C '.R/ ! 0; C constant,
d.z; @QR / R!C1
Z C1
1
jI3 j '.y/dy ! 0
d.z; @QR / 1 R!C1
and, letting R ! C1, we find

Z
1 Lf .w/
Lf .z/ D dw;
2 i Re wDx wz
which implies Lf D Lg.
The hypothesis on the growth of Lf in Theorem 12.31 holds, for example, if

jLf .z/j D O.jzj2 /, taking '.y/ D .ˇ 2 C y 2 /1 . Note that it has been proved
that every function F holomorphic on a half plane fz W Re z > ˇg and satisfying
the conditions of Theorem 12.31 is the Laplace transform of a function f with
ˇf < C1. For example, if F is a rational function vanishing at infinity, F .z/
is the sum of terms of type C.z ˛/1 with C , ˛ 2 C and other terms of order
O.jzj2 /. Consequently F is the Laplace transform of some function.
Example 12.32. Let us compute L1 F for F .z/ D z 2 3zC2
1
. We use the inversion
formula of Theorem 12.31, that is, we will compute the integral
Z xCi1
1 e tz
f .t/ D dz D
2 i xi1 z 2 3z C 2
Z xCiT
1 e tz
D lim dz
T !C1 2 i xiT z 2 3z C 2
by residues, with x big enough. The poles are z D 1 and z D 2, F .z/ is holomorphic
for Re z > 2, and so we take, x > 2. For big T consider the closed path CT of
Figure 12.1. On the circular part of CT , z D x C R e i with 2 3 2
and
x C iT
x
2
CT
x iT
Figure 12.1
e tT cos e tx
jF .z/ e tz j D e tx C ; for T big enough and C constant;
jz 2 3z C 2j T2
so that in the limit, when T ! C1, the contribution of this part is zero. Moreover,

e tz e tz
Res ; z D 1 D et ; Res ; z D 2 D e 2t :
z 2 3z C 2 z 2 3z C 2
Consequently, f .t/ D e 2t e t . We can reach the same conclusion by decomposing

F into simple fractions
1 1
F .z/ D
z2 z1
and recalling that e ˛t has 1=z ˛ as its Laplace transform.
It has been observed that every rational function vanishing at infinity is the
Laplace transform of a function f . To find f we can decompose the rational
function as a sum of simple fractions and remark that by Proposition 12.24, the
k
function tkŠ e ˛t has as Laplace transform the function .z˛/
1
kC1 . The functions
f having as Laplace transforms rational functions vanishing at infinity are, in

consequence, the linear combinations of functions t k e ˛t with k 2 N, ˛ 2 C,
that is,
XN
f .t/ D Pi .t / e ˛i t
iD1
with ˛i 2 C and Pi polynomial functions. These functions are called exponential
polynomials.
12.4.2 The Laplace transform of square integrable functions

The behavior of the Laplace transform on the space L2 .0; C1/ is particularly
simple, as it is the case with the Fourier transform on L2 .R/. In this subsection the
corresponding version of Plancherel’s theorem will be stated.
Definition 12.33. The Hardy space H 2 .…/ on the half plane … D fz W Re z > 0g
is the set of functions F 2 H.…/ satisfying
Z C1
kF k22 D sup jF .x C iy/j2 dy < C1:
x>0 1
Theorem 12.34. The Laplace transform, F D Lf , is a bijection between

L2 .0; C1/ and H 2 .…/ that satisfies, in addition,
Z C1
2 jf .t/j2 dt D kF k22 :
0
Proof. It has been observed before that ˛f 0 if f 2 L2 .0; 1/, so that Lf is
defined on …. We also know that Lf .x C iy/ D gO x 2 y
with gx .t / D e tx f .t /.
Therefore, by Parseval’s identity, one has
Z C1 Z C1
jLf .x C iy/j dy D 2
2
jgO x . /j2 d
1 1
Z C1 Z C1
D 2 e 2tx jf .t /j2 dt 2 jf .t /j2 dt;
1 1
12.5. Applications of the Laplace transform 533
implying F D Lf 2 H 2 .…/ and kF k22 2kf k22 . Conversely, let now F 2

H 2 .…/ be given. Using Cauchy’s theorem and an argument analogous to the one
in the proof of Theorem 12.2, we get that the limit
Z xCiT Z T
1 1
lim F .z/ e dz D e
tz tx
lim F .x C iy/ e ity dy
T !C1 2 i xiT T !C1 2 T
D e tx hx .t /
is independent from x, where 2hx .2 t / is the inverse Fourier transform of the
function y ! F .x C iy/. By Plancherel’s theorem, then
Z C1 Z C1
2 jhx .t /j2 dt D jF .x C iy/j2 dy kF k22 :
1 1
Writing f .t/ D e h1 .t / D e hx .t /, we get

t tx
Z C1 Z C1
1
e 2tx jf .t/j2 dt D jhx .t /j2 dt kF k22 :
1 1 2
Letting x ! C1 we obtain f .t/ D 0 a: e: on .1; 0/, and letting x ! 0C it
follows that f 2 L2 .0; C1/ and
Z 1
2 jf .t/j2 kF k22 :
0
Since f 2 L .0; C1/, we have hx 2 L1 .R/. Now, taking the Fourier transform of
2
the function 2hx .2 t / yields

Z C1
F .x C iy/ D 2hx .2 t / e 2 ty dt
1
Z 1 Z 1
ity
D hx .t / e dt D e tz f .t /d;
0 0
that is, F is the Laplace transform of f .
12.5 Applications of the Laplace transform

The applications of the transformation f 7! Lf are based on its properties with
respect to operations between causal functions. The most important are given here.
Recall that f W Œ0; C1/ ! C is assumed to be measurable satisfying
RR
0 jf .t/jdt < C1, for all R > 0.
P1. L.t n f .t// D .1/n .Lf /.n/ .z/ if n 2 N.

1
This is Proposition 12.24. For example, the function za corresponds by the
nŠ
Laplace transformation to the function e , and .za/nC1 corresponds to t n e ˛t .
˛t
z
P2. L.f .t//.z/ D 1

Lf
, for > 0.
P3. Assume that f is of class C 1 on .0; C1/ and right continuous at zero. If
˛f 0 < C1, then ˛f < C1 too and for Re z big enough one has
L.f 0 /.z/ D zL.f /.z/ f .0/:
Proof. Integrating by parts yields, for R > 0,

Z R Z R
tz 0 Rz
e f .t /dt D e f .R/ f .0/ C z e tz f .t /dt
0 0
and thus it suffices to prove that ˛f 0 < C1 implies e Rz f .R/ ! 0 when
RR
R ! C1, for Re z > 0 big enough. By hypothesis, limR 0 e tx f 0 .t /dt
exists for some value of x, for which we write
Z t
g.t / D e sx f 0 .s/ds:
0
Then
Z R
e Rz f .R/ D e Rz f .0/ C e Rz f 0 .t /dt
0
Z R
D e Rz f .0/ C e Rz e xt g 0 .t /dt
0
Z R
D e Rz f .0/ C e .zx/R g.R/ e Rz x e xt g.t /dt:
0
Since g is bounded, the equality above implies
j e Rz f .R/j e R Re z jf .0/jCC e R.Re zx/ CC e R.Re zx/ ; C constant;
and the right-hand term converges to zero when R ! C1, if Re z > x.
P4. If f is of class C n on .0; C1/ and the right derivatives f .i/ .0C / for i D
0; : : : ; n 1 exist, and moreover ˛f .n/ < C1, then
L.f .n/ /.z/ D z n L.f /.z/ z n1 f .0/ z n2 f 0 .0/ f .n1/ .0/:
P5. Under the hypotheses of P3, one has
f .0/ D lim xL.f /.x/:

x!C1
Actually, apply Proposition 12.27.

Analogously, under the hypotheses of P4, one has
f 0 .0/ D lim x 2 L.f /.x/ xf .0/ D lim x.xL.f /.x/ f .0//;

x!C1 x!C1
::
:
f .k/ .0/ D lim x kC1 L.f /.x/ x k f .0/ x k1 f 0 .0/ xf .k1/ .0/:
x!C1
The meaning of these equalities is that the asymptotic expansion of Lf .x/

when x ! C1 is
f .0/ f 0 .0/ f 00 .0/ f .k/ .0/
Lf .x/ D C C C C C :
x x2 x3 x kC1
If Lf .z/ is holomorphic at infinity, then this series, in the variable z, is the
expansion around the point at infinity of Lf .z/.
Rt
P6. Let f be continuous and define g.t / D 0 f .s/ds. Then
1
Lg.z/ D Lf .z/:
z
This is a consequence of P3.
P7. Assume the function g.t / D f .t/

t
is also integrable on each interval Œ0; R
with R > 0 and, in addition, ˛g < C1. Then .Lg/0 .z/ D Lf .z/.
This assertion is a consequence of P1.
cos ˛tcos ˇ t
For example, consider the function g.t / D t
, with ˛, ˇ real pa-
rameters. Then Lg.z/ has as derivative
z z
2
z2 Cˇ 2 z C ˛2
and it vanishes at infinity. Hence, for x 2 R, one has
Z 1
t t 1 x2 C ˛2
Lg.x/ D dt D Log
x t 2 C ˛2 ˛2 C ˇ2 2 x2 C ˇ2
C˛ 2 2
and, by analytic continuation, it turns out that Lg.z/ D 12 Log zz2 Cˇ 2 . Also
0 2 C.g/, and, by Proposition 12.29,

Z 1
cos ˛t cos ˇt ˛
dt D Lg.0/ D lim Lg.x/ D Log :
0 t x!0 C ˇ
P8. If > 0 and interpreting that the translated function f .t / D f .t / has

value 0 for t < , then L.f .t /.z/ D e z Lf .z/.
P9. If z0 2 C.f / and z z0 2 C.f /, then

Lf .z z0 / D L. e z0 t f .t //.z/:
P10. If f is -periodic, then ˛f 0 and for Re z > 0 one has

Z
1
L.f /.z/ D e tz f .t /dt:
1 e z 0
Actually, if g denotes the function that
P equals f on .0; / and vanishes outside
this interval, we can write f .t/ D 1 nD0 g.t n/ and applying P8, it turns
out that
1
X
Lf .z/ D e n z Lg.z/ D .1 e z /1 Lg.z/:
nD0
The convolution of two causal functions f , g is defined as

Z t
.f g/.t / D f .s/g.t s/ds:
0
Observe that it is the usual convolution of f and g if these functions are

considered to be extended by zero to .1; 0/.
P11. Assume ˇf < C1 and ˇg < C1. Then ˇf g max.ˇf ; ˇg / and, if
Re z > max.ˇf ; ˇg /, one has
L.f g/.z/ D L.f /.z/ L.g/.z/:
Indeed, let x > ˇf ; ˇg such that
Z C1
I D e tx .jf .t/j C jg.t /j/dt < C1:
0
Then
Z C1
e tx j.f g/.t /jdt
0
Z C1 Z t
tx
e jf .s/j jg.t s/j ds dt
0 0
Z C1 Z C1
D jf .s/j jg.t s/j e tx dt ds
0 s
Z C1 Z C1
sx .ts/x
D e jf .s/j jg.t s/j e dt ds
0 s
Z C1 Z C1
D e sx jf .s/j jg.t /j e tx dt ds I 2 :
0 0
Therefore, ˇf g max.ˇf ; ˇg /, and repeating the computation above with-

out absolute values, the equality of P.11 is found.
Once the list of properties of the Laplace transform is stated, we proceed to its
main applications.
A typical application of the Laplace transform is the solution of ordinary linear
differential equations with constant coefficients. As known, the solution of the
equation
P .D/f D g (12.15)
with g.t/ a given function and P .D/ D D n C an1 D n1 C C a1 D C a0 ,
D D dt d
, a0 ; a1 ; : : : ; an1 2 R, is completely determined by the initial conditions
at a point t0 :
f .k/ .t0 / D bk ; k D 0; : : : ; n 1; (12.16)
with b0 ; b1 ; : : : ; bn1 constants.
Since the problem is invariant under translations, we may assume that t0 D 0.
In order to find the solution f .t/ for t > 0 the Laplace transform will be used. For
t < 0 just remark that fQ.t/ D f .t / satisfies the equation
Pz .D/fQ.t/ D g.t
Q / D g.t /
P
with Pz D niD0 ai .1/i D i . It is convenient to extend a little bit the concept of
solution. So, g will be assumed to be continuous on .0; C1/, except for a set of
isolated points at each of which g has a jump. A generalized solution f is then a
function of class C n1 on .0; C1/, being of class C n on the set of points where
g is continuous and satisfying P .D/f D g on this set. The initial conditions are
interpreted as
f .k/ .0C/ D bk ; k D 0; : : : ; n 1:
As it will be shown, the use of the transformation L has two advantages: first the
data g and b0 ; : : : ; bn1 are simultaneously handled, and afterwards the problem is
reduced to an algebraic equation. The idea is to first find Lf and then look for f
with the inversion theorem, so that the equation becomes a problem about functions
of the complex variable z.
Suppose f is a solution of the problem (12.15) and (12.16). Write F D Lf
and G D Lg, which is a data. Due to rule P4,
L.P .D/f / D P .z/F .z/ b0 pn1 .z/ bn1 p0 .z/;

P
where P .z/ D z n C n1 i
iD0 ai z and pk .z/ are the polynomials
p0 .z/ D 1I pk .z/ D z k C an1 z k1 C C ank ; k D 1; : : : ; n 1:

Therefore,
G.z/ C b0 pn1 .z/ C C bn1 p0 .z/
F .z/ D :
P .z/
Now we must invert the Laplace transform. Observe, first, that we have the decom-
position
G b0 pn1 C C bn1 p0
F D F 1 C F2 ; with F1 D and F2 D :
P P
This decomposition corresponds to f D f1 C f2 , where f1 is the solution of
P .D/f1 D g with vanishing initial values and f2 is the solution of P .D/f2 D 0
with initial values f2.k/ D bk , k D 0; : : : ; n 1. The solution F2 is rational and
vanishes at infinity, and so f2 is an exponential polynomial.
The function P1 is rational and vanishes at infinity and so there is an exponential
polynomial h with Lh D P1 . From Lf1 D F1 D P G
D L.h/L.g/, using P11 and
the uniqueness theorem, we obtain f1 D g h, that is,
Z t
f1 .t / D h.t s/f .s/ds; t > 0:
0
When g is continuous, the next result follows from the existence and uniqueness
theorem of solutions for ordinary differential equations. Here an independent proof
is given, without assuming the continuity of g.
Theorem 12.35. The problem
P .D/f D .D n C an1 D n1 C C a1 D C a0 /f D g;
f .k/ .0/ D bk , k D 0; : : : ; n 1, has a unique generalized solution given by

Z t
f .t/ D f1 .t / C f2 .t / D h.t s/g.s/ds C f2 :
0
Here f2 is the exponential polynomial satisfying
1 X
n1
Lf2 .z/ D bk pn1k .z/
P .z/
kD0
with pk .z/ D z k C an1 z k1 C C ank .p0 .z/ D 1/ and h is the exponential
polynomial such that Lh D P1 .
Proof. The previous considerations prove that if there is a solution, then it is the
one given in the statement. To prove that it is indeed a solution, it is enough
to check the initial conditions f .k/ .0/ D bk , k D 0; : : : ; n 1, because then

L.P .D/f / D L.g/ by construction and P .D/f D g. Check first that
f1.k/ .0/ D 0; k D 0; : : : ; n 1:
By property P5 and observing that P .z/ D z n C , we deduce
h.0/ D D hn1 .0/ D 0; h.n/ .0/ D 1:
It is clear that f1 .0/ D 0 and, differentiating successively, it follows that

Z t
.k/
f1 .t/ D h.k/ .t s/g.s/ds; f1.k/ .0/ D 0; k D 0; : : : ; n 1
0
(since h.k/ .0/ D 0, k D 0; : : : ; n 1, these equalities hold even at the points where
g has a jump).
Next we need to prove that f2.k/ .0/ D bk for k D 0; 1; : : : ; n 1. The function
pn1k .z/
P .z/
has order z 1k when z ! 1 and it is therefore clear that Lf2 .z/ bz0 .
Now, in the equality
P
z bk pn1k .z/ b0 P .z/
zLf2 .z/ b0 D
P .z/
b1
the numerator starts with b1 z n1 and in consequence it is of the order of z
, and so
on.
In many practical cases, to find the solution f there is no need to compute h and
h g separately. For example, if g is an exponential polynomial, then G D Lg
is a rational function vanishing at infinity, so this holds for F1 D P G
as well,
and we may straightforwardly compute f1 by decomposing into simple fractions.
This procedure can also be applied if g is a linear combination of translations of
exponential polynomials in the sense of P8. This is shown in the first of the following
examples.
Example 12.36. Let us solve the equation
8
<1 if 0 < t < 1,
f 0 .t / C 2f .t / D
:
0 if t > 1
with the initial value f .0/ D 1.

In this case one has
1
L.f 0 C 2f / D L 1 Œ0;1 D .1 e z / :
z
But L.f 0 /.z/ D f .0/ C zL.f /.z/ and, hence,

1
1 C .z C 2/L.f /.z/ D .1 e z / ;
z
and so
1 1 e z
L.f /.z/ D C :
zC2 z.z C 2/ z.z C 2/
Decomposing into simple fractions

1 1 1 1
D
z.z C 2/ 2 z zC2
we get
1 1 1 1 1 1
L.f /.z/ D C e z :
2 z zC2 2 z zC2
1
Recall that z˛
is the transform of e ˛t . Applying P8 one finds
1 1
f .t/ D 1 C e 2t 1 1 e 2t ;
2 2
that is, f .t/ D 12 .1 C e 2t / if 0 < t < 1 and
1 1 1 2t
f .t/ D 1 C e 2t 1 e 2.t1/ D e C e 2.t1/ if t > 1:
2 2 2
Observe that f is continuous but not differentiable at the point 1, because g D 1Œ0;1
is not continuous at this point.
Example 12.37. Let us solve the equation f 00 .t / 2f 0 .t / C 5f .t / D g.t / with
f .0/ D 1, f 0 .0/ D 0, where g is the 2L-periodic function with value 1 on Œ0; L
and 0 on ŒL; 2L.
By P10, we have
R L tz
e dt 1 1 e Lz 1
Lg.z/ D 0 2Lz
D 2Lz
D :
1 e z 1 e z.1 C e Lz /
Hence, we must have
1
z 2 L.f / z 2.zL.f / 1/ C 5Lf .z/ D ;
z.1 C e Lz /
1
Lf .z/.z 2 2z C 5/ D z 2 C ;
z.1 C e Lz /
z2 1
Lf .z/ D C 2 D F2 C F1 :
z2 2z C 5 .z 2z C 5/z.1 C e Lz /
Decompose into simple fractions:

1 1 1 1
D ; ˛ D 1 C 2i;
z 2z C 5
2 4i z ˛ z ˛
x
z2 1
C 4i 1
4i
D 2
C 2
:
z 2 2z C 5 z˛ z˛ x
z2
The rational function z 2 2zC5
is the transform of

1 i 1 i i
f2 .t/ D C e ˛t C e ˛xt D Re 1 C e .1C2i/t
2 4 2 4 2
i 1
D e t ReŒ.1 C / e 2it D e t cos 2t e t sin 2t:
2 2
1
The rational function z 2 2zC5
is the transform of
1 ˛t 1
h.t / D e e ˛xt D e t sin 2t
4i 2
1
and, as shown, z.1C e Lz /
is the transform of g. Hence, we obtain
Z t
1
f1 .t / D .g h/.t / D g.t s/ e s sin 2sds:
2 0
The solution is then f D f1 C f2 .

Next we focus on the problem
P .D/f D g; f .k/ .0/ D 0; k D 0; : : : ; n 1: (12.17)
As we know, it has a unique solution given by

Z t
f .t/ D h.t s/g.s/ds;
0
where h is an exponential polynomial with h.k/ .0/ D 0, k D 0; : : : ; n 1, so that

f is C n1 and
Z t
f .t / D
.k/
h.k/ .t s/g.s/ds; k D 0; : : : ; n 1:
0
On the set of points where g is continuous, f is of class C n since h.n/ .0/ D 1 and
we have Z t
f .n/ .t / D g.t / C h.n/ .t s/g.s/ds:
0
The function h is the Green’s function of the problem. It is also called an impulse
response because, when formally replacing g by the impulse ı (Dirac delta at the
origin), we get f D h. The function P1 , which is the Laplace transform of h,
Lh D P1 , is called the transfer function.
These notions apply to all linear operators T , transforming causal functions g
into causal functions f D T g that, moreover, are invariant under translations in
the sense that
f D T g and > 0 imply f D T . g/:
These operators are usually called filters.

The problem P .D/f D g, f .k/ .0/ D 0, k D 0; : : : ; n 1, is invariant under
translations. It may be proved under general hypotheses that to every operator
invariant under translations T corresponds an impulse response h such that
Z t
T g D g h; that is, T g.t / D h.t s/g.s/ds:
0
As said, h may be interpreted as h D T .ı/. The intuitive idea is that every function
g is an (infinite) linear combination of translations of the Dirac delta at the origin ı:
Z Z
g D g.s/ıs D g.s/s ı:
So by linearity and invariancy by translations, we get

Z Z
T g D g.s/s T ı D g.s/s hds;
which means Z t
T g.t / D g.s/h.t s/ds:
0
A filter T is called stable if T g is bounded whenever g is bounded. For the problem

(12.17) it is easy to decide when the corresponding operator T D P .D/ is stable.
Theorem 12.38. If the transfer function of a filter is a function R, rational and

vanishing at infinity, then the filter is stable if and only if all the poles of R have
negative real part.
Proof. Let us prove first that the condition is necessary. Taking g.t / D e itw for a
fixed real number w, which is a bounded function, then T g D f must be bounded.
Now, since T g D g h, h being the impulse response and Lh D R the transfer
R.z/
function, we obtain Lf .z/ D Lg.z/R.z/ D ziw . Let ˛1 ; : : : ; ˛n be the poles
of R with multiplicities m1 ; : : : ; mn . If ˛j ¤ iw, j D 1; : : : ; n, we have the

decomposition in simple fractions:
R.iw/ X
n
Lf .z/ D C Rj .z/;
z iw
j D1
where Rj is the principal part of R at the point ˛j . Then L1 .Rj / can be written
as Pj .t/ e ˛j t , where Pj is a polynomial of degree mj 1, and we find
X
n
f .t/ D R.iw/ e itw C Pj .t / e ˛j t :
j D1
This expression is bounded if and only if Re ˛j 0 and if the poles ˛j with

Re ˛j D 0 have multiplicity mj D 1. Now, if ˛j D iw0 and we take w D w0 ,
then iw0 is a pole of order greater than or equal to 2 of Lf .z/ and f .t / would
contain an unbounded term. Therefore, Re ˛j < 0, j D 1; 2; : : : ; n, is a necessary
condition.
To prove that the condition is sufficient, we use the equality
Z t
T g.t / D f .t/ D h.t s/g.s/d.s/
0
with Lh D R, assuming that g is bounded. The function h will be written as
X
n
h.t / D Qj .t / e ˛j t
j D1
with Qj polynomials and ˛1 ; : : : ; ˛n the poles of R. If Re ˛j " with " > 0 for
j D 1; : : : ; n, and N is the maximum of the degrees of the polynomials Qj , we
have
Z t Z 1
jf .t/j kgk1 jh.t /jds C kgk1 jt jN e "t dt < C1;
0 0
with C constant.
Note that the methods based on the Laplace transform to solve ordinary differ-
ential equations do not require the function Lf .z/ to be defined for complex values.
One could define Lf .x/ only for real x and the uniqueness theorem, stating that
Lf .x/ D Lg.x/ implies f
g, would have the same proof as Theorem 12.30.
However, if we want to have inversion formulae, it is necessary to consider complex
arguments.
12.6 Dirichlet series

Dirichlet series are a special type of series of holomorphic functions very important
in analytic number theory. The most well-known example is the series defining the
Riemann function,
X1
1
.z/ D :
nD1
nz
Definition 12.39. A Dirichlet series is a function series of type
1
X
cn e n z
nD1
with cn 2 C and n 2 R satisfying n nC1 , n 2 N, and limn!C1 n D C1.

When n D n, the previous series is a power series in w D e z . When
n D Log n, the series is written as
X1
cn
nD1
nz
and it is called a special Dirichlet series.
The Dirichlet series are a discrete analog of the Laplace transform, and there is
a parallelism between both theories.
P
Proposition 12.40. If the Dirichlet series 1 nD1 cn e
n z
converges at the point
z0 2 C, then it converges at every point z with Re z > Re z0 . Moreover, the
convergence is uniform on the whole circular sector Sˇ D fz W j Arg.z z0 /j ˇg,
ˇ < =2.
Proof.
P Without loss of generality, we may P suppose z0 D 0 and n 0. Hence
cn is convergent and we have to show that cn e n z is convergent for Re z > 0,
uniformly on the sector fz W j Arg zj ˇg, ˇ < =2. Applying Abel’s criterion
(Theorem 2.14), we must check that
Xˇ ˇ
ˇe n z e n1 z ˇ Cˇ ; if j Arg zj ˇ < =2; for a constant Cˇ :
n
Now, if z D x C iy, one has

ˇ Z ˇ
ˇ z ˇ ˇ n ˇ
ˇe n e n1 z ˇ D ˇz e z d ˇˇ
ˇ
n1
Z n
jzj n1 x
jzj e Re z d D e e n x
n1 x
jzj
and then the series above is dominated by x
1
cos ˇ
.
12.6. Dirichlet series 545
Proposition 12.40 implies:

P
Theorem 12.41. For every Dirichlet series 1 nD1 cn e
n z
there is a real number
˛ such that
P the series converges if Re z > ˛ and diverges if Re z < ˛. The function
D.z/ D cn e n z is holomorphic on the half plane fz 2 C W Re z > ˛g.
The number ˛ is called the abscissa of convergence of the series.

There is also an abscissa of absolute convergence ˛a defined by the property
that the series is absolutely convergent for Re z > ˛a and not absolutely convergent
for Re z < ˛a . Trivially one has ˛a ˛, but it could happen that ˛ < ˛a ; then the
set fz W ˛ < Re z < ˛a g is called strip of conditional convergence.
For example, for the series
X1
.1/nC1 1 1 1
z
D 1 z C z z C
nD1
n 2 3 4
one has ˛a D 1 and ˛ D 0.

Of course, the derivative of the function D.z/ of Theorem 12.41 can be also
represented by a Dirichlet series,
X
D 0 .z/ D cn n e n z; if Re z > ˛:
P
Theorem 12.42 (Uniqueness theorem). If D.z/ D cn e n z and D.z/ D 0 for
Re z > ˛, where ˛ is the abscissa of convergence of the Dirichlet series, then
cn D 0 for n D 0; 1; 2; : : : . More generally, if D.z/ has infinitely many zeros in a
sector Sˇ D fz W j Arg zj ˇg with ˇ < =2, then cn D 0 for every n 2 N and
D.z/ is identically zero.
Proof. We can write

1
X
D.z/ e 1 z
D c1 C cn e . n 1 /z :
nD2
The series of the right-hand side term is uniformly convergent on the sector Sˇ D
fz W j Arg zj < ˇg and each term has limit zero when z ! 1 in this sector. This
means that
c1 D lim D.z/ e 1 z :
z!1
z2Sˇ

Similarly c2 D limz!1 D.z/ c1 e 1 z e 2 z and so on. Now if D.wn / D 0
for infinitely many wn in the sector Sˇ , we have cn D 0 for each n.
Many of the properties of the Laplace transforms can be transferred to Dirichlet

series by means of the following observation. Start writing
D.z/ X e n z
D cn :
z n
z
n z
Now the function z1 equals L.1/.z/ and the function e z equals L. n 1/.z/. So
writing H D 1 .0;C1/ (called Heaviside function), one has
D.z/ X
D cn L.H.t n // D L.f /.z/
z n
with X
f .t/ D cn :
n t
Hence, the equation D.z/ D zL.f /.z/ holds.
12.7 The Z -transform

The Z-transform is another discrete version of the Laplace transform which is
suitable for the solution of finite difference equations. These equations correspond
to ordinary differential equations in a discrete context. The idea behind the Z-
transform is the same as for power series or Laurent series, although traditionally a
slightly different language is used.
Definition 12.43. The Z-transform of a sequence c D .cn /1
nD0 of complex numbers
is the function
1
X
C.z/ D cn z n ;
nD0
defined for the complex values of z for which the series converges.
So it is a power series in w D z1 . More generally, one can consider the Z-
transform of a sequence .cn /n2Z indexed by n 2 Z, which will be a Laurent series
in w D z1 .
P
If D .c/ D lim supn!1 jcn j1=n , the series 1 n
nD0 cn w has radius of con-
vergence R D 1= . This series converges absolutely if jwj < R and diverges if
jwj > R. This means that C.z/ converges absolutely if jzj > and diverges if
jzj < .
P
Example 12.44. If cn D , constant, then C.z/ D 1 nD0 z
n
D z1
z
for jzj > 1.
P z n

If cn D nŠ , then C.z/ D
1
nŠ
D exp 1
z
for jzj > 0.
12.7. The Z-transform 547
A way for interpreting the Z-transform is to consider it as a discrete version of

the Laplace transform. The integral
Z 1
Lf .z/ D f .t / e tz dt
0
is approximated by the Riemann sums

1
X 1
X
f .n/ e nz D cn .e z /n D C.e z / with cn D f .n /; > 0:
nD0 nD0
The function z 7! e transforms a half plane fz W Re z > ˛g into the exterior of a

z
disc.
The properties of the Z-transform are analogous to the properties of the Laplace
transform given in Section 12.5 and will not be specified here. Only one, corre-
sponding to P.11, will be stressed. Accordingly, let a D .an /, b D .bn / be two
sequences with .a/ < C1, .b/ < C1, and let .cn / be the convolution of those
two sequences, given by
X
n
cn D bk cnk ; n D 0; 1; 2; : : : :
kD0
Then .c/ max. .a/; .b// and the Z-transform C.z/ satisfies C.z/ D A.z/B.z/,
where A.z/ and B.z/ are, respectively, the Z-transforms of a and b.
The Z-transform is a very useful tool to solve difference equations. They are
equations of the kind
X
p X
q
˛j ynCj D ˇj xnCj ; n D 0; 1; 2; : : :
j D0 j D0
with initial values yj D j , j D 0; 1; : : : ; p 1, where j are given constants.

The numbers ˛j for j D 0; 1; : : : ; p, ˇj for j D 0; 1; : : : ; q and the sequence
x D .xn /1 1
nD0 are the data, and the sequence y D .yn /nD0 is the unknown.
Adopting the notation j .c/ D .cnCj /1 1
nD0 when c D .cn /nD0 the equation
above is written:
Xp X q
˛j j .y/ D ˇj j .x/:
j D0 j D0
In order to find y, we apply the Z-transform and use that the Z-transform of j .c/
is the function
1
jX
cl
z j C.z/ ;
zl
lD0
if C.z/ is the Z-transform of c D .cn /1

nD0 . We obtain, then, for the Z-transforms
X.z/, Y.z/ of x D .xn /, y D .yn / the equation
X
p 1
jX
l X
q 1
jX
xl
˛j z j Y .z/ D ˇj z j
X.z/
j D0
zl j D0
zl
lD0 lD0
from which Y.z/ can be isolated. The solution is finally obtained expanding Y .z/
at the point at infinity.
Example 12.45. Consider the equation 3yn C 2ynC1 D xn xnC2 , n 0 with
y0 D 1. We have
x1
3Y.z/ C 2z.Y .z/ 1/ D X.z/ z 2 X.z/ x0 C
z
and from here,

x1 x2 x3 x4
x0 C z
C z2
C x2 C z
C z2
C C 2z
Y.z/ D :
2z C 3
The expansion of 1
2zC3
at infinity, which holds if jzj > 32 , is
1 1
1 1 1 X .1/n 3n X .1/n 3n
D D D :
2z C 3 2z 1 C 3
2z
2z nD0 .2z/n
nD0
.2z/nC1
This gives
.1/n 3n X .1/j 1 3j 1
n

yn D C xnj xnj C2 ; n 1:
2n 2j
j D1
As done in Section 12.5 for the equation P .D/f D g, consider now the case
of all initial values being zero, that is, j D 0, j D 0; : : : ; p 1. Suppose also that
q D 0 and ˇ0 D 1. Then y depends linearly on x and the transform Y .z/ is written
in terms of X.z/ as
1
Y .z/ D Pp j
X.z/:
j D0 ˛j z
P
The function P 1.z/ , with P .z/ D jpD0 ˛j z j , is called the transfer function. The
sequence h D .hn /1 1
nD0 whose Z-transform is P .z/ allows us to find the solution of
the finite difference equation by means of the convolution
X
n
yn D hnk xk :
kD0
12.7. The Z-transform 549
When the impulse is x D .xn / D .1; 0; 0; : : : ; 0; : : :/, then y D h, and for this
reason the sequence h is called impulse response.
As in the continuous case, a convolution y D h x is the general expression
of a discrete filter, that is, a linear transformation taking causal sequences .xn /1nD0
into causal sequences .yn /1 nD0 and invariant under translations. The filter is called
stable if it transforms bounded sequences into bounded sequences.
Theorem 12.46. A filter with rational transfer function R is stable if and only if all
the poles of R have absolute value less than 1.
Proof. If all the poles of R have modulus less than 1, the expansion at infinity of R,
X hn
R.z/ D ;
n0
zn
P
is absolutely convergent for jzj D 1 and, therefore, n0 jhn j D C < C1. So if
there is a constant D > 0 such that jxn j D, n D 0; 1; 2; : : : , then
X
n
jyn j jhnk j jxk j CD
kD0
and the filter is stable. We show now that the condition is necessary. Suppose that
whenever jxn j D, n D 0; 1; 2; : : : , the sequence .yn / is bounded. Note that
for jyn j D 0 , n D 0; 1; 2; : : : , then Y .z/, the Z-transform of .yn /, is defined on
fz W jzj > 1g and satisfies
X1 X1
jyn j 0 1 jzj
jY.z/j D D D0 ; for jzj > 1: (12.18)
nD0
jzjn
nD0
jzjn jzj 1
Since Y.z/ D R.z/X.z/, it is clear that R cannot have poles with modulus
greater than 1. Suppose now that is a pole of R with jj D 1. Write
F .z/
R.z/ D ; m1
.z /m
with F analytic on a neighborhood of and FP./ ¤ 0. Taking as x the bounded
sequence given by xn D n , one has X.z/ D 1 n
nD0 z n D z and
z
zF .z/
Y .z/ D R.z/X.z/ D :
.z /mC1
Since m 1, this equality implies that Y .z/ does not satisfy (12.18) for any constant
D 0 and, then, it cannot be bounded. Hence, all the poles of R have modulus less
than 1.
12.8 Exercises
1. Let F be a bounded holomorphic function on a strip U D fz W a < j Im zj < bg,
a; b 2 R. For a < y < b, write
M.y/ D supfjF .x C iy/j W x 2 Rg:
Show that Log M.y/ is a convex function of Log y, that is, for a < c < y <
d < b, one has
M.y/d c M.c/d y M.d /yc :
Hint: First consider the case M.c/ D M.d / D 1 using the function F .z/=.1C
".z ia//. For the general case, take
d z zc
g.z/ D M.c/ d c M.d / d c
and apply the particular case to F=g.
2. Let F be a holomorphic function on the annulus C.0; R2 ; R1 / and let
M.r/ D supfjF .z/j W jzj D rg; R2 < r < R1 :
Prove that Log M.r/ is a convex function of Log r.
3. Prove that Phragmen–Lindelöf’s theorem (Theorem 12.9) also holds if F

˛
satisfies the estimate jF .z/j D O.e "jzj / for every " > 0, z 2 S˛ and
jF .z/j M , if z 2 @S˛ .
2
4. Let F be an entire function satisfying jF .z/j D O.e ajzj /; z 2 C and
2
jF .x/j D O.e bjxj /; x 2 R, for a; b > 0, constants. Show that
2 Cdy 2
jF .x C iy/j D O.e cx /
with some constants c, d depending on a, b.
5. Let F be an entire function satisfying the estimates of the hypothesis in

Exercise 4 of this section. Prove that the Fourier transform of F .x/ is an
entire function satisfying the same estimates.
6. Let F be a holomorphic function on a neighborhood of a regular polygon

with n sides, L1 ; L2 ; : : : ; Ln , centered at the origin. Let Mi D supfjF .z/j W
z 2 Li g, i D 1; 2; : : : ; n. Show the inequality
1
jF .0/j .M1 M2 Mn / n :
12.8. Exercises 551
7. Let F be an entire function of exponential type 0, that is, satisfying

jF .z/j C e jzj , z 2 C, for C constant. Assume that F belongs to the
spaces Lp .R/, corresponding to two non-parallel lines, for p fixed with 1 <
p < C1. Prove that F is identically zero. Show also that every entire
function of exponential type that is bounded on two non-parallel lines is
constant.
8. Let F be an entire function of exponential type (Exercise 7 of this section)
that, in addition, satisfies the condition
Z C1
jF .x/jp dx < C1; 1 p < 1:
1
Show there is a constant A.; p/ such that

Z C1 Z C1
0
jF .x/j dx A.; p/
p
jF .x/jp dx:
1 1
Find the best value of the constant A.; 2/ using the second Paley–Wiener
theorem.
9. The Bernstein space B is the space of entire functions of exponential type
(Exercise 7 of this section) that are bounded on the real axis R. Show
Bernstein’s inequality
supfjF 0 .x/j W x 2 Rg supfjF .x/j W x 2 Rg; if F 2 B :
Hint: First prove it for F given by

Z C
F .z/ D e 2 tz f .t / dt

with f integrable and 2 D , using the equality

1
i t 4 X .1/n 2 i nt 1
2 i t e D e ; jt j :
nD1 2n C 1 2
In the general case, consider F" .z/ D F .z/ sin"z"z .
10. Let F be a function bandlimited to . 12 ; 12 /. Instead of the corresponding

Nyquist frequency (equal to 1, see page 520), consider a frequency < 1.
Find a formula expressing F .z/ in terms of the values F .n /, n 2 Z, of type
X
F .z/ D F .n /'.z n /;
n2Z
with ' rapidly decreasing to infinity (limjxj!1 jxjn j' .k/ .x/j D 0, for n; k D
0; 1; 2; : : :).
Hint: With D 1 ; consider the 2 -periodic Fourier expansion of Fy , multiply
2
it by a function in Cc1 with value 1 on Œ 12 ; 12 and support inside Œ; and
argue as in the proof of Shannon–Whittaker’s theorem.
11. Let f 2 L1 .R/ and consider the 1-periodic function
X
F .x/ D f .x C k/:
k2Z
Show that the n-th Fourier coefficient of F ,

Z 1
Fy .n/ D F .x/e 2and nx dx;
0
is fO.n/. Therefore, the Poisson formula

X X
f .x C k/ D fO.n/e 2 i nx
k2Z n2Z
holds if the Fourier series of F is pointwise convergent; for example when F

is continuous with bounded variation. Show that this is the case when f is,
in addition, absolutely continuous, that is,
Z x
f .x/ D g.t / dt
1
with g integrable.
12. Find conditions on f in order that the equality
X Z C1
f .n/ D f .x/ dx
n2Z 1
holds. Show that this equality is true if f is the restriction to R of an entire

function of exponential type with 1 (Exercise 7 of this section) and
integrable on R.
13. Let us consider the Dirichlet series
X .1/n
p :
n2
n.Log n/z
Prove that ˛ D 1 and ˇ D C1, where ˛ is the abscissa of convergence

and ˇ the abscissa of absolute convergence.
12.8. Exercises 553
P
14. Let 1 nD1 cn e
n z
be a Dirichlet series with coefficients n satisfying the
Log n
condition n ! 0, for n ! 1. Show that
Log jcn j
˛ D ˇ D lim sup ;
n!1 n
with ˛ and ˇ equal, respectively, to the abscissas of convergence and of
absolute convergence of the series.
This formula is analogous to the one giving the radius of convergence of a
power series.
P
15. Prove Parseval’s formula for the Dirichlet series 1nD1 cn e
n z
: if x > ˛;
1
X Z N
1
jcn j2 e 2 n x D lim jD.x C i t /j2 dt;
N !1 2N N
nD1
P
where D.z/ D cn e n z and ˛ is the abscissa of convergence of the series.
16. The aim of this exercise is to introduce the Mellin transform, corresponding
to the Fourier transform in the multiplicative group RC , equipped with the
measure d D dt =t . If f is integrable with respect to d, the Mellin
transform is defined as
Z 1

f .z/ D t iz1 f .t / dt:
0
With the change of variables t D e 2s it becomes essentially the complex

Fourier transform.
a) State Parseval’s formula for the Mellin transform.
b) Show that f g D .f &g/ , where f &g denotes the convolution as-
sociated to the multiplicative group RC , that is,
Z 1
x dt
.f &g/.x/ D f . /g.t / :
0 t t
c) State the inversion formula for the Mellin transform.

17. Use the Laplace transform to solve the following problems:
a) f 00 .t / 2f 0 .t / C 2f .t / D e t ; f .0/ D 0; f 0 .0/ D 2.
b) f 00 .t / C tf 0 .t / C f .t/ D 0; f .0/ D 1; f 0 .0/ D 0.
c) f 00 .t / C 2f 0 .t / C 2f .t / D ı.t 1/; f .0/ D 1; f 0 .0/ D 1 (ı denotes
the Dirac delta at the origin).
18. Let f be a continuous function on .0; C1/ and k locally integrable on

.0; C1/. Solve the Volterra equation in the unknown function ˆ:
Z t
ˆ.t / C k.t s/ˆ.s/ ds D f .t /; t > 0;
0
using the Laplace transform.

19. Solve the following finite difference equations:
a) yn ynC1 D xn C xnC2 , y0 D 1;
b) yn C 2ynC1 C ynC2 D xn xnC1 , y0 D 1; y1 D 0;
c) yn ynC1 4ynC2 C 4ynC3 D xn C xnC1 , y0 D y1 D 0; y2 D 1.
20. Find which of the following linear systems are stable:
a) yn ynC1 4ynC2 C 4ynC3 D xn xnC1 ;
b) yn ynC1 C 3ynC2 C 5ynC3 D xn xnC1 ;
c) yn ynC1 4ynC2 4ynC3 D xn ;
d) 2yn C ynC1 D xn C 2xnC1 ;
e) 6yn 20ynC1 C 6ynC2 C 10ynC3 D xn C xnC1 .
Bibliography
[1] Ahlfors, L. V., Complex analysis, 3rd edition, Mc Graw-Hill Int. Book Co.,
New York, 1978. 221, 370
[2] Blair, D. E., Inversion theory and conformal mapping, AMS Publications,
Providence, RI, 2000. 65
[3] Burckel, R. B., An introduction to classical complex analysis, Vol. 1, Aca-
demic Press, New York - London, 1979. 212, 420
[4] Carmona, J. J., and J. Cufí, The index of a plane curve and Green’s formula,
Rend. Circolo Matem. Palermo 53 (2004), 103–128. 221
[5] Christenson, C. O. and W. L. Voxman, Aspects of topology, Marcel Dekker,
Inc., New York–Basel, 1977. 29, 30
[6] Dieudonné, J., Éléments d’analyse 1, Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1969. 28, 517
[7] Gamelin, T. W., Complex analysis, Springer-Verlag, New York, 2001.
[8] Muñoz, J., Curso de teoría de funciones 1, Tecnos, Madrid, 1978.
[9] Nevanlinna, R., and V. Paatero, Introduction to complex analysis, 2nd edition,
Chelsea Publishing Co., New York, 1982. 331
[10] Rudin, W., Principles of mathematical analysis, 3rd edition, Mc Graw-Hill
Book Co., New York–Auckland–Düsseldorf, 1976. 47, 389
[11] Saks, S., and A. Zygmund, Fonctions analitiques, Masson et Cie. Éditeurs,
Paris, 1970. 212, 430
[12] Schwartz, L., Cours d’analyse 1, 2nd edition, Hermann, Paris, 1981. 283
[13] Warner, F. W., Foundations of differentiable manifolds and Lie groups, Scott,
Foresman and Co., Glenview, Ill.–London, 1971. 125, 226
Symbols
R1 t , 2 C.f /, 523
h ds, 22 cn , 250
R
f .z/ dz, 86, 87 ch z, 45
R
f .z/jdzj, 86
B, 249 D.a; r/, 12
C, 1 Dr .a/, 12
C , 12 D 0 .a; "/, 164
CŒz, 494 D"0 .a/, 164
CŒŒz, 495 d , 128
D, 12 dH .E; F /, 188
R, 1 d , 249
S, 249 d.f; g/, 395
T, 3 d.z; w/, 13
Z, 3 ds, 113
dA, 113
1A , 421 d V , 113
Arg z, 4 d m, 136
arg z, 4 deg.P /, 41
Aut.U /, 330 arg, 25
A.D/, 273, 447 , 127
A.T /, 273, 446
˛f , 524 Ep .z/, 467
Ext. /, 29
B.a; r/, 94, 249
Br .a/, 94 kf k1 , 504
ˇf , 525 kf k2 , 504
kf k22;a , 506
C.a; r/, 12
Cr .a/, 12 fO. /, 505
C.E/, 13 fO.z/, 506
C r , 76
C.a; R2 ; R1 /, 169 GB , 302
C r .U /, 247 GD , 269
Ccr .U /, 247 GU , 265
C.U /, 394 G./, 281
C.K/, 416 G.x/, 253
C./, 438 1 2 .U /, 209
CH ./, 442 , 17
558 Symbols
H.U /, 60 nf .r/, 488

H 1 .U /, 225
H 1 .U / , 226 PB , 303
HU , 267 PD , 269
HD , 278 PU , 265
HB , 306 Pr , 271
H 2 .Ba /, 506 P WR , 514
1
H 2 .…/, 532 p.v. 1 f .x/ dx, 194
N 67
@, @,
@
Im z, 1 , @ , 67
@z @zN
Ind.; z/, 26
Int./, 29 Res.f; a/, 174
I.Z/, 496 Res.f; 1/, 182
Re z, 1
Kp .z; w/, 479 S 2 , 13
L./, 21 S.a; r/, 249

L1 .E/, 504 sh z, 45
L2 .E/, 504 spt./, 281
L2a , 506 sup.f /, 137
L1loc .U /, 247 jxj, 11
Lpc .U /, 247 hx; yi, 11
Lf , 522
lim sup, 53 Z.I /, 498
Z.f /, 149
M.r/, 487 zN , 1
m.f; a/, 149 jzj, 2
Index
Abel’s summation by parts formula, 50 calculus of residues, 176

Abel’s test, 51 canonical product, 491
Abel’s theorem, 57 Carathéodory’s theorem, 331
abscissa of absolute convergence, 525, Carleson’s theorem, 505, 517
545 Casorati–Weierstrass’ theorem, 167
abscissa of convergence, 524, 545 Cauchy integral, 438
absolutely convergent series, 47 Cauchy integral formula, 137, 217
analytic arc, 331 Cauchy kernel, 138
analytic function, 73 Cauchy’s inequalities, 157
analytic function of two real variables, Cauchy’s method, 430
79 Cauchy’s principal value, 194
angle, 4 Cauchy’s product, 49
annulus, 169, 368 Cauchy’s theorem, 107, 211
anticonformal diffeomorphism, 315 Cauchy’s theorem for differential
anticonformal mapping, 11, 64 forms, 221
antidifferentiation by parts formula, 67 Cauchy–Goursat’s theorem, 107
antiholomorphic function, 328 Cauchy–Green’s formula, 137, 216
antiholomorphic part, 147 Cauchy–Riemann equations, 61
Apollonian circles, 353 causal function, 521
arc, 17 C-differentiable function, 59
arc length parametrization, 21 chain, 207
arc of a curve, 17 change of parametrization, 20, 87
argument, 4 change of variable formula, 67
argument principle, 185, 220 circle, 337
automorphism group, 330, 343 circulation, 90
automorphisms, 343 class C 1 , 18
automorphisms of the unit disc, 345 closed curve, 18
closed differential 1-form, 122
bandlimited function, 513 compatible orientations, 114
barrier, 408 complex derivative, 59
Bergman kernel, 446 complex Fourier transform, 506
Blaschke product, 487 complex line integral, 86
Blaschke’s condition, 485 complex plane, 12
Borel’s theorem, 494 complex potential, 375
bounded set of C.U /, 396 complex powers, 44
branch of the n-th-root, 23 conformal diffeomorphism, 315
branch of the argument, 23, 24 conformal mapping, 10, 328
560 Index
conformally equivalent domains , 328 domain with piecewise regular

conjugate, 1 boundary, 31
conjugated form, 128 domain with regular boundary, 31
conjugate harmonic function, 128 double layer potential, 259
connected components, 14 double series, 48
connection degree, 15 element of arc length, 21
conservative vector field, 92, 307 entire function, 60
continuity equation, 240 equicontinuous family, 389
continuous branch of the logarithm, 44 essential singularity, 166
convergent series, 47 essential singularity at infinity, 181
convolution, 536, 547 Euler’s function, 470
counting function, 488 Euler’s constant, 470
C r function, 76 Euler’s equations, 242
cross ratio, 340 Euler’s identity, 19
curl, 119 exact 1-form, 93
curl theorem, 120 exhaustive sequence of compact sets, 15
curve, 17 exponent of convergence, 489
cycle, 209 exponential function, 41
cycle homologous to zero, 209 exponential growth, 523
exponential polynomials, 532
de Rham’s theorem, 226 extended complex plane, 13
difference equations, 547 exterior differential, 121
differentiable curve, 18 exterior of , 29
differentiable vector field, 116 filter, 542
differential .n 1/-form, 116 first cohomology group, 226
differential 1-form, 91 first Green’s function, 265
differential 2-form, 116 first homology group, 225
Dirac’s delta, 477 first homotopy group, 228
Dirichlet integral, 318 first Paley–Wiener theorem, 506
Dirichlet problem for the @N flow, 114
operator, 450 formal power series, 495
Dirichlet series, 544 Fourier coefficient, 518
Dirichlet’s principle, 319 Fourier series, 146, 147, 517
Dirichlet’s problem, 238, 262, 270, Fourier transform, 505
314, 347 Fourier’s law, 236
Dirichlet’s test, 50 function series, 49
disc algebra, 273 functions of a complex variable, 79
disc of convergence, 53 fundamental group, 228
discrete filter, 549 fundamental solution of the Laplacian,
divergence theorem, 117 253
domain, 14 fundamental theorem of algebra, 159
Index 561
fundamental theorem of complex homotopic curves, 228

calculus, 95 Hurwitz’s theorem, 387
fundamental theorem of conformal hyperbolic functions, 45
mapping, 329, 397
ideal, 494
Gauss’ law, 239 imaginary part, 1
generalized solution, 537 impulse response, 542, 549
geometric series, 52 incompressible fluid, 242
gradient vector field, 92 index of with respect to a point, 26
Green’s formula, 99, 213 infinite product, 460
Green’s function, 264, 399, 542 integral curves, 89
Green’s identities, 246 integral with respect to arc length, 22
Green’s potential, 297 integration by parts formula, 97
interior of , 29
Hadamard’s theorem, 490, 491 interpolating sequence, 520
harmonic function, 127, 248, 423 interpolation, 473
Harnack’s inequality, 393 inversely conformal function, 328
Hausdorff distance, 188 inversion, 302, 336, 342
Heaviside function, 546 inversion formula, 505
Helmholtz’s equation, 249 isolated singularity, 164
Helmholtz’s theorem, 311 isotropy group, 344
Herglotz kernel, 277
Jensen’s formula, 482
holomorphic antiderivative, 66
Jordan curve, 18
holomorphic function, 60
Jordan curve theorem, 28
holomorphic function at infinity, 180
Jordan domain, 29
holomorphic part, 147
Jowkowsky’s mapping, 359
holomorphic primitive, 66
holomorphic vector field, 127 k-simply connected domain, 126
homographic transformation, 336 Koebe’s function, 357
homological version of Cauchy’s
integral formula, 217 Lagrange interpolating polynomial, 473
homological version of Cauchy’s Laplace operator, 127
theorem, 211 Laplace transform, 521
homological version of Cauchy–Green’s Laplacian, 127, 245
formula, 216 Laurent series, 168
homological version of Green’s formula, length of a curve, 21
213 level curves, 349
homological version of the argument line integral, 91
principle, 220 Liouville’s theorem, 65, 158
homological version of the residue Liouville’s theorem for harmonic
theorem, 219 functions, 252
homologous chains, 209 local chart, 112
562 Index
local Lipschitz condition, 292 order of a pole, 165

locally exact 1-form, 94 order of a zero, 149
locally uniform convergence, 384 order of an entire function, 488
logarithm, 42 orientable regular k-manifold with
logarithmic derivative, 177 boundary, 113
logarithmic potential, 255 orientation, 20
oriented angles, 4
maximal ideal, 500
maximum principle, 156, 263 Paley–Wiener space, 514
maximum principle for subharmonic Parseval’s identity, 505
functions, 404 Parseval’s theorem, 506
mean value property, 140, 250 path, 18
meromorphic function, 165, 183, 425 Peano curves, 17
method of residues, 434 perfect fluid, 242
Mittag-Leffler’s theorem, 425 Perron’s method, 320, 403
modulus, 2 Phragmen–Lindelöf theorem, 514
Montel’s theorem, 392 piecewise analytic boundary, 332
Morera’s theorem, 143 piecewise of class C 1 , 18
multiplicity of a pole, 165 point at infinity, 12
multiplicity of a zero, 149 Poisson formula, 509, 552
n-connected domain, 15 Poisson kernel, 265, 508
Neumann’s problem, 238, 264, 278, Poisson transform, 271
314, 349 Poisson’s equation, 239, 279, 294, 477
newtonian potential, 238, 255 polar representation, 5
newtonian vector field, 238 pole, 165
non-homogeneous Cauchy–Riemann pole at infinity, 181
equations, 436, 441 polygon, 360
non-homogeneous Dirichlet problem, polynomial, 39, 417, 494
295 positive orientation, 34, 35
non-homogenous Neumann’s potential function, 93, 375
problem, 300 potential vector, 125
normal exterior vector field, 34, 114 power series, 52
normal family, 393 principal argument, 4
n-th primitive root, 6 principal branch of the square root, 6
n-th root, 5 principal ideal, 495
n-th roots of unity, 6 principal part, 172
Nyquist frequency, 520 principle of analytic continuation, 151
1-manifold, 29 quaternions, 7
open mapping theorem, 155
open set with regular boundary, 114 radius of convergence, 53
orbits, 89 rational functions, 41, 419
Index 563
real analytic function, 77 stable filter, 542, 549

real part, 1 star-like domain, 93
rectifiable curve, 21 stationary vector field, 89
reflection principle with respect Steiner’s circles, 353
to circles, 342 stereographic projection, 13
region, 14 Stokes’ theorem for 1-forms, 121
regular curve, 18 Stolz angle, 57
regular hypersurfaces with boundary, stream function, 375
113 stream lines, 375
regular part, 172 subharmonic function, 133, 261, 403
regular path, 18 submanifold with boundary, 29
regular point, 407 summable family, 47
regular submanifold with boundary, support, 137, 281
111 M
Sura-Bura’s theorem, 420
removable singularity, 164 surface, 113
residue, 174 symmetric domain, 151
residue of the logarithmic derivative, symmetry, 341
177 symmetry principle, 341
residue theorem, 175, 219 symmetry principle for harmonic
Riemann function, 544 functions, 304
Riemann sphere, 13 symmetry principle for holomorphic
Riesz decomposition formula, 257 functions, 332
Riesz potential, 255, 281 theorem of Schöenflies, 30
Rouché’s theorem, 186 theta function, 512
Runge’s theorem, 418, 420 transfer function, 542, 548
sampling sequence, 520 transitive group, 343
scalar product, 8 transverse Mercator projection, 371
Schwarz’s lemma, 345 trigonometric functions, 45
Schwarz’s reflection principle , 151 uniform convergence on compact sets,
Schwarz–Christoffel formula, 361 384
second Green’s function, 267 uniformly bounded sequence, 388
second Paley-Wiener theorem, 515 unit disc, 12
Shannon–Whittaker’s theorem, 519 upper limit, 52
similarities, 12
variation of the argument, 25
simple curve, 18
vector field, 89
simple layer potential, 258
vorticity, 242
simply connected domain, 15, 210
sine cardinal, 518 weak solution, 288, 439
solenoidal vector field, 124, 307 Weierstrass M -test, 49
source, 375 Weierstrass elementary factors, 467
special Dirichlet series, 544 Weierstrass’ function, 471
564 Index
Weierstrass’ theorem, 385, 468 zero set, 149, 496

Weyl’s lemma, 290 Z-transform, 546
winding number, 25

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(EMS Textbooks in Mathematics) Joaquim Bruna, Julia Cufi - Complex Analysis-European Mathematical Society (2013) PDF

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EMS Textbooks in Mathematics

EMS Textbooks in Mathematics is a series of books aimed at students or professional mathemati-

Jørn Justesen and Tom Høholdt, A Course In Error-Correcting Codes

Joaquim Bruna and Julià Cufí

2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 30-01, 31-01

© European Mathematical Society 2013

European Mathematical Society Publishing House

Phone: +41 (0)44 632 34 36

Typeset using the authors’ TEX files: I. Zimmermann, Freiburg

families. The existence of solutions to the Dirichlet problem is proved by Perron’s

1 Arithmetic and topology in the complex plane 1

2 Functions of a complex variable 39

3 Holomorphic functions and differential forms 85

4 Local properties of holomorphic functions 136

4.4 Zeros of analytic functions. Principle of analytic continuation . . 148

5 Isolated singularities of holomorphic functions 164

6 Homology and holomorphic functions 207

7 Harmonic functions 236

7.8 The Poisson equation and the non-homogeneous Dirichlet

8 Conformal mapping 326

9 The Riemann mapping theorem and Dirichlet’s problem 383

10 Runge’s theorem and the Cauchy–Riemann equations 415

11 Zeros of holomorphic functions 460

12 The complex Fourier transform 504

1.1 Arithmetic of complex numbers

1.1.2 Powers and n-th roots

where A is a constant. This result is also called the Fundamental Theorem of

jwjn 1n˛ D jzj1 ;

Example 1.4. Calculating the cube roots of i, one finds

which correspond to the points of the Figure 1.4

Example 1.5. Consider a polynomial of degree 2, P .z/ D Az 2 C Bz C C , A ¤ 0.

Powers with integer exponent have an unambiguous definition,

Briefly, if is the reduced form of q and z ¤ 0, there are m distinct values of z q .

1.1.3 Field structure

Hence, setting ij D a C bi C cj with a; b; c 2 R, we obtain

one may check that R4 has (non-commutative) field structure.

1.2 Analytic geometry with complex terminology

The general equation of a conic is P .x; Py/ D 0, where P is a polynomial of

with m; n 2 R and ˛; ˇ 2 C. For a circle of center ˛ and radius r, the equation

1.2.2 Conformal and anticonformal linear mappings

det T D ad bc D j˛j2 jˇj2 ;

which gives z D T 1 .w/ D j˛j2 jˇ1

˛iz C ˇ.iz/ D T .iz/ D iT .z/ D i.˛z C ˇ z/

In terms of the matrix of T , the condition ˇ D 0 is equivalent to d a D i.bCc/,

or T z D ˛z with ˛ D a C i c. Similarly, the mappings T .z/ D ˇ zN are exactly

Proposition 1.11. An invertible R-linear mapping T from C onto C distorts the

Proposition 1.12. An invertible R-linear mapping T W Rn ! Rn preserves the

Recall that a transformation is orthogonal if it is given in the canonical basis by

Thus 2cj2 D ci2 C cj2 and therefore ci D cj D . This means that R D  I,

1.3 Topological notions. The compactified plane

We will often consider functions defined on subsets E of C, open in general,

More generally, we may consider continuous functions f W E ! C , where E

Therefore, the intuitive idea of a “hole” of U corresponds to the bounded connected

Definition 1.13. A domain U of the complex plane is called simply connected if

Definition 1.14. A domain U of the complex plane is called n-connected or having

The case n D 1 corresponds to the simply connected domains of Definition 1.13.

b) For each compact set K  U there exists n 2 N such that K  Kn .

In particular, C intersects CnU , so there is a component F of CnU which intersects

1.4 Curves, paths, length elements

The curve  W Œa; b ! U is closed if .b/ D .a/, and simple (non-self-

In terms of the components of  , .t / D x.t / C iy.t /, this is equivalent to saying

..t /  .t //0 D  0 .t /  .t / C .t /  0 .t / (1.3)

if .t/ and .t/ are differentiable.

Thus 2cj2 D ci2 C cj2 and therefore ci D cj D . This means that R D I,

b) For each compact set K U there exists n 2 N such that K Kn .

The curve W Œa; b ! U is closed if .b/ D .a/, and simple (non-self-

In terms of the components of , .t / D x.t / C iy.t /, this is equivalent to saying

..t / .t //0 D 0 .t / .t / C .t / 0 .t / (1.3)

if .t/ and .t/ are differentiable.

0 .t / D sin t C i cos t D i .t /;

.t / D R.t /e i.t/ D R.t /.cos .t / C i sin .t //

0 .t/ D R0 .t /e i.t/ C R.t /i 0 .t /e i.t/ D .R0 .t / C iR.t / 0 .t //e i.t/ :

describes a spiral which expands as it rotates counterclockwise, and we have 0 .t / D

It is important not to confuse with , because includes and the way

Definition 1.19. If 0 … E C, a continuous branch (or, briefly, a branch) of the

.t / D R.t /e i.t/ ;

Thus, for a piecewise C 1 closed curve W Œa; b ! C n f0g, one has

Roughly speaking, Ind.; 0/ is the number of rotations one would do by tracking

As a function of z, the index is a continuous function in the complement of . This

j D C1 if crosses L at the point .tj / in a direct sense,

holds. It is said that crosses L in a direct sense if it does it in the direction

The bounded component of C n is called the interior of , Int. /, and the

Proposition 1.35. Let .t /, 0 t 1 be a regular closed Jordan curve and

a) '.t; 0/ D .t / for jt t0 j < ı,

Consider now the decomposition @U D 1 [2 [ [N

12. If is the boundary of a square ranged counterclockwise and z a point inside

j1 .t / 2 .t /j < j1 .t /j; t 2 Œa; b:

Prove that Ind.1 ; 0/ D Ind.2 ; 0/.

15. Let n .t/, a t b, n D 1; 2; : : : be a sequence of closed curves and .t /,

for n n0 , n0 big enough.

16. Give an example of a closed curve such that Ind.; z/ is a function of z

a) Pn .t / ! .t / uniformly on Œa; b.

18. Let .t/, 0 t 2 be a C 1 closed curve such that T , Ind.; 0/ D n

19. Give an example of a closed Jordan curve , with L. / D C1.

a) There exist constants m; > 0 and ı > 0 such that

mjt sj j.t / .s/j jt sj if t; s 2 Œa; b and jt sj < ı: