Math 185 - Homework 2 Solutions

Lecture 2, Summer 2011

1. Determine the points at which the following functions are complex differentiable and compute
their derivatives at these points.
(a)f (z) = z 3

(b)f (x + iy) =

(ey ey ) sin x
(ey + ey ) cos x
+i
2
2

(c)f (z) =

z+i
2iz 4

Note: We will see later that the function in (b) is precisely f (z) = cos z.
Solutions. (a) We break this function up into its real and imaginary parts as follows:
f (x + iy) = (x iy)3 = (x iy)2 (x iy)
= [(x2 y 2 ) i2xy](x iy)
= [x(x2 y 2 ) 2xy 2 ] + i[y(x2 y 2 ) 2x2 y]
= (x3 3xy 2 ) + i(y 3 3x2 y).
Calling the real part u and the imaginary part v, we then have
u
= 3x2 3y 2
x
u
= 6xy
y

v
= 3y 2 3x2
y
v
= 6xy.
x

We thus see that the Cauchy-Riemann equations are satisfied only at (x, y) = (0, 0), and since these
partial derivatives are all continuous at (0, 0), f is complex differentiable at z = 0 and nowhere
else. The derivative here is then
f 0 (0) =

u
v
(0) + i (0) = 0 + i0 = 0.
x
x

(b) Calling the real part of this function u and the imaginary part v, we have
u
(ey + ey ) sin x
=
x
2
y
u
(e + ey ) cos x
=
y
2

v
(ey ey ) sin x
=
y
2
y
v
(e ey ) cos x
=
.
x
2

The top two expressions are always equal, and the bottom two are negatives of each other. Thus
the Cauchy-Riemann equations are satisfied on all of C, and since these partial derivatives are
everywhere continuous, we conclude that f is complex differentiable everywhere. Its derivative is
f 0 (x + iy) =

u
v
(ey + ey ) sin x
(ey ey ) cos x
+i
=
+i
.
x
x
2
2

(c) Since the numerator and denominator are complex differentiable everywhere, f is complex
differentiable when the denominator is nonzero, so everywhere except 2i. The derivative at
z 6= 2i is
(2iz 4) (z + i)2i
f 0 (z) =
.
(2iz 4)2

2. Sarason, II.6.3. Prove that the Cauchy-Riemann equations in polar coordinates are
r

u
v u
v
=
,
= r
r

r

Proof. Recall that in polar coordinates, x = r cos and y = r sin . By the multivariable chain
rule, we have
u
u x u y
u
u
=
+
=
cos +
sin
r
x r
y r
x
y
and
u
u x u y
u
u
=
+
=
(r sin ) +
(r cos ).

x
y
x
y
Similarly,
v
v
v
v
v
v
=
cos +
sin and
=
(r sin ) +
(r cos ).
r
x
y

x
y
Thus according to the Cauchy-Riemann equations, we have
r
and

u
u
u
v
v
v
=
(r cos ) +
(r sin ) =
(r cos )
(r sin ) =
r
x
y
y
x

u
u
u
v
v
v
= (r sin ) +
(r cos ) = (r sin )
(r cos ) = r

x
y
y
x
r

as claimed.
3. Sarason, II.8.1. Let the function f be holomorphic in the open disk D. Prove that each of the
following conditions forces f to be constant: (a) f 0 = 0 throughout D; (b) f is real-valued in D;
(c) |f | is constant in D; (d) arg f is constant in D.
Not in the book: Are the above facts still true if we replace D by any open subset of C? What
property of D (which you may not have even realized you were using) makes this work?
Proof. Write f as f = u + iv with u and v real-valued.
(a) Since f 0 = ux + ivx , if this is zero then ux = 0 and vx = 0. But then the Cauchy-Riemann
equations imply that vy = 0 and uy = 0. Hence, u must be constant and v must be constant, so f
is constant.
(b) If f is real-valued, then v = 0. The Cauchy-Riemann equations then imply that ux = 0 and
uy = 0, so u is constant and hence f is also constant.
(c) We have |f |2 = f f = u2 + v 2 . If this constant is zero, then |f | = 0 so f must be the zero
function and we are done. Otherwise, suppose that u2 + v 2 6= 0. Since this is constant, we have
0=

|f |2
u
v
= 2u
+ 2v
x
x
x

and

|f |2
u
v
= 2u
+ 2v .
y
y
y
Using the Cauchy-Riemann equations, we can rewrite these as
0=

2uux 2vuy = 0
2vux + 2uuy = 0.

Note that this system of equations can be written in matrix form as


   
2u 2v
ux
0
=
.
2v 2u
uy
0
This matrix has determinant nonzero by the assumption that u2 + v 2 6= 0, so the above implies
that ux = 0 and uy = 0. The Cauchy-Riemann equations then imply that vx = 0 = vy , so f 0 = 0
and hence f is constant by (a).
(d) Note: A couple of you pointed out that my argument below for this part is incorrect. Indeed,
I was interpreting mean arg f is constant to mean that f does not depend on the polar coordinate
, which then implies f
= 0. This is of course nonsense, since saying that arg f (z) is the same
for any z is not the same as saying that f (z) does not depend on for example, |f (z)| could
still depend on even if arg f does not. I will leave the incorrect answer below just to serve as a
warning. Or, I could just say that I made this mistake on purpose because I was testing you all ;)
WRONG: If arg f is constant, then
u
v
= 0 and
= 0.

By the expression for the Cauchy-Riemann equations given in the previous problem, we then have
u
v
r = 0 and r = 0. All these partial derivatives being zero then imply that u and v are constant,
so f is constant.
CORRECT: We write f in polar form as
f (x + iy) = r(x, y)(cos 0 + i sin 0 )
where r : D R is a real-valued function and 0 = arg f R is constant. Then we have that
r(x, y) = (cos 0 i sin 0 )f (x + iy)
is holomorphic on D since it is just a constant multiple of a holomorphic function. By part (b),
this implies that r(x, y) is constant (since it is real-valued), and thus f is constant as well.
The above facts would not necessarily hold on a disconnected domain. In this case, f 0 = 0
would imply that f was constant over each connected component of the domain, but that constant
could be different on the different components so f would not be constant overall. An open disk is
connected, so we are okay here.
4. Sarason, II.8.2. Let the function f be holomorphic in the open set G. Prove that the function
g(z) = f (z) is holomorphic in the set G = {z : z G}.
Proof. Write f as f = u + iv with u, v real-valued. Then we can write the function g as
g(z) = f (z) = u(z) iv(z) = u(x, y) iv(x, y).
Thus the real part of g is s(x, y) = u(x, y) and the imaginary part of g is t(x, y) = v(x, y).
According the chain rule, we then have:
s
u
=
x
x
s
u (y)
u
=
=
y
y y
y

t
v (y)
v
=
=
y
y y
y
t
v
= .
x
x

By the Cauchy-Riemann equations for f , it follows that

s
t
s
t
=
and
= ,
x
y
y
x
so g satisfies the Cauchy-Riemann equations. Since these partial derivatives are continuous (since
the ones for f are), we conclude that g is holomorphic on the set of points z where z is in the
domain of f , which is the set G given in the problem.
5. Determine the points at which the function f (x + iy) = (x3 3xy 2 + 3x) + i(3y + 3x2 y y 3 ) is
conformal.
Solution. A complex function is conformal at a point if and only if it is complex differentiable at
that point and has nonzero complex derivative. Thus, we only need to check these latter conditions.
First we test for complex differentiability using the Cauchy-Riemann equations:
u
= 3x2 3y 2 + 3
x
u
= 6xy
y

v
= 3 + 3x2 3y 2
y
v
= 6xy.
x

We see that the Cauchy-Riemann equations are always satisfied, and since these partial are continuous, f is complex differentiable everywhere. Now, we have
f 0 = ux + ivx = (3x2 3y 2 + 3) + i6xy.
These is zero only when x2 y 2 = 1 and x or y is zero. For y = 0, there are no possibilities since
x should be real. For x = 0, we get y = 1. Thus f 0 (z) = 0 only when z = i, and we conclude
that for z 6= i, f is conformal at z.
In fact, one can check that the function f is precisely f (z) = z 3 + 3z. Then it is clear that f is
holomorphic on all of C and f 0 (z) = 3z 2 + 3 is zero only for z = i.
6. Sarason, II.16.1. For which values of the real constants a, b, c, d is the function u(x, y) =
ax3 + bx2 y + cxy 2 + dy 3 harmonic? Determine a harmonic conjugate of u in the cases where it is
harmonic.
Proof. First we compute:
ux = 3ax2 + 2bxy + cy 2 , uxx = 6ax + 2by
and
uy = bx2 + 2cxy + 3dy 2 , uyy = 2cx + 6dy.
For u to be harmonic, we thus require that
uxx + uyy = (6a + 2c)x + (2b + 6d)y = 0 for all x and y.
For this to be true for all x and y, it must be that both coefficients are zero, so we conclude that
u is harmonic if and only if c = 3a and b = 3d. Thus for any a, d R,
u(x, y) = ax3 3dx2 y 3axy 2 + dy 3
is harmonic.

Now, to find a harmonic conjugate of u, we need a function v(x, y) so that u+iv is holomorphic.
We find such a v by setting up the Cauchy-Riemann equations which v must satisfy:
v
u
=
= 3dx2 + 6axy 3dy 2
x
y
v
u
=
= 3ax2 6dxy 3ay 2 .
y
x
The first equation implies (after taking antiderivatives with respect to x) that v must be of the
form
v(x, y) = dx3 + 3ax2 y 3dxy 2 + f (y)
where f is some function of y. For such a function, we have
v
= 3ax2 6dxy + f 0 (y).
y
For this to agree with the second Cauchy-Riemann equation which v must satisfy, we thus need
f 0 (y) = 3ay 2 , so we can take f (y) = ay 3 . Thus
v(x, y) = dx3 + 3ax2 y 3dxy 2 ay 3
is a harmonic conjugate of u(x, y) = ax3 3dx2 y 3axy 2 + dy 3 for any a, d R.
7. Sarason, II.16.5. Suppose that u is a real-valued harmonic function in an open disk D, and
suppose that u2 is also harmonic. Prove that u is constant.
Proof. Since u is harmonic, we have that
uxx + uyy = 0.
Now, we compute:
(u2 )
2 (u2 )
= 2uux ,
= 2ux ux + 2uuxx
x
x2
and similarly
(u2 )
2 (u2 )
= 2uuy ,
= 2uy uy + 2uuyy .
y
y 2
Since u2 is harmonic,
0=

2 (u2 ) 2 (u2 )
+
= 2(u2x + u2y ) + 2u(uxx + uyy ) = 2(u2x + u2y ).
x2
y 2

This implies that u2x + u2y = 0, and since u is real-valued, the only way for this to hold is to have
u2x = 0 = u2y . Thus ux = 0 and uy = 0, implying that u is constant since D is connected.
8. Sarason, II.16.6. Prove that if the harmonic function v is a harmonic conjugate of the harmonic
function u, then the functions uv and u2 v 2 are both harmonic.
Proof. Since v is a harmonic conjugate of u, the function f = u + iv is holomorphic. Then
f 2 = (u + iv)(u + iv) = (u2 v 2 ) + 2iuv

is also holormophic, so u2 v 2 and 2uv are both harmonic. Multiplying a harmonic function by a
constant still gives a harmonic function, so uv is also harmonic.
Note that you can also show directly that u2 v 2 and uv are harmonic by computing their
second partial derivatives, but this will be a lot more work than the simply proof given above,
which only uses the fact that the square of a holomorphic function is holomorphic.
The moral of this problem is: Think complex!