Module

for
ComplexFunctionsandLinearMappings

Chapter2ComplexFunctions
Overview
TheChapter1developedabasictheoryofcomplexnumbers.Forthenextfewchaptersweturnour
attention
tofunctionsofcomplexnumbers.Theyaredefinedinasimilarwaytofunctionsofrealnumbersthatyou
studied
incalculustheonlydifferenceisthattheyinvolvecomplexnumbersratherthanrealnumbers.Thischapter
focuses
primarilyonverybasicfunctions,theirrepresentations,andpropertiesassociatedwithfunctionssuchas
limitsand
continuity.Youwilllearnsomeinterestingapplicationsaswellassomenewideas.
2.1FunctionsandLinearMappings
Acomplexvaluedfunction

ofthecomplexvariable isarulethatassignstoeachcomplexnumber

inaset oneandonlyonecomplexnumber .Wewrite

.

andcall theimageof under

Asimpleexampleofacomplexvaluedfunctionisgivenbytheformula
the
domainof

,andthesetofallimages

.Theset iscalled

iscalledtherangeof

.Whenthecontext

isobvious,weomitthephrase"complexvalued,"andsimplyrefertoacomplexfunction

Wecandefinethedomaintobeanysetthatmakessenseforagivenrule,sofor

,we

couldhavetheentirecomplexplaneforthedomain ,orwemightartificiallyrestrictthedomaintosome
set
suchas
always

.Determiningtherangeforafunctiondefinedbyaformulaisnot

easy,butwewillseeplentyofexampleslateron.Insomecontextsfunctionsarereferredtoasmappings
ortransformations.
InSection1.6,weusedthetermdomaintoindicateaconnectedopenset.Whenspeakingaboutthe
domainofafunction,however,wemeanonlythesetofpointsonwhichthefunctionisdefined.This

distinction
isworthnoting,andcontextwillmakecleartheuseintended.
CartesianCoordinateForm
Justaszcanbeexpressedbyitsrealandimaginaryparts,
where

aretherealandimaginarypartsof ,respectively.Doingsogivesustherepresentation

Because

,wewrite

.
dependon

oftherealvariables

,theycanbeconsideredtoberealvaluedfunctions

thatis,
and

Combiningtheseideas,weoftenwriteacomplexfunction
(21)

,intheform

Figure2.1illustratesthenotionofafunction(mapping)usingthesesymbols.

Figure2.1Themapping

Exploration.

Wenowgiveseveralexamplesthatillustratehowtoexpressacomplexfunction.

Example2.1.Write

intheCartesiancoordinateform

Solution.Usingthebinomialformula,weobtain

Wecanseethattherealpartis

andthattheimaginarypartis

ExploreSolution2.1.

Example2.2.Expressthefunction

intheCartesiancoordinateform

Solution.UsingtheelementarypropertiesofcomplexnumbersfromTheorem1.1inSection1.2,itfollows
that

Wecanseethattherealpartis

andthattheimaginarypartis

ExploreSolution2.2.

Examples2.1and2.2showhowtofind
Conversely,if

whenaruleforcomputing

aretworealvaluedfunctionsoftherealvariables

theydetermineacomplexvaluedfunction

isgiven.
,

andwecanusetheformulas

and

tofindaformulafor

involvingthevariables

Example2.3.Express

byaformulainvolvingthevariables

Solution.Herewehave

,andwecanusethesubstitutionsfromTheorem1.1inSection1.2,

and

Calculationrevealsthat

ExploreSolution2.3.

PolarCoordinateForm
Usingthe

,thatwasdevelopedinSection1.4,intheexpressionofacomplexfunction

maybeconvenient.Itgivesusthepolarcoordinaterepresentation
(22)
where

,
and

arerealfunctionsoftherealvariables

Remark.Foragivenfunction

,thefunctions

fromthosedefinedpreviouslyinEquation(21),i.e.

and

.
definedabovearedifferent
,because

Equation(21)involvesCartesiancoordinatesandequation(22)involvespolarcoordinates.

Example2.4.Express

inbothCartesiancoordinateformandpolarcoordinateform.

Solution.FortheCartesiancoordinateformuseEquation(21).Asimplecalculationgives

Wecanseethattherealpartis

andthattheimaginarypartis

ForthepolarcoordinateformuseEquation(21).Asimplecalculationyields

Wecanseethattherealpartis

andthattheimaginarypartis

ExploreSolution2.4.

Remark.Oncewehavedefined

and

wemustusedifferentsymbolsifwewanttoexpress
functions

and

forafunction

intheCartesianform,

inthepolarform.Asisclearhere,the

arequitedifferent,asare

and

.Ofcourse,

ifweareworkingonlytheCartesiancoordinatecontext,wecanuseanysymbolswechoose.
Likewise,ifweareworkingonlythePolarcoordinatecontext,wecanuseanysymbolswechoose.

Example2.5.Express

inbothCartesiancoordinateformandpolarcoordinateform.

Solution.FortheCartesianform,usetheBinomialexpansions,

and

andsubstitute

Then

Wecanseethattherealpartis

andthattheimaginarypartis
Forthepolarform,usethesubstitution

.
.

Then

Alternatively,fromSection1.4,wecanusetheidentity

toobtainthePolarcoordinateform.

Wecanseethattherealpartis

andthattheimaginarypartis

ExploreSolution2.5.

Wenowlookatthegeometricinterpretationofacomplexfunction.If isthedomainofrealvalued
functionsand

and

,thenthesystemofequations

and

describesatransformation(ormapping)from inthe

planeintothe

plane,alsocalledthe plane.

Therefore,weconsiderthefunction

tobeatransformation(ormapping)fromtheset inthe planeontotherange inthe plane.This

ideawasillustratedinFigure2.1.Inthefollowingparagraphswepresentsomeadditionalkeyideas(inblue).
If isasubsetofthedomain of
oftheset ,and

,thentheset

iscalledtheimage

issaidtomap onto .Theimageofasinglepointisasinglepoint,and

theimageoftheentiredomain, ,istherange, .Themapping

iftheimageof iscontainedin .Mathematiciansusethenotation

issaidtobefrom into
toindicatethat

afunctionmaps into .
Figure2.2illustratesafunction

whosedomainis andwhoserangeis .Theshadedareas

depictthatthefunctionmaps onto .Thefunctionalsomaps into ,and,ofcourse,itmaps onto .

Figure2.2

maps

and

maps


Theinverseimageofapoint isthesetofallpoints in suchthat

.Theinverseimage

ofapointmaybeonepoint,severalpoints,ornothingatall.Ifthelastcaseoccursthenthepoint is
notintherangeof

Forexample,if

,thentheinverseimageofthepoint

because

,and

Foranotherexample,if

istheonlypointthatmapsto
thentheinverseimageofthepoint

Forthisexampletherearetwopoints

and

Andwehaveboth

and

istheset

.
.

istheemptyset,i.e.thereisnocomplexnumber

thataremappedontothesinglepoint

Foranotherexample,youwilllearninChapter5that,if
point

isthesinglepoint

,thentheinverseimageofthe
suchthat

.Therefore,

forallcomplexnumbers .

Theinverseimageofasetofpoints, ,isthecollectionofallpointsinthedomainthatmapinto .
If

maps onto itispossiblefortheinverseimageof tobeafunctionaswell,

buttheoriginalfunctionmusthaveaspecialproperty,i.e.itmustbeaonetoonefunction.
Definition.(OneToOneFunction)Afunction
distinctpoints

ontodistinctpoints

issaidtobeonetooneifitmaps
.Figures2.3and2.4illustratethisconcept.

Figure2.3Afunctionw=f(z)thatisonetoone:
distinctpointsgetmappedtodistinctpoints.

Figure2.4Afunctionw=f(z)thatisnotonetoone:
atleasttwodifferentpointsgetmappedtothesamepoint.

Manytimesaneasywaytoprovethatafunction

isonetooneistosuppose

andfromthisassumptiondeducethat

mustequal

Forexample,thefunction

isonetoonebecauseif

.
,then

Thenwecandividebothsidesofthelastequationby andobtaintheequation

.
.

Foranotherexample,thefunction

isnotonetoonebecausewecanchoose

and

and

,andcompute

isnotonetoonebecause

and

.Therefore,

.Indeed,wewilllearninSection2.4that

isamultivaluedfunction.
Intheexercisesweaskyoutodemonstratethatonetoonefunctionsgiverisetoinversesthatare
functions.
Looselyspeaking,if

mapstheset onetooneandontotheset ,thenforeach in ,

thereexistsexactlyonepoint in ,suchthat
equation

.Foranysuchvalueof wecantakethe

and"solve"for asafunctionof .

Definition.(InverseFunction)Giventhefunction

,aninversefunction

willsatisfythefollowingequations,

(23)

Furthermore,if

,and
.
and

andEquations(23)hold,then
Furthermore,if

arefunctionsthatmap into and into ,respectively,

mapstheset onetooneandontotheset .

isaonetoonemappingfrom onto andif isasubsetof ,then

isaonetoonemappingfrom ontoitsimageset .Wecanalsoshowthat,if

is

aonetoonemappingfrom onto and

thenthecompositemapping

isaonetoonemappingfrom onto ,

isaonetoonemappingfrom onto .

Weusuallyindicatetheinverseof

bythenotation

.Ifthedomainsof

and
are and respectively,thenwecanwriteEquations(23)intheform

forall
,and
(24)

forall
.

Also,for
and
.

(25)

iff

,and

iff

Example2.6.If

foranycomplexnumber ,findtheinversefunction

Solution.Wehavealreadymentionedthatthefunction
then

isonetoonebecauseif

,andwecandividebothsidesofthelastequationby andobtaintheequation

Thefunction

willmaptheentirecomplexplaneontotheentirecomplexplane,

becausewesolvefor ,andget

andthisimpliesthat

isdefinedforallcomplexnumbers .

Remark.Oncewehavespecified

forallcomplexnumbers ,wenotethatthereis

nothingmagicalabouttheusingthevariable .Wecouldjustaseasilywritetheformula
forallcomplexnumbers .However,itiswisetorememberthatthenotation
makesusrememberthatwecanvisualizethatthisisamappingfromtheentirecomplex plane
ontotheentirecomplex plane.
ExploreSolution2.6.

VisualizingtheImageofaSet
Youhavestudiedfunctionsincalculusandalotofemphasiswasplacedonwhathappenstotheimage
ofasinglepoint.Incomplexanalysisitisimportanttoalsostudywhathappenstotheimageofasetof
points.
Intheapplicationswewillseethatitisimportanttodeterminetheimagesoflines,circles,halfplanes,disks,
quadrants,horizontalandverticalstrips,etc.

Wenowshowhowtofindtheimage ofaspecifiedset underagivenmapping

fromthe planeintothe plane.Theset isusuallydescribedwithanequationorinequality

involvingthevariables

Ourmethodwillrequirefindingtheinversefunction

,whichmustbedonecarefully,

becauseitwillbethe"substitution"tousetoobtainthenecessaryequationsand/orinequalitiesthatwill
describetherangesetinthe plane.Specifically,wecanconstructachainofequivalentstatements
leadingtoadescriptionoftheimageset intermsofanequationoraninequalityinvolvingeitherthe
complexvariable ortherealvariables

.Inthelattercase,wemustbeabletosolveforthe

realandimaginarypartsoftheinversefunctionasfunctionsoftherealvariable
Startwith

andsolvefor

,thatis:

andget

Thenidentifytherealandimaginaryfunctions

,and

Thenusetheseformulascanbeusedassubstitutionsingivenformulasthatdescribeset ,
inthe plane.Don'tworryaboutusingthenotation

and

justjumprightinandsolvetheequationsathand.

Example2.7.Showthatthefunction
ontotheline

inthe

Solution.Method1.With
Welet

andget

mapstheline

inthe

plane.
,wewanttodescribe

plane

where

isthenotationfor"ifandonlyif."Notewhatthisresultsays:

Therefore,theimageof

under

,istheset

Method2.Wewrite

andnotethatthetransformation

canbegivenbythesystemofequations

Because isdescribedby
equation

,wecansubstitute

toobtain

,whichwecanrewriteas

intothe
.

Ifyouusethismethod,besuretopaycarefulattentiontodomainsandranges.
ExploreSolution2.7.

Translations,Rotations,andMagnifications
Wenowlookatsomeelementarymappings.Ifwelet

denoteafixedcomplexconstant,

thetransformation

isaonetoonemappingofthe planeontothe planeandiscalledatranslation.Thistransformation

canbevisualizedasarigidtranslationwherebythepoint isdisplacedthroughthevector
toitsnewposition

.Theinversemappingisgivenby
,

andshowsthat

isaonetoonemappingfromthe planeontothe plane.

TheeffectofatranslationisdepictedinFigure2.5.

Figure2.5Thetranslation

Ifwelet beafixedrealnumber,thenfor

,thetransformation
,

isaonetoonemappingofthe planeontothe planeandiscalledarotation.Itcanbevisualizedasa

rigidrotationwherebythepoint isrotatedabouttheoriginthroughanangle toitsnewposition

Ifweusepolarcoordinatesanddesignate

Thisanalysisshowsthat

inthewplane,thentheinversemappingis
.

isaonetoonemappingfromthe planeontothe plane.

TheeffectofrotationisdepictedinFigure2.6.

Figure2.6Therotation

Example2.8.Theellipsecenteredattheoriginwithahorizontalmajoraxisof unitsand
verticalminoraxisof unitscanberepresentedbytheparametricequation

Showhowtorotatethisellipsebyanangleof

,for

radiansabouttheorigin,

andthenshiftthecenteroftheellipse unitstotherightand unitup.

Solution.Themapping

willrotatetheplaneby

radians,followedbyatranslationoftheplaneby unitstotherightand unit

up.
Usingcomplexarithmetic,wecanconstructtheparametricequation

for

fortheimageoftheellipse

.Figure2.7showsparametricplotsoftheseellipses.

(a)Plotoftheoriginalellipse(b)Plotoftherotatedellipse

Figure2.7Theparametricplotsoftheellipses.
ExploreSolution2.8.

Ifwelet

beafixedpositiverealnumber,thenthetransformation
,

isaonetoonemappingofthe planeontothe planeandiscalledamagnification.If

theeffectofstretchingthedistancebetweenpointsbythefactor .If

,thenitreducesthedistance

betweenpointsbythefactor .Theinversetransformationis

andshowsthat

,
isaonetoonemappingfromthe planeontothe plane.

TheeffectofmagnificationisshowninFigure2.8.

,ithas

Figure2.8Themagnification

Finally,ifwelet
transformation

and

,where

isapositiverealnumber,thenthe

isaonetoonemappingofthe planeontothe planeandiscalledalineartransformation.Itcanbe

consideredasthecompositionofarotation,amagnification,andatranslation.Ithastheeffectofrotating
theplanethoughananglegivenby
followedbyatranslationbythevector

,followedbyamagnificationbythefactor
.Theinversemappingisgivenby


andshowsthat

,
isaonetoonemappingfromthe planeontothe plane.

Example2.9.Showthatthelineartransformation
righthalfplane

mapsthe

,ontotheupperhalfplane

Solution.Method1.Let

.Todescribe

.
,wesolve

forztoget

Thenwehavethefollowing

Thus

,whichisthesameassaying

Method2.Whenwewrite

inCartesianformas

weseethatthetransformationcanbegivenbytheequations
intheinequality

gives

Method3.Theeffectofthetransformation

,or

and

,whichistheupperhalfplane

.Thefirstoperation

.Thesecondshiftsthissetup1unit,resultingintheset

WeillustratethisresultinFigure2.9.

isarotationoftheplanethroughtheangle

whenzismultipliedby .Thisisfollowedbyatranslationbythevector
yieldstheset

.Substituting

Figure2.9Thelineartransformation

ExploreSolution2.9.

PreservingAngles
Translationsandrotationspreserveangles.First,magnificationsrescaledistancebyafactor ,andit
followsthattrianglesaremappedontosimilartriangles,preservingangles.Sincealineartransformationcan
beconsideredtobeacompositionofarotation,amagnification,andatranslation,itfollowsthatlinear
transformationspreserveangles.Consequently,anygeometricobjectismappedontoanobjectwhichis

similartotheoriginalobjecthencelineartransformationscanbecalledsimilaritymappings.
Note.Theusageofthephrase"lineartransformation"in"complexanalysis"isdifferent
thanthattheusagein"linearalgebra".

Example2.10.Showthattheimageoftheopendisk
underthelineartransformation

istheopendisk

Solution.Theinversetransformationis

,so,iftherangeof

Hencethediskwithcenter
thediskwithcenter

andradius ismappedonetooneandonto

andradius ,asshowninFigure2.10.

is ,then

Figure2.10Thelineartransformation

ExploreSolution2.10.

Example2.11.Showthattheimageoftherighthalfplane

isthehalfplane

Solution.Theinversetransformationisgivenby

underthelineartransformation

whichwewriteas

Substituting

.
into

Figure2.11illustratesthemapping.

gives

,whichsimplifiesas

Figure2.11Thelineartransformation
ExploreSolution2.11.

TutorialExercisesforSection2.1.FunctionsandLinearMappings

LibraryResearchExperienceforUndergraduates
GraphicsforComplexFunctions
MobiusBilinearTransformation

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MobiusBilinearTransformations

TheNextModuleis
TheMappingsw=znandw=z1/n

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ThismaterialiscoordinatedwithourbookComplexAnalysisforMathematicsandEngineering.

(c)2012JohnH.Mathews,RussellW.Howell