Complex Analysis: Handout 2

Goursats proof of Cauchys theorem

Let us rst recall the theorem.
Theorem: Let the function f be analytic at all points interior to and on a
simple closed contour C, then
_
C
f(z) dz = 0 .
Remember that in the proof given in the lecture, we used Greens formula
which assumes that f

(z) is continuous. This is assuming more a priori than

just the analyticity of f. So to be completely consistent, we present Goursats
proof which only assumes the analyticity of f.
Proof: Consider the nite region R consisting of points on and within the
simple closed contour C. We form a square mesh over this region by drawing
lines parallel to the x and y axes such that we have a nite number n of
squares inside the contour. Each point interior to and on C lies in at least
one square. If a particular square contains points not in R, we delete these
points, obtaining partial squares. Such squares will occur at the boundary
of R. See Figure 1.
Figure 1: Square mesh for a contour C
We can rene this mesh by dividing each square in half again and again
and redene partial squares as above. In the rest, we will assume that the
mesh is ne enough, that is, that the diagonal of each square is small enough.
Now, note that, from the properties of integral along a directed curve, the
integral of f along C is equal to the sum of the integrals along each square
S
j
, j = 1, . . . , n. Indeed, all the integrals along the sides of the squares
will cancel because each inner side of a square is covered twice, in opposite
directions,
_
C
f(z) dz =
n

j=1
_
S
j
f(z) dz .
To evaluate each integral along S
j
, we write
f(z) = f(z
j
) + (z z
j
)f

(z
j
) + (z z
j
)R
j
(z) ,
where z
j
is the center of the square S
j
and
R
j
(z) =
f(z) f(z
j
)
z z
j
f

(z
j
) .
Now a direct integration yields
_
S
j
dz = 0 ,
_
S
j
(z z
j
) dz = 0 .
This easily seen using a parametrization z(t), t [a, b] for the square S
j
with
z(a) = z(b) since a square is a closed contour. Then
_
S
j
dz =
_
b
a
z

(t)dt = [z(t)]
b
a
= 0 ,
and
_
S
j
(z z
j
) dz =
_
b
a
(z(t) z
j
)z

(t)dt =
_
(z(t) z
j
)
2
2
_
b
a
= 0 .
So we are left with
_
S
j
f(z) dz =
_
S
j
(z z
j
)R
j
(z) dz .
Therefore,
|
_
C
f(z) dz|
n

j=1
|
_
S
j
f(z) dz|

j=1
|
_
S
j
(z z
j
)R
j
(z) dz|

j=1
_
S
j
|z z
j
| |R
j
(z)| |dz|
Now, remember that f is analytic in R so it is dierentiable at z
j
. Thus we
get
lim
zz
j
R
j
(z) = 0
In particular, by rening the mesh suciently, we can always make |R
j
(z)|
smaller than a given > 0 when z is running along S
j
. Also, since z
j
is
the centre of the (possibly partial) square S
j
and z is running along S
j
, we
deduce that |z z
j
|
_
A
j
2
from Pythagoreas theorem, where A
j
is the area
of the square S
j
. At this point, we have
|
_
C
f(z) dz|
n

j=1
_
A
j
2
_
S
j
|dz|
For each interior (complete) square, the remaining integral is just the perime-
ter of the square, that is 4
_
A
j
. For partial squares, the remaining integral
is also their perimeter and it is always less than the perimeter of a complete
square plus the length of the portion of the contour C in the partial square
S
j
, denoted L
j
. Collecting everything and calling A the total area of the
square mesh inside C and L the length of the contour C, we get
|
_
C
f(z) dz|
_
2

2A +
_
A
2
L
_
,
where the second term in the sum has been obtained by noting that
_
A
j
<

A for all partial squares. The term in brackets is a xed nite quantity
and can be made arbitrarily small so we get the desired result
_
C
f(z) dz = 0 .