1.

4 Complex Trigonometric and Hyperbolic Functions

Note: complex trigonometric, hyperbolic, and exponential computation should be done in radian
mode.
Just as ez extends ex to complex, we want the complex trigonometric functions (i.e.
cos z , sin z , tan z , sec z , csc z , and cot z ) to extend the familiar real trigonometric function (e.g.
cos x , sin x , etc. ) The idea of making the connection is the use of the Euler formulas (Sec. 1.4)
ejy = cos y + j sin y , e−jy = cos y − j sin y
By addition and subtraction of we obtain for the real cosine and sine
cos y = 21 (ejy + e−jy ) , sin y = j21 (ejy − e−jy ) .
This suggests the following definitions for complex values z = x + j y : (i.e. change the real number y
in the equation above to complex number z )
cos z = 21 (ejz + e−jz ) , sin z = j21 (ejz − e−jz ) . (1)
Furthermore, as in calculus we define
tan z = sin z
cos z , cot cot z = cos z
sin z (2)
and
sec z = cos1 z , csc csc z = 1
sin z (3)

Since ez is entire or has value for all complex numbers, cos z and sin z are entire functions.
tan z , sec z, cot z , and csc z are not entire functions. tan z and sec z are analytic except where
cos z is zero. cot z and csc z are analytic except where sin z is zero.
Derivatives of Complex Trigonometric Functions
′
Formulas for the derivatives follow readily from (ez ) = ez and equations (1)-(3); just like in calculus,
′ ′ ′
(cos z ) =− sin z , (sin z ) = cos z , (tan z ) = sec2 z, (4)
etc.
Euler’s Formula in Complex
Equation (1) also shows that Euler’s formula is valid in complex:
ejz = cos z + j sin z (f or all z) (5)
Real and Imaginary Part of Complex Trigonometric Functions
cos z = cos x cosh y − j sin x sinh y (6a)
sin z = sin x cosh y + j cos x sinh y (6b)
Absolute Value of Trigonometric Functions
2 2
|cos z | = cos2 x + sin y (7a)
2 2 2
|sin z | = sin x + sinh y (7b)
Periodicity of Trigonometric Functions
From (6) we see that cos z and sin z are ​periodic with period 2π , just as in real. While tan z and
cot z are ​periodic with period π .
Example 1.
Solve cos z = 5 (which has no real number solution!)
Solution: The real part of cos z = 5 is 5 , while the imaginary part is 0 . From equation (6a)
cos x cosh y = 5, (8a)
sin x sinh y = 0. (8b)
 Since there is no real number solution, y cannot be equal to zero. It follows that (8b) is only equal to
0 if sin x = 0 . Therefore, x = ±(0, 2π, 4π, 6π, …) . It is not equal to (±π, 3π, 5π, …) since from (8a),
(-1) cosh y = 5 is undefined. With the values of x already established, (8a) becomes cosh y = 5 .
Therefore y = ±2.292 . The solution of cos z = 5 is therefore z = ±2nπ±j2.292 f or n = 0, 1, 2, 3, … .
It is periodic with period 2π .
Example 2.
Solve cos z = 0 . Since |cos z | = 0 , by (7a) it follows that cos x = 0 and sinh y = 0 . Therefore,
y=0 and x = ± ( π2 , 3π
2 , 2 , …)
5π . The solution of cos z = 0 is therefore
π
z = ± 2 (2n + 1) f or n = 0, 1, 2, 3, …
The solution is a real number.
Example 3.
Solve sin z = 0 . Since |sin z | = 0 , by (7b) it follows that sin x = 0 and sinh y = 0 . Therefore,
y=0 and x = ±(0, 2π, 4π, 6π, …) . The solution of sin z = 0 is therefore
z = ±2nπ f or n = 0, 1, 2, 3, …
The solution is a real number.
From Examples 2&3, it is clear that the only zeros of cos cos z and sin z are those of the real
cosine and sine functions.
General formulas ​for the real trigonometric functions continue to hold for the complex values.​ In
particular, the addition rule
cos (z 1 ± z 2 ) = cos z 1 cos z 2 ∓ sin z 1 sin z 2 (9a)
sin (z 1 ± z 2 ) = sin z 1 cos z 2 ± sin z 2 cos z 1 (9b)
and the formula
cos2 z + sin2 z = 1. (10)

Hyperbolic Functions
From calculus,
cosh y = 21 (ey + e−y ) , sinh y = 21 (ey − e−y )
These suggest the definition for ​complex hyperbolic cosine ​and ​sine ​formulas
cosh z = 21 (ez + e−z ) , sinh z = 21 (ez − e−z ) (11)
These functions are entire, with derivatives
′ ′
(cosh z) = sinz , (sinh z) = cosz , (12)
The other hyperbolic functions are defined by
sinh z
tanh z = cosh coth coth z = cosh z z = cosh1 z z = 1 (13)
z sinh z sinh z

Relationship of Complex Trigonometric and Hyperbolic Functions

If in (11), we replace z by j z and use (1), we obtain
cosh jz = cos z , sinh jz = j sin z (14)
Conversely,
cos jz = cosh z , sin jz = j sinh z (15)
Example 4.
Find cosh (− 3 − j 6) .
From (11),
cosh (− 3 − j 6) = 21 (e−3−j6 + e3+j6 ) = 21 ([e−3 (cos − 6 + j sin − 6 )] + [e3 (cos 6 + j sin 6 )])
Then do the computations to get the answer in rectangular or standard form.