Complex Variables

Construction of Conjugate Harmonic

Methods of Constructing an Analytic Function

1. If the real part u(x, y) of function f(z) is given, then

∂u
Step 1: find ∂u and
∂x ∂y
∂u ∂v
Step 2: Write f’(z) = +i
∂x ∂x
∂u ∂u
= − i [using C.R eqns]
∂x ∂y
Step 3: Replace ‘x’ by z and ‘y’ by ‘0’.
Step 4: Integrate f’(z) with respect to z.
The above method is known as Milne – Thompson Method.

2. If the real part u(x, y) of an analytic function f(z) is given, to find the harmonic
conjugate, find f(z) using Milne – Thompson Method and then separate the real
and imaginary parts by putting z = x + iy. Then the imaginary part v(x, y) is the
harmonic conjugate of u(x, y).