MATH F112- Complex Variables

Saranya G. Nair
Department of Mathematics

BITS Pilani

May 16, 2023

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 1 / 19

Brief history and introduction

Complex analysis can roughly be thought of as that subject which applies

the ideas of calculus to imaginary numbers.
• But what exactly are imaginary numbers?
• In high school we learnt them as: ”We can’t take the square root of a
negative number. But, let’s pretend we can—and since these numbers
are really
√ imaginary, it will be convenient notationally to set
i = −1”.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 2 / 19

Brief history and introduction

Complex analysis can roughly be thought of as that subject which applies

the ideas of calculus to imaginary numbers.
• But what exactly are imaginary numbers?
• In high school we learnt them as: ”We can’t take the square root of a
negative number. But, let’s pretend we can—and since these numbers
are really
√ imaginary, it will be convenient notationally to set
i = −1”.
• Then we introduce rules for doing arithmetic as i 2 = −1.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 2 / 19

Brief history and introduction

Complex analysis can roughly be thought of as that subject which applies

the ideas of calculus to imaginary numbers.
• But what exactly are imaginary numbers?
• In high school we learnt them as: ”We can’t take the square root of a
negative number. But, let’s pretend we can—and since these numbers
are really
√ imaginary, it will be convenient notationally to set
i = −1”.
• Then we introduce rules for doing arithmetic as i 2 = −1.
• Some of the great mathematicians from the 16th through the 19th
centuries were skeptical with the notion of roots of negative numbers
and their effectiveness.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 2 / 19

• Contrary to popular belief, there is really nothing imaginary about
”imaginary numbers” at all.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 3 / 19

• Contrary to popular belief, there is really nothing imaginary about
”imaginary numbers” at all.
• In a metaphysical sense, they are just as real as are ”real numbers”.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 3 / 19

• Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576), an Italian mathematician was the
first person to encounter complex numbers explicitly.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 19

• Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576), an Italian mathematician was the
first person to encounter complex numbers explicitly.
• In his Ars Magna (1545), Cardano considers the equation
x 2 − 10x + 40 = 0. If we apply the usual solution formula for √
quadratic equations, one of the “solutions” we get is x = 5 + −15.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 19

 • Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576), an Italian mathematician was the
first person to encounter complex numbers explicitly.
• In his Ars Magna (1545), Cardano considers the equation
x 2 − 10x + 40 = 0. If we apply the usual solution formula for √
quadratic equations, one of the “solutions” we get is x = 5 + −15.
Now, as Cardano writes, “ignoring the mental tortures involved”, we can
check that √ √ √
x(10 − x) = (5 + −15)(5 − −15) = 52 − ( −15)2 = 25 − (−15) = 40.
√
• So there seems to be some sense in which x = 5 + −15 is really a
solution of quadratic equation.
• Cardano shows this calculation but dismisses it immediately by saying
that it is useless.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 19

• Cardano also gave for the first time an algebraic solution to the
general cubic equation x 3 + ax 2 + bx + c = 0.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 5 / 19

• Cardano also gave for the first time an algebraic solution to the
general cubic equation x 3 + ax 2 + bx + c = 0.
• His technique involved transforming this equation into a cubic
equation without the x 2 term (depressed cubic), so that it can be
written as x 3 + px + q = 0.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 5 / 19

• Cardano also gave for the first time an algebraic solution to the
general cubic equation x 3 + ax 2 + bx + c = 0.
• His technique involved transforming this equation into a cubic
equation without the x 2 term (depressed cubic), so that it can be
written as x 3 + px + q = 0.

Gerolamo Cardano (1501-1576)

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 5 / 19

• Its solution had already been communicated to him by Niccolo
Fontana Tartaglia.
• This was also independently discovered some 30 years earlier by
Scipione del Ferro of Bologna.

Niccolo Fontana Tartaglia.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 6 / 19

Using this Cardano gave one of the solutions to depressed cubic as
s r s r
3 −q q2 p3 3 q q2 p3
x= + + − + + .
2 4 27 2 4 27
The next step was taken by Rafael Bombelli (1526-1572) in his book
Algebra (1572).

Rafael Bombelli
Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 7 / 19
Bombeli showed that roots of negative numbers have great utility indeed.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 19

Bombeli showed that roots of negative numbers have great utility indeed.
• Bombeli considered the cubic equation x 3 − 15x − 4 = 0.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 19

Bombeli showed that roots of negative numbers have great utility indeed.
• Bombeli considered the cubic equation x 3 − 15x − 4 = 0.
p √ p √
• Using Cardano’s method, x = 3 2 + −121 − 3 −2 + −121.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 19

Bombeli showed that roots of negative numbers have great utility indeed.
• Bombeli considered the cubic equation x 3 − 15x − 4 = 0.
p √ p √
• Using Cardano’s method, x = 3 2 + −121 − 3 −2 + −121.
• Bombeli suspected that the two parts of x in the preceding equation
√ √
could be put in the form u + v −1 and −u + v −1 for some
numbers u and v . In fact,
√ √
(2 + −1)3 = 2 + −121.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 19

Bombeli showed that roots of negative numbers have great utility indeed.
• Bombeli considered the cubic equation x 3 − 15x − 4 = 0.
p √ p √
• Using Cardano’s method, x = 3 2 + −121 − 3 −2 + −121.
• Bombeli suspected that the two parts of x in the preceding equation
√ √
could be put in the form u + v −1 and −u + v −1 for some
numbers u and v . In fact,
√ √
(2 + −1)3 = 2 + −121.
Thus√we get, p √ √ p √
(2 + −1) = 3 2 + −121 and similarly (−2 + −1) = 3 −2 + −121.
√ √ √ √
q q
3 3
2 + −121 − −2 + −121 = (2 + −1) − (−2 + −1) = 4.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 19

• It can be checked that x = 4 was a correct solution to the equation
x 3 − 15x − 4 = 0.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 9 / 19

• It can be checked that x = 4 was a correct solution to the equation
x 3 − 15x − 4 = 0.
• However, to arrive at this very real solution, one was forced to detour
through the uncharted territory of ”imaginary numbers.”

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 9 / 19

 • It can be checked that x = 4 was a correct solution to the equation
x 3 − 15x − 4 = 0.
• However, to arrive at this very real solution, one was forced to detour
through the uncharted territory of ”imaginary numbers.”
• This indicates the usefulness, and to some extent, even the necessity
of complex numbers.
Thus, the utility of these numbers (which, today, we call complex
numbers,) could no longer be ignored.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 9 / 19

 • It can be checked that x = 4 was a correct solution to the equation
x 3 − 15x − 4 = 0.
• However, to arrive at this very real solution, one was forced to detour
through the uncharted territory of ”imaginary numbers.”
• This indicates the usefulness, and to some extent, even the necessity
of complex numbers.
Thus, the utility of these numbers (which, today, we call complex
numbers,) could no longer be ignored.
• Apart from the necessity in the calculation of roots of cubic
polynomials, there is another, more fundamental role complex
numbers play in polynomial equations, which was only beginning to
be appreciated in the 17th century. This role is expressed through the
fundamental theorem of algebra (FTA).

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 9 / 19

FTA says that any nonconstant polynomial equation has at least one root,
if we allow complex numbers to be roots. That is, if a0 , a1 , · · · , an are real
numbers such that at least one of a1 , a2 , · · · , an is nonzero, then the
equation
p(x) = an x n + an−1 x n−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 = 0
has a solution, provided x may have complex values.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 10 / 19

FTA says that any nonconstant polynomial equation has at least one root,
if we allow complex numbers to be roots. That is, if a0 , a1 , · · · , an are real
numbers such that at least one of a1 , a2 , · · · , an is nonzero, then the
equation
p(x) = an x n + an−1 x n−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 = 0
has a solution, provided x may have complex values.
• The first formulation of the fundamental theorem of algebra was
given by Albert Girard (1595-1632) in 1629, although he did not
attempt a proof.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 10 / 19

FTA says that any nonconstant polynomial equation has at least one root,
if we allow complex numbers to be roots. That is, if a0 , a1 , · · · , an are real
numbers such that at least one of a1 , a2 , · · · , an is nonzero, then the
equation
p(x) = an x n + an−1 x n−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 = 0
has a solution, provided x may have complex values.
• The first formulation of the fundamental theorem of algebra was
given by Albert Girard (1595-1632) in 1629, although he did not
attempt a proof.
• Indeed, rigorous proofs of this theorem did not appear until the early
19th century, which incidentally marks the beginning of an era when
the existence and usefulness of complex numbers were widely
accepted.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 10 / 19

FTA says that any nonconstant polynomial equation has at least one root,
if we allow complex numbers to be roots. That is, if a0 , a1 , · · · , an are real
numbers such that at least one of a1 , a2 , · · · , an is nonzero, then the
equation
p(x) = an x n + an−1 x n−1 + · · · + a1 x + a0 = 0
has a solution, provided x may have complex values.
• The first formulation of the fundamental theorem of algebra was
given by Albert Girard (1595-1632) in 1629, although he did not
attempt a proof.
• Indeed, rigorous proofs of this theorem did not appear until the early
19th century, which incidentally marks the beginning of an era when
the existence and usefulness of complex numbers were widely
accepted.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 10 / 19

• The father of analytic geometry, Ren´e Descartes (1596- 1650) wrote
that the square roots of negative numbers are “imaginary.”

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 11 / 19

• The father of analytic geometry, Ren´e Descartes (1596- 1650) wrote
that the square roots of negative numbers are “imaginary.”
• Both inventors of calculus, Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and Gottfried
Leibniz (1646-1716), never approved of the existence of complex
numbers. Newton said they were “impossible numbers.” Leibniz
called them “an amphibian between being and not being.”

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 11 / 19

• The most influential figure in helping to bring about the acceptance
of complex numbers was the brilliant German mathematician Karl
Friedrich Gauss (1777 – 1855), who reinforced the utility of these
numbers by using them in his several proofs of the FTA.

Karl Friedrich Gauss (1777 – 1855)

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 12 / 19

Note that the polynomial p(x) we defined only for real variable x. By
allowing x to be a complex number, in effect, we have extended the
polynomial p(x) from a real variable to a complex variable.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 13 / 19

Note that the polynomial p(x) we defined only for real variable x. By
allowing x to be a complex number, in effect, we have extended the
polynomial p(x) from a real variable to a complex variable. That is,
instead of p(x), we consider the polynomial

p(z) = an z n + an−1 z n−1 + · · · + a1 z + a0 = 0

√
where z = x + −1y is now a complex variable.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 13 / 19

Note that the polynomial p(x) we defined only for real variable x. By
allowing x to be a complex number, in effect, we have extended the
polynomial p(x) from a real variable to a complex variable. That is,
instead of p(x), we consider the polynomial

p(z) = an z n + an−1 z n−1 + · · · + a1 z + a0 = 0

√
where z = x + −1y is now a complex variable.
• This extension from a real to a complex variable is done implicitly and
seemlessly, because given z, the computation of p(z) involves only
addition and multiplication of complex numbers.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 13 / 19

Note that the polynomial p(x) we defined only for real variable x. By
allowing x to be a complex number, in effect, we have extended the
polynomial p(x) from a real variable to a complex variable. That is,
instead of p(x), we consider the polynomial

p(z) = an z n + an−1 z n−1 + · · · + a1 z + a0 = 0

√
where z = x + −1y is now a complex variable.
• This extension from a real to a complex variable is done implicitly and
seemlessly, because given z, the computation of p(z) involves only
addition and multiplication of complex numbers.
• However, if we want to extend other functions, such as e x and sin x,
to a complex variable, the situation is not completely trivial.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 13 / 19

Note that the polynomial p(x) we defined only for real variable x. By
allowing x to be a complex number, in effect, we have extended the
polynomial p(x) from a real variable to a complex variable. That is,
instead of p(x), we consider the polynomial

p(z) = an z n + an−1 z n−1 + · · · + a1 z + a0 = 0

√
where z = x + −1y is now a complex variable.
• This extension from a real to a complex variable is done implicitly and
seemlessly, because given z, the computation of p(z) involves only
addition and multiplication of complex numbers.
• However, if we want to extend other functions, such as e x and sin x,
to a complex variable, the situation is not completely trivial.
• We cannot simply replace x with z, as we have done in the case for
polynomials, because that would give ”e z ” and ”sin z”, which are the
very things we are trying to define.
Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 13 / 19
This problem was solved by the great Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler
(1707-1783) in his book Introductio (1748).

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 14 / 19

This problem was solved by the great Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler
(1707-1783) in his book Introductio (1748).

Leonhard Euler (1707-1783)

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 14 / 19

Euler develops the (real) exponential function into the power series

x2 x3 xn
ex = 1 + x + + + ··· + + ···
2! 3! n!
where x is a real variable, and then simply replaces x with z to define the
complex exponential

z2 z3 zn
ez = 1 + z + + + ··· + + ··· (1)
2! 3! n!
where z is a complex variable.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 15 / 19

We shall make sense of the infinite sum (or the series) as a limit.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 16 / 19

We shall make sense of the infinite sum (or the series) as a limit. For any
given complex number z and any positive integer n, the partial sum
2 3 n
Sn (z) = 1 + z + z2! + z3! + · · · + zn! makes sense and will be a complex
number.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 16 / 19

We shall make sense of the infinite sum (or the series) as a limit. For any
given complex number z and any positive integer n, the partial sum
2 3 n
Sn (z) = 1 + z + z2! + z3! + · · · + zn! makes sense and will be a complex
number.
• If there is a complex number w such that Sn (z) gets closer and closer
to w as n approaches infinity, then we say that the series in (1)
converges to w , and we take e z = w .

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 16 / 19

We shall make sense of the infinite sum (or the series) as a limit. For any
given complex number z and any positive integer n, the partial sum
2 3 n
Sn (z) = 1 + z + z2! + z3! + · · · + zn! makes sense and will be a complex
number.
• If there is a complex number w such that Sn (z) gets closer and closer
to w as n approaches infinity, then we say that the series in (1)
converges to w , and we take e z = w .
• If the series in (1) converges for every complex number z, then (1)
would be a good definition of the function e z .

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 16 / 19

We shall make sense of the infinite sum (or the series) as a limit. For any
given complex number z and any positive integer n, the partial sum
2 3 n
Sn (z) = 1 + z + z2! + z3! + · · · + zn! makes sense and will be a complex
number.
• If there is a complex number w such that Sn (z) gets closer and closer
to w as n approaches infinity, then we say that the series in (1)
converges to w , and we take e z = w .
• If the series in (1) converges for every complex number z, then (1)
would be a good definition of the function e z .
Working with infinite series, Euler discovered many fundamental identities
such as
e it = cos t + i sin t,
√
where t is a real number, and i = −1. The notation i was introduced by
Euler in 1777.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 16 / 19

Geometric interpretation of complex number
The geometric interpretation of complex numbers as points on a
(two-dimensional) plane was a big step towards taking away the mystery of
complex numbers.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 17 / 19

Geometric interpretation of complex number
The geometric interpretation of complex numbers as points on a
(two-dimensional) plane was a big step towards taking away the mystery of
complex numbers.
• John Wallis (1616-1703) who first suggested a graphical
representation
√ of complex numbers in 1673, although his method
√ had
a flaw that −1 is represented by the same point as is − −1.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 17 / 19

Geometric interpretation of complex number
The geometric interpretation of complex numbers as points on a
(two-dimensional) plane was a big step towards taking away the mystery of
complex numbers.
• John Wallis (1616-1703) who first suggested a graphical
representation
√ of complex numbers in 1673, although his method
√ had
a flaw that −1 is represented by the same point as is − −1.
• Nevertheless, with this interpretation, the stage was set for thinking
of complex numbers as ”points in the plane.”

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 17 / 19

Geometric interpretation of complex number
The geometric interpretation of complex numbers as points on a
(two-dimensional) plane was a big step towards taking away the mystery of
complex numbers.
• John Wallis (1616-1703) who first suggested a graphical
representation
√ of complex numbers in 1673, although his method
√ had
a flaw that −1 is represented by the same point as is − −1.
• Nevertheless, with this interpretation, the stage was set for thinking
of complex numbers as ”points in the plane.”
• Leonard Euler adopted this view concerning the n solutions to the
equation x n − 1 = 0. He thought of them as being located at the
vertices of a regular polygon in the plane.
The first explicit accounts of the modern approach appeared around 1800,
and it is credited to Caspar Wessel (1745-1818), Carl Friedrich Gauss
(1777-1855), and Jean-Robert Argand (1768-1822).
Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 17 / 19
• In an 1831 paper, Gauss produced a clear geometric representation of
x + iy by identifying it with the point (x, y ) in the coordinate plane.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 18 / 19

• In an 1831 paper, Gauss produced a clear geometric representation of
x + iy by identifying it with the point (x, y ) in the coordinate plane.
• He also described how these numbers could be added and multiplied.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 18 / 19

• In an 1831 paper, Gauss produced a clear geometric representation of
x + iy by identifying it with the point (x, y ) in the coordinate plane.
• He also described how these numbers could be added and multiplied.
• As more and more mathematicians came to agree with this new
theory, it became socially more and more difficult to raise objections
to it.
• By the end of the nineteenth century, as it is with any new
mathematical or scientific theory, the acceptance of complex numbers
came through a mixture of sociocultural interactions.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 18 / 19

Because of what it erroneously connotes, it is a shame that the term
imaginary is used in definition of complex number.
• Gauss, who was successful in getting mathematicians to adopt the
phrase complex number rather than imaginary number, also suggested
that we use lateral part of z in place of imaginary part of z.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 19 / 19

Because of what it erroneously connotes, it is a shame that the term
imaginary is used in definition of complex number.
• Gauss, who was successful in getting mathematicians to adopt the
phrase complex number rather than imaginary number, also suggested
that we use lateral part of z in place of imaginary part of z.
• Unfortunately, this suggestion never caught on, and it appears we are
stuck with the words history has handed down to us.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 19 / 19