Functions of a Complex Variable (Classic Reprint) - Couverture souple

Brown, Arthur Judson

 
9781440055980: Functions of a Complex Variable (Classic Reprint)

Synopsis

A clear, student-friendly introduction to complex variables, built from the ground up. This book guides readers from basic ideas of complex numbers to the core concepts of analytic functions, with a steady progression that emphasizes practical understanding over abstraction. It introduces integration early and shows how the key results follow from formal definitions, making the subject approachable for those new to complex analysis.

The text frames the material around what functions of a complex variable can do, including mapping, conformal transformations, and applications in physics. It covers both single-valued and multiple-valued functions, with chapters on series, analytic continuation, and the geometry of mappings. The approach balances theory with concrete examples to help readers connect ideas to real problems.


  • Foundations of complex numbers and holomorphic functions, including integral criteria and the Cauchy-Goursat framework

  • Mapping, conformal transformation, and linear fractional transformations with geometric interpretation

  • Infinite series, power series, and analytic continuation with applications to physics

  • Introduction to multiple-valued functions and the beginnings of Riemann surfaces



Ideal for readers of introductory complex analysis and for students applying these tools in physics or engineering.

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Présentation de l'éditeur

The present volume is based on a course of lectures given by the author for a number of years at the University of I llinois. It is intended as an introductory course suitable for first year graduate students and assumes a knowledge of only such fundamental principles of analysis as the student will have had upon completing the usual first course in calculus. Such additional information concerning functions of real variables as is needed in the development of the subject has been introduced as a regular part of the text. Thus a discussion of the general properties of line-integrals, a proof of Green stheorem, etc., have been included. The material chosen deals for the most part with the general properties of functions of a complex variable, and but little is said concerning the properties of some of the more special classes of functions, as for example elliptic functions, etc., since in a first course these subjects can hardly be treated in a satisfactory manner. The course presupposes no previous knowledge of complex numbers and the order of development is much as that commonly followed in the calculus of real variables. Integration is introduced early, in connection with differentiation. In fact the first statement of the necessary and sufficient condition that a function is holomorphic in a given region is made in terms of an integral. By this order of arrangement, it is possible to establish early in the course the fact that the continuity of the derivative follows from its existence, and consequently the Cauchy-G oursat and allied theorems can be demonstrated without any assumption as to such continuity. Likewise, it can thus be shown that Laplace sdifferential equation is satisfied without making the usual assumptions as to the existence of the derivatives of second order. The term holomorphic, often omitted, has been used as expressing an important pr
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