Lectures on Complex Analysis - Lecture 2

M. Pollicott
October 3, 2024

Contents
1 A few basic ideas 1
1.1 A little algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Roots of a complex number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 The logarithm and powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.4 The Riemann sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1 A few basic ideas

1.1 A little algebra If we write z1 = x1 + iy1 and z2 = x2 + iy2 then

z1 + z2 = (x1 + x2 ) + i(y1 + y2 )

and
z1 .z2 = (x1 x2 − y1 y2 ) + i(x1 y2 + x2 y1 )
There are also the usual algebra properties.

ˆ Commutativity for addition and multiplication

z1 + z2 = z2 + z1 and z1 z2 = z2 z1

ˆ Associativity for addition and multiplication

(z1 + z2 ) + z3 = z1 + (z2 + z3 ) and (z1 .z2 )z3 = z1 (z2 z3 )

ˆ Multiplicative and additive identities and 1 and 0, respectively

z + 0 = z andz.1 = z.

ˆ Every element z has an additive inverse −z

z + (−z) = 0

ˆ Every non-zero element z ̸= 0 has an multiplicative inverse 1/z

z(1/z) = 0

ˆ Every non-zero element z = x + iy =

̸ 0 has a unique inverse
 
z̄ x y
1 = z( 2 ) = z − i
|z| x2 + y 2 x2 + y 2

ˆ We also have
z1 (z2 + z3 ) = z1 z2 + z1 z3 R

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1.2 Roots of a complex number Given a complex number w = x + iy =
r(cos θ + i sin θ) = reiθ the nth roots z ∈ C satisfy z n = w. They take the form
 
(θ + 2πk)
zk = r1/n exp i for k = 0, 1, · · · , n − 1
n
1.3 The logarithm and powers The number w = ξ + iη is a logarithm of
z = x + iy = reiθ if
eξ+iη = x + iy.
There are multiple solutions and the logarithm log z is the multiple element family
{log r + i(θ + 2πn) : n ∈ Z}.
We can define the powers as follows. Let z = x + iy = reiθ . Then given n ∈ Z
we can take the power
z n = rn einθ
If w = ξ + iη then we can define z w = ew log z . In particular, we have that
z w = {eξ log r−η(θ+2πn)+i(η log r+ξ(θ+2πn)) : n ∈ Z}
For example,
ii = {e−(π/2+2nπ) : n ∈ Z}
1.4 The Riemann sphere It is convenient to add an extra point to C. In
order to accommodate the extra point ∞, we need to extend the complex plane
by adding this point in to get the Riemann sphere. One advanate is that we can
interpret 1/0 = ∞ and 1/∞ = 0. We denote by C b = C ∪ {∞} the Riemann sphere.
There is a natural topology on C. A (non-zero) sequence zn → +∞ as n → +∞
b
when 1/zn → 0.
We will adopt the conventions that for z ∈ C
b

z/∞ = 0

z/0 = ∞ if z ̸= 0

z+∞=∞+z

z∞ = ∞z if z ̸= 0
There is a natural “stereographic” projection between the unit sphere (minus
the “north pole” (1, 0, 0)) and the complex plane
π : {(x1 , x2 , x3 ) ∈ R3 : x2 + x22 + x23 = 1} − {(1, 0, 0)} → C
defined by    
x1 x2
π(x1 , x2 , x3 ) = z := +i .
1 − x3 1 − x3
In particular, 0 it the image of the south pole (0, 0, −1), and the unit circle |z| = 1
is the image of the equator x3 = 0 ie equator
{(x1 , x2 , 0) ∈ R3 : x2 + x22 = 1}
of the Riemann sphere coincides with the circle in the complex plane {z ∈ C : |z| =
1}.
Ptolemy (AD 125) constructed such a map to plot the positions of heavenly
bodies.
The image of the lower hemisphere is the unit disk. The image of the upper
hemisphere minus the north pole is the complmement of the unit disk.

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 Imaginary axis
N

(x, y, z)

Real axis

π(x, y, z)

Figure 1: Stereographic

Definition 1.1. A circle on the sphere corresponds to the intersection of x21 + x22 +
x23 = 1 with a plane ax + by + cz = d.
The following is easy to prove.
Lemma 1.2. The stereographic projection of a circle on the sphere is either a circle
or a line in C.
Proof. The image of the intersection under the projection can be written as

a(z + z) − ib(z − z) + c(|z|2 − 1) = d(|z|2 + 1)

If we write z = x + iy then

(d − c)(x2 + y 2 ) − 2ax − 2by + (d + c) = 0.

Case I: If c = d then this is the equation of a straight line.

Case II: If c ̸= d then

2ax 2by (d + c)
x2 + y 2 − − + =0
d−c d−c d−c
which we can rearrange as
2 2
a2 + b2 + (c2 − d2 )
 
a b
x− + y− = .
d−c d−c (d − c)2

It only remains to show that a2 + b2 + c2 − d2 > 0 to see this is the equation of a

circle. However,
p p
|α0 | = |ax + by + cz| ≤ x2 + y 2 + z 2 a2 + b2 + c2
| {z }
=1

by the usual Cauchy-Schrwartz inequality and we are done.

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 Note that in the proof there is an equality in the last line only when (a, b, c) =
λ(x1 , x2 , x3 ) for some λ, i.e., the plane is tangent to the sphere.
Remark 1.3. The inverse images of a points z ∈ C is a triple (x1 , x2 , x3 ) lying
on the sphere and satisfying |z|2 = (x21 + x22 )/(1 − x3 )2 = (1 + x3 )/(1 − x3 ) (since
x21 + x22 + x23 = 1). We can then write
z+z 2
x1 = 2
since 1 − x3 = 2 .
1 + |z | |z| + 1|

Similarly,
z−z |z|2 − 1
x2 = and x 3 = .
1 + |z 2 | 1 + |z 2 |
We deduce that
z − z |z|2 − 1
 
z+z
(x1 , x2 , x3 ) = , , .
1 + |z | 1 + |z 2 | 1 + |z 2 |
2

This completes the proof.

Exercise 1.4. Prove the converse, i.e., the preimage of a circle or a straight line
in C is a circle on the Riemann sphere.

Remark 1.5. If we let z, w ∈ C

b − {N } then we can put a metric d(z, w) = ∥π(z) −
π(w)∥2 corresponding to the Euclidean norm on C = R2 . More precisely,

2|z − w|
d(z, w) = p p where z, w ̸= ∞.
1 + |z|2 1 + |w|2
2
and d(z, ∞) = √ .
1+|z|2

Remark 1.6. To associate the appropriate topology to C b we take the usual open
sets in C plus the complements of compact sets union with the point ∞. This means
that we can interpret zn → z in the usual sense if z ̸= ∞. However, we say that
zn → +∞ if for every K > 0 we have there exists N > 0 such that |z| > K. Then
C is homeomorphic to the ball minus the ”north pole”. The approrpiate metric for
b comes form the standard metric on the ball, i.e.,
C
q
d((x1 , x2 , x3 ), (x′1 , x′2 , x′3 )) = (x1 − x′1 )2 + (x2 − x′2 )2 + (x3 − x′3 )2
q
= 2(1 − x1 x′1 − x2 x′2 − x3 x′3 ).

Exercise 1.7. Check all the above formulae.