Mathematical Physics, class # 1: Introduction
Guillermo Miranda
July 7, 2025
1 Introduction
The core topic of this class is Partial Differential Equations, which are the main
tool used to describe the world by physicists. Complex numbers will be the first
part of the course, the book will be Complex Analysis by Dennis Zill, covered
in a quick manner.
1.1 Books:
• Part 1: Complex Analysis by Dennis Zill.
• Part 2: Fisica Matematica by Alonso Sepulveda.
1.2 Objectives:
• Calculate improper integrals by residue methods and poles.
• Solve EDPs with frontier conditions given the method of variable separa-
tion.
• Get the basis for the space of solutions of an EDO.
1.3 Grading
1. Final =⇒ 30%
2. Parcial 1 =⇒ 15% – Week 9
3. Parcial 2 =⇒ 20% – ?
4. Parcial 3 =⇒ 20% – Week 12
5. Workshops =⇒ 15%
Week off October 6th.
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2 Complex Numbers
The imaginary unit i is a number that satisfies i2 = −1. Then, a complex
number, z, is a number of the form z = a + bi | a, b ∈ R; where a and b are
called the real and imaginary part of z, respectively.
Definition: Complex set.
The set of complex numbers is defined as:
C = {z | z = a + bi, a, b ∈ R}
2.1 Properties:
Given z = a + bi, we define:
1. module: p
∥z∥ = a2 + b2
2. conjugate:
z̄ = a − bi
3. equality: given,
z1 = a1 + b1 i, z2 = a2 + b2 i
then,
z1 = z2 ⇐⇒ a1 = a2 ∧ b1 = b2
Operations:
• sum:
z1 + z2 = (a1 + a2 ) + (b1 + b2 )i
• subtract:
z1 − z2 = z1 + (−z2 )
• Multiplication:
z1 · z2 = (a1 a2 − b1 b2 ) + (b1 a2 + b2 a1 )i
• Division:
z1 z1 z¯2 z1 · z¯2
= · =
z2 z2 z¯2 ∥z¯2 2 ∥
Notes:
1. R ⊂ C since R = {z ∈ C | z = a + 0i}
2. I = {z ∈ C | z = 0 + bi, b ∈ R}
3. C = R ∪ I
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2.2 The Complex Plane
Input image of the complex plane here pls.
With this insight we can now represent a complex number z = a + bi in the
plane. By using it’s real and imaginary parts (a, b) as coordinates for the plane
(x, y).
For example, take the following complex numbers z1 = 1 + i, z2 = −1 +
i, z3 = 3 − 2i, z4 = 3 + 2i, with its graph:
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Definition: Argument of a complex number If z = a + bi, then
b
arg z = arctan
a
usually denoted by θ
Note: The argument is not unique, as arg z ≡ arg z + 2πn, n ∈ Z.
