Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2025/ii/paper-2/7e/b/solution

Let be any closed curve in . Since the arc joins to without meeting , those two points lie in the same component of . Their winding numbers about are therefore equal. The residue theorem gives
Thus every closed-path period vanishes. Integrals from to along any two paths avoiding agree, so is single-valued. Notice that this argument uses cancellation of the two residues; simple connectedness of the slit domain is not required.

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