Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2004/paper-2/3/c/ii/solution

Choose the argument interval , which makes the logarithm real on the positive real axis and puts its cut on the positive imaginary axis. Parametrize . The constant term contributes , leaving
Equivalently the cut-crossing point is , so the circle integral of a logarithm with a radial branch cut is . The different cut changes where the discontinuity lies on the circle; it is not merely an additive constant change of branch along the entire contour.

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