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Near each $a\in D$, the local branch from part (a), chosen to have value $\log |a|+i\theta (a)$ at $a$, agrees withIndeed, two logarithms of the same nonzero number differ by $2\pi i$ times an integer, and the integer is locally constant; it is zero at $a$. Hence $L$ is locally analytic and therefore analytic on $D$. This is the analytic logarithm on the positive-axis slit plane.

For $-1<\alpha <1$, an analytic branch is

Use the continuous argument $0<\arg z<2\pi$ on the positive-axis slit plane and defineThis analytic logarithm on the positive-axis slit plane is holomorphic, satisfies $e^{L(z)}=z$ and $L^{\prime }(z)=1/z$, and has $L(-1)=i\pi$. That value fixes the branch uniquely on the connected domain. For positive real $x$, the two boundary limits areThe jump, rather than a pole of the integrand, is what the keyhole argument exploits.