Analytic continuation Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
An analytic continuation extends a holomorphic function beyond its original domain without changing its existing values. Formally, if are domains and is holomorphic on , a holomorphic function on with is an analytic continuation. More locally, holomorphic functions on overlapping open sets continue one another when they agree on the overlap, allowing a chain of patches along a path. The identity theorem for holomorphic functions forces agreement throughout a connected overlap once they agree on a nonempty open set in it. It also makes an extension to a fixed connected domain unique. [ref]
The geometric series illustrates why a formula can reach farther than the power series that first represents it. For , its partial sum is
When , , so the series converges to . The rational function is holomorphic on and agrees there with the sum on the unit disc. It therefore continues to every point except its simple pole at . In particular,
Thus analytic continuation gives a value at without making the original geometric series converge there. Its radius of convergence remains : on the terms do not even tend to zero.
Figure 1.
The original geometric series converges only inside the unit circle, while its rational continuation exists everywhere except the pole at 1
. Details.
The pole at limits the original Taylor series, although most points of its convergence circle are regular for . Recentring at gives another genuinely convergent power series,
At this yields , even though the original powers of grow. This is the useful idea: overlapping local descriptions can represent one holomorphic function on a larger region.
Uniqueness on a connected overlap does not imply that every path leads to the same terminal germ of a holomorphic function. Continuing a complex logarithm around changes its value by , giving monodromy; the return patch can carry a different branch of a multivalued function. If two patches have a disconnected overlap, agreement on one component imposes no agreement on the others. [ref] Continuation using the rational function is single-valued: any path avoiding gives the same terminal germ of a holomorphic function, even if it winds around the pole.
An argument of a nonzero complex number is any angle for which . All arguments are , with an integer. Zero has no argument: it has no distinguished direction. A commonly chosen representative, the principal argument , lies in . Choosing representatives is part of specifying a branch of a multivalued function. These conventions are described in Jeremy Orloff, MIT 18.04, topic 1, sections 1.5 and 1.14.
For , the principal argument is radians, computed with the inverse tangent. But the coordinate ratio alone loses the quadrant: has the same ratio , yet its principal argument is radians.
For nonzero , the correct rule is
Ordinary equality can fail. With , their principal arguments sum to , but has principal argument . They differ by one full turn. As a point crosses the negative horizontal axis, the principal argument jumps by . A continuous choice on a suitable region therefore requires a branch cut; the jump belongs to the choice of representative, although the point moves smoothly.
Branch of a multivalued function Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A branch of a multivalued analytic expression is a single-valued holomorphic function on a specified domain that consistently selects one of the expression's possible values. A branch cut is a convenient way to choose such a domain, rather than an intrinsic locus of singularities. On , the principal logarithm supplies two square-root branches
For , these give and . Their derivatives follow by differentiating : , so . There are exactly two branches on : for any other holomorphic square root , the ratio is continuous, takes values in , and hence is constant on the connected domain.
The cut can move. Choosing defines a holomorphic logarithm on . At this gives and , both regular values despite lying on the previous cut. In the complex upper half-plane, agrees with ; in the lower half-plane it equals , so the corresponding square roots have opposite signs there. The overlap has two components, exactly why the identity theorem cannot force agreement between them. [ref]
For example, the limits of at , , are from above and from below. This jump records the chosen branch cut; each point still has a neighbourhood supporting a holomorphic square root. Moving the cut changes the bookkeeping, while the branch point at and its monodromy persist. Specifying a branch of a multivalued function is therefore essential before differentiating or performing contour integration with holomorphic square roots, complex logarithms or complex exponentiation.
Holomorphic logarithm Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-18
A holomorphic logarithm of a nowhere-zero holomorphic function on a domain is a holomorphic function such that throughout . Differentiating with the chain rule gives . For , a holomorphic logarithm is a branch of the complex logarithm, and its derivative is .
The principal logarithm is holomorphic on the slit complex plane , with
Here is the chosen complex argument, and . One may conventionally assign a principal value on the negative real axis, but that axis is excluded from this holomorphic domain. [ref] For example, gives and ; all its other complex logarithms differ by , .
There is no holomorphic logarithm of on the punctured complex plane . Such a function would be a holomorphic primitive of , so its contour integral around every closed path would vanish. On the counterclockwise unit circle, however,
This is the period obstruction to a holomorphic antiderivative, and also exactly the logarithm change in the monodromy diagram.
Every nowhere-zero holomorphic function on a simply connected domain does admit a holomorphic logarithm. Choose and with , and define
The Cauchy integral theorem makes this contour integral independent of the path in . Then and ; its value at is , proving . Any two choices on a connected domain differ by a constant , since their difference is continuous and takes values in the discrete set . [ref]
For a computed example, take on the unit disc, with . Expanding as a geometric series and integrating gives
The construction also produces holomorphic square roots: satisfies , so here . More generally, gives a consistent branch of a multivalued function for complex exponentiation by . A holomorphic logarithm converts multiplicative expressions into additive ones while making the domain restrictions explicit.
Inverse tangent Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-20
The inverse of the tangent restricted to , taking real values in that interval. Its derivative is . A formula involving an inverse tangent of a ratio may need a continuous branch of a multivalued function to describe a smooth field through a pole of that ratio.
Monodromy Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Monodromy records how a germ of a holomorphic function changes after analytic continuation around a closed path. The source point returns to itself, but the continued germ of a holomorphic function need not. For , , starting with holomorphic square root value gives and hence ; starting with complex logarithm value gives and hence . After counterclockwise turns the values are and . Thus monodromy exchanges the two square-root branches of a multivalued function, whereas it shifts through infinitely many logarithm branches of a multivalued function. [ref]
Figure 1.
One closed loop in the source plane lifts to an open semicircle for the square root and an open vertical segment for the logarithm
. Details.
The three panels use the same parameter . They show analytic continuation through local holomorphic patches, including across a chosen branch cut; repeatedly evaluating the principal logarithm would instead reset its imaginary part at the cut. Monodromy makes the obstruction to a global branch of a multivalued function visible and motivates the use of Riemann surfaces as domains on which continued values stay distinct.
Choose the principal branch of a multivalued function, , for . The integrand has simple poles at and a branch cut along the negative real axis. Its residues are
whose sum is .
For , close the Bromwich contour to the left using a rectangle with outer real part and horizontal edges at imaginary parts , indenting the cut and zero. On every distant edge, , and . Each edge has length and , so its integral is . The small circle of radius about zero contributes . The tails of the original vertical integral are absolutely bounded by as well.
On the upper and lower banks at , the square roots are and , respectively. With the upper bank traversed toward zero and the lower bank away from zero, their combined integral is
The cut integral converges near zero since is integrable, and at infinity by exponential decay. The residue theorem, followed by and , therefore gives
For , close the Bromwich contour to the right. There are no enclosed poles or cuts, and there. The same distant-edge estimates show for .
Figure 1.
Left-closing Bromwich contour with the principal square-root cut, two pole residues, and a small indentation at zero
. Details.
For the large- expansion, . Scaling and using the given integral yields . Integration by parts twice gives the next coefficient . The remainder is bounded by . Thus, without needing a globally convergent termwise integration of the local power series,
In particular, the requested two leading terms are , interpreted as an additive asymptotic expansion. This is Bromwich inversion with a square-root branch cut.
For the all-kink sector, keep and . Enumerating the even and odd binary configurations gives the Hirota tau functions
The last minus sign is the product of three negative pair coefficients. As in the two-body limit, the three velocities are .
To follow the first kink, keep bounded and take . Let be the set of spectators whose exponential diverges in that limit:
For no large spectators, . For one large spectator , . For two large spectators, the dominant terms give . On a continuous branch of a multivalued function, each case has local profile plus the appropriate vacuum offset, where
Consequently the incoming and outgoing intercepts are and . This proves
Again the time expression requires and distinct velocities; the corresponding spatial-shift identity holds also when . With mixed orientations, use the general pair shift established above and determine growing spectators by the sign of ; the same multiplication of pair coefficients proves additivity.
There is no independent three-body contribution to the asymptotic shift. The pairwise additivity of soliton shifts is a classical manifestation of factorized scattering in an integrable partial differential equation. The collision preserves the individual asymptotic rapidities and profiles, and the net shift is independent of the sequence of separated pair collisions. In the quantum theory, consistency of the corresponding species-changing S-matrices becomes the Yang-Baxter equation; the classical scalar shift identity is its physical precursor, rather than a derivation of all quantum matrix identities.
Write the rapidity parameters as , , and define . The signed coefficient in the Sine-Gordon multisoliton tau representation is
For distinct rapidities, . In particular, cannot be taken as a real logarithm of a positive coefficient. The finite sums defining the Hirota tau functions can instead be evaluated directly with the real, negative . They give
The physical field is a continuous branch of a multivalued function, equivalently with the argument followed continuously. The principal inverse tangent alone jumps when changes sign.
Follow the first kink with . Then and . The two possible local limits are
where the second field is written on the continuous kink branch. Thus both limits are single Sine-Gordon kinks of the same width and velocity, but their centers obey or . Following the second kink gives the same conclusion with labels exchanged. The incoming and outgoing velocities are therefore
There is no change in the asymptotic rapidities or kink profiles.
Define the spatial shift as the outgoing center intercept minus the incoming center intercept. Since the large- limit occurs afterwards when , and beforehand when , the soliton time delay is
The time formula uses and requires . Its dependence on the velocities is explicit on substituting
For a faster right-moving kink, and : it arrives earlier than its freely continued incoming trajectory. If , report the finite spatial shift; a fixed-position arrival-time delay for a stationary kink is undefined. Coincident velocities are excluded from a separated collision asymptotic.
For completeness, allowing antikinks means , , with . The velocities remain . For opposite orientations, , and the general spatial shift is
This follows from the same two local limits; it makes explicit the orientation hypothesis behind the velocity-only all-kink answer.
On , the chosen branch of a multivalued function is characterized by and for ; equivalently as . Define . Then and at infinity, so uniqueness of the normalized holomorphic square root gives . Therefore .
Harmonic parts. Write the holomorphic function as . The Cauchy-Riemann equations say and . Equality of mixed partial derivatives therefore gives
Thus both the real and imaginary parts are harmonic functions and satisfy two-dimensional Laplace's equation.
Single-valued logarithm. A convenient choice is
using the principal logarithm for each term. Its branch cuts in the plane are and . The branch points are and : going once around the first adds , while going once around the second subtracts . Removing the two exterior rays makes this a consistent branch of a multivalued function and in particular leaves the whole open unit disk available.
Potential inside the cylinder. Put with . Multiplication by gives
The denominator is positive and the real part of the numerator is positive. Thus its argument lies strictly between and , and
As , this tends to on the upper open semicircle and on the lower open semicircle. Scale the imaginary part to obtain
It is a harmonic function, has the required boundary values, and gives . The two joining points of the boundary arcs have discontinuous boundary data, so no common continuous boundary value is demanded there. Along the real diameter, including radial approaches to either joining point, the displayed solution is zero. This is the disk potential with two semicircular boundary values.
Figure 1.
Harmonic potential inside a disk with opposite semicircle boundary values
. The upper boundary has potential +V0 and the lower boundary -V0. Contours and colour show Phi/V0; the two joining points are excluded from the prescribed boundary values. Details.
For a second check, the Taylor series of the logarithms gives . Taking the imaginary part yields the Fourier series
whose boundary limit is exactly the required alternating pair of constant semicircle values.
Poles and residues. An isolated singularity is a pole of order if its Laurent series has finitely many negative powers, the lowest being a nonzero multiple of . The residue is the coefficient of .
If and , factor , where is holomorphic near and . For ,
The last quotient is holomorphic and nonzero at , proving a simple pole with
The given function. For noninteger , specify a branch of a multivalued function before using . Choose with , a cut along the negative imaginary axis. This leaves all three roots of off the cut. They are , and , all simple. The numerator is nonzero at these points. Since the denominator has derivative , the residues are
For noninteger , zero is a branch point, rather than an isolated pole. This remains true when and the numerator diverges there. For nonnegative integer it is a regular point. Other logarithm branches change the phases of the residues consistently.
Integral and convergence. Near zero the integrand behaves as , requiring . At infinity it behaves as , requiring . Therefore the exact convergence range is
Use a counterclockwise sector contour with rays at angles and , inner radius and outer radius . The same complex logarithm branch is valid throughout this sector. Only lies inside. The small circular arc contributes and the large one contributes , so both vanish precisely in the stated range.
The outward positive-real ray contributes . On the returning ray set : the denominator is still , while , with reversed limits. The residue theorem gives
Put . The right-hand phase is and . Hence
The sine is positive in this range, consistent with a positive real integral. This is a special case of the Mellin integral of a reciprocal binomial.
Branches and cuts. For the square root of z squared minus one, a branch point is a point around which analytic continuation along an arbitrarily small closed loop can change the value of a chosen branch of a multivalued function. Near , the square root behaves as ; near it is a nonzero analytic factor times . One circuit around either point reverses its sign. Thus the finite branch points are . Infinity is not a branch point: in the expression is , which has two single-valued meromorphic choices near zero.
A single branch cut can join to ; its shortest choice is the real segment . Any surviving loop then surrounds either both branch points or neither, so it produces no sign change. Alternatively, use two branch cuts, and , each joining a branch point to infinity. On the resulting slit region one can choose a consistent branch of a multivalued function.
For the finite cut, fix at infinity, equivalently for . To give its actual values on both sides, put
For , the selected square root is
Here ; when , . Squaring verifies the formula because . Its real part has the sign of , its imaginary part has the sign of , and it matches the chosen value at infinity. In particular, the two boundary values on the branch cut are
Outside the cut, . Reversing the global branch of a multivalued function reverses every displayed value.
Differential equation. Write with this finite cut, and orient counterclockwise with one circuit around it. Since is fixed and avoids the branch points, differentiation under the integral sign gives
On the contour . Therefore
The last contour integral vanishes because the expression in brackets returns to its original value after circling both branch points. This proves , including at ; division by is unnecessary.
Figure 1.
Shrinking a counterclockwise contour around the finite square-root cut
. The upper lip runs from 1 to -1, and the lower lip returns from -1 to 1. The endpoint arcs have vanishing integrals. The values shown use the branch that behaves as z at infinity. Details.
Value at zero. Near either endpoint , the integrand at zero is . A small arc of radius has length and hence contributes . The upper lip runs from to , and the lower lip from to . Thus
Using evaluates the final integral as , and so
The same deformation gives . The sign of reverses if either the global square-root choice or the contour orientation is reversed; the differential equation is unaffected.
Choose a continuous branch of a multivalued function of the complex logarithm on a simply connected region avoiding zero. Then
Alternatively and , verifying the Cauchy-Riemann equations. The holomorphy is local to a chosen branch of a multivalued function: increasing by multiplies by , so this is not a single-valued holomorphic function on the whole punctured plane.
Use the branch cut and the branch of a multivalued function normalized by . The Laurent series from the preceding solution has coefficient . Consequently every sufficiently large positively oriented circle gives
Although grows cubically, its other Laurent series terms have zero contour integral. Choosing the opposite branch of a multivalued function reverses the sign; neither the branch of a multivalued function nor the orientation can be omitted from the answer.
Shrink the positive outer contour to the branch cut . On its upper bank the chosen branch of a multivalued function has and on the lower bank it has the negative of this value. The upper bank runs from to , and the lower bank runs from to . The endpoint circles contribute and vanish. Hence
The change of variables independently reduces the result to the integral of over .
Choose a continuous branch of a multivalued function of the complex logarithm on a simply connected region avoiding zero. Then
Alternatively and , verifying the Cauchy-Riemann equations. The holomorphy is local to a chosen branch of a multivalued function: increasing by multiplies by , so this is not a single-valued holomorphic function on the whole punctured plane.
Use the branch cut and the branch of a multivalued function normalized by . The Laurent series from the preceding solution has coefficient . Consequently every sufficiently large positively oriented circle gives
Although grows cubically, its other Laurent series terms have zero contour integral. Choosing the opposite branch of a multivalued function reverses the sign; neither the branch of a multivalued function nor the orientation can be omitted from the answer.
Shrink the positive outer contour to the branch cut . On its upper bank the chosen branch of a multivalued function has and on the lower bank it has the negative of this value. The upper bank runs from to , and the lower bank runs from to . The endpoint circles contribute and vanish. Hence
The change of variables independently reduces the result to the integral of over .