Angular sector 2026-10-25
The region between two rays with a common vertex, with no upper bound on the modulus. In the displayed convention the vertex and boundary rays are excluded. A holomorphic logarithm with defines powers there. For real with , the power is a conformal bijection onto the sector : it multiplies arguments by and sends moduli bijectively by .
For a proper plane domain , choose and attaining . The holomorphic function
has exactly one zero in , a simple zero at . For its zero-free holomorphic logarithm satisfies
Thus products of such factors can realize prescribed zeros approaching the boundary. If the zero has multiplicity , choose the logarithmic error smaller by a factor before taking the th power. On a compact subset of , eventual uniform summability of these logarithms gives a nonvanishing product tail and a holomorphic function with precisely the requested zeros.
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.
If two nonzero entire functions have identical zeros and orders, their quotient extends to a nowhere-zero entire function. Its logarithmic derivative has a primitive on the simply connected plane, producing a holomorphic logarithm and the displayed relation. Any two choices differ by one constant integer multiple of . On a multiply connected domain the logarithm can fail to exist globally.
Let and consider holomorphic functions from the unit disc into , normalized by . Their largest possible derivative modulus is . Lift to its holomorphic logarithm with , so . The function maps the disc into itself and fixes zero. The Schwarz lemma gives . Equality holds precisely for
Here is its holomorphic branch vanishing at zero; is a conformal map from the disc onto the vertical strip. Thus the maximal derivative modulus is attained, with a circle of distinct extremizers rather than a unique map.
In the upper half-plane outside a circle of radius centered at , with , set . The displayed harmonic function is zero on the real axis and equals on the circle. Indeed, the Apollonius circle with ratio has center and radius ; hence . The logarithmic singularity at is inside the excluded circle, and the one at is below the real axis. The real part of a local holomorphic logarithm is harmonic even if its imaginary part is multivalued. The potential tends to zero at infinity. Finite boundary values alone do not impose a growth condition at infinity; uniqueness in the unbounded domain needs such an additional condition, for example boundedness with the prescribed limit.
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.
Holomorphic square root Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A holomorphic square root of a nonvanishing holomorphic function is a holomorphic function satisfying . It exists locally. On a connected open domain it exists globally exactly when the winding number of around zero is even for every closed path in the domain. Continuing a local square root once along such a path multiplies it by , where is that winding number. Thus the obstruction concerns parity, whereas a holomorphic logarithm needs every such winding number to be zero.
On , the function has no global holomorphic square root: its value winds once on the unit circle, and the lift shown under monodromy changes sign. In contrast, winds twice there and has global square roots and . It still has no holomorphic logarithm on that domain. This distinguishes the two global continuation conditions.
Integer residue of a logarithmic derivative Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
If is holomorphic and nowhere zero on , the residue of its logarithmic derivative is an integer:
where circles zero once counterclockwise. It is the winding number of about zero. Removing makes every period of the remaining logarithmic derivative vanish, so has a holomorphic logarithm on the punctured disk.
This does not make that derivative removable at zero. The counterexample has and residue zero, but still has a double pole in its logarithmic derivative. Its holomorphic logarithm is defined on the punctured disk, not across the missing point.
If additionally extends meromorphically across zero, write with holomorphic and nonzero there. Then , and the derivative after removing really is removable. In that stronger setting, is the zero order, or the negative of the pole order.
Suppose and , and is an analytic function on a disk of radius strictly larger than . The Taylor series at zero of has radius of convergence . Its coefficients are the sum of and the more rapidly decreasing coefficients of . At , the logarithmic part is an alternating harmonic series and converges conditionally; at it diverges. The power series for converges absolutely at both endpoints and therefore cannot change either conclusion. The real convergence interval is .
For , take and , with its branch normalized by . The quotient has nonzero removable value at . Its next zeros are at , so a holomorphic logarithm exists on a larger disk. This shows why the Taylor series converges at even though its singular positive endpoint is excluded.
Start at with complex logarithm germ of a holomorphic function and holomorphic square root germ of a holomorphic function . On the punctured plane , both admit analytic continuation along every path. To construct it locally, for any choose a small open disc avoiding , select a holomorphic logarithm there, and select its additive multiple of to agree with the arriving germ of a holomorphic function; exponentiating half this logarithm supplies the arriving holomorphic square root. A finite chain of these open discs follows any given path.
Compare two paths from to , parametrized by :
The first follows a counterclockwise quarter-circle; the second follows a clockwise three-quarter-circle. Following and then path reversal of makes one positive turn about . Its winding number is , so the two paths cannot be homotopic with endpoints fixed in the punctured plane.
Figure 1.
Two paths from 1 to i enclose the puncture, while a negative-real-axis cut excludes the clockwise route and permits a deformation between the remaining routes
. Details.
The continued values along the chosen paths are
At their common endpoint,
Both complex logarithm values exponentiate to , and both holomorphic square root values square to . These give different terminal germ of a holomorphic function representatives, consistently obtained from the same starting germ of a holomorphic function. The monodromy theorem applies, but does not equate these two non-homotopic paths.
Figure 2.
Tracking continuation from 1 to i along a quarter-circle and a clockwise three-quarter-circle gives logarithms separated by 2 pi i and opposite square roots
. Details.
The closed path instead returns to , with continued values and . One counterclockwise turn changes the complex logarithm by and flips the holomorphic square root from to . Hence neither initial germ of a holomorphic function can come from a global holomorphic logarithm or a global holomorphic square root of on the punctured plane. Repeating a loop of winding number gives the changes and . [ref]
Now restrict to the slit domain . The principal logarithm and realize the same initial germ of a holomorphic function for each expression globally. To see that this is a simply connected domain, polar form identifies this domain with , a convex set; every loop contracts there. The simply connected corollary of the monodromy theorem now forces equality along every pair of paths with matching endpoints. In particular, and the segment both give and . The explicit homotopy stays in the closed first quadrant away from , hence in .
The other route crosses the removed ray at and is no longer admissible. In the punctured plane, that crossing is locally regular: analytic continuation passes through smoothly, although evaluating the principal logarithm would reset its argument. The branch cut changes the allowed domain; it does not create additional branch points or poles. That distinction is the beauty of the obstruction: perfectly compatible local holomorphic functions can fail to make a global choice solely because of the allowed based loops. The branches of a multivalued function article develops how moving the branch cut changes the selected values.
If a compact spectrum of an element avoids zero and zero belongs to its unbounded complementary component, choose a simple arc from zero to infinity avoiding the Banach algebra spectrum. Its complement is a simply connected neighborhood of the Banach algebra spectrum, admitting a holomorphic logarithm. Apply holomorphic functional calculus to that logarithm and the composition rule for holomorphic functional calculus to the exponential to obtain the displayed identity. An invertible matrix over the complex numbers always satisfies the hypothesis because its finite Banach algebra spectrum cannot separate zero from infinity.
Logarithmic derivative Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-25
The logarithmic derivative of a differentiable function is wherever . For a nonvanishing holomorphic function, a local holomorphic logarithm differentiates to this expression even when no global logarithm exists. If a meromorphic function has local factorization with , differentiation gives . Its residue is therefore , positive for a zero and negative for a pole; this explains the multiplicity count in the argument principle. For , the Euler product for the Riemann zeta function gives
Choose the continuous argument with values in and define
Its branch cut is the nonpositive imaginary axis, including zero, exactly the removed ray. Locally away from that ray, the Cauchy-Riemann equations or the local inverse of the exponential show that it is a holomorphic logarithm, with derivative and . The chosen interval fixes the additive ambiguity by integer multiples of .
Use the branch from part (b) and close the real interval with the upper semicircle, oriented counterclockwise. For , the number has positive imaginary part, so the numerator is a holomorphic logarithm throughout a neighbourhood of the contour and its interior. The branch point lies strictly below the contour. The only enclosed pole of
is the simple pole at , with residue
To justify discarding the arc, take . On it, lies between and , and the argument has bounded absolute value. Hence
The real-axis integral is absolutely convergent, since its integrand is at infinity and has no real singularities. The residue theorem therefore gives
Finally, . Taking twice the real part yields
The branch choice affects the first integral's imaginary part; the second integral is real and independent of that choice.
Choose the continuous argument with values in and define
Its branch cut is the nonpositive imaginary axis, including zero, exactly the removed ray. Locally away from that ray, the Cauchy-Riemann equations or the local inverse of the exponential show that it is a holomorphic logarithm, with derivative and . The chosen interval fixes the additive ambiguity by integer multiples of .
Use the branch from part (b) and close the real interval with the upper semicircle, oriented counterclockwise. For , the number has positive imaginary part, so the numerator is a holomorphic logarithm throughout a neighbourhood of the contour and its interior. The branch point lies strictly below the contour. The only enclosed pole of
is the simple pole at , with residue
To justify discarding the arc, take . On it, lies between and , and the argument has bounded absolute value. Hence
The real-axis integral is absolutely convergent, since its integrand is at infinity and has no real singularities. The residue theorem therefore gives
Finally, . Taking twice the real part yields
The branch choice affects the first integral's imaginary part; the second integral is real and independent of that choice.
The quotient extends to a holomorphic function at zero with value one. Since is injective and vanishes at zero, has no zero in the unit disc. A holomorphic logarithm exists there, with . Define the odd square-root transform of a normalized univalent function by
It satisfies , , and . To check injectivity, gives , hence . If , oddness gives , so . Thus the two arguments always coincide, and . Choosing the square root by its derivative at zero removes its sign ambiguity.
Fix a positive integer and an integer coprime to . We use Dirichlet characters modulo , extended by zero on integers not coprime to , and write for the principal Dirichlet character. For a nonprincipal Dirichlet character, the sum over one complete period is zero. Its partial sums are therefore . Partial summation gives
The integral converges locally uniformly there, so these Dirichlet L-functions are holomorphic at one. On the other hand,
has a simple pole at one, with residue .
The assumed nonvanishing of a nonprincipal Dirichlet L-function at one for real Dirichlet characters also excludes vanishing for nonreal ones. To prove this, form the product over all Dirichlet characters
Use the logarithm supplied by the absolutely convergent Euler product. The Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters yields
Thus . If a nonreal Dirichlet character had , its distinct conjugate would also have a zero there, since . These two zeros would outweigh the single pole of the principal factor; all other factors are bounded near one. It would follow that as , contradicting the lower bound. Together with the assumption for real Dirichlet characters, this proves for every nonprincipal Dirichlet character.
The first-degree part of the Euler product logarithm gives
The omitted terms are bounded uniformly, since . For each nonprincipal factor, its logarithm remains bounded: choose a holomorphic logarithm near the now established nonzero value ; the Euler-product branch differs from it by a fixed integral multiple of on a sufficiently small real interval. For the principal factor,
Applying Orthogonality of Dirichlet characters again gives
The right side diverges as , so the arithmetic progression contains infinitely many primes. This proves Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic progressions: every reduced residue class modulo contains infinitely many primes. The argument also covers and , when there need not be a nonreal character.
For the sharper statement about reciprocal primes in a fixed arithmetic progression, use the given prime-counting function asymptotic with fixed:
The second equivalence follows by integration by parts in the logarithmic integral function. Partial summation yields
For any , choose a fixed so large that the relative error in is at most for . The initial integral is a constant, while the remaining integral lies between
The boundary term is . Divide by , let , and then let . We obtain
Only a relative asymptotic is deduced from the given information; an additive error, or uniformity for a growing modulus , would require additional estimates.
Give the compact-open topology. Choose a finite polygonal cycle in whose winding number is one on the Banach algebra spectrum and zero outside . One can take the oriented boundary of a finite union of small squares surrounding the compact Banach algebra spectrum and contained in . Define
The integral is an algebra-norm integral of a continuous function on finitely many segments. Cauchy's theorem, applied after any bounded linear functional on , makes it independent of the cycle. Moreover
so it is continuous for the compact-open topology.
Here is a direct verification of the algebra properties and uniqueness using the allowed Runge theorem. The version required is that every holomorphic function on an open plane set is a locally uniform limit of rational functions with poles outside that set, allowing a polynomial part. A rational function of this kind has the unambiguous value , since the roots of avoid the Banach algebra spectrum. These rational values form a unital algebra homomorphism.
They agree with the contour integral. First , by replacing the cycle with a large circle and integrating its Neumann expansion. The identity then proves the assertion for polynomials. For , the resolvent identity gives
The cycle has winding number zero at , so integration gives . This identity holds on a neighborhood of disjoint from the cycle and the Banach algebra spectrum. Differentiating with respect to gives the analogous result for every power , and partial fractions give it for all the rational functions under consideration.
If and locally uniformly, the contour estimate makes their evaluated sequences converge. Since locally uniformly and multiplication in is continuous, their limits satisfy . Also and . Conversely any continuous unital complex-algebra homomorphism sending to must send to and its reciprocal to the inverse. It therefore agrees on rational functions and then, by Runge density and continuity, on all of . This proves existence and uniqueness of the holomorphic functional calculus.
For its spectral mapping property, first note compatibility on a smaller open spectral neighborhood : composing restriction to with the calculus there gives the calculus on by uniqueness. If , choose such a where never vanishes. Then
with the right side evaluated on . Conversely, for , write with holomorphic on . The evaluated factors commute. If their product were invertible, both factors would be invertible, contradicting . Thus
Pullback is continuous from to because the image under of a compact set is compact. The composite is a continuous unital homomorphism taking the coordinate function to . Uniqueness of the calculus at proves
For the exponential conclusion, let . There is a simple polygonal arc from zero through its unbounded complementary component to outside a disk containing , continued by a ray to infinity and avoiding . Loops in an initial polygonal path can be removed to make the arc simple. The complement of this slit is a simply connected open neighborhood of avoiding zero, and hence admits a holomorphic logarithm . Set . The composition rule gives
The calculus of the entire exponential agrees with the usual algebra exponential because its power-series partial sums converge locally uniformly. Finally an invertible matrix over the complex numbers has a finite Banach algebra spectrum avoiding zero. Removing finitely many plane points leaves a connected set, so the hypothesis always holds: every invertible matrix over the complex numbers is an exponential of a matrix over the complex numbers.