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A holomorphic logarithm of a nowhere-zero holomorphic function $f$ on a domain $U$ is a holomorphic function $g$ such that $e^{g(z)}=f(z)$ throughout $U$. Differentiating with the chain rule gives $g^{\prime }=f^{\prime }/f$. For $f(z)=z$, a holomorphic logarithm is a branch of the complex logarithm, and its derivative is $1/z$.

The principal logarithm is holomorphic on the slit complex plane $D=\mathbb{C}\setminus (-\infty ,0]$, withHere $\mathrm{Arg}$ is the chosen complex argument, and $\mathrm{Im}\mathrm{Log}z\in (-\pi ,\pi )$. One may conventionally assign a principal value on the negative real axis, but that axis is excluded from this holomorphic domain. ^[ref] For example, $1+i=\sqrt{2}{e}^{i\pi /4}$ gives $\mathrm{Log}(1+i)=\frac{1}{2}\log 2+i\pi /4$ and $(\mathrm{Log}{)}^{\prime }(1+i)=(1-i)/2$; all its other complex logarithms differ by $2\pi ik$, $k\in \mathbb{Z}$.

There is no holomorphic logarithm of $z$ on the punctured complex plane $\mathbb{C}\setminus \{0\}$. Such a function would be a holomorphic primitive of $1/z$, 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 $f$ on a simply connected domain $U$ does admit a holomorphic logarithm. Choose $a\in U$ and $b\in \mathbb{C}$ with $e^b=f(a)$, and defineThe Cauchy integral theorem makes this contour integral independent of the path in $U$. Then $g^{\prime }=f^{\prime }/f$ and $(f{e}^{-g}{)}^{\prime }=e^{-g}(f^{\prime }-f{g}^{\prime })=0$; its value at $a$ is $1$, proving $e^g=f$. Any two choices on a connected domain differ by a constant $2\pi ik$, since their difference is continuous and takes values in the discrete set $2\pi i\mathbb{Z}$. ^[ref]

For a computed example, take $f(z)=1+z$ on the unit disc, with $a=b=0$. Expanding $f^{\prime }/f=1/(1+z)$ as a geometric series and integrating givesThe construction also produces holomorphic square roots: $h=e^{g/2}$ satisfies $h^2=f$, so here $h(1/2)=\sqrt{3/2}$. More generally, $e^{\alpha g}$ gives a consistent branch of a multivalued function for complex exponentiation by $\alpha$. A holomorphic logarithm converts multiplicative expressions into additive ones while making the domain restrictions explicit.

For a harmonic function $u$, put $g=u_x-i{u}_y$. Its Wirtinger derivative isso the Cauchy-Riemann equations make $g$ holomorphic. In the simply connected domain it has a single-valued primitiveThe integral is path independent: local holomorphic primitives make its value invariant under path homotopies, and being simply connected makes any two paths with the given endpoints homotopic, as in Question 3.

Since $F^{\prime }=g$, the real part satisfies $(\mathrm{Re}F{)}_x=u_x$ and $(\mathrm{Re}F{)}_y=\mathrm{Re}(ig)=u_y$. Hence $\mathrm{Re}F-u$ is constant on the connected domain. Adding a real constant corrects it, producing a single-valued holomorphic $f$ with $\mathrm{Re}f=u$. The imaginary part is a harmonic conjugate and is unique up to an additive real constant. This is the global harmonic conjugate criterion by vanishing periods in the simply connected case.

For every closed piecewise smooth curve $\gamma$ in $U$, the winding number of $f\circ \gamma$ about zero is the integerIf $f=g_k^k$ for a holomorphic $k$th root, $g_k$ is nowhere zero, andThus $m_{\gamma }$ is divisible by every $k$ for which a root exists. An infinite subset of the positive integers is unbounded, so a fixed integer divisible by all those $k$ must be zero. Hence all periods of the holomorphic function $f^{\prime }/f$ vanish.

Fix $z_0\in U$. Since a domain is connected and open, its points can be joined by piecewise smooth paths. Vanishing periods makeindependent of path. It is a holomorphic primitive with $H^{\prime }=f^{\prime }/f$. Differentiating gives $(f{e}^{-H}{)}^{\prime }=0$, so $f{e}^{-H}=f(z_0)$. Choose a complex number $c$ with $e^c=f(z_0)$. ThenThis constructs a global holomorphic logarithm without requiring $U$ to be simply connected.

A holomorphic primitive on the slit domain is $P(z)=zL(z)-z$, since the product rule and $L^{\prime }=1/z$ give $P^{\prime }=L$. The line segment stays in that domain. The fundamental theorem for line integrals therefore givesHenceThe value $L(i)=\pi i/2$ is fixed by the chosen branch.