Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2025 / ib / Paper 4 / 3E (Complex Analysis)

The local maximum modulus principle says that if $|f|$ has a local maximum at an interior point of a connected domain, then $f$ is constant. On a small circle about the maximum, the mean-value property andforce equality everywhere. Equality in the triangle inequality makes the boundary values identical; Cauchy's formula then makes $f$ constant locally, and the identity theorem makes it constant on the domain.

Write $f=u+iv$. The hypothesis gives $u-v\le 0$. Thereforewith equality at zero. The local maximum modulus principle makes the exponential constant. Differentiation then gives $f^{\prime }=0$, so $f$ is constant; since $f(0)=0$, it is identically zero.