Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2017 / Paper 1 / 12 / b / ii

On a chart with $x\ne 0$, setThe chain rule verifies both components:A coordinate-independent description of the local potential is a continuous branch of $\arg (ax+iby)$, the complex argument of the scaled coordinates. Such branches can also cover points where $x=0$, using a different angular chart. Continuing once around the missing origin changes that angle by a nonzero multiple of $2\pi$, so there is no global single-valued $f$ on the full stated domain.