Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 2 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge / 2003 / Paper 2 / 4

Compute the complex derivative along horizontal and vertical increments. Along the real direction, $f^{\prime }=u_x+i{v}_x$; along the imaginary direction, $f^{\prime }=(u_y+i{v}_y)/i=v_y-i{u}_y$. Equality gives the Cauchy-Riemann equationsThe real and imaginary parts of a holomorphic function are smooth. Equality of their mixed partial derivatives then gives $u_{xx}+u_{yy}=v_{yx}-v_{xy}=0$ and $v_{xx}+v_{yy}=-u_{yx}+u_{xy}=0$, proving that both are harmonic functions.

For the first real part, $u_x=2x$ and $u_y=-2y$. The Cauchy-Riemann equations require $v_y=2x$ and $v_x=2y$, so its harmonic conjugate is $v=2xy+C$. ThereforeFor the second real part, $u=x/(x^2+y^2)$ is the real part of $1/z$. Its harmonic conjugate is $-y/(x^2+y^2)+C$, givingThese are the most general answers on a connected open domain: the difference of two candidates has zero real part, so the Cauchy-Riemann equations make its imaginary part constant. The second function cannot extend holomorphically through zero.