Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Functions of a Complex Variable
The present volume is based on a course of lectures given by the author for a number of years at the University of Illinois. It is intended as an introductory course suitable for first year graduate students and assumes a knowledge of only such fundamental principles of analysis as the student will have had upon completing the usual first course in calculus. Such additional information concerning functions of real variables as is needed in the development of the subject has been introduced as a regular part of the text. Thus a discussion of the general properties of line-integrals, a proof of Green's theorem, etc., have been included. The material chosen deals for the most part with the general properties of functions of a complex variable, and but little is said concerning the properties of some of the more special classes of functions, as for example elliptic functions, etc., since in a first course these subjects can hardly be treated in a satisfactory manner.
The course presupposes no previous knowledge of complex numbers and the order of development is much as that commonly followed in the calculus of real variables. Integration is introduced early, in connection with differentiation. In fact the first statement of the necessary and sufficient condition that a function is holomorphic in a given region is made in terms of an integral. By this order of arrangement, it is possible to establish early in the course the fact that the continuity of the derivative follows from its existence, and consequently the Cauchy-Goursat and allied theorems can be demonstrated without any assumption as to such continuity. Likewise, it can thus be shown that Laplace's differential equation is satisfied without making the usual assumptions as to the existence of the derivatives of second order. The term holomorphic, often omitted, has been used as expressing an important property of single-valued functions, reserving the use of the term analytic for use in connection with functions derived from a given element by means of analytic continuation.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
