SELECTED SOLUTIONS

1. 1.1
Below, whenever we write z = x + iy, we mean that x and y are real numbers
the real and imaginary parts of z.
1
in the standard form x + yi.
1.1. Problem 2. Express 3+5i
1
1 35i
3
5
Solution: 3+5i = 3+5i 35i = 335i
2 +52 = 34 34 i

1.2. Problem 5. Find a square root for i.

Solution: We have to find z = x + iy so that (x + iy)2 = i. If we expand
(x + iy)2 and collect real and imaginary parts, we get (x2 y 2 ) + i(2xy). To solve
the equation (x2 y 2 ) + i(2xy) = i in C it is equivalent to solve the system of two
equations
x2 y 2 = 0
2xy = 1
in R. We may reduce this to one equation by setting p
y = x, in which
pcase the second
equation reads 2x2 = 1. Solving for x gives x = 1/2, y = 1/2 (where the
signs are the same). In other words a square root of i is given by

( 12 + i 12)
1.3. Problem 6. If z = x + iy, express z 3 in standard form.
Solution: z 3 = (x + iy)3 = x3 + 3x2 (iy) + 3x(iy)2 + (iy)3 , by the Binomial
Theorem. Collecting real and imaginary terms together (using i2 = 1 and i3 = i)
we get
(x3 3xy 2 ) + i(3x2 y + y 3 )
1.4. Problem 8. Prove the commutative law of addition holds for complex numbers: z1 + z2 = z2 + z1 .
Solution: We will appeal to the commutative law of addition for real numbers.
Suppose z1 = x1 + iy1 and z2 = x2 + iy2 . By definition (Definition 1.1.1 on page
2), z1 + z2 and z2 + z1 are given by:
z1 + z2 = (x1 + x2 ) + i(y1 + y2 )

z2 + z1 = (x2 + x1 ) + i(y2 + y1 )

Thus to prove that z1 + z2 = z2 + z1 , it suffices to prove that:

x1 + x2 = x2 + x1 and y1 + y2 = y2 + y1
Each of those holds by the commutative law of addition for real numbers.
1.5. Problem 11. For z C and a R, prove the following: (a) Re(az) = aRe(z)
and Im(az) = aIm(z); (b) Re(iz) = Im(z) and Im(iz) = Re(z).
Solution to (b): Suppose z = x + iy. Then iz = ix + iiy = ix y = (y) + ix.
Thus, Re(iz) = Re(y + ix). Since both y and x are real numbers, the real part
(resp. imaginary part) of (y + ix) is y (resp. x). Now (b) follows as x = Re(z)
and y = Im(z).
1

SELECTED SOLUTIONS

1.6. Problem 13. Graph the set of points z C which satisfy the equation |z i| =
1

1.7. Problem 14. Graph the set of points z C which satisfy the equation z 2 +
z 2 = 2 If z = x + iy, the equation is the same as (x2 y 2 ) = 1, which is a hyperbola

1.8. Problem 15. Prove that if z is a nonzero complex number, then 1/z = 1/z
1
1
and |1/z| = 1/|z|. If z = x + iy then 1/z = x2 +y
2 (x iy) and 1/z = x2 +y 2 (x + iy)
. Then by Theorem 1.1.7, we have
1/z =

x2

1
1
(x iy) = 2
(x + iy) = 1/z
2
+y
x + y2

1.9. Problem 16. If z is any complex number prove that z/z has modulus one.
We compute
z  z z
 
=1
 =
z
zz
1.10. Problem 17. Prove that every complex number of modulus 1 has the form
cos() + i sin() for some angle .
If z = x + iy has complex modulus 1, then x2 + y 2 = 1. By the definition of
sine and cosine, if is the angle that (x, y) makes with the positive x-axis, then
x = cos() and y = sin().
1.11. Problem 18. Prove that every line or circle in C is the solution set of an
equation of the form
a|z|2 + wz + wz + b = 0
where a and b are real numbers and w is a complex number. Conversely, show that
every equation of this form has a line, circle, point, or the empty set as its solution
set

SELECTED SOLUTIONS

Lets do the case of a circle. If C is a circle of radius r around the center , then
an equation for it in complex numbers is
|z | = r
or equivalently (z )(z ) = r2 . Expanding the left hand side gives
|z|2 z z + ||2 = r2
Dividing both sides by r2 gives an equation for the circle of the required form with
a = r12 , b = ||2 /r2 , and w = /r2 .
2. 1.2
2.1. Problem 1. Show that the sequence (2 + ni)1 converges to 0.
The complex modulus of (2+ni)1 is (n2 +4)1/2 . The limit of complex numbers
(2 + ni)1 is zero because the limit of real numbers limn (n2 + 4)1/2 is zero.
2.2. Problem 2. Prove the following form of the triangle inequality: ||z| |w||
|z w|.
Either |z| = |w|, |z| < |w|, or |z| > |w|. In the first case, the left hand side is
zero and the right-hand side is nonnegative, so the inequality holds. In the second
case, we will use the usual triangle inequality |z + (w z)| |z| + |(w z)|.
||z| |w|| = |w| |z| = |z + (w z)| |z| |z| + |w z| |z| = |w z| = |z w|
The third case is similar to the second case.
2.3. Problem 3. Show that |(z + 5)1 | (|z| 5)1
The book made a mistake. For example when z = 0, the inequality you are
asked to prove is 1/5 1/5. However the inequality is true when |z| > 5, lets
prove that:
The triangle inequality gives
|z| |z + 5| + | 5| = |z + 5| + 5
So |z| 5 |z + 5|. So long as the left-hand side is positive (i.e. |z| > 5), taking
reciprocals reverses the inequality.

2.4. Problem 4. Does the sequence (1/ 2 + i/ 2)n converge?

No, the number we are taking the nth power of is the square root of i, so this
sequence cycles through the 8 numbers

i, i, i i, 1, i, i, i i, 1, i,
over and over again.
2.5. Problem 5. For which values of z does the sequence z n converge?
If |z| < 1, then this sequence converges to 0, since |z|n 0. If |z| > 1, then
it diverges since |z|n . What about when |z| = 1? It converges when z = 1,
but diverges when z is any other number of modulus 1. (To prove this rigorously
is actually pretty difficult: you have to analyze the case where z is a root of unity
and where z is not a root of unity separately. If z is not a root of unity, then
the numbers z n spread out uniformly over the circle as you take higher and higher
powers a precise form of this is called Weyls equidistribution theorem)

SELECTED SOLUTIONS

P
2.6. Problem 10. Does the series n=0 n/(3 + 2ni)
P converge?
No, by the limit test. If limn |zn | =
6 0, then n=0 zn diverges. But
1
lim |n/(3 + 2ni)| =
n
2
P
3
2.7. Problem 11. Does the series n=1 n/(n + 2i) converg?
Yes, by the limit comparison test it converges absolutely. We have


 n 
 n3 +2i 
=1
lim
1
n

and

1
n=1 n2

n2

converges by the p-test.

P
1
2.8. Problem 12. For which values of z does the series n=0 n2 +z
2 converge?
2
2
So long as z 6= n for any positive integer n, (i.e. so long as z 6= in for
any integer n) no term of the series P
involves division by zero. In that case the
1
limit comparison test (comparing to
n2 again) shows that the series converges
absolutely.
P
2.9. Problem 13. Find the radius of convergence for the power series n=0 nz n
The ratio test shows that the radius of convergence is 1
P
2.10. Problem 14. Find the radius of convergence for the power series n=0 z n /3n
The ratio test shows that the radius of convergence is 3
P
2.11. Problem 15. Find the radius of convergence for the power series n=0 z n /(1+
2n )
The ratio test shows that the radius of convergence is 2
P
2.12. Problem 16. Find the radius of convergence of the power series n=0 (n!/nn )z n
The ratio test shows that the series converges when
(n + 1)!/(n + 1)n+1 |z|n+1
<1
n
n!/nn |z|n
lim

or equivalently when
(n + 1)n+1 /(n + 1)!
n
nn /n!
That expression in n on the right simplifies to (1 + 1/n)n , which converges to e as
n . So the radius of convergence is e.
|z| < lim

3. 1.3
3.1. Problem 1. Using the power series for ez , prove that ez = ez for each z C.
We have

X
X
X
ez =
z n /n! =
z n /n! = ez
z n /n! =
n=0

n=0

n=0

using the fact that z is compatible with addition, multiplication, and limits.
3.2. Problem 2.

SELECTED SOLUTIONS

4. Extra problem from second HW

Here are some grid lines in the complex plane:

Here is what their images look like under z 7 z 2 :

SELECTED SOLUTIONS

5. 1.4
5.1. Problems 11-12. 11. For the principal branch of the log function, find log(1
i). 12. Same, for the branch
by the interval [0,2)
determined
i/4
In polar form, 1 i = 2e
. So log(1 i) = log( 2) i/4 + 2n. The
principal branch has n = 0. The branch determined by [0, 2) has n = 1.
5.2. Problem 15. Analyze the function z i defined by (1.4.7) using the principal
branch of the log function. What kind of jump does it have as z crosses the negative
real axis?
In 1.4.7, we are asked to consider z i := exp(i log(z)). For the principal branch
of log, if we write z = rei for < , then
z i = exp(i log(r) ) = exp() (cos(log(r)) + i sin(log(r)))
In particular, the modulus of z i is e . When z crosses the negative real axis, i.e.
when crosses the angle , the modulus jumps from e = 0.04... to e = 23.14....
But the argument of z i (which is log(r)) stays the same along this jump.

5.3. Problem 16. Analyze the function 1 z 2 where the square root function is
defined by the principal branch of the log function. Where does it have discontinuities?

The function w (for the principal

branch) is discontinuous when w is a negative

real number, so the function 1 z 2 is discontinuous when 1 z 2 is a negative real

2
number. Let us determine for which complex numbers z, we have
1 z = r, r a
2
positive real. This happens when z = 1 + r, i.e. when z = 1 + r. So there are
two branch cuts, illustrated in the diagram:

6. 2.1
6.1. Problem 4. Show that the set A = {z C | Re(z) > 0} is open.
Fix w with Re(w) > 0. We must show that for some r > 0, Dr (w) A.
Equivalently, we must show that for some r > 0, the condition |z w| < r implies
the condition Re(z) > 0. In fact, we may take r = Re(w), when Dr (w) is tangent
to the imaginary axis.
6.2. Problem 5. Tell which of the following are open subsets of C, which are
closed, and which are neither:
(a) is open, (b) is neither open nor closed, (c) is closed

SELECTED SOLUTIONS

6.3. Problem 6. Find the interior, closure, and boundary for the set {z C | 1
|z| < 2}
The interior is {z C | 1 < |z| < 2}.
The boundary is {z C | |z| = 1} {z C | |z| = 2}.
The closure is {z C | 1 |z| 2}
6.4. Problem 9. Prove that Re(z), Im(z), and z are continuous functions of z.
For Re(z), we have u(x, y) = x and v(x, y) = 0 both u and v are continuous
functions in x and y, so Re(z) is continuous in z.
For Im(z), we have u(x, y) = 0 and v(x, y) = y both u and v are continuous
functions in x and y, so Im(z) is continuous in z.
For z, we have u(x, y) = x and v(x, y) = y both of these are continuous
functions ofx and y, so z is a continuous function of z.
7. 2.2
7.1. Problem 7. Find the derivative of ez
3
Use the chain rule, its 3z 2 ez

7.2. Problem 8. At what points does log(z)/z have a complex derivative, and what
is the derivative at those points?
If we take the principal branch of log(z), this function is continuous and complex
differentiable so long as arg(z) 6= , i.e. so long as z is not a nonnegative real. We
use the product rule to determine the derivative
1
1
1
1
(log(z)/z)0 = (log(z))0 + log(z)( )0 = 2 log(z) 2
z
z
z
z
7.3. Problem 10. Use the Cauchy-Riemann equations to verify that f (z) = z 2 is
analytic everywhere.
If we write f (x+iy) = (x+iy)2 = u(x, y)+iv(x, y), we find that u(x, y) = x2 y 2
and v(x, y) = 2xy. We compute
ux = 2x

uy = 2y

vx = 2y

vy = 2x

and see that ux = vy and uy = vx .

7.4. Problem 11. Describe all real-valued functions which are analytic (i.e. complex differentiable) on C
If f (z) is real valued, and we write f (x + iy) = u(x, y) + iv(x, y), we must have
v(x, y) = 0 for all values of x, y. But then ux = vy = 0 and uy = vx = 0 by
the Cauchy-Riemann equations, which implies that u(x, y) = C for some constant
C C. Thus every real-valued complex-differntiable function is constant.
7.5. Problem 12. Derive the Cauchy-Riemann equations in polar coordinates
Let us write f (rei ) = u(r, ) + iv(r, ) and f (x + iy) = U (x, y) + iV (x, y). The
usual Cauch-Riemann equations apply to U and V :
Ux = Vy

Uy = Vx

We also have the change of coordinates formula

u(r, ) = U (r cos(), r sin())

v(r, ) = V (r cos(), r sin())

By the multivariable chain rule,

ur = Ux (r cos(), r sin()) cos() + Uy (r cos(), r sin()) sin()

SELECTED SOLUTIONS

and
v = Vx (r cos(), r sin())(r sin()) + Vy (r cos(), r sin())(r cos())
In that last formula, if we replace Vx with Uy and Vy with Ux , we get rur , i.e.
1
rur = v
i.e.ur = v
r
The second formula u = rvr can be obtained from a different application of the
multivariable chain rule.
7.6. 2.3.
7.7. Problem 1. Find
Z

eit dt Write eit = cos(t) + i sin(t), then

Z
Z
it
e dt =
cos(t)dt + i
sin(t)dt

The right-hand side of that is the same as

sin(t)|0 + i( cos(t))|0 = 2i
R1
7.8. Problem 2. Find 0 sin(it)dt
R1
R1
Let us use sin(it) = i sinh(t). Then 0 i sinh(t)dt = i 0 sinh(t)dt = i cosh(t)|10 =
cosh(1) cosh(0) = cosh(1) 1
R 2
7.9. Problem 3. Find 0 eint eimt dt for all integers n and m
R 2
R 2
We compute 0 ei(n+m)t dt = 0 (cos((n+m)t)+i sin((n+m)t))dt. If n+m 6= 0,
this is the same as
i
1
sin((n + m)t)|2
cos((n + m)t)|2
0
0 =0
n+m
n+m
R 2
If n + m = 0, this is the same as 0 1dt = 2.
7.10. Problem 4. Find a path that traces a straight line joining 2 i to 1 + 3i
To connect z0 and z1 by a straight line path whose domain is [0, 1], use (t) =
z1 t + z0 (1 t). In this case thats
(t) = (1 + 3i)t + (2 i)(1 t) = (2 i) + t(3 + 4i)