NPTEL web course

on
Complex Analysis

A. Swaminathan
I.I.T. Roorkee, India

and

V.K. Katiyar
I.I.T. Roorkee, India

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 Complex Analysis

Module: 6: Residue Calculus

Lecture: 1: Residue at a Singularity

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 Complex Analysis

Residue Calculus

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 Residue calculus

Residue at a singularity

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 Residue calculus

Definition
Let f (z) has a Laurent series expansion about the point z0 . The
coefficient of 1/(z − z0 ) in the Laurent series expansion is called
residue of f (z) and is denoted as Res[f (z);z0 ].

From the Laurent series expansion we have

Z
1 f (z)dz
bn = , n = 1, 2, . . . .
2πi c (z − z0 )−n+1

For n = 1 this gives

Z
1
Res[f (z); z0 ] := b1 = f (z)dz.
2πi c

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 Residue calculus

Example
e−z
Z
To find the value of the integral dz, where c = {z : |z| = 2}.
c (z − 1)2

e−z
The Laurent series expansion of is
(z − 1)2
∞
e−z X (−1)n
= (z − 1)n−2 , 0 < |z − 1| < ∞.
(z − 1)2 n!e
n=0

The coefficient of 1/(z − 1) is −1/e.

e−z −2πi
Z
Hence 2
dz = .
c (z − 1) e

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 Residue calculus

Theorem
Residue Theorem: Let C be a positively simple closed contour within
and on which a function f is analytic except for a finite number of
isolated singular points z1 , z2 , . . . , zn interior to C. If
B1 , B2 , . . . , Bn denote the residues of f at those respective points, then
Z
f (z) dz = 2πi(B1 + B2 + . . . + Bn ).
C

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 Residue calculus

C1 Cn
C2
C
z1 zn
z2

O x

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 Residue calculus

Note
The residue theorem is of little value unless we have a simple
procedure to determine residues. In the case of Essential
singularity there is no such procedure and hence the residue
theorem is seldom used in the presence of essential singularities.
When the function has poles, the situation is entirely different. We
look at the singular part of the expansion of f (z) about z = z0 (a
pole), then

B1 B2 Bn
f (z) = + + ... + + φ(z)
z − z0 (z − z0 )2 (z − z0 )n

and we find a residue of f at z0 is B1 , which is the coefficient of

1 B1
. Also we see that by omitting the term , the rest of
z − z0 z − z0
the expansion is entirely a derivative.

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 Residue calculus

Note (continued . . . )
For simple poles the method of finding the residue is easy and the
residue is equal to the value of (z − α)f (z) as z → α.

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 Residue calculus

Examples using Laurent series

Example
1
Find the residue of z −→ at 1.
z(z − 1)
Solution: We expand the given function in powers of z − 1. But

1
= 1 − (z − 1) + (z − 1)2 − (z − 1)3 + . . . , if |z − 1| < 1,
z
so that
1 1 1
= − + 1 − (z − 1) + . . .
z(z − 1)2 (z − 1)2 z − 1

The residue is therefore −1.

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 Residue calculus
Examples using Laurent series

Example
zeiz
Find the residue of z −→ , at π.
(z − π)2
Solution: Let z = π + h. Then

zeiz 1
2
= 2 [(π + h)ei(π+h) ]
(z − π) h
π+h
= 2 eiπ eih
h
π+h (ih)2
=− (1 + ih + + . . .)
h2 2!
The coefficient of h−1 in this expansion is −1 − iπ, and so the residue
of z −→ zeiz /(z − π)2 at π is −1 − iπ.
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 Residue calculus

Unsolved examples using Laurent series

Example
Find the residue of
ez
1. z −→ n , where n is a positive integer, at the point 0.
z
(z 2 + 1)n
2. z −→ , where n is a positive integer, at the point 0.
z n+1
1
3. z −→ 2 , at 0.
z sinz

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 Residue calculus

Examples using Method of simple pole

Theorem
If the function f has a simple pole at α, then the residue of f at α,
Res(f , α), is given by

Res(f , α) = lim (z − α)f (z).

z→α

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 Residue calculus

Examples using Method of simple pole

Theorem
g(z)
If f (z) = , where g(α) 6= 0, h(α) = 0, then the residue of f at α is
h(z)
g(α)
equal to 0 .
h (α)

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 Residue calculus

Examples using Method of higher order poles

Let us start with poles of order two. With the help of Laurent
series we isolate the term a−1 to get the formula
 
d 2
a−1 = lim (f (z)(z − α) ) .
z→α dz

We can give a general formula for pole of order m(> 2) as

 m−1 
1 d m
lim (f (z)(z − α) ) .
(m − 1)! z→α dz m−1

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 Residue calculus

Examples using Method of poles

Example
1
Find the residue of f : z −→ at i.
z2 + 1
Solution: By the formula,

1 1 1
Res(f , i) = lim (z − i). = lim = .
z→i z2 + 1 z→i z + i 2i

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 Residue calculus

Examples using Method of poles

Example
π
Find the residue of z −→ at n, where n is an integer.
sin πz
Solution: Let g(z) = π; h(z) = sin πz. Then g(n) = π, h(n) = 0 and
h0 (n) = π cos πn.
By the residue theorem, the residue is

g(n) π
= = (−1)n .
h0 (n) π cos πn

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 Residue calculus

Examples using Method of poles

Example
z2
Find the residue of the function z −→ at the points eiπ/4 and
z4 + 1
e−iπ/4 .
Solution: The residue of the function at eiπ/4 is

eiπ/2 1
= e−iπ/4 ,
4e3iπ/4 4
1 iπ/4
and its residue at eiπ/4 is e .
4

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 Residue calculus

Note
We note that e−iπ/4 is the complex conjugate of eiπ/4 , and that the
residues are also conjugates of each other.This can be generalized as,
if f is a function such that f (z) is real whenever z is real, and if the
complex conjugates α and α are poles of f , then the residues of f at α
and α are conjugate complex numbers.

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 Residue calculus

Examples using Method of poles

Example
z +2
Find the residue of f : z −→ at 0.
z 3 (z + 4)
Solution: The function f has a pole of order three at 0, and so the
residue is equal to
 2    
1 d z +2 1 −4 1
lim 2
= lim 3
=− .
2! z→0 dz z +4 2! z→0 (z + 4) 32

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 Residue calculus

Unsolved examples using Method of poles

Example
Find the residue of
zeiz
1. z −→ , α = π;
(z − π)2
1 + ez
2. z −→ , α = 0.
z4

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