Republic of the Philippines

ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY

Cabagan Campus

COLLEGE OF DEVELOPMENTAL COMMUNICATIONS, ARTS & SCIENCES

Department of Natural Arts & Sciences

COMPLEX ANALYSIS
(FINALS)

MODULE No. M-07

TITLE: Topic: Residues and Poles

RESIDUES AND POLES

Residues

Recall that a point 𝑧0 is called a singular point of a function 𝑓 if 𝑓 is not analytic at 𝑧0 but

is analytic at some point in every neighborhood of 𝑧0 .

Definition:

A singular point of a function f is called an isolated singular point if there is a deleted

neighborhood 0 < |𝑧 − 𝑧0 | < ∈ of 𝑧0 throughout which f is analytic.

𝑧−1
Example 1. The function 𝑓(𝑧) = 𝑧(𝑧 2−1) has three singular points 𝑧 = 0, 𝑧 = ±1. These

singular points are isolated.

𝑧 − 1
𝑓(𝑧) =
𝑧(𝑧 2 − 1)

Example 2. Consider the function

3 1 5𝑖 1
𝑓(𝑧) = + 2+ +
𝑧 𝑧 𝑧 − 2 𝑧 − 1 − 2𝑖

which is analytic except at the points 𝑧0 = 0, 𝑧1 = 2, 𝑧2 = 1 + 2𝑖.

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Example 3 (Simple pole):

1 1 1
𝑓(𝑧) = 𝑒 2𝑧 = 1 + + ….
2𝑧 2(2𝑧)2
1
has an isolated singularity at 0. From the Laurent series we see that 𝑅𝑒𝑠(𝑓, 0) = .
2

Example 4 (Simple pole):

Let

1
𝑓(𝑧) = −
𝑧(1 − 𝑧)

then we have the following Laurent expansions for 𝑓 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑧 = 0 .

On 0 < |𝑧| < 1 ∶

1 1 1
𝑓(𝑧) = − ∙ = − (1 + 𝑧 + 𝑧 2 + ⋯ )
𝑧 (1 − 𝑧) 𝑧

Therefore the pole 𝑎𝑡 𝑧 = 0 is simple and 𝑅𝑒𝑠(𝑓, 0) = −1 .

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Example 5: Using Partial Fractions

Let
𝑧
𝑓(𝑧) =
𝑧2 + 1

Find the poles and residues of f .

Solution:
𝑧 𝑧
𝑓(𝑧) = =
𝑧 2 + 1 (𝑧 + 𝑖)(𝑧 − 𝑖)

Using partial fractions we write

𝑧 𝐴 𝐵
= +
(𝑧 + 𝑖)(𝑧 − 𝑖) (𝑧 + 𝑖) (𝑧 − 𝑖)

Multiplying (𝑧 + 𝑖)(𝑧 − 𝑖) on each side of the equation, we get

𝑧 = 𝐴(𝑧 − 𝑖) + 𝐵(𝑧 + 𝑖) ; 𝒛 = ±𝒊

Considering 𝒛 = +𝒊 we have Considering 𝒛 = −𝒊 we have

𝑧 = 𝐴(𝑧 − 𝑖) + 𝐵(𝑧 + 𝑖) 𝑧 = 𝐴(𝑧 − 𝑖) + 𝐵(𝑧 + 𝑖)

𝑖 = 𝐴(𝑖 − 𝑖) + 𝐵(𝑖 + 𝑖) −𝑖 = 𝐴(−𝑖 − 𝑖) + 𝐵(−𝑖 + 𝑖)

𝑖 = 𝐴(0) + 𝐵(2𝑖) −𝑖 = 𝐴(−2𝑖) + 𝐵(0)

𝑖 −𝑖
=𝐵 =𝐴
2𝑖 −2𝑖

1 1
𝐵=2 𝐴=2

Going back to our partial fraction and substituting A and B,

𝑧 𝐴 𝐵 1/2 1/2
= + = +
(𝑧 + 𝑖)(𝑧 − 𝑖) (𝑧 + 𝑖) (𝑧 − 𝑖) (𝑧 + 𝑖) (𝑧 − 𝑖)

The poles are 𝒂𝒕 𝒛 = ±𝒊 . We compute the residues at each pole:

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𝐴𝑡 𝑧 = −𝑖 ∶

1/2
𝑓(𝑧) = + 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑦𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑡 𝑖.
(𝑧 + 𝑖)

Therefore the pole is simple and 𝑹𝒆𝒔(𝒇, −𝒊) = 𝟏/𝟐 .

𝐴𝑡 𝑧 = 𝑖 ∶

1/2
𝑓(𝑧) = + 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑦𝑡𝑖𝑐 𝑎𝑡 𝑖.
(𝑧 − 𝑖)

Therefore the pole is simple and 𝑹𝒆𝒔(𝒇, 𝒊) = 𝟏/𝟐 .

Example 6: Using Partial Fractions

1
𝑓(𝑧) =
(𝑧 − 1)2 (𝑧 + 2)

Solution:

sing partial fractions we write

1 𝐴 𝐵
= +
(𝑧 − 1)2 (𝑧 + 2) (𝑧 − 1)2 (𝑧 + 2)

Multiplying (𝑧 − 1)2 (𝑧 + 2) on each side of the equation, we get

1 = 𝐴(𝑧 + 2) + 𝐵(𝑧 − 1)2 ; 𝑧 = −2 𝑎𝑛𝑑 1

Considering 𝒛 = −𝟐 we have Considering 𝒛 = 𝟏 we have

1 = 𝐴(𝑧 + 2) + 𝐵(𝑧 − 1)2 1 = 𝐴(𝑧 + 2) + 𝐵(𝑧 − 1)2

1 = 𝐴(−2 + 2) + 𝐵(−2 − 1)2 1 = 𝐴(1 + 2) + 𝐵(1 − 1)2

1 = 𝐴(0) + 𝐵(−3)2 1 = 𝐴(3) + 𝐵(0)2

1 = 𝐵(9) 1 = 𝐴(3)
1 1
𝐵=9 𝐴=3

Going back to our partial fraction and substituting A and B,

1 𝐴 𝐵 1/3 1/9
= + = +
(𝑧 − 1)2 (𝑧 + 2) (𝑧 − 1)2 (𝑧 + 2) (𝑧 − 1)2 (𝑧 + 2)

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The poles are 𝒂𝒕 𝒛 = −𝟐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝟏 . We compute the residues at each pole:

𝐴𝑡 𝑧 = 1 ∶

1/3
𝑓(𝑧) =
(𝑧 − 1)2

Therefore the pole is order 2 and 𝑹𝒆𝒔(𝒇, 𝟏) = 𝟏/𝟑 .

𝐴𝑡 𝑧 = −2 ∶

1/9
(𝑧 + 2)

Therefore the pole is simple and 𝑹𝒆𝒔(𝒇, −𝟐) = 𝟏/𝟗 .

Practice Problem: Find the poles and residues of f

𝟑(𝟏+𝒊𝒛)
1. 𝒇(𝒛) = 𝒛(𝒛−𝟑𝒊)

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Examples: Let C be the circle with radius 4 centered at the origin and E the green curve drawn.

3(1+𝑖𝑧)
The function 𝑓(𝑧) = 𝑧(𝑧−3𝑖) has simple poles at 𝑧1 = 0 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑧2 = 3𝑖. There are several ways to

compute the residues and thus the integrals ∮𝑐 𝑓(𝑧)𝑑𝑧 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ∮𝐸 𝑓(𝑧)𝑑𝑧

By Partial fractions:

𝑖 2𝑖
𝑓(𝑧) = + ⇒ Res 𝑓(𝑧) = 𝑖 , Res 𝑓(𝑧) = 2𝑖,
𝑧 𝑧 − 3𝑖 𝑧=0 𝑧=3𝑖

⇒ ∮ 𝑓(𝑧)𝑑𝑧 = 2𝜋𝑖(𝑖 + 2𝑖) = −6𝜋

𝑐

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Problem Set:

1. Let

𝟐 + 𝒛 + 𝒛𝟐
𝒇(𝒛) =
(𝒛 − 𝟐)(𝒛 − 𝟑)(𝒛 − 𝟒)(𝒛 − 𝟓)

Show all the poles are simple and compute their residues.

2. Let

𝟏
𝒇(𝒛) =
𝒛(𝒛𝟐 + 𝟏)(𝒛 − 𝟐)𝟐

Identify all the poles and say which ones are simple.

Residues at finite poles

For higher-order poles we can make statements similar to those for simple poles, but the

formulas and computations are more involved. The general principle is the following

References:

• http://site.iugaza.edu.ps/asakka/files/2010/02/Ch6-Student-copy.pdf

• https://math.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Analysis/Complex_Variables_with_Applicati

ons_(Orloff)/09%3A_Residue_Theorem/9.04%3A_Residues

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