Questions tagged [cv.complex-variables]

Complex analysis, holomorphic functions, automorphic group actions and forms, pseudoconvexity, complex geometry, analytic spaces, analytic sheaves.

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51 answers
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Ways to prove the fundamental theorem of algebra

This seems to be a favorite question everywhere, including Princeton quals. How many ways are there? Please give a new way in each answer, and if possible give reference. I start by giving two: ...
23 votes
1 answer
5k views

On equation $f(z+1)-f(z)=f'(z)$

Original Problem If $f$ is an entire function such that $$ f(z+1)-f(z)=f'(z) $$ for all $z$. Is there a non-trivial solution? ($f(z)=az+b$ is trivial) And here is something uncertainty If we use ...
Lwins's user avatar
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15 votes
2 answers
1k views

Asymptotic approximation of $x^\alpha$ by entire functions

Given a non-integral real $\alpha$, is there an entire (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entire_function) function $h(x)$ such that $x^{-\alpha}h(x)\longrightarrow 1$ for $x\rightarrow+\infty$ (with $...
Roland Bacher's user avatar
426 votes
16 answers
64k views

Why do roots of polynomials tend to have absolute value close to 1?

While playing around with Mathematica I noticed that most polynomials with real coefficients seem to have most complex zeroes very near the unit circle. For instance, if we plot all the roots of a ...
Andrej Bauer's user avatar
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21 votes
4 answers
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Is the Euler product formula always divergent for 0<Re(s)<1?

It is known that the Euler product formula converges for $\Re(s)>1$ (and there it represents the Riemann zeta function). My question: Is the Euler product always divergent for $0 < \Re(s) < ...
Seongsoo Choi's user avatar
74 votes
15 answers
17k views

$f(f(x))=\exp(x)-1$ and other functions "just in the middle" between linear and exponential

The question is about the function $f(x)$ so that $f(f(x))=\exp (x)-1$. The question is open ended and it was discussed quite recently in the comment thread in Aaronson's blog here http://...
Gil Kalai's user avatar
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16 votes
3 answers
3k views

When is a holomorphic submersion with isomorphic fibers locally trivial?

A justly celebrated theorem by Ehresmann states that a proper smooth submersion $\pi: X\to S$ between smooth manifolds is locally trivial in the sense that every point $s\in S$ downstairs has a ...
Georges Elencwajg's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
1k views

Extending an assignment property from Q to R (or C)

Property of any odd number of nonnegative integers: Given $x_1 \leq \cdots \leq x_{2n + 1}$ with each $x_i \in \mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$, suppose that for any $x_i$ we remove, the remaining numbers can be ...
Benjamin Dickman's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
749 views

Does $P_xP_y+Q_xQ_y=0 \implies$ "non-existence of limit cycle" for $P\partial_x+Q\partial_y$"? (Complex dilatation and limit cycle theory)

Let $X=P\partial_x+Q\partial_y$ be a vector field on the plane $\mathbb{R}^2$. Assume that we have :$$P_xP_y+Q_xQ_y=0$$ Does this imply that the vector field $X$ is a divergence-free vector field ...
Ali Taghavi's user avatar
72 votes
10 answers
17k views

Why does the Gamma-function complete the Riemann Zeta function?

Defining $$\xi(s) := \pi^{-s/2}\ \Gamma\left(\frac{s}{2}\right)\ \zeta(s)$$ yields $\xi(s) = \xi(1 - s)$ (where $\zeta$ is the Riemann Zeta function). Is there any conceptual explanation - or ...
Peter Arndt's user avatar
30 votes
11 answers
13k views

Uniformization theorem for Riemann surfaces

How does one prove that every simply connected Riemann surface is conformally equivalent to the open unit disk, the complex plane, or the Riemann sphere, and these are not conformally equivalent to ...
26 votes
3 answers
1k views

Kasteleyn's formula for domino tilings generalized?

It seems a marvel when a bunch of irrational numbers "conspire" to become rational, even better an integer. An elementary example is $\prod_{j=1}^n4\cos^2\left(\pi j/(2n+1)\right)=1$. Kasteleyn's ...
T. Amdeberhan's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
2k views

Dirichlet series expansion of an analytic function

Let $F(s)=\sum_{n\geq 1}\frac{a_n}{n^s}$ be a Dirichlet series with (finite) abscissa of absolute convergence $\sigma_a$. It can be shown that $\forall \sigma >\sigma_a:$ $$\lim_{T\to\infty}\frac{1}...
M.G.'s user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
428 views

On the integral $I_s =\int_{1}^{\infty} (\pi(x)-Li(x))x^{-s-1} dx$

Define $\pi(x)$ to be the prime counting function and Li(x) the logarithmic integral. Let $I_s$ be defined as above. Is $I_s$ known to be convergent for any real number $s<1$ ?
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86 votes
44 answers
20k views

Demystifying complex numbers

At the end of this month I start teaching complex analysis to 2nd year undergraduates, mostly from engineering but some from science and maths. The main applications for them in future studies are ...
29 votes
4 answers
4k views

Entire function bounded at every line

I would like to ask about, does there exists an entire function which is bounded on every line parallel to $x$ - axis , but unbounded on the $x$ - axis.
FisiaiLusia's user avatar
23 votes
1 answer
3k views

More mysteries about the zeros of the Riemann zeta function

Update on 12/26/2020: I added the Appendix at the bottom: simplified formula for $|\zeta(s)|^2$, when $\frac{1}{2}<\Re(s)<1$. Update on 1/5/2020: I added the section "more interesting ...
Vincent Granville's user avatar
20 votes
4 answers
6k views

Conformal maps in higher dimensions

In dimension 2 we know by the Riemann mapping theorem that any simply connected domain ( $\neq \mathbb{R}^{2}$) can be mapped bijectively to the unit disk with a function that preserves angles between ...
Johan 's user avatar
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18 votes
3 answers
2k views

Does Riemann map depend continuously on the domain?

I've always taken this for granted until recently: In the simplest case, given Jordan curve $C \subseteq \mathbb{C}$ containing a neighborhood of $\bar{0}$ in its interior. Given parametrizations $\...
Conan Wu's user avatar
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15 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is this lower bound for a norm of some complex matrices true?

Let $A = [a_{ij}]_{n\times n}$ be a Hermitian matrix, such that $|a_{ij}| =1$ for $i \neq j$, and $a_{ii} = 0$ for each $i$. I am interested in a tight lower bound of $\|A\|_*:=\sum_{i=1}^n |\lambda_i(...
Mahdi's user avatar
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12 votes
3 answers
750 views

Can the equation $1+z+z^2=z^n$ for natural $n$ have multiple complex roots $z$?

The question is stated in the title of this post. It is easy to see that, if $z$ is a multiple root of $p_n(z):=1+z+z^2-z^n$, then $(n-2)z^2+(n-1)z+n=0$, so that we can successively express $z^2,\dots,...
Iosif Pinelis's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
1k views

Does this product have analytic continuation?

The product $$ F(s)=\prod_{p}\frac1{(1-p^{-s})^p}, $$ converges for $\mathrm{Re}(s)>2$, when $p$ runs over all primes. Does it admit analytic continuation beyond the line $\mathrm{Re}(s)=2$? Any ...
user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

Surjective entire functions without critical points

It is easy to construct surjective locally univalent holomorphic functions $f: {\mathbb D}\to {\mathbb C}$, where ${\mathbb D}$ is the open unit disk. I am pretty sure that the answer to the ...
Moishe Kohan's user avatar
  • 9,624
104 votes
6 answers
19k views

Why does the Riemann zeta function have non-trivial zeros?

This is a very basic question of course, and exposes my serious ignorance of analytic number theory, but what I am looking for is a good intuitive explanation rather than a formal proof (though a ...
gowers's user avatar
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75 votes
3 answers
9k views

Does a power series converging everywhere on its circle of convergence define a continuous function?

Consider a complex power series $\sum a_n z^n \in \mathbb C[[z]]$ with radius of convergence $0\lt r\lt\infty$ and suppose that for every $w$ with $\mid w\mid =r$ the series $\sum a_n w^n $ converges ....
Georges Elencwajg's user avatar
72 votes
9 answers
16k views

Why do functions in complex analysis behave so well? (as opposed to functions in real analysis)

Complex analytic functions show rigid behavior while real-valued smooth functions are flexible. Why is this the case?
Yoo's user avatar
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65 votes
1 answer
12k views

Behaviour of power series on their circle of convergence

I asked myself the following question while preparing a course on power series for 2nd year students. Let $F$ be the set of power series with convergence radius equal to $1$. What subsets $S$ of the ...
Piotr's user avatar
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49 votes
4 answers
6k views

If the Riemann Hypothesis fails, must it fail infinitely often?

That is must there either be no non-trivial zeros off the critical line or infinitely many? I'm sure that no one believes otherwise, but I've never seen a theorem in the literature addressing this. ...
David Feldman's user avatar
47 votes
3 answers
6k views

Absolute value inequality for complex numbers

I asked this question on stackexchange, but despite much effort on my part have been unsuccesful in finding a solution. Does the inequality $$2(|a|+|b|+|c|) \leq |a+b+c|+|a+b-c|+|a+c-b|+|b+c-a|$$ ...
Rene Schipperus's user avatar
45 votes
5 answers
8k views

Liouville's theorem with your bare hands

Liouville's theorem from complex analysis states that a holomorphic function $f(z)$ on the plane that is bounded in magnitude is constant. The usual proof uses the Cauchy integral formula. But this ...
Jonah Sinick's user avatar
  • 6,912
41 votes
2 answers
4k views

Must the set of lines through the origin on which a nonconstant entire function is bounded be finite?

If an entire function is bounded for all $z \in \mathbb{C}$, than it's a constant by Liouville's theorem. Of course an entire function can be bounded on lines through the origin $z=r \exp(i \phi), \...
Andreas Rüdinger's user avatar
30 votes
4 answers
3k views

Distribution of roots of complex polynomials

I generated random quadratic and cubic polynomials with coefficients in $\mathbb{C}$ uniformly distributed in the unit disk $|z| \le 1$. The distribution of the roots of 10000 of these polynomials are ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
28 votes
2 answers
1k views

Are there irreducible polynomials with all zeros on two concentric circles?

This is somewhat similar to this recent question, but extending in a different direction. Let $f(x)$ be an irreducible polynomial of degree $n$ with integer coefficients. Call such $f$ a bicycle ...
Wolfgang's user avatar
  • 13.2k
28 votes
5 answers
3k views

Continuous + holomorphic on a dense open => holomorphic?

Let D ⊂ ℂ be the closed unit disc in the complex plane, and let C be a continuously embedded path in D between the points -1 and 1. The curve C splits D into two halfs $D_1$ and $D_2$. Let ...
André Henriques's user avatar
28 votes
7 answers
7k views

Elementary Proof of Riemann-Roch for Compact Riemann Surfaces

I am supposed to give a talk about the Riemann-Roch theorem to a seminar of first and second year graduate students. I want to do Riemann-Roch for compact Riemann surfaces, but I am open to perhaps ...
user avatar
26 votes
3 answers
1k views

Universality of zeta- and L-functions

Voronin´s Universality Theorem (for the Riemann zeta-Function) according to Wikipedia: Let $U$ be a compact subset of the "critical half-strip" $\{s\in\mathbb{C}:\frac{1}{2}<Re(s)<1\}$ with ...
M.G.'s user avatar
  • 6,683
22 votes
2 answers
901 views

Does Rademacher's convergent series for p(n) define an analytic function?

Let $p(n)$ be the number of partitions of $n\geq 0$. We can let $n$ be any complex number in Rademacher's convergent infinite series for $p(n)$. (See e.g. equation (24) here.) For what $n$ does it ...
Richard Stanley's user avatar
21 votes
0 answers
1k views

Cartan–Oka vanishing in one variable without $\overline{\partial}$?

This is a literature question, about possible proofs of some very basic results in complex analysis. Some key facts about holomorphic functions are proved via reduction to smooth functions, using $\...
Peter Scholze's user avatar
20 votes
2 answers
1k views

Belyi functions on non-compact surfaces; or: Building Riemann surfaces from equilateral triangles

Some background on (compact) Belyi surfaces $\newcommand{\Ch}{\hat{\mathbb{C}}}$ A compact Riemann surface $X$ is called a Belyi surface if there exists a branched covering map $f:X\to \Ch$ such that $...
Lasse Rempe's user avatar
  • 6,455
19 votes
2 answers
8k views

Does module Hom commute with tensor product in the second variable?

Let $A$ be a commutative ring, and $L, M, N$ be $A$-modules. Then is it true that $$\text{Hom}_A (L, M)\otimes_A N \cong \text{Hom}_A (L, M\otimes_A N)$$ as $A$-modules? (Note that there is a ...
Lao-tzu's user avatar
  • 1,856
19 votes
6 answers
1k views

What is the relationship between $\sum_{n=0}^\infty f(n) x^n$ and $-\sum_{n=1}^\infty f(-n) x^{-n}$?

Background Taking a relatively arbitrary combination of exponential and polynomial terms, for instance $$\sum_{n=0}^\infty \left(n^{2}\sin\left(n\right)+n\cos\left(3n-2\right)\right)\cos\left(5n+1\...
Caleb Briggs's user avatar
  • 1,662
18 votes
2 answers
2k views

Homotopy types of schemes

Let $X$ be a scheme over $\mathbb{C}$. When does the topological space $X\left(\mathbb{C}\right)$ of $\mathbb{C}$-points have the homotopy type of a finite CW-complex? When does the topological ...
David Carchedi's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
2k views

What are some of the earliest examples of analytic continuation?

I'm wondering how Riemann knew that $\zeta(z)$ could be extended to a larger domain. In particular, who was the first person to explicitly extend the domain of a complex valued function and what was ...
Mustafa Said's user avatar
  • 3,679
15 votes
3 answers
4k views

Elementary Luroth theorem proof?

Hi, everyone! I'm trying to explain the proof of Luroth theorem (every field $L$, s.t. $K\subset L\subset K(t)$, is isomorphic to $K(t)$) to the high-school audience. I'm not going to use such ...
zroslav's user avatar
  • 1,412
15 votes
5 answers
2k views

Zeros of the derivative of Riemann's $\xi$-function

The Riemann xi function $\xi(s)$ is defined as $$ \xi(s)=\frac12 s(s-1)\pi^{-s/2}\Gamma(s/2)\zeta(s). $$ It is an entire function whose zeros are precisely those of $\zeta(s)$. Since $\xi$ is real ...
Stopple's user avatar
  • 10.8k
14 votes
1 answer
1k views

What is the analytic continuation of $\varphi(s)=\sum_{n \ge 1} e^{-n^s}?$

My research has lead me to the following function that I'm trying to continue. 3 Months ago I posted this question to MSE, and have placed 3 bounties on the question, but haven't received an answer, ...
geocalc33's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
880 views

Sendov's conjecture

It has been more than fifty years for famous Sendov's conjecture which states that if $p(z)$ is a polynomial of degree $n$ having all its zeros in the unit disc $|z|\leq 1$ then each of the n ...
user159888's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
2k views

Seeking a Geometric Proof of a Generalized Alternating Series' Convergence

Let $z \in \mathbb{C} \backslash \lbrace 1 \rbrace$ with $|z| = 1$. We consider the following infinite series, which necessarily converges: $$S(z) := \sum_{n = 1}^{\infty}\frac{z^n}{n}$$ Note that $S(...
Benjamin Dickman's user avatar
12 votes
6 answers
1k views

Functions holomorphic on a region minus a Cantor set

Let $X$ and $Y$ be simply connected open regions of $\mathbb{C}$, and let $Z \subset X$ be a Cantor set. Assume we have a homeomorphism $f$ from $X$ to $Y$, which is holomorphic on $X \setminus Z$. Is ...
uncooltoby's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
1k views

Fourier transform of the critical line of zeta?

This was asked on MSE and got a lot of upvotes but no answers, so I'm posting it here. Is there a known expression for the (distributional) Fourier transform of the Riemann zeta function, taken along ...
Mike Battaglia's user avatar

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