KOÇ UNIVERSITY, SPRING 2014

MATH 401, MIDTERM-1, MARCH 3

Instructor: BURAK OZBAGCI

TIME: 75 Minutes

————–Solutions by: KARATUĞ OZAN BiRCAN————–

PROBLEM 1 (20 points): Let D be a region, i.e., an open connected set in

C.
(a) Suppose that u(x, y) : D → R has vanishing partial derivatives ux
and uy at every point in D. Show that u is constant on D.

Solution: Note that any two points in a region can be connected by a

polygonal line containing only horizontal and vertical line segments. Let
(a, b) and (c, d) be any two points in D. Then there exists a polygonal line
connecting (a, b) and (c, d). Since ux and uy vanish at every point, by the
mean value theorem, the change in u between the successive vertices is 0.

To be more precise, if (a, b) is connected to (a + h, b) by a horizontal line

segment, then u(a + h, b) − u(a, b) = ux (a + th, b) for some 0 ≤ t ≤ 1. But
since ux = 0 at every point in D, we conclude that u(a + h, b) = u(a, b).
Similarly the same holds in the vertical direction. Thus u(a, b) = u(c, d) and
hence u is constant on D.

(b) Suppose that f : D → C is an analytic function such that f 0 (z) = 0

for every z ∈ D. Show that f is constant on D.

Solution: Suppose that f = u + iv. Since f 0 is identically zero in D, we

obtain that the partial derivatives ux , uy , vx and vy are zero throughout D.
Then by part (a), we conclude that f is constant on D.

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(c) Suppose that f : D → C is an analytic function such that at every

point z ∈ D, either f (z) = 0 or f 0 (z) = 0. Show that f is constant on
D.

Solution: Note that f 2 is analytic on D and (f 2 (z))0 = 2f (z)f 0 (z). Since

either f (z) = 0 or f 0 (z) = 0, we obtain (f 2 (z))0 = 0 for every z ∈ D. Then by
part (b), we conclude that f 2 is constant which implies that |f |2 , and hence
|f | is constant. By part (d), the function f is constant on D.

(d) Let f : D → C be an analytic function. Prove that if |f | is con-

stant on D, then so is f .

Solution: If |f | = 0, then f = 0. So assume that |f | = |u + iv| = c > 0 for

some constant c. Then u2 + v 2 = c. Taking the partial derivatives gives us the
equations uux + vvx = 0 and uuy + vvy = 0. Now using the Cauchy-Riemann
equations, we obtain uux − vuy = 0 and uuy + vux = 0. Then (uux − vuy )2 =
u2 u2x − 2uvux uy + v 2 u2y = 0 and (uuy + vux )2 = u2 u2y + 2uvux uy + v 2 u2x = 0.
Hence we obtain, (u2 + v 2 )(u2x + u2y ) = c(u2x + u2y ) = 0 and this implies that
ux = 0 and uy = 0. Moreover by the Cauchy-Riemann equations, vx = vy = 0.
Hence f is constant by part (b).

PROBLEM 2 (10 points):

1
Let f (z) = 3 and let γ(t) = Reit (0 ≤ t ≤ π). Show that
z +1

Z
 
lim  f (z)dz  = 0.
R→∞ γ

R  R  
Solution: Note that | γ f (z)dz  ≤ γ f (z)dz. Also by the triangle in-
equality, we obtain |z 3 + 1| + | − 1| ≥ |z 3 |. Therefore we get |z 3 + 1| ≥ |z 3 | − 1
and this implies the inequality |z 31+1| ≤ |z 31|−1 .
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Using the M-L inequality, we obtain

Z Z Z
  1 1 1
f (z)dz =
3
dz ≤ 3
dz ≤ 3 (πR).
γ γ |z + 1| γ |z | − 1 R −1
R  R  
Combining with the inequality | γ f (z)dz  ≤ γ f (z)dz and taking the
limit gives the desired result.

eiz − e−iz eiz + e−iz

PROBLEM 3 (15 points) Define sin z = and cos z = .
2i 2
Show that for all z, w ∈ C,
cos(z + w) = cos z cos w − sin z sin w.

Solution: Using the definitions of the cosine function,

ei(z+w) + e−i(z+w)
cos(z + w) = .
2
On the other hand, we have
eiz + e−iz eiw + e−iw ei(z+w) + ei(z−w) + ei(−z+w) + ei(−z−w)
cos z cos w = =
2 2 4
and

eiz − e−iz eiw − e−iw ei(z+w) − ei(z−w) − ei(−z+w) + ei(−z−w)

sin z sin w = =− .
2i 2i 4
2ei(z+w) + 2e−i(z+w) ei(z+w) + e−i(z+w)
Hence cos z cos w − sin z sin w = = , as
4 2
desired.

PROBLEM 4 (20 points):

(a) Determine the radius of convergence of the power series
∞
X z 2n
f (z) = 2
.
n=0
(n!)
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(b) Show that

z 2 f 00 (z) + zf 0 (z) = 4z 2 f (z).

Solution: We use ratio test.

 z 2n+2 ((n)!)2   z2 
lim   = lim  =0
  
n→∞ ((n + 1)!) 2 z 2n n→∞ (n + 1) 2

and hence the power series converges for all z.

Now, we show that the series satisfies the differential equation. Note that
2nz 2n−1 P∞ (2n)(2n − 1)z 2n−2
f 0 (z) = ∞ 00
P
n=1 and f (z) = n=1 . Hence we obtain
(n!)2 (n!)2
(2n)(2n − 1)z 2n P∞ 2nz 2n P∞ (2n)(2n)z 2n
z 2 f 00 (z)+zf 0 (z) = ∞
P
n=1 + n=1 = n=1 =
(n!)2 (n!)2 (n!)2
P∞ 4z 2n P∞ 4z 2n+2 2
P∞ z 2n
n=1 2
= n=0 2
= 4z n=0 2
= 4z 2 f (z).
((n − 1)!) (n!) (n!)

PROBLEM 5 (20 points): Consider the function f : C → C defined by


0 if x = y = 0
3 3 3 3
f (x + iy) = x −y x +y
 2 + i otherwise
x + y2 x2 + y 2
(a) (2 points) Express f (x + iy) as u(x, y) + iv(x, y). ( Write out the
functions u(x, y) and v(x, y) explicitly!)

Solution: Note that 

0 if x = y = 0
u(x, y) = x3 − y 3
 2 otherwise
x + y2
and

0 if x = y = 0
v(x, y) = x3 + y 3
 2 otherwise.
x + y2
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(b) (3 points) Show that ux (0, 0), uy (0, 0), vx (0, 0), vy (0, 0) exist.

Solution: We calculate the following limits.

h3
u(h, 0) − u(0, 0) 2
−0
ux (0, 0) = lim = lim h = 1.
h→0 h h→0 h

−h3
u(0, h) − u(0, 0) 2
−0
uy (0, 0) = lim = lim h = −1.
h→0 h h→0 h

h3
v(h, 0) − v(0, 0) 2
−0
vx (0, 0) = lim = lim h = 1.
h→0 h h→0 h

h3
v(0, h) − v(0, 0) 2
−0
vy (0, 0) = lim = lim h = 1.
h→0 h h→0 h

(c) (3 points) Show that f satisfies the Cauchy-Riemann equations

at the point (x, y) = (0, 0).

Solution: In part b, we found that ux (0, 0) = 1, uy (0, 0) = −1, vx (0, 0) = 1

and vy (0, 0) = 1. Since ux (0, 0) = vy (0, 0) and uy (0, 0) = −vx (0, 0), the func-
tion f satisfies the Cauchy-Riemann equations at the point (0, 0).

(d) (4 points) Show that f is not differentiable at the origin.

Solution: For h = w + iw, we obtain

2w3
f (h) − f (0) i 2 iw i
lim = lim 2w = lim = .
h→0 h h→0 w + iw h→0 w + iw 1+i
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On the other hand, if h is a real number, we obtain

f (h) − f (0) h + ih
lim = lim = 1 + i.
h→0 h h→0 h
Thus the limit does not exist and hence f is not differentiable at the origin.

(e) (3 points) Is f differentiable at z = i? If so calculate f 0 (i).

Solution:

h3 − 1
u(h, 1) − u(0, 1) 2+1
+1 h3 − 1 + h2 + 1
ux (0, 1) = lim = lim h = lim = 0.
h→0 h h→0 h h→0 h(h2 + 1)

(1 + h)3
−1
v(0, 1 + h) − v(0, 1) (1 + h)2 1+h−1
vy (0, 1) = lim = lim = lim = 1.
h→0 h h→0 h h→0 h
Since ux (0, 1) 6= vy (0, 1), the function f is not differentiable at z = i, since
it does not satisfy the Cauchy-Riemann equations at z = i.

PROBLEM 6 (15 points): If z1 , z2 , z3 are the vertices of an equilateral

triangle in C, then show that z12 + z22 + z32 = z1 z2 + z2 z3 + z3 z1 . Hint: If we
rotate one side of an equilateral triangle by an angle of π/3 in the appropriate
direction we obtain another side.

Solution:
Observe that (z3 − z2 )eiπ/3 = (z1 − z2 ) and (z3 − z1 )eiπ/3 = (z3 − z2 ). Then
we get
z1 − z2 z3 − z2
=
z3 − z2 z3 − z1
which gives the desired result after cross multiplication.