Schedule

Notes

  • The schedule is tentative and will change as the course progresses.

  • For information about add/drop dates and other matters related to course registration, please consult the Registrar's Website.

  • All dates and times are in ET (Eastern Time).

  • Section numbers are as in Complex Variables (2nd Edition) by Stephen D. Fisher.

  • There will usually be one homework assignment due on Saturday every week.

Week of January 12th (Week 1)

  • Classes begin on Tuesday, January 13th.

Tuesday, January 13th

  • Topics: the complex numbers, \(\mathbb{C}\), and their construction; the algebra of \(\mathbb{C}\); modulus, conjugate, real part, and imaginary part.

  • Reading: §1.1 The Complex Numbers and the Complex Plane.

  • Video: (Kaltura01)

Thursday, January 15th

  • Topics: the fundamental theorem of algebra; the geometry of \(\mathbb{C}\) via the Argand plane; the geometry of addition, conjugation, and magnitude; polar coordinates and the geometry of multiplication; de Moivre's theorem and its corollaries.

  • Reading: §1.1 The Complex Numbers and the Complex Plane; §1.2 Some Geometry.

  • Video: (Kaltura02)

  • Note: due to a technical issue with the webcam, the Kaltura02 recording only begins halfway through class.

Week of January 19th (Week 2)

  • HW 1 is due on Saturday, January 24th at 11 PM.

Tuesday, January 20th

  • Topics: the triangle inequality; equations for lines and circles in \(\mathbb{C}\); open disc; interior point, exterior point, and boundary point; the boundary of a set; open sets.

  • Reading: §1.2 Some Geometry; §1.3 Subsets of the Plane.

  • Video: (Kaltura03)

Thursday, January 22nd

  • Topics: quick review of last class; proving a set is open; examples of open sets; closed sets; \(\mathbb{C}\) and the empty set are clopen; \(U\) is open if and only if \(\mathbb{C} \setminus U\); polygonal paths; connected sets.

  • Reading: §1.3 Subsets of the Plane.

  • Video: (Kaltura04)

Week of January 26th (Week 3)

  • HW 2 is due on Tuesday, February 3rd at 11 PM (note: unusual day!).

  • I will be out of town for part of this week; please see below for necessary adjustments.

  • No Office Hours on Tuesday this week (in view of my travel).

Tuesday, January 27th

  • Online Class (via Zoom).

  • Topics: quick review of last class; convex sets; convex open sets are connected; functions; domain, co-domain, and range; computing range; surjective, injective, and connections to invertibility; an explicit fractional linear transformation and its action on the unit disc; visualizing complex functions; \(\mathbb{C}\) and the empty set are clopen; \(U\) is open if and only if \(\mathbb{C} \setminus U\); polygonal paths; connected sets.

  • Reading: §1.3 Subsets of the Plane; §1.4 Functions and Limits.

  • Video: (Kaltura05)

Thursday, January 29th

  • Topics: sequences; limit of a sequence; reducing limits of complex sequences to limits of real sequences; closure of a set; limit of a function; stereographic projection; the Riemann sphere \(\hat{\mathbb{C}} = \mathbb{C} \cup \{ \infty\}\).

  • Reading: §1.4 Functions and Limits.

  • Video: (Kaltura06)

Week of February 2nd (Week 4)

  • HW 2 is due on Tuesday, February 3rd at 11 PM (note: unusual day!).

  • HW 3 is due on Saturday, February 6th at 11 PM.

Tuesday, February 3rd

  • Topics: quick review of last class; limit of a function at infinity; continuity of functions; continuity of polynomials and rational functions; continuity at infinity; infinite series; partial sums; reducing complex series to real series; absolute convergence.

  • Reading: §1.4 Functions and Limits.

  • Video: (Kaltura07)

Thursday, February 5th

  • Topics: quick review of last class including previously omitted proofs; the geometric series and convergence thereof; quick review of standard calculus tests; the exponential function; Euler's formula as a definition; \(e^{z+w} = e^z \cdot e^w\).

  • Reading: §1.4 Functions and Limits; §1.5 The Exponential, Logarithm, and Trignometric Functions.

  • Video: (Kaltura08)

Week of February 9th (Week 5)

  • HW 4 is due on Saturday, February 14th at 11 PM.

  • I will be out of town for part of this week; please see below for necessary adjustments.

  • No Office Hours on Tuesday this week (in view of my travel).

Tuesday, February 10th

  • Topics: mapping properties of the exponential functions; the logarithm; the principal branch of the logarithm; constructing other branches of the logarithm; exponentiation of the form \(a^z\) when \(a, z \in \C\) as a multi-valued function.

  • Reading: §1.5 The Exponential, Logarithm, and Trignometric Functions.

  • Video: (Kaltura09)

Thursday, February 12th

  • Review for Midterm 1.

  • Topics: trigonometric functions; inverse trigonometric functions.

  • Reading: §1.5 The Exponential, Logarithm, and Trignometric Functions.

  • Video: (Kaltura10)

Week of February 16th (Week 6)

  • Midterm 1 is on Monday, February 16th from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM in LWSN B155.

  • HW 5 is due on Saturday, February 21st at 11 PM.

  • Extra Office Hours on M, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM this week (in addition to usual Office Hours) in view of Midterm 1.

Tuesday, February 17th

  • Topics: complex differentiability and derivatives; analytic or holomorphic functions; entire functions; basic examples of holomorphic functions; rules of differentiation; differentiability implies continuity; the Cauchy-Riemann equations; harmonic functions.

  • Reading: §2.1 Analytic and Harmonic Functions; the Cauchy–Riemann Equations.

  • Video: (Kaltura11)

Thursday, February 19th

  • Topics: the connection between holomorphic functions and harmonic functions; harmonic conjugates; finding harmonic conjugates; the equivalence of holomorphicity of \(f = u + iv\) with the harmonic conjugacy of \(u\) and \(v\); the branch of a logarithm as a holomorphic function; some corollaries of the Cauchy-Riemann equation.

  • Reading: §2.1 Analytic and Harmonic Functions; the Cauchy–Riemann Equations.

  • Video: (Kaltura12)

Week of February 23rd (Week 7)

  • HW 6 is due on Saturday, February 27th at 11 PM.

Tuesday, February 24th

  • Reading: §2.2 Power Series.

Thursday, February 26th

  • Reading: §1.6 Line Integrals and Green’s Theorem; §2.3 Cauchy’s Theorem and Cauchy’s Formula.

Week of March 2nd (Week 8)

  • HW 7 is due on Saturday, March 7th at 11 PM.

Tuesday, March 3rd

  • Reading: §2.4 Consequences of Cauchy’s Formula; §2.5 Isolated Singularities.

Thursday, March 5th

  • Reading: §2.6 The Residue Theorem and Its Application to the Evaluation of Definite Integrals.

Week of March 9th (Week 9)

  • HW 8 is due on Saturday, March 13th at 11 PM.

Tuesday, March 10th

  • Reading: §3.1 The Zeros of an Analytic Function.

Thursday, March 12th

  • Reading: §3.2 Maximum Modulus and Mean Value.

Week of March 16th (Week 10)

  • No HW due this week (in view of Spring Break).

Tuesday, March 17th

  • No Class (Spring Break).

Thursday, March 19th

  • No Class (Spring Break).

Week of March 23rd (Week 11)

  • HW 9 is due on Saturday, March 27th at 11 PM.

  • I will be out of town for part of this week; please see below for necessary adjustments.

  • No Office Hours on Tuesday this week (in view of my travel).

Tuesday, March 24th

  • No Class (compensation for evening exam).

Thursday, March 26th

  • Review for Midterm 2.

Week of March 30th (Week 12)

  • Midterm 2 is on Monday, March 30th from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM in LWSN B155.

  • Extra Office Hours on M, 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM this week (in addition to usual Office Hours) in view of Midterm 2.

Tuesday, March 31st

  • HW 10 is due on Saturday, April 3rd at 11 PM.

  • Reading: §3.3 Linear Fractional Transformations.

Thursday, April 2nd

  • Reading: §3.3 Linear Fractional Transformations.

Week of April 6th (Week 13)

  • HW 11 is due on Saturday, April 11th at 11 PM.

Tuesday, April 7th

  • Reading: §3.4 Conformal Mapping.

Thursday, April 9th

  • Reading: §3.4 Conformal Mapping.

Week of April 13th (Week 14)

  • HW 12 is due on Saturday, April 18th at 11 PM.

  • I will be out of town for part of this week; please see below for necessary adjustments.

  • No Office Hours on Tuesday this week (in view of my travel).

Tuesday, April 14th

  • No Class (compensation for evening exam).

Thursday, April 16th

  • Reading: TBA (assorted applications or special topics).

Week of April 20th (Week 15)

  • HW 13 is due on Saturday, April 25th at 11 PM.

Tuesday, April 21st

  • Reading: TBA (assorted applications or special topics).

Thursday, April 23rd

  • Reading: TBA (assorted applications or special topics).

Week of April 27th (Week 16)

  • No HW due this week (in view of Quiet Period).

Tuesday, April 28th

  • Review for Final Exam.

Thursday, April 30th

  • Review for Final Exam.

Week of May 4th (Final Exam Week)

  • Final Exam schedule TBA by Registrar.