Visual Complex Functions

This book provides a systematic introduction to functions of one complex variable. Its novel feature is the consistent use of special color representations – so-called phase portraits – which visualize functions as images on their domains. Reading Visual Complex Functions requires no prerequisites except some basic knowledge of real calculus and plane geometry. The text is self-contained and covers all the main topics usually treated in a first course on complex analysis. With separate chapters on various construction principles, conformal mappings and Riemann surfaces it goes somewhat beyond a standard programme and leads the reader to more advanced themes. In a second storyline, running parallel to the course outlined above, one learns how properties of complex functions are reflected in and can be read off from phase portraits. The book contains more than 200 of these pictorial representations which endow individual faces to analytic functions. Phase portraits enhance the intuitive understanding of concepts in complex analysis and are expected to be useful tools for anybody working with special functions – even experienced researchers may be inspired by the pictures to new and challenging questions. Visual Complex Functions may also serve as a companion to other texts or as a reference work for advanced readers who wish to know more about phase portraits.

This radical first course on complex analysis brings a beautiful and powerful subject to life by consistently using geometry (not calculation) as the means of explanation. Aimed at undergraduate students in mathematics, physics, and engineering, the book's intuitive explanations, lack of advanced prerequisites, and consciously user-friendly prose style will help students to master the subject more readily than was previously possible. The key to this is the book's use of new geometric arguments in place of the standard calculational ones. These geometric arguments are communicated with the aid of hundreds of diagrams of a standard seldom encountered in mathematical works. A new approach to a classical topic, this work will be of interest to students in mathematics, physics, and engineering, as well as to professionals in these fields.

Presents the Dirichlet problem for harmonic functions twice: once using the Poisson integral for the unit disk and again in an informal section on Brownian motion, where the reader can understand intuitively how the Dirichlet problem works for general domains. This book is suitable for a first-year course in complex analysis

Complex analysis is one of the most central subjects in mathematics. It is compelling and rich in its own right, but it is also remarkably useful in a wide variety of other mathematical subjects, both pure and applied. This book is different from others in that it treats complex variables as a direct development from multivariable real calculus. As each new idea is introduced, it is related to the corresponding idea from real analysis and calculus. The text is rich with examples andexercises that illustrate this point. The authors have systematically separated the analysis from the topology, as can be seen in their proof of the Cauchy theorem. The book concludes with several chapters on special topics, including full treatments of special functions, the prime number theorem,and the Bergman kernel. The authors also treat $Hp$ spaces and Painleve's theorem on smoothness to the boundary for conformal maps. This book is a text for a first-year graduate course in complex analysis. It is an engaging and modern introduction to the subject, reflecting the authors' expertise both as mathematicians and as expositors.

A lively and vivid look at the material from function theory, including the residue calculus, supported by examples and practice exercises throughout. There is also ample discussion of the historical evolution of the theory, biographical sketches of important contributors, and citations - in the original language with their English translation - from their classical works. Yet the book is far from being a mere history of function theory, and even experts will find a few new or long forgotten gems here. Destined to accompany students making their way into this classical area of mathematics, the book offers quick access to the essential results for exam preparation. Teachers and interested mathematicians in finance, industry and science will profit from reading this again and again, and will refer back to it with pleasure.

All needed notions are developed within the book: with the exception of fundamentals which are presented in introductory lectures, no other knowledge is assumed Provides a more in-depth introduction to the subject than other existing books in this area Over 400 exercises including hints for solutions are included

The present book is meant as a text for a course on complex analysis at the advanced undergraduate level, or first-year graduate level. Somewhat more material has been included than can be covered at leisure in one term, to give opportunities for the instructor to exercise his taste, and lead the course in whatever direction strikes his fancy at the time. A large number of routine exercises are included for the more standard portions, and a few harder exercises of striking theoretical interest are also included, but may be omitted in courses addressed to less advanced students. In some sense, I think the classical German prewar texts were the best (Hurwitz-Courant, Knopp, Bieberbach, etc. ) and I would recom mend to anyone to look through them. More recent texts have empha sized connections with real analysis, which is important, but at the cost of exhibiting succinctly and clearly what is peculiar about complex anal ysis: the power series expansion, the uniqueness of analytic continuation, and the calculus of residues. The systematic elementary development of formal and convergent power series was standard fare in the German texts, but only Cartan, in the more recent books, includes this material, which I think is quite essential, e. g. , for differential equations. I have written a short text, exhibiting these features, making it applicable to a wide variety of tastes. The book essentially decomposes into two parts.

Research topics in the book include complex dynamics, minimal surfaces, fluid flows, harmonic, conformal, and polygonal mappings, and discrete complex analysis via circle packing. The nature of this book is different from many mathematics texts: the focus is on student-driven and technology-enhanced investigation. Interlaced in the reading for each chapter are examples, exercises, explorations, and projects, nearly all linked explicitly with computer applets for visualization and hands-on manipulation.

This textbook provides a unified and concise exploration of undergraduate mathematics by approaching the subject through its history. Readers will discover the rich tapestry of ideas behind familiar topics from the undergraduate curriculum, such as calculus, algebra, topology, and more. Featuring historical episodes ranging from the Ancient Greeks to Fermat and Descartes, this volume offers a glimpse into the broader context in which these ideas developed, revealing unexpected connections that make this ideal for a senior capstone course. The presentation of previous versions has been refined by omitting the less mainstream topics and inserting new connecting material, allowing instructors to cover the book in a one-semester course. This condensed edition prioritizes succinctness and cohesiveness, and there is a greater emphasis on visual clarity, featuring full color images and high quality 3D models. As in previous editions, a wide array of mathematical topics are covered, from geometry to computation; however, biographical sketches have been omitted. Mathematics and Its History: A Concise Edition is an essential resource for courses or reading programs on the history of mathematics. Knowledge of basic calculus, algebra, geometry, topology, and set theory is assumed. From reviews of previous editions: “Mathematics and Its History is a joy to read. The writing is clear, concise and inviting. The style is very different from a traditional text. I found myself picking it up to read at the expense of my usual late evening thriller or detective novel.... The author has done a wonderful job of tying together the dominant themes of undergraduate mathematics.” Richard J. Wilders, MAA, on the Third Edition "The book...is presented in a lively style without unnecessary detail. It is very stimulating and will be appreciated not only by students. Much attention is paid to problems and to the development of mathematics before the end of the nineteenth century.... This book brings to the non-specialist interested in mathematics many interesting results. It can be recommended for seminars and will be enjoyed by the broad mathematical community." European Mathematical Society, on the Second Edition