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A branch of the logarithm is a continuous function L(z) giving a logarithm of z for all z in a connected open set in the complex plane. In particular, a branch of the logarithm exists in the complement of any ray from the origin to infinity: a branch cut. A common choice of branch cut is the negative real axis, although the choice is largely a ...
A single branch of the complex logarithm. The hue of the color is used to show the argument of the complex logarithm. The brightness of the color is used to show the modulus of the complex logarithm. The real part of log(z) is the natural logarithm of | z |. Its graph is thus obtained by rotating the graph of ln(x) around the z-axis.
In this manner log function is a multi-valued function (often referred to as a "multifunction" in the context of complex analysis). A branch cut, usually along the negative real axis, can limit the imaginary part so it lies between −π and π. These are the chosen principal values. This is the principal branch of the log function.
However, the important thing to note is that z 1/2 = e (Log z)/2, so z 1/2 has a branch cut. This affects our choice of the contour C. Normally the logarithm branch cut is defined as the negative real axis, however, this makes the calculation of the integral slightly more complicated, so we define it to be the positive real axis.
ln(r) is the standard natural logarithm of the real number r. Arg(z) is the principal value of the arg function; its value is restricted to (−π, π]. It can be computed using Arg(x + iy) = atan2(y, x). Log(z) is the principal value of the complex logarithm function and has imaginary part in the range (−π, π].
When the focus is on a single branch, sometimes a branch cut is used; in this case removing the non-positive real numbers from the domain of the function and eliminating as a possible value for Arg z. With this branch cut, the single-branch function is continuous and analytic everywhere in its domain.
The product logarithm Lambert W function plotted in the complex plane from −2 − 2i to 2 + 2i The graph of y = W(x) for real x < 6 and y > −4. The upper branch (blue) with y ≥ −1 is the graph of the function W 0 (principal branch), the lower branch (magenta) with y ≤ −1 is the graph of the function W −1. The minimum value of x is ...
The cut forces us onto the second sheet, so that when z has traced out one full turn around the branch point z = 1, w has taken just one-half of a full turn, the sign of w has been reversed (because e iπ = −1), and our path has taken us to the point z = 2 on the second sheet of the surface.