Practice problems

Complex analysis, lecture 2
(May 6, 2026)

The following are practice problems for your own use. They will not be collected or marked; the idea is to provide more practice at the more computational aspects of the class, if desired, since the homeworks often focus on more theoretical aspects. I suggest focusing on problems targeted at aspects you feel less confident about.

Problem 1. Write z=1+i1−i in both Cartesian and polar form.

Problem 2. Express the complex conjugate ei⁢z¯ in terms of z¯.

Problem 3. Find the (finite) branch points and phase factors of (z2−1)1/3.

Problem 4. Where is f⁢(z)=z⋅Re⁡(z) complex differentiable? Where is it analytic?

Problem 5. Show that u⁢(x,y)=x2+y2 cannot be the real part of an analytic function.

Problem 6. Let u be harmonic on the unit disk with boundary values u⁢(ei⁢θ)=sin⁡θ.

  1. (a)

    Find u⁢(0).

  2. (b)

    Show that in fact u⁢(z)=Im⁡(z).

Problem 7. Evaluate ∫γz2⁢𝑑z where γ is the path γ⁢(t)=t2+i⁢t from 0 to 1+i (for 0≤t≤1).

Problem 8. Evaluate ∫γz¯⁢𝑑z where γ is the line segment from 0 to 1+i.

Problem 9. Evaluate ∫|z|=2ezz−1⁢𝑑z.

Problem 10. Evaluate ∫|z|=1sin⁡zz3⁢𝑑z.

Problem 11. Evaluate ∫|z−i|=11z2+1⁢𝑑z using Cauchy’s integral formula.

Problem 12. Suppose f is an entire function such that |f⁢(z)|≤7⁢|z|3 for all z∈ℂ. Show that f⁢(z)=a⁢z3 where |a|≤7.

Problem 13. Let g⁢(z)=∫01sin⁡(z⁢t)t⁢𝑑t. Show that g⁢(z) is an entire function.

Problem 14. Find the Laurent series of f⁢(z)=1z2−4 on {z:|z|>2}.

Problem 15. Find and classify all isolated singularities of f⁢(z)=1ez−1−1z.

Problem 16. Compute the residue of f⁢(z)=ezz2+1 at z=i.

Problem 17. Compute the residue of f⁢(z)=cos⁡zz3 at z=0.

Problem 18. Evaluate ∫|z−i|=11z2+1⁢𝑑z using the residue theorem. (If you also did the problem using Cauchy’s formula, hopefully your answers agree!)

Problem 19. Evaluate ∫−∞∞x⁢sin⁡xx2+4⁢𝑑x.

Problem 20. Evaluate ∫02⁢π15−4⁢cos⁡θ⁢𝑑θ via the residue theorem.

Problem 21. Let f⁢(z)=z4−6⁢z+3. Use Rouché’s Theorem to find the number of roots with |z|<1.

Problem 22. Calculate 12⁢π⁢i⁢∫|z|=2f′⁢(z)f⁢(z)⁢𝑑z where f⁢(z)=z3−1.

Problem 23. Suppose f is an analytic function on a connected domain D. Prove that the image f⁢(D) cannot be a line segment in the complex plane.