LECTURE 13

Paths and path integrals

In this lecture, we define paths and path integrals, and see a key theorem about
these. This material should be familiar to students who have studied multi-variable
calculus.
The main question underlying this lecture is the relation between integration
and dierentiation. As before, we represent points in R2 by row vectors rather
than column vectors.
1. Curves
Definition 13.1. A curve in R2 is a continuous function from an interval
[a, b] of real numbers into R2 . We may write (t) = (1 (t), 2 (t)), where 1 and 2
are real-valued; then the continuity of is equivalent to the continuity of both 1
and 2 .
The initial point of the curve is (a) and the final point of the curve is (b).
The range of the curve is the set of points {(t) : t [a, b]}.
A curve : [a, b] R2 is said to be closed if (a) = (b), and simple if
(s) = (t) when s = t, except perhaps if s = a and t = b.
Examples 13.2. In Figure 13.1, the curve moves from p to q, the curve
moves up the parabolic arc, the curve moves from the right to the left of the
line segment and then back again, the curve moves once around the circle in the
anticlockwise direction, starting at the right-most point, the curve moves twice
around the infinity shaped figure, starting at the right-most point and moving
upwards, and the curve moves along the alpha shaped figure.
The curves and are simple but not closed; and are closed but not
simple; is both simple and closed; and is neither closed not simple. The curve
in the figure goes back on itself, while the curves and intersect themselves.
The curve repeats itself.
Definition 13.3. Suppose that : [a, b] R2 and : [b, c] R2 are curves
such that the final point of [a, b] is the initial point of [c, d] and the final point of
is the initial point of , that is, (b) = (b). The join $ of and is the
curve
!
(t) when a t b
$ (t) =
(t) when b t c.
79

13. PATHS AND PATH INTEGRALS

80

y
(t) = p + (q p)t
= p(1 t) + qt t [0, 1]
(t) =

( 32

+ t, t ) t [0, 1]

(t) = (1 + 2t2 , 3) t [1, 1]

(t) = (1 +

22
10

cos(t),

22
10

sin(t)) t [0, 2]

() = (cos(), sin() cos()) [0, 4]

() = (cos() 4, sin() cos() 2)

[/4, 7/4]

Figure 13.1. Examples of curves

y
(t) = (t, 0) t [0, 1]

(t) = (1, t 1) t [1, 2]

(t) = (3 t, 1) t [2, 3]
(t) = (0, 4 t) t [3, 4]

Figure 13.2. Example of a join of curves

Suppose that : [a, b] R2 is a curve. The reverse curve : [b, a] R2
of is given by
(t) = (t)
where b t a.
Example 13.4. In Figure 13.2, the join $ $ $ moves anticlockwise
around the perimeter of the square with vertices (0, 0), (1, 0), (1, 1) and (0, 1),
starting and ending at (0, 0), as t varies from 0 to 4. The curve moves from 1
to 0 as t varies between 0 and 1. What does ( $ $ $ ) do?
Definition 13.5. Suppose that : [a, b] R2 is a curve, and that h is a
continuous bijection from [c, d] to [a, b] such that h(c) = a and h(d) = b. Then
h : [c, d] R2 is also a curve, called a reparametrisation of .
A reparametrised curve h has the same initial and final point as the original
curve, and the same range; further it is traversed in the same direction and it goes
through each point the same number of times. What changes is the interval of
definition, and the speed.

2. ORIENTATION

81

y
1

(t) = (cos(t), sin(t)) t [0, 2]

(t) = ( sin(t), cos(t)) t [0, 2]

(t) = (cos3 (t), sin3 (t)) t [0, 2]

(t) = (3 sin(t) cos (t), 3 sin (t) cos(t))

t [0, 2]

Figure 13.3. Examples of curves and their derivatives

There are some very strange curves, such as space-filling curves and snowflake
curves that violate some of our intuitions about curves. It is helpful to restrict to
certain nice curves, that are more tractable.
Definition 13.6. Suppose that : [a, b] R2 is a curve, and that =
(1 , 2 ), where 1 , 2 : [a, b] R. Then we define
(t) = (1 (t), 2 (t)),
provided that both 1 (t) and 2 (t) exist. We say that is continuously dierentiable if the derivative exists and is continuous in [a, b], and is smooth if it is
continuously dierentiable and (t) = 0 for all t [a, b].
Examples 13.7. In Figure 13.3, both curves and are continuously dierentiable. Only is smooth.
Definition 13.8. A curve is almost smooth if it is a join of finitely many
smooth curves. The length of an almost smooth curve : [a, b] R2 is given by
" b
Length() =
| (t)| dt.
a

Note that (t) may not be defined at finitely many points, where dierent
smooth curves are joined. This is just a formal diculty; we take (t) to be 0
wherever it is not defined, and then the integral exists as a Riemann integral.
2. Orientation
If is a simple curve that is not closed, it has an initial point and an endpoint
and a direction of motion, and even if we reparametrise it, these do not change.
Similarly, simple closed curves have a direction of motion. We call this orientation. For closed curves, the next theorem lets us find an orientation that does not
depend on the parametrisation.

13. PATHS AND PATH INTEGRALS

82

Theorem 13.9 (The Jordan curve theorem). If : [a, b] R2 is a simple

closed curve, then the complement of the range of is the union of two disjoint
domains. One of these is bounded and the other is not. The bounded component
is called the interior of and written Int , and the other is called the exterior of
and written Ext .
Proof. We do not prove this.

This theorem seems obvious but is actually quite dicult, particularly when
curves such as snowflakes are concerned. We will consider only curves for which it
is easy to identify the interior and exterior.
If is a simple closed curve, then as we travel around , the interior of will
always lie on our left, or always on our right. The standard orientation of is the
direction of motion such that the interior is always on our left. With the standard
orientation, we move around the perimeter of Int() in an anti-clockwise direction.
Exercise 13.10. What is the standard orientation of each of the simple closed
curves described above? Can you define orientation for closed curves that are not
simple?
We will use the expression oriented range of a curve to describe the image of
a simple curve in R2 and a direction of motion along the curve.
3. Vector fields and line integrals
A vector field V on an open subset of R2 is a function from to R2 . A
vector field may be viewed as a pair of functions (v, w), where v, w : R.
Definition 13.11. Given an almost smooth curve : [a, b] R2 and
# a continuous vector field V defined on Range(), we define the line integral V (s) ds
by
"
" b
V (s) ds =
V ((t)) (t) dt.

Again, (t) may not be defined for finitely many points, where dierent continuously dierentiable curves are joined. We take (t) to be 0 wherever it is not
defined, and then the integral exists as a Riemann integral.
The line integral has the usual properties of integration.
Theorem 13.12. Suppose that , R, that : [a, b] R2 is an almost
smooth curve, and that V and W are vector fields defined on Range(). Then the
following hold.
(a) The integral is linear:
"
"
"
(V + W )(s) ds = V (s) ds + W (s) ds.

3. VECTOR FIELDS AND LINE INTEGRALS

83

(b) The integral is independent of parametrisation: if is a reparametrisation of

that is also an almost smooth curve, then
"
"
V (s) ds = V (s) ds.

(c) The integral is additive for joins: if = $ , then

"
"
"
V (s) ds =
V (s) ds + V (s) ds.

(d) The integral depends on the orientation:

"
"
V (s) ds = V (s) ds.

(e) The integral is controlled by the size of the vector field V and the length of the
curve :
$"
$
$
$
$ V (s) ds$ ML,

where L is the length of and M is a number such that |V (s)| M for all
s Range().

Proof. We omit this proof.

Definition 13.13. We define a path to be the oriented range of a simple

almost smooth curve . The theorem above implies that the line integral depends
only on , and hence we define
"
"
V (s) ds =
V (s) ds,

where is any parametrisation of .

We may extend the notation for joins and reverse curves to paths.
Note that for paths that are not closed, dierent parametrisations dier by
a change of variable, and part (d) of the theorem applies. But for closed paths,
parametrisations might have dierent initial points and endpoints. To show that
the integral around a closed path does not depend on where we start, we break up
the closed path into two parts: = A $ B, and observe that
"
"
"
V (s) ds =
V (s) ds +
V (s) ds
A#B
A
B
"
"
"
=
V (s) ds +
V (s) ds =
V (s) ds.
B

B#A

This implies that the integral around starting at the initial point of A is the
same as the integral around starting at the initial point of B.

84

13. PATHS AND PATH INTEGRALS

4. Closed and exact vector fields

Suppose that the vector field V : R2 is equal to (v, w). Then V is said to
be curl-free or closed if w/x = v/y. Further, V is said to be conservative or
exact if there is a function u : R such that u/x = v and u/y = w; this
is often written as V = u. If the function u is twice continuously dierentiable,
then
w
2u
2u
v
=
=
=
.
x
x y
y x
y
This leads to the conclusion that a continuously dierentiable exact vector field is
closed. The converse of this is very useful.
Theorem 13.14. Suppose that is a simply connected domain, and that V is
a closed continuously dierentiable vector field in . Then V is exact.
Proof. We omit this proof, but mention that Greens theorem is often used.
We will prove a more general result about contour integrals, whose proof may be
modified to prove this result.
!
This theorem has variants; in particular, it is equivalent to the statement that
a line integral depends only on the initial point and the end point.
(1) We have seen that not all vector fields can be integrated nicely. However, the integral of a derivative is the function that we started with.
(2) We will prove similar results in the context of complex analysis, where line
integrals become contour integrals, vector fields become complex-valued
functions, and the condition for a vector field to be closed becomes the
CauchyRiemann equations.

LECTURE 14

Contour integrals
In this lecture, we define contour integrals, and compute some examples.
1. Curves and contours
We define a curve in C much as in R2 : a curve t * (1(t), 2 (t)) is replaced by
a curve t * 1 (t) + i2 (t). The definitions of simple and closed curves are almost
identical, as are joins, reverse curves, reparametrisations, and orientations.
Definition 14.1. Suppose that : [a, b] C is a curve and = 1 (t) + i2 (t),
where 1 , 2 : [a, b] R, that is, 1 (t) = Re((t)) and 2 (t) = Im((t)) for all
t [a, b]. Then we define
(t) = 1 (t) + i2 (t),
provided that both 1 (t) and 2 (t) exist. Note that
1
((t + h) (t)) .
h0 h
We say that : [a, b] C is continuously dierentiable if is defined and continuous on [a, b], and smooth if (t) = 0 for all t [a, b].
(t) = lim

Definition 14.2. A contour is an oriented range of a simple almost smooth

curve in the complex plane.
A contour is the analogue in the complex plane of a path in R2 . We may extend
the notation for joins and reverse curves to contours.
i

(t) = cos(t) + i sin(t) = eit t [0, 2]

(t) = (1 t) + it t [0, 1]

(t) = t + i(1 t) t [0, 1]

(t) = (t 1) it t [0, 1]
(t) = t + i(t 1) t [0, 1]
Figure 14.1. Examples of parametrised contours
85

86

14. CONTOUR INTEGRALS

Examples 14.3. Figure 14.1 illustrates some contours in the complex plane.
In the absence of other information, we assume that closed contours have the
standard orientation.
2. Integrals with complex integrands
Before we discuss integration, we point out that we may dierentiate many
complex-valued functions as if they were real-valued. In particular, if f is a holomorphic function and is a curve in the complex plane, then
d
f ((t)) = f ((t)) (t).
dt
We can prove this by breaking everything up into real and imaginary parts, and
applying the chain rule from multi-variable calculus.
For instance, if (t) = eit , then (t) = ieit . The usual rules of dierentiation
hold for complex curves and functions defined on complex curves, and we do not
always need to break things up into their real and imaginary parts in order to
dierentiate.
Definition 14.4. Suppose that u, v : [a, b] R are real-valued functions, and
that f : [a, b] C is given by f = u + iv. We define
" b
" b
" b
" b
%
&
f (t) dt =
u(t) + iv(t) dt =
u(t) dt + i
v(t) dt,
a

provided that the two real integrals on the right hand side exist.

Integration of complex-valued functions on an interval has similar properties to

standard integration. For instance, it is linear, we may integrate by substitution
and by parts, and exponentials integrate as we would expect: for a, b, c, d R,
1 , 2 , C, a real-valued dierentiable function h : [c, d] [a, b] such that
h(c) = a and h(d) = b, and complex-valued functions f , f1 and f2 ,
" b
" b
" b
%
&
1 f1 (t) + 2 f2 (t) dt = 1
f1 (t) dt + 2
f2 (t) dt
a
a
a
" d
" b

f (h(t)) h (t) dt =
f (s) ds
c
a
" b
" b
'
(t=b

f1 (t) f2 (t) dt +
f1 (t) f2 (t) dt = f1 (t) f2 (t)
= f1 (b) f2 (b) f1 (a) f2 (a)
t=a
a
a
" b
' et (t=b
eb ea
et dt =
.
=
t=a

3. CONTOUR INTEGRALS

Exercise 14.5. Evaluate

#
0

87

t eit dt.

Answer. We integrate by parts:

)
*
"
"
"
1 deit
1 ' it (t=
dt it
it
te dt =

t
dt =
te
e dt
t=0
i 0
dt
i
0
0 dt
*
)
*
)
"
1
1
1 ' it (t=
i
it
=
e
e dt =
e
i
i
i
t=0
0
)
*
&
1 % i
1

e 1 = i 2.
=
i
i
#
#
Note that this implies that 0 t cos(t) dt
=
2
and
t sin(t) dt = . It is
0
# (1+i)t
easier to integrate an expression like e
dt in this way than to evaluate
#much
et cos(t) dt.
3. Contour integrals
Definition 14.6. Given a simple almost smooth curve : [a, b] C and a
continuous (not necessarily dierentiable)
function f defined on the range of , we
#
define the complex line integral f (z) dz by
"
" b
f (z) dz =
f ((t)) (t) dt.

provided that the integral on the right hand side exists.

To remember this formula, write z(t) rather than (t): then dz =
"

f (z) dz =

"

f (z(t))

dz
dt, and
dt

dz
dt.
dt

If we now convert back to writing (t), which is a good idea, because we already
use z to mean too many dierent things, then we get the formula in the definition.
Theorem 14.7. Suppose that , C, that : [a, b] C is an almost smooth
curve, and that f and g are complex functions defined on Range(). Then the
following hold.
(a) The integral is linear:
"
"
"
(f (z) + g(z)) dz = f (z) dz + g(z) dz.

88

14. CONTOUR INTEGRALS

(b) The integral is independent of parametrisation: if is a reparametrisation of

that is also an almost smooth curve, then
"
"
f (z) dz = f (z) dz.

(c) The integral is additive for joins: if = $ , then

"
"
"
f (z) dz = f (z) dz + f (z) dz.

(d) The integral depends on the orientation:

"
"
f (z) dz = f (z) dz.

(e) The size of the integral is controlled by the size of the function f and the length
of the curve :
$"
$
$
$
$ f (z) dz $ ML,

where L is the length of and M is a number such that |f (z)| M for all
z Range().

Proof. We omit the proof of parts (a) to (d).

For part (e), observe that
$"
$ $"
$ $" b
$
$
$ $
$ $
$

f ((t)) (t) dt$

$ f (z) dz $ = $ f (z) dz $ = $

"

b$

$$
$
$f ((t))$ $ (t)$ dt

by the formula for the length of a curve.

"

$
$
M $ (t)$ dt = ML,

Part (e) of the theorem is often called the ML Lemma.

Recall that a contour is the oriented range of a simple almost smooth curve
. The theorem above implies that the complex line integral depends only on ,
and not on the parametrisation .
Definition 14.8. We define
"
"
f (z) dz = f (z) dz,

where is any parametrisation of .

4. EXAMPLES OF CONTOUR INTEGRALS

89

4. Examples of contour integrals

We consider some examples of contour integration.
Exercise
q C, and that is the line segment from p
# 14.9. Suppose that p,
z
to q. Find 1 + 2 z + 3 z + 4 e dz, where 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 C.

Answer. We parametrise : let (t) = (1 t)p + tq = p + t(q p), where

0 t 1. Then (t) = q p, and
"
1 + 2 z + 3 z + 4 ez dz

" 1+
0

" 1+
0

" 1+

,
1 + 2 (t) + 3 (t) + 4 e(t) (t) dt

,
1 + 2 [p + t(q p)] + 3 [p + t(q p)] + 4 ep+t(qp) (q p) dt

,
[1 + 2 p + 3 p] + t[2 (q p) + 3 (q p)] + 4 ep et(qp) (q p) dt
0
,
'
(t=1
+
1
p t(qp)
= [1 + 2 p + 3 p] + [2 (q p) + 3 (q p)] (q p) + 4 e e
2
t=0
,
+
,
+
1
p
(qp)
1
= [1 + 2 p + 3 p] + [2 (q p) + 3 (q p)] (q p) + 4 e e
2
q 2 p2
(q + p)(q p)
+ 3
+ 4 (eq ep ).

= 1 (q p) + 2
2
2

Alternatively, if 3 = 0, then we may write

"
" 1+
,
z
1 + 2 z + 4 e dz =
1 + 2 (t) + 4 e(t) (t) dt
0

d(t) 2 d 2 (t)
de(t)
+
+ 4
dt
dt
2 dt
dt
0
(t=1
'
2
= 1 (t) + 2 (t) + 4 e(t)
2
t=0
q 2 p2
= 1 (q p) + 2
+ 4 (eq ep ).
2
=

"

This approach fails when 3 = 0, because we cannot find a function of t whose

derivative is (t) (t), or at least not immediately. At this point, we do not know
whether such a function might exist, but later we will see that this cannot be so.

90

14. CONTOUR INTEGRALS

#
Exercise 14.10. Compute z n dz, where is the circle {z C : |z| = r}
with the standard orientation and n Z.
Answer. First, we parametrise : define (t) = reit where 0 t 2, so
(t) = ireit . Now
"
"
" 2
" 2
n
n
n
z dz = z dz =
(t) (t) dt =
r n eint ireit dt

= ir n+1

"

ei(n+1)t dt = ir n+1

= ir n+1
unless n = 1, in which case
"
"
1
z dz =

+ e2i(n+1) e0 ,
i(n + 1)

2
1 it

r e
0

it

ire dt =

"

' ei(n+1)t (t=2

i(n + 1) t=0

= 0,
2

i dt = 2i.

Alternatively, we may write, when n = 0,

"
" 2
" 2 n
'
(2
d (t)
n
n
n

dt = (t)
= 1 1 = 0.
z dz =
(t) (t) dt =
dt
0

0
0

When n = 1,
"
" 2
" 2
'
(2
1
(t)
d Log (t)
dz =
dt =
dt = Log (t)
= 2i.
(t)
dt
0
z
0
0

We would get the same answer if the parameter t varied from to .

LECTURE 15

The CauchyGoursat theorem

In this lecture, we begin with an exercise, and then state and discuss one of
the key theorems of complex analysis.

1. An exercise
Exercise 15.1. #Suppose that is a simple closed contour
in C, and that
#
c, d C. Show that (cz + d) dz = 0. Is it always true that Re(z) dz = 0?

Answer. We parametrise by a simple closed almost smooth curve . By

definition,
"
" b
(cz + d) dz =
(c(t) + d) (t) dt

d 2 (t)
d
+ d (t) dt
dt 2
dt
a
(t=b
' 2 (t)
+ d(t)
= c
2
t=a
2 (b)
2 (a)
=c
+ d(b) c
d(a)
2
2
= 0,
=

"

since is closed.
The second part of the question needs a counterexample. Take (t) = eit ,
where 0 t 2. By definition,
"

x dz =

"

=i

cos(t) i eit dt
0

"

cos2 (t) + i cos(t) sin(t) dt = i.

This integral

Re(z) dz can be nonzero!

91

92

15. THE CAUCHYGOURSAT THEOREM

2. The simply connected case

First, we consider the case of a simply connected domain.
Theorem 15.2 (CauchyGoursat). Suppose that is a simply connected domain, that f H(), and that is a closed contour in . Then
"
f (z) dz = 0.

Proof. We prove a more general version of this result later.

Corollary 15.3 (Independence of contour). Suppose that is a simply connected domain in C, that f H(), and that and are simple contours with
the same initial point p and the same final point q. Then
"
"
f (z) dz =
f (z) dz.

Idea of the proof. If = {p, q}, then the contour $ is simple and
closed, and so
"
"
"
0=
f (z) dz = f (z) dz
f (z) dz,
#

and we are done.

Otherwise,
we write $ as a union of simple closed contours, and then the
#
integral # f (z) dz as a sum of integrals around simple closed contours, all of
which are 0. We omit the details.
!
Corollary 15.4 (Existence of primitives). Suppose that is a simply connected domain in C, and that f H(). Then there exists a function F on
such that
"
f (z) dz = F (q) F (p)

for any simple contour in from p to q. Further, F is dierentiable, and F = f .

Finally, if F1 is any other function such that F1 = f , then F1 F is a constant
and
"
f (z) dz = F1 (q) F1 (p),

where p and q are the initial and final points of .

#
Proof. Fix a base point b in , and for p , define F (p) to be f (z) dz,
where is any simple contour in with initial point b and final point p. This
definition makes sense in light of the previous corollary.
Given p and q in , and a simple contour from p to q, take contours p
from b to p and q from b to q, such that p q {p, q}, p {b, p} and

2. THE SIMPLY CONNECTED CASE

93

q {b, q}. Then $ (q ) $ p is a simple closed contour for which

"
f (z) dz = 0.
#(q ) #p

Writing this as a combination of integrals, we see that

"
f (z) dz = F (q) F (p).

Now we take p , and show that F (p) = f (p). To do so, we need to make
$
$ F (q) F (p)
$
$
f (p)$
$
qp

small by taking q suciently close to p.

Take any small positive . Since is open and f is continuous at p, there exists
such that B(p, ) and |f (z) f (p)| < when z B(p, ). Take q B (p, )
and let be the straight line segment from p #to q. Then B(p, ) and so
|f (z) f (p)| < for all z . By calculation, dz = q p whence
"
1
f (p) dz = f (p).
qp
Thus

$
$ $
$
"
$ F (q) F (p)
$ $ 1
$
$
$
$
$

f
(p)
=
f
(z)
dz

f
(p)
$
$ $q p
$
qp

$
$
"
$ 1
%
& $
f (z) f (p) dz $$
= $$
qp
1

max{|f (z) f (p)| : z } |q p|

|q p|
= max{|f (z) f (p)| : z }
< ,
by the ML lemma. It follows that F is dierentiable at p, with derivative f (p),
as required.
If F1 is another function such that F1 = f , then (F1 F ) = 0, so F1 F is a
constant, C say. This means that
F1 (q) F1 (p) = (F (q) + C) (F (p) + C) = F (q) F (p),
#
so that F1 can also be used to compute f (z) dz.

We call a function F such that F = f a primitive or an anti-derivative of f .

In some of our earlier computations, there are hints that it might be possible to
compute contour integrals using primitives; now we have the proof of this.

94

15. THE CAUCHYGOURSAT THEOREM

y
2

Figure 15.1. A multiply connected domain

3. Multiply connected domains
Perhaps unfortunately, many domains are not simply connected. For these
domains, the discussion is more complicated. Suppose that is a bounded domain
whose boundary consists of finitely many disjoint contours. Then one of the
contours, 0 say, is outside while the others, 1 , . . . , n say, are inside . We
orient these contours in the standard way. This is illustrated in Figure 15.1.
Exercise 15.5. Determine the orientations of the contours in Figure 15.1.
Theorem 15.6 (CauchyGoursat). Suppose that is a bounded domain whose
boundary consists of finitely many contours 0 , 1 , . . . , n . Suppose also that
and that f is dierentiable in . Then
"
-"
f (z) dz =
f (z) dz = 0.

Corollary 15.7. Suppose that is a bounded domain whose boundary

consists of finitely many contours
# 0 , 1 , . . . , n , that , and that f is a
dierentiable function in . If j f (z) dz = 0 when j = 1, . . . , n, then there is a
dierentiable function F in such that F = f ; further, if is a simple contour
in from p to q, then
"
f (z) dz = F (q) F (p).

5. CONNECTION WITH VECTOR FIELDS

95

4. History
The CauchyGoursat theorem is mathematically important because it will lead
to the Cauchy integral formula, one of the most useful formulae in complex analysis. One of the uses of this formula is to compute integrals. Another is to show
that a holomorphic function in a domain has continuous partial derivatives,
and indeed is infinitely dierentiable. We stated several theorems earlier about
holomorphic functions which include the hypotheses that f is holomorphic and
that f is continuous, and it is useful to know that the continuity hypothesis is
automatically true. At least in principle, we should check that the hypotheses of a
theorem are satisfied before we apply the theorem, and so it is good to make these
hypotheses unnecessary.
Augustin Cauchy was one of the finest French mathematicians of the first half of
the 1800s, and he developed much of what is in a course on complex analysis today,
as well as making precise the idea of limit that had been worrying mathematicians
and philosophers of mathematics since the time of Newton and Leibniz. The
CauchyGoursat theorem is Goursats 1884 improvement of a theorem of Cauchy
from 1829it says something of Goursats ability that he could improve the work
of Cauchy.
Some of Cauchys ideas were being developed simultaneously by George Green,
an uneducated miller from Nottingham, who gave us Greens theorem in 1828.
5. Connection with vector fields
Take a simple almost smooth curve : [a, b] C, and write (t) = 1 (t)+i2 (t)
and f (z) = u(x, y) + iv(x, y). Let (t) be the analogue of in R2 , that is,
(t) = (1 (t), 2 (t)). Then
"
" b
f (z) dz =
(u((t)) + iv((t))) (1 (t) + i2 (t)) dt

"

(u((t)) 1 (t) v((t))) 2 (t)) dt

a
" b
+i
(u((t)) 2 (t) + v((t) 1 (t)) dt
a
" b
" b

=
U((t)) (t) dt + i
V ((t)) (t) dt
a
"a
"
=
U(s) ds + i V (s) ds,

where the vector fields U and V are given by

U(x, y) = (u(x, y), v(x, y))

and

V (x, y) = (v(x, y), u(x, y)).

96

15. THE CAUCHYGOURSAT THEOREM

The condition that U and V be closed is the condition

v
v
u
u
=
and
=
.
y
x
y
x
These are exactly the CauchyRiemann equations.