Introduction

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This page about Laurent Series can be displayed as Wiki2Reveal slides. Single sections are regarded as slides and modifications on the slides will immediately affect the content of the slides. The following aspects of Laurent Series are considered in detail:

 
  •   coefficients
  •   development point of series

Main Part and Regular Part

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The series of terms with negative exponents is called the main part of the Laurent series, and the series of terms with non-negative exponents is called the regular part or the residual part.

Connection to Power Series

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A Laurent series with a vanishing main part is a power series; if it also has only finitely many terms, then it is a polynomial. If a Laurent series has only finitely many terms in total (with negative or positive exponents), it is called a Laurent polynomial.

History

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The Laurent series was introduced in 1843 by the French mathematician Pierre Alphonse Laurent. However, notes in the legacy of the German mathematician Karl Weierstrass suggest that he discovered it as early as 1841.

Laurent Decomposition

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The principle of developing a holomorphic function into a Laurent series is based on the Laurent decomposition. To do this, consider an annular region  . Now define two holomorphic functions   and  :

 
 .

Representation of Laurent Series by Two Holomorphic Functions

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Let   and   be two holomorphic functions with a development point  ,

  with  .

  and   are holomorphic functions on  , which can be developed into a power series around 0 in  .

Convergence Set of Laurent Series

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The functions   and   can be locally represented as a power series on a disk in   (holomorphy criterion). Then   with   converges on the complement of a disk.

Intersection of Convergence Domains

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If  's principal part   and   are convergent, then   lies in the intersection of the convergence sets. If  , the convergence set is empty because   would simultaneously have to lie on a disk of radius   and on the complement of a disk with radius  .

Convergence Radii

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Let   and   be the convergence radii for the functions   and  . Calculate the radius   of the convergence set of   for all   with  .

Geometry of the Convergence Set

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  converges holomorphically around the center on the disk with radius  . Since the argument of the function   must lie within the defined circular region, it quickly becomes evident that the function   is defined for values  . Thus, the sum of the two functions

 

is analytic on the annulus  .

Uniqueness of Decomposition

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It can be shown that any holomorphic function on an annular domain can be decomposed in this way. If one also assumes  , the decomposition is unique.

By expanding this function in the form of power series, the following representation arises:

 .

Here,   is defined. Additionally,   follows from the condition  .

Decomposition with Expansion Point

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If these considerations are extended to an expansion around a point  , rather than the origin, the initially stated definition of the Laurent series for a holomorphic function   around the expansion point   results:

 

Example

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In the following,   refers to either the real numbers or the complex numbers.

 .

The function is infinitely often differentiable in the real sense, but it is not holomorphic at  , where it has an essential singularity.

Substituting into the Taylor Series

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By substituting   into the power series expansion of the exponential function,

 

the Laurent series of   with the expansion point   is obtained:

 

Convergence Domain of the Laurent Series

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The secondary part   converges throughout  , and the principal part (and therefore the entire Laurent series) converges for every complex number  .

Approximation of the Function by Partial Sums

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Approximation of Laurent series by partial sums

The image shows how the partial sum sequence

 

approaches the function.

Comparison of Graphs of Partial Sums with the Function

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 .

Since graphs in   are subsets of 4-dimensional  -vector spaces, the graph is plotted here for values  . The Laurent expansion can be continuously extended at 0.

Convergence of Laurent Series

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Laurent series are important tools in complex analysis, especially for studying functions with isolated singularities.

Annuli and Disks

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Laurent series describe complex functions that are holomorphic on an annulus, just as power series describe functions holomorphic on a disk.

Let

 

be a Laurent series in   with complex coefficients   and expansion point  .

Convergence Radii - Interior of the Annulus

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There are two uniquely determined numbers   and   such that:

The Laurent series converges uniformly and absolutely on the open annulus  .

It converges normally, meaning the principal and secondary parts converge normally. This defines a holomorphic function   on  .

Outside the Annulus

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Outside the annulus, the Laurent series diverges. For every point in

 ,

either the terms with positive (secondary part) or negative exponents (principal part) diverge.

Convergence Radii and Cauchy-Hadamard

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The two radii can be calculated using the Cauchy-Hadamard formula:

 
 

We set   and   in the second formula.

Functions Defined on Annuli

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Conversely, one can start with an annulus   and a function   that is holomorphic on  . Then, there always exists a uniquely determined Laurent series with expansion point   that converges (at least) on   and coincides with   there. The coefficients satisfy:

 

for all   and a  . Due to the Cauchy integral theorem, the choice of   does not matter.

Punctured Disk

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The case  , i.e., a holomorphic function   on a punctured disk around  , is particularly important. The coefficient   in the Laurent series expansion of   is called the residue of   at the isolated singularity  . It plays a significant role in the residue theorem.

Formal Laurent Series

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Formal Laurent series are Laurent series in the indeterminate  , used without consideration of convergence.

Laurent Series on Commutative Rings

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The coefficients   can then belong to any commutative ring. In this context, it only makes sense to consider Laurent series with finitely many negative exponents, known as a "finite principal part," and to omit the expansion point by setting  .

Equality of Formal Laurent Series

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Two such formal Laurent series are defined as equal if and only if all their coefficients agree. Laurent series are added by summing their respective coefficients. Since there are only finitely many terms with negative exponents, they can be multiplied by convolution of their coefficient sequences, similar to power series. With these operations, the set of all Laurent series over a commutative ring   forms a commutative ring, denoted by  .

Laurent Series and Integral Domains

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If   is a field, the formal power series in the indeterminate   over   form an integral domain, denoted by  . Its field of fractions is isomorphic to the field   of Laurent series over  .

Exercises

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Let  . Construct a Laurent series with this annulus as its domain of convergence, which does not converge on  . Use geometric series as an idea with   converging for   when  .

Exercises on Laurent Series and b-adic Number Systems

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Analyze the relationship between Laurent series and the p-adic number system (e.g., binary system, hexadecimal system)! What are the similarities and differences?

Represent the number   as a value of a Laurent series in the 4-based number system  , where  . Calculate the coefficients  :

 z

Literature

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Eberhard Freitag & Rolf Busam: Complex Analysis 1, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 3-540-67641-4

See Also

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Page Information

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Translation and Version Control

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