An introduction to Complex numbers

Logarithm of a complex number

The polar notation works well with the logarithm of complex numbers.
We have already seen that for a complex z

z=|z|e^{i\arg(z)}

With this notation we can find log(z) by:

log(z)=log|z|+i\arg(z)

The books will desing the real part by Log|z|

Now we have the final notation

\log(z)=Log|z|+i\arg(z)

To find the solution to these equations we will remember to use the i2\pi k added to i\arg(z).

The rest of the logarithm technics seen before will apply here:

\log(z_1z_2)=\log(z_1)+\log(z_2)

We should remember that there is a modulo with a value of 2\pi i

\log(z_1/z_2)=\log(z_1)-\log(z_2)

Example 1:

Find \log(1+i)

z=1+i
|z|=\sqrt{2}
\arg(z)=\frac{\pi}{4}

z=\sqrt{2}e^{i\frac{\pi}{4}}

\log(z)=Log \sqrt{2}+i(\frac{\pi}{4}+2k\pi)

Finally:

\log(1+i)=Log \sqrt{2}+i(\frac{\pi}{4}+2k\pi)

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