A question about the log of a rational function

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the computation of the logarithm of the rational function $$f(x)=\frac{(1+ix)^{n}-1}{(1-ix)^{n}-1}\left(\frac{1-ix}{1+ix}\right)^{n/2}$$ for positive values of x, where n is a positive integer. The participants explore the discrepancies between their analytical results and those obtained from Wolfram Alpha, particularly regarding the multivalued nature of the complex logarithm and the resulting jumps of order $$2\pi$$. The key issue identified is the difficulty in locating the exact points of discontinuity in $$\log f(x)$$, which leads to confusion in the graphical representation of the function.

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mmzaj
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We have the rational function :
$$f(x)=\frac{(1+ix)^{n}-1}{(1-ix)^{n}-1}\left(\frac{1-ix}{1+ix}\right)^{n/2}\;\;\;,\;\;n\in \mathbb{Z}^{+}$$
It's not hard to prove that :
$$\frac{(1+ix)^{n}-1}{(1-ix)^{n}-1}=(-1)^{n}\prod_{k=1}^{n-1}\frac{x+i(\xi_{n}^{k}-1)}{x-i(\xi_{n}^{k}-1)}\;\;\;,\;\;\xi_{n}^{k}=e^{2\pi i k/n}$$
Now we want to compute $$\log f(x)$$ for x>0. The logarithm of the individual factors can be written as :

$$\log\left(\frac{x+i(\xi_{n}^{k}-1)}{x-i(\xi_{n}^{k}-1)}\right)=2i\tan^{-1}\left(\frac{x}{1-\xi_{n}^{k}}\right)+i\pi;\;\;\;\;x>0$$
So, one would expect:
$$\log f(x)=-in\tan^{-1}(x)-i\pi+2i\pi n+2i\sum_{k=1}^{n-1}\tan^{-1}\left(\frac{x}{1-\xi_{n}^{k}}\right)$$
But it looks nothing like what wolframalpha returns. What am i doing wrong here ?
 
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It might be helpful to say what wolfram alpha returns.
 
graphically, there seems to be a difference between what I've calculated and the plot of ##\log f(x)## by multiples of ##2\pi## . but i am not able to locate the exact locations of the jumps.
 
You spent so much effort to type in post #1 and then you fail with some copies and pastes or links?
I hope micromass' crystal ball isn't out of order like mine currently is.
 
fresh_42 said:
You spent so much effort to type in post #1 and then you fail with some copies and pastes or links?
I hope micromass' crystal ball isn't out of order like mine currently is.
have you ever used WF ? it doesn't return results for general n ! and posting one example won't be of help if it doesn't say where the jumps are ! thanks for the very helpful and constructive post anyways !
 
If you refuse to give further information, then there is not much we can do. All I can say is that the complex logarithm is multivalued, so this can explain jumps of order ##2\pi##.
 
micromass said:
If you refuse to give further information, then there is not much we can do. All I can say is that the complex logarithm is multivalued, so this can explain jumps of order ##2\pi##.
where should i expect the jumps to happen ? that's where i am stuck. and we can just forget about the graphical discrepancy and correct my analytic calculation.
 
Why don't you show us the graphics you got? I won't reply further to this thread if you don't show us what you did in wolframalpha.
 
  • #10
it boils down to finding the discontinuities of ##\log f(x)##
 

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