Classifying singularities of a complex function

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
2 replies · 2K views
TheCanadian
Messages
361
Reaction score
13

Homework Statement


[/B]
Find and classify the isolated singularities of the following:

$$ f(z) = \frac {1}{e^z - 1}$$

Homework Equations

The Attempt at a Solution



I have the solution for the positions of the singularities, which is: ## z = 2n\pi i## (for ##n = 0, \pm 1, \pm 2, ...##) and this makes sense. But the solution also says these are simple poles. This part I do not quite understand. For example, if I take the derivative of ##f(z)##, then ##f'(z) = -(e^z -1)^{-2} e^z## where ##f'(2n\pi i)## is also ##\infty##. Perhaps my understanding of simple poles is wrong, but I don't see any singularities of order 1 when considering the Laurent series of ##f(z)##.

Any ideas on why ## z = 2n\pi i## is considered a simple pole here?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
fresh_42 said:
If ##z_0=1## is a pole of first order of ##f(z)##, what can be said about ##(z-z_0)\cdot f(z)##?
Ahh that makes sense. When evaluating ##(z-z_0)\cdot f(z)## at ##z = z_0##, the value is finite. I incorrectly took the derivative above and treated this like a zero of order 1 instead of a pole. Thank you for the help.