Finding Residue using Cauchy's Integral & Residue Thms

  • Thread starter Thread starter brandones
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Integral Residue
brandones
Messages
3
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



Calculate

\stackrel{Res}{z=0}(\frac{z^5}{(z^2-4)(z-4))}

Homework Equations



I've learned enough Latex for one day, thank you very much. Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residue_theorem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauchy's_integral_formula

The Attempt at a Solution



\stackrel{Res}{z=0}(\frac{z^5}{(z^2-4)(z-4))}

via Cauchy's Residue Theorem:
= \frac{1}{2πi}\int \frac{z^5}{(z-2)(z+2)(z-4)} dz

which, via Cauchy's Integral Formula:
= (\frac{z^5}{(z+2)(z-4)}) solved at z=2

= \frac{32}{-8}

=-4

Is this legit? This seems way too convenient, and weird that there isn't an explicit theorem saying I can do this.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Oh wait, I just went a really roundabout way of defining the residue, didn't I?

Well, now it seems totally obvious.

Hooray!
 
brandones said:

Homework Statement



Calculate

\stackrel{Res}{z=0}(\frac{z^5}{(z^2-4)(z-4))}

You mean at z=2, right?

Oh wait, I just went a really roundabout way of defining the residue, didn't I?
Yeah, for simple poles at z=c, the residue is just the limit of (z-c)*f(z).
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
Back
Top