Limit definition to compute some complex value function

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the rigorous application of the limit definition to prove that the limit of \( z^2 \) as \( z \) approaches \( i \) equals \(-1\). The proof involves demonstrating that for any \( \epsilon > 0 \), a corresponding \( \delta \) can be found such that \( |z^2 - (-1)| < \epsilon \) whenever \( 0 < |z - i| < \delta \). The key steps include expressing \( |z^2 - (-1)| \) in terms of \( |z - i| \) and bounding the expression to ensure it remains less than \( \epsilon \).

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Genericcoder
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So there is something I don't understand in the definition of limit that is applied to some problem
I have some intuition for like the rigorous limit definition but I don't have full understanding when applied to some problems.


Use definition 2 to prove lim as z → i of z^2 = -1


The book answer:
We must show that for given E > 0 there is a positive number x such that

|z^2 - (-1)| < E whenever 0 < |z - i| :

so we express |z^2 - (-1) | in terms of |z - i|:

z^2 - (-1) = z^2 + 1 = (z - i)(z + i) = (z - i)(z - i + 2i)

It follows from the properties of absolute value defived in Sec 1.3
that

|z^2 - (-1)| = |z - i||z - i + 2i| <= |z - i| (|z - i| + 2)

Now if |z - i| < x the right hand is less than x(x + 2) so to ensure that it is less than E, we can choose x to be smaller than either of the number E/3 and 1:

|z - i||(|z - i| + 2) < E/3(1 + 2) = 2



So Here there is a lot of stuff that I don't understand like why did we need to express one value in terms of the other ? I still don't know follow what's going on here if someone could explain please because I want full understanding of these stuff. thank you.
 
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Genericcoder said:
So there is something I don't understand in the definition of limit that is applied to some problem
I have some intuition for like the rigorous limit definition but I don't have full understanding when applied to some problems.


Use definition 2 to prove lim as z → i of z^2 = -1


The book answer:
We must show that for given E > 0 there is a positive number x such that

|z^2 - (-1)| < E whenever 0 < |z - i| :

so we express |z^2 - (-1) | in terms of |z - i|:

z^2 - (-1) = z^2 + 1 = (z - i)(z + i) = (z - i)(z - i + 2i)

I'm guessing you are OK to here, right? You are trying to make ##z^2-(-1)## small by getting ##z## near ##i##. Now, on the right side you have ##z-i## which you can make small. That will make the right side small if the rest of it ##|z-i+2i|## isn't too big. Well, how big can it be? ##|z+i|\le |z|+|i| = |z|+1##. That could presumably be very large, except for the fact we are making ##z## close to ##i##. Let's say we keep ##z## within ##1## unit of ##i## so ##|z-i|<1##. How big could ##z## be then? Well, ##|z|-|i|\le |z-i|<1## so ##|z|<1+|i|=2##. Putting this together gives ##|z+i|\le 3## so ##|z^2-(-1)|\le|z-i|\cdot 3##. That's where the overestimate of ##3## comes from. Now pick ##\delta=\min\{\epsilon/3,1\}##.
 
Last edited:
Oke good I understand it now thank you it makes perfect sense.
 

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