654 Chapter9
9.2 ISOLATED SINGULARITIES
Definitions 9.8 If z = a i-oo is an isolated singularity of f, then in
any circular ring with center a and contained in some neighborhood of a
(Fig. 9.1) f(z) has a Laurent series representation (Section 8.18):
+oo A
f(z) = '°' Ak(z-a)k = · · + A_n +· · +--=!...__ +Ao+A1(z-a)+· · ·
L.J (z-a)n (z-a)
k=-oo
If A_n = 0 for all n > m but A_m '! 0 the point a is said to be a pole
of order m off. In this case we have
f( z ) = A-m +···+--+ A-1 A o+ A 1z-a ( ) +···
(z-a)m z-a
The sum
A-m A-1
---+···+--(z - a)m z - a
is called the principal part or the meromorphic part of f at a.
(9.2-1)
If A-n i- 0 for infinitely many values of n, then the point a is called an
isolated essential singularity of f .. The sum
00
:S A-n(Z - a)-n
n=l
is called the principal part of f at a.
Letting a= inf {k: Aki-O} we may put our definitions as follows: The
point a is a pole of f if -oo < a < 0, and it is an isolated essential
singulai;ity if a = -oo. On the other hand, the condition o: ~ 0 implies
that a is a regular point of f. ·
If a =: oo, then the Laurent expansion of J(z) in a circular ring with
center at the origin and contained in some neighborhood of oo, namely, in
Fig. 9.1