Analytic Continuation
Definition 1
For an analytic function if there exists an analytic function in that satisfies then is called the Analytic Continuation of in .
Explanation
Although this article is written in a complicated manner, if we read the definition carefully, it essentially means that in a certain complex domain , is simply an analytic function that can perfectly replace . It is often called analytic extension because in many cases, we consider .
The generalization of functions defined in the real numbers to the complex plane is like finding defined in by properly generalizing the function we originally knew in . The most straightforward examples include exponential functions , gamma functions , and Riemann zeta functions .
Osborne (1999). Complex variables and their applications: p361. ↩︎