A Simple Proof of the Fundamental Cauchy-Goursat Theorem

Author(s): Eliakim Hastings Moore

Source: Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, Vol. 1, No. 4 (Oct., 1900), pp. 499506
Published by: American Mathematical Society
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A SIMPLE PROOF OF THE FUNDAMENTAL

CAUCHY-GOURSAT
THEOREM*
BY

ELIAKIM HASTINGS MOORE

Introduction.
GOURSATin two memoirs(Acta Math ematica, vol. 4, 1884; Transactions of the American Mathematical
Society, vol. 1, 1900) has
provedCAUCHY'Sintegraltheorem:
ff(z)dz = 0,

of thederivative
withoutthe assumption
of the continuity
f'(Z) on theclosed

regionR boundedby thecurveof integrationC, and therebyhe has laid deeper

of the complexvarifoundationsforthe CAUCHY-RIEMANNtheoryof fuinctions
able. An abstractof thesememoirsis to be foundin the Bulletin of this SocietyforJune,1899, pp. 427-429.
GOURSATset out by a direct processt to evaluate the integral in question.
In the presentpaper,by an indirectprocess,I provethat the integralhas the
value 0. The essential elementsof the proof are those of GOURSAT'Sfirst
paper; by the modification
indicated,and by the impositionon the curve C of
a certainconditionfulfilledby all the usual curves,one avoids the necessityof
introducingthe lenmma
to whichGOURSAT'S secondpaper is devoted.
The necessarypreliminary
definitions
and theoremsare given in some detail
in ? 1, in which connectionI referespeciallyto JORDAN'S Cours d'Analyse,
2d ed., vol. 1, 1893, and to HURWITZ'S addressat theZurichCongressof 1897
entitled.: Uber die Entwickelungder (illyemeinenTheorie der analytischen
Functionenin neuerer Zeit (Verhandlungendes -iilathematikerKongresses
inZiirich . .; Teubner,1898). Then in ?? 2 and 3 I state and provethe two
* Presentedto the Society June 29, 1900, at the New York meeting.
Received forpublication
October30, 1900.
t STOLZ (Grundziigeder Diff'erentialund Integralrechnung,
vol. 2, p. 218, 1896) states that
this processof GOURSAT'Sfirstmemoirwas an improvementof an older method; his reference
to LAURENT,Theorie_des
residus,1895, p. 38, I have not succeeded in utilizing.
499
Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 33

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500

E. H. MOORE: A SIMPLE PROOF OF THE

[October

theoremscorrespondilng
to thetwoprilncipalforms*
principalCAUCHY-GoURSAT
of CAUCHY'Stheorem.

? 1. Preliminary deyinitionsand theorems.

10. The followingnotationsare usefulin abbreviatinggeneralstatementsinvolvingthe notionof limits. With respectto a set S of pointsin the plane of
the complexvariablez and a pointz = a of the plane, the notationSa indicates
the set S withthe exceptionof the pointa if a is of the set 5, and the notation S, , , where 7is a positivereal number,denotesthesubsetof Sa lyingwithin
may be read thus:
the circle (a, q) of center a and radius q. The lnotations
of a.
the set S a apart; the set S a apart withinthe a-neighborhood
2?. The pointz = a is a limitpointof the set S if everyset S, containsolne
pointand so an infinitudeof points. The set is closed,if it containsall its limllit
points.
If a set S is closed and containsan infinitesequenceof subsetsSK, each subset S containingan infinitudeof pointsof the set S and containingalso the
succeedingsubset S+,, then the subsets S have at least one pointof S in
in squares forminga
common; and if furtherthe S in any waylie respectively
then
the S. have onlyone
decreasingarea,
sequence of squares withinldefinitely
pointin commoln.
3?. A (real or complex)function(z) is uniquelydefinedforeverypointZ of
a set S witha limitpointz = a.
The fulnction
f(z) has on the z-setS forz = a the limit/, in synmbols,

Lf(z) =f,

z jIS

z=at

e thereexistsa positivenumberBe such that

if foreverypositivenuumber

If(3)

f I<

8R)

foreverypointz of the set Sa @*

The point = a, being of the set S, at z = a on the set S the functiollf(z)
is continuousif

Lf(z) =J(a) ,

z IS

z=a

and it has the(finite)derivative

f '(a) if
* Referenceshould also be made to the followingexpositionsof Cauchy's theorem:
PRINGSIIEIM: M iin c h n e r S i t z u n g s b e ri c h t e, vol. 25, pp. 39-72, 295-304, 1895;
Society, ser. 2, vol. 2, pp.
BOCHER: Bulletin of the American Mathematical
146-149, 1896;
ST6LZ: loc. cit., p. 217 ff.,1896.
The papers of PRINGSHEIMcontain interestinghistoricaldata concerningthe theorem.

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FUNDAMENTAL

1900]

CAUCHY-GOURSAT

Lf(z) -f(a)

501

THEOREM

__

z=a

that is, if forthe functionA(z) definedon the set S by the identity:

f(z) =f(a) + (z - a)f'(a)
thereis foreverye a 8, such that
IA(z)| <

+ A(z),
(zlS, Iz-al <

al

S )

of a.
forall pointsz of the set S withinthe Be-neighborhood
4'. An equation: z = F(t), whereF(t) is a complexsingle valued function
of the real variable t on the interval to... T, definesin the z-planea curve
C,- a path* of the pointz fromz0 wF(to) to Z=F(Tl).
The curve C is continuouswhenthe functionF(t) is continuous.
The arc z0Z of the curve C has as lengtht the limit,if uniquelyexistent,of
thelengthof thebrokenline zo7i1z2 * * *znZ whoseverticescorrespondto the n + 2
pointst0t1t2* tnT of a partitionof theinlterval
toT into n + 1 subintervals-the
decreasewiththe indefinite
limitas the lengthsof all subintervalsindefinitely
increaseof n. If the arc z0Z has a length,so does its everyarc-part.
A rectifiablecurveis a continuouscurve withlength.
It is easy to see in how far the path-curvein definitionand propertiesis independentof the particularparametert.
5?. The definiteintegralof a functionf(z) definedupon a path C along that
path has the definition:
.

ff(z)dz
CSK=O

~~~~~n

E f(K)(ZK+-1

K=O

K)

and 8K iS t+1 - tK.

where z l is Z, and g; is any point on the arc ZK7K+
This j definiteintegral exists if the path C is rectifiableand the function
f(z) is continuouson C (JORDAN: loc. cit., ?? 193-196, 1893).
* For presentpurposes we need to consideronly paths lying entirelyin the finite plane and
containing theirextremepoints.
Acta M athematica,
vol. 5, pp. 49-82, 1884; AsCOLI (Cf. Jahrbuch
t SCHEEFER:
der Math ematik, vol. 16, p. 339, [1884] ) ; JORDAN:
loc. cit., { 105-113, 1893; STUDY:
Mathematische
Annalen, vol. 47, pp. 298-316, 1896.
4The two real or complex functionsP(z), Q(z) being definedupon a path C, the definite
integralof the binomial differentialexpressionP(z)dx + Q(z)dy has the similar definition:
n
n
YK).
f P(z)dx ? Q(z)dy = L E P(;K) (xK+1 -xK) + L E Q(GK)(YK+1
CK0

K_ KK0
OKOO

By a proofsimilar to that cited above one has the theorem: this definiteintegral exists if the
path C is rectifiableand the functionsP(z), Q(z) are continuouson C. I take occasion to refer
to this existence theoremsince it seems to be neither in JORDAN'S
Cours d'Analyse nor in
PICARD'S
Traited'Analyse,and since PRINGSHEIM
(loc. cit., pp. 48-55, 1895) carefullyexpounds
fora certain class of curves a definitionand an existencetheoremwhich are in factspecial cases
of the definitionand theoremjust given. PRINGSHEIM
seems to be unfortunatelyout of touch
with the currentnotionof the general rectifiablecurves (Cf. pp. 48, 49, 55, 59, 60).

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502

E. H. MOORE:

A SIMPLE PROOF OF THE

[October

6'. Of a set S a point a of the plane is (a) an innerpoint,(,B) an outer

point,or ('y) a boundarypoint,accordingas (a, 18)thereexists a neighborhood
of a, (a) all of whosepointsbelongto S, (,8) none of whosepointsbelongto X,
or (y) everyneighborhoodof a containsat least one pointof S and one point
not of S.
A set S is connectedif any two of its pointsz0Z maybe joined by a broken
line %z1 .. . znZ of a finitenumberof links whoseextremitiesz ... zn are inner
pointsof S and each of lengthless than a preassignedlength.
A set connectedand made up exclusivelyof inner points is with HURWITZ
called a continuum.
7?. A simply* closed continuouscurve is a continuouscurvewhoseextreme
poiultscoinicidebut whosepointsare otherwisedistinct. These curveshave been
carefullystudiedby JORDAN (Ioc. cit., ?? 96-113).
Such a curveservesas the boundarybetweentwo regionsof the plane, the exteriorregion and the initeriorregion. These regions are continua; afterthe
additionof the curveeach regionremainsconnected.
8?. A continuumis simplyconnectedif everysimplyclosed continuouscurve
lying in the continuumhas its interiorregionlyingentirelyin the continuuin.
Every continuouis
curve lying in a simplyconnectedcontinuumlies in the interiorof a simplyclosed continuouscurve lying in the same continuum. One
readilyconstructssuch a curve in connectionwitha sufficiently
fine gratingof
squares superposedonlthe continuum.
? 2. The Cauchy-GCoursat
theorem
for integralsovertheboundaryof simplyconnectedregions.
THEOREM.

The definiteintegr-al
ff(z)dz

exists and has thevalue 0, if

1) thepath of integrationC is a simplyclosed continuous recti{fablecurve
metby thevarious linesparallel to thexy axes in thez-plane(z x + iy) in a
finitenumberof points and segmentsof coincidence,and moreoverhaving the
property2);
2) t for everypoint ? of C, if a square withsides parallel to the axes convergesin any way to thepoint ,, theratio qf thetotal lengthof the arcs of C
HURWITZ'S " simply" is preferableto JORDAN'S" without multiple point."
tAs indicated in the introductionthe theoremwiththe omission of thisconditionon the curve
of integrationremains true. It would then be interestingto inquire whether this propertyof
the curve follows fromthose of hypothesis1). The usual curves of integrationobviously satisfy
the condition2) forthe value p, = 1 . In particular,the proofhere given is sufficient
to extend
the CAUCHY theoremas given by JORDAN to the correspondingCAUCHY-GOURSAT
form(Cf. $ 3).

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1900]

503

FUNDAMENTAL CAUCHY-GOURSAT THEOREM

lying on thesquare to the perimeterof the square is ultimatelyless than a

certainconstantp,, whichmay vary as traversesC;
3) on theregion R, consistingof the curve C and its interiorregion,the
f (z) is a singlevalued continuousfunctionof z witha single
integrandfunction
'

f'(z).
valluedderivative

In the firstplace, the integral

J=
exists (? 1, 50).
We are to provethenthat J=

0.

f (z)dz
The proof* is indirect. We set

and supposethat y > 0 .

The regionR = R. lies withinsome square S0 with sides parallel to the xy
axes and of length y0. By the introductionof two diameterswe subdivide
In view of hythis square S. into four equal squares S', S', S'.., Si.
pothesis1) we admit the usual dissectionarguments. The region R is subdivided into a finitenumber of regions bounded by simplyclosed continuous
curves pieced togetherfrom pieces of C. and of the two diametersof S0.
These regions lie each in one of the smallersquares. We denote forbrevity
the lot of regionsin S' by R', and by C' the lot of boundingcurvesdescribed
each in the sense dictatedby the sense of descriptionof CO, and by
=

Xf f(z)dz

(IJ<1=t11)

and so forSj', Sj"v, S7.

the sumof theintegralsoff(z)dz overthosepath-curves,
Then we have

Jo=J + Jl,+ J1 + Ji1,

< n c'

+
+ nyj,

+ niv

by the notaHence one of the foury1'sinust be n0/4. We denotethistj

tion n, withoutsuperscript,and so for the correspondingJ,, C,, Rj, S1.
Hence in the square 81 we have a state of affairssimilarto that initiallyexisting in the square 80, exceptthat R, consistsof several regionsof the typeR0
integralseach in the
the sum of the corresponding
forwhichwe are considerilng
sense specified,- a fact howeverwhich does not interferewith the indefinite
repetitionof the dissectionprocess.
* The proof is in spiritindirect,although it may immediatelybe cast in the direct form,- a
factremarkedby my colleague Mr. MASCHKE.

t In case of ambiguitythe choice is a matterof indifference.

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504

[October

A SIMPLE PROOF OF THE

E. H. MOORE:

Tlhus foreveryintegerv there is a square SV of lengthryo/2V;Sv contains

RV consistingof a finitenumberof regions,bounded each by a simplyclosed
continuouscurve; these curves each described in the propersense form the
completeboundaryCv of RV; the integral

Jv= Xf (z)dz
is the sum of the integralsof f(z)dz over these curvesso described; further,

vv v

Jv

which lies on every

This dissectionprocessdeterminesa definitepoint z =
square Sv (v = 0, 1, 2, * .). It is thereforea limitpointof the regionRX,
- since everyRv containsin fact a (simpleor compound)curve of integration
CV,,-and it is, indeed,since R is closed,a point of X, either an inner point
or a pointof the boundaryC. For everypointz of the square Sv one has
-z -'

We set forpointsz of the regionR

2yz2-v.

')f( ) + A (z)

Az) =f() + (z-

we have,by hyIntroducinga positive numbere subject to later determination

pothesis3) in accordancewith30 of ? 1, a positivenumber8, such that on the
regionP withinthe circle ( J,l)
< E |-z ?
1AW1)

(zJR; |-1<6

Choosingv7so that the square Sv lies withinthe circle ( J,8e) e. g., so that
27Y02-E

we have on everyregionRv (v ve)

JA(z)l< e

2-v

(zIRv

v?vc).

Then on integratingthe trinomialexpressionforfz)dz along the various

path-curvesmaking up Cv (v- v6),rememberingthat over such closed curves
fdz = 0, fzdz

0, and applyingthe usual mean value theorem,we have

=v

f
v

A(z)dz;

J4=
v

< 2y2(v ve),

whereXvis the total lengthof the curvesof Cv.

Then

Xv 4ry02?v
+ XvX

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1900]

505

FUNDAMENTAL CAUCHY-GOURSAT THEOREM

whereXvis the total lengthof the arcs of the original curve C on the square
S,, of perimeter4ryo2-v. Hence, by hypothesis2), for all v's greater than a
certain*vO
Xv < 4yo2v p

(v> vo),

wherep is a certainpositiveconstant. Thus

qv < 8ECy24-v(l + p)

while

(v

VE; V

>

=o1,,*

vq
4v no(v

VO),

Thus by the mediationof a properlychosenzJone has the relation

8 ery(1 + p) >

ov

whichis independentof v. But the positivenumberc remainsat our disposal

and may now be chosenso that
8ery2(l+ p) <Do0,

since mo
> 0 . Thus we reach the contradictionneeded to completethe proof
of the theorem.
? 3. The Cauchy-Goursat theorem
for integralsover a closed rectifiablecurvelying on a continuum.
We may with HURWITZ (IOC. cit., pp. 101-103)

formulate the CAUCIJY

theoremas provedby JORDAN (10c. cit., ?? 196-198) as follows:

The definiteintegral
THEOREM.
Jf(z)d(z)
exists and has thevalue 0, if thepath of integrationC is a closed continuous
rectifable curve lying on a simiplyconnected continuunm on which the integrand

fiunction
fAz)is synectic.

A functionf(z) existing as a single valued functionof z on a continuumis

synecticif foreverysuch z it is continuousand has a derivativein each axial
direction,theseaxial derivativesbeing equal, and this commonderivative-value
being itselfa continuousfunctionon the continuum,or,what is the same thing,
if foreverysuch z it is continuousand has a singlevalued derivativef'(z) itself
a continuousfunctionon the continuum.
In JORDAN'Sproofthe theoremis shownto depend upon the special case for
a trianglelying on the simplyconnectedcontinuum. In this reductionthe
inteorandfunctionf(z) entersonly withits propertyof continuity.
* If ; is an inner point of R?, then the Rv ultimatelylie withinR and the Xvare ultimately0.

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506

E. H. MOORE:

THE CAUCHY-GOURSAT THEOREM

Accordinglyby the use of the GOURSATproof or thatof ? 2 forthis case of

the trianglewe may enunciatethe theoremreferredto in the captionof ? 3.
THEOREM.
The definiteintegral
,ff(z)d(z)
exists and has thevalue 0, if the path of integrationC is any closed continuous rectifiablecurve lying on a simply connectedcontinuumon which the
integrandfunctionAz) is a single valued continuousfunctionof z with a
single valued derivativef'(z)
THE UNIVERSITY

OF CHICAGO.

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