Wednesday, March 6, 2019

logarithms - Graph of a Log Function


I am curious as to why Wolfram|Alpha is graphing a logarithm the way that it is. I was always taught that a graph of a basic logarithm function logx should look like this:


enter image description here


However, Wolfram|Alpha is graphing it like this:


enter image description here


As you can see, there is a "real" range in the region (,0), and an imaginary part indicated by the orange line. Is there a part about log graphs that I am missing which would explain why Wolfram|Alpha shows the range of the log function as R?


Answer



ln(x) is formally defined as the solution to the equation ey=x.


If x is positive, this equation has an unique real solution, anyhow if x is negative this doesn't have a real solution. But it has complex roots.


Indeed, ln(x)=a+ib is equivalent to



x=ea+ib=ea(cos(b)+isin(b)).


If x<0 we need ea=|x|, cos(b)=1 and sin(b)=0.


Thus, a=ln(|x|) and b=3π2+2kπ....


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