Holomorphic Functions – Can They Have Uncountable Zeros?

complex-analysis

We know that Weierstrass factorisation theorem holds for point sets in the complex plane without any limit points.

Is there a generalisation of this conclusion if we replace the point set with an uncountable point set in the complex plane without limit points? That is, can a holomorphic function have uncountable many zeros? I believe such a set can be constructed by well-ordering an uncountable point set.

Best Answer

As explained in comments by Daniel Fischer, this cannot happen. Here's a slightly more general version, with $\mathbb C$ replaced by an arbitrary domain $\Omega\subset \mathbb C$.

We can write $\Omega$ as the union of a countable family of compact sets $K_n$, for example by letting $K_n=\{z\in \Omega: \operatorname{dist}(z,\partial \Omega) \ge 1/n, \ |z|\le n\}$.

Since the zero set $Z$ has no limit points, each intersection $Z\cap K_n$ is finite. Hence $$Z = \bigcup_n (Z\cap K_n)$$ is countable.