[Math] Meaning of “order of zero or pole”

analysiscomplex-analysisnotationnumber theory

Let $f(z)$ be a complex-valued meromorphic function.

If we say that $k$ is "the order of zero or pole" of $f(z)$ the the point $z=z_0$. What does this exactly mean?

As far as I understand it, if the function has no zeros or poles at $z_0$, we should say that $k=0$, and if it has a zero or order $r$, that $k=r$. Is this correct?

And if $f$ has a pole of order $s$, should it be $k=s$ or $k=-r$?0

Thanks in advance for any information

Best Answer

Let $f\colon \mathbb{C}\to \mathbb{C}$ be a meromorphic function. Suppose $f$ has a pole at $z = a$. Then there exists a postive integer $m$ and an analytic function $g$ such that $g(a)\neq 0$ and $$ f(z) = \frac{g(z)}{(z - a)^m} $$ We say that $f$ has a pole of order $m$ at $a$.

The definition for the order of a zero is analagous. The reference is Conway's Functions of One Complex Variable I

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