# Math Help - The order of the poles of cos(z)/z^2 and sin(z)/z^2

1. ## The order of the poles of cos(z)/z^2 and sin(z)/z^2

$g(z)=\frac{sin(z)}{z^2}$and $f(z)=\frac{cos(z)}{z^2}$ both have a pole at $z=0$

From the Laurent series expansion I deduced that for $f(z)$ this pole is of order one, while for $g(z)$ the pole is order two.

Was there any faster way to have noticed this (because first I thought they were of order 2 for both, since there was a square sign in the denominator....)

2. ## Re: The order of the poles of cos(z)/z^2 and sin(z)/z^2

Originally Posted by CSM
Was there any faster way to have noticed this (because first I thought they were of order 2 for both, since there was a square sign in the denominator....)

The series expansion of $\sin z$ and $\cos z$ around $z=0$ are well known, so we find immediately the order of the pole: $\sin z/z^2=1/z+\ldots$ (simple) and $\cos z/z^2=1/z^2+\ldots$ (double) .

3. ## Re: The order of the poles of cos(z)/z^2 and sin(z)/z^2

Originally Posted by CSM
$g(z)=\frac{sin(z)}{z^2}$and $f(z)=\frac{cos(z)}{z^2}$ both have a pole at $z=0$

From the Laurent series expansion I deduced that for $f(z)$ this pole is of order one, while for $g(z)$ the pole is order two.

Was there any faster way to have noticed this (because first I thought they were of order 2 for both, since there was a square sign in the denominator....)
If You know that $f(z)$ has a pole in $z=a$ but You don't know the Laurent expansion of $f(z)$ around $z=a$ , then the order of the pole in the value of n for which...

$\lim_{z \rightarrow a} (z-a)^{n}\ f(z)= \lambda$ (1)

... where is $\lambda \ne 0$. An interesting 'counterexample' is the function $\ln z$ , for which $z=0$ is a 'singularity'. If we try to apply (1) in order to determine the 'order of the pole' we discover that...

$\lim_{z \rightarrow 0} z^{n}\ \ln z = \begin{cases} -\infty &\phantom{|}\textrm{if }n=0\\ 0 &\phantom{|}\textrm{if } n>0 \end{cases}$ (2)

... so that no value on n satisfies (1). The reason is that $z=0$ is a singularity of the function $\ln z$ but isn't a 'pole'...

Kind regards

$\chi$ $\sigma$