I'm out of college, and trying to self-learn complex analysis. I'm finding Ahlfors' text difficult. Any recommendations? I'm probably at an intermediate sophistication level for an undergrad. (Bonus points if the text has a section on the Riemann Zeta function and the Prime Number Theorem.)
What is a good complex analysis textbook, barring Ahlfors's?
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5Thank you so much for all the recommendations. It's a wonderful annoyance that there are lots of excellent texts out there, and it's hard to choose between them. – 2011-04-03
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13MBP: While Ahlfors's book may be a bit on the more difficult side, it's definitely worth spending time with it, this book is so packed with treasures! Ahlfors himself is undoubtedly one of the outstanding figures in complex analysis and his elegance, precision and concision are hard if not impossible to surpass. You should definitely revisit the book again after reading some of the other books that were suggested below. It is one of those very rare books I keep taking out of my shelf whenever I'm in the mood of reading some beautiful mathematics. – 2011-04-04
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0Thank you. I'll try to gain some confidence with one of the other texts before taking on Ahlfors's book again. – 2011-04-04
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0To be honest I think you overestimated the difficulty of Ahlfors's textbook. I learned it in the second year of high school and I remember at that time it does not appear so difficult. I only know some real analysis at that time. I know it is intimidating when you found parts you could not go through, arguments without proper motivation, or exercises sounds too difficult, but maybe you can post these problems in here and we can help you solve them. I do not mean to demean your mathematical capability or anything. – 2011-05-26
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7@ Changwei Zhou If you could honestly read and learn complex analysis from Ahlfors in the second year of high school, you're far more brilliant then most of us. Most of us would find it quite difficult to slog through as beginners. – 2011-10-17
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0@ChangweiZhou: Seriously man? In high school? Swell! – 2012-08-02
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0Yes, I worked over hundreds of complex analysis problems that summer, ahlfors is just one of the reference books I used. No, I am not brilliant. I think I still have much to learn before I can do research on my own. – 2012-08-02