A map f:UCmf:U\to\mathbb C^m, where UCnU\subseteq\mathbb C^n is open, is holomorphic if each component is complex differentiable in every variable in a neighborhood of every point.

For a map between spaces equipped with compatible complex atlases, the map is holomorphic when, in compatible charts about each source point and its image, its coordinate expression is holomorphic in the Euclidean sense defined above.

Equivalent descriptions

In Euclidean charts, each component of a holomorphic map is locally represented by a convergent complex power series. A bijective holomorphic map with holomorphic inverse is a .

Scalar-valued and one-variable cases

A holomorphic map f:UCf:U\to\mathbb C is a holomorphic function. When UCU\subseteq\mathbb C, holomorphicity means that the

f(z)=limh0f(z+h)f(z)hf'(z)=\lim_{h\to0}\frac{f(z+h)-f(z)}h

exists at every zUz\in U. The converts this condition into real partial differential equations under an explicit regularity hypothesis.

Why the analytic description is equivalent

In one variable, the proves that . In several variables, holomorphicity in all variables likewise implies a local convergent multivariable power series; separate holomorphicity is also enough by Hartogs' theorem. These are theorems, not additional clauses in the definition.

Chart invariance

It is enough to check the coordinate condition in one chart around each source point and one chart around its image. If another pair is chosen, the new expression is obtained by composing with holomorphic transition maps, and compositions of holomorphic maps are holomorphic. Thus the definition depends only on the complex atlases, not on chosen coordinates.

Differential

The real differential of a holomorphic map intertwines the complex structures:

dfJM=JNdf.df\circ J_M=J_N\circ df.

For maps between open subsets of complex Euclidean spaces, this says that the real derivative is complex linear. In complex dimension one it is exactly the matrix condition encoded by the .

Terminology and scope

“Analytic map” is a common synonym in complex geometry. It should not be confused with a real-analytic map, and complex differentiability at only one isolated point does not make a function holomorphic.

References
  1. Otto Forster, Lectures on Riemann Surfaces, Springer, 1981. Publisher record. Relevant: Chapter 1, §§1–2.
  2. R. C. Gunning and H. Rossi, Analytic Functions of Several Complex Variables, AMS Chelsea, 2009. AMS record. Relevant: Chapter I.