If
is a complex valued function on the complex plane and
has an essential singularity at a point
then as
approaches
strange things start to happen.
starts to change wildly, approaching arbitrarily close every point in the complex plane. More precisely,
The Casorati Weierstrass Theorem
Suppose that a complex function
has an essential singularity at
Let
be any complex number and let
and
be positive real numbers. There exists
such that
and![]()

Proof
Assume the theorem is false. Then there exists
and positive real numbers
and
such that the function
is analytic on the punctured open disc
and the last line does not hold, so that
for![]()
Since
for
the function
is analytic. Moreover,
for![]()
and so
has a removable singularity at
so by defining
appropriately, we can make
analytic on![]()
Now
for
and so
for![]()
If
then
would have a removable singularity at
which could be removed by letting
If
then
for some positive integer
where
is analytic at
with
Thus
![]()
There is a stronger theorem called Picard's Theorem which states that
takes on all values in
except possible one, for![]()