Integral of a complex-valued function along a curve

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Definition

Suppose γ:[a,b]C is a smooth curve whose image lies inside an open subset UC. Suppose f:UC is a continuous map. The integral of f along γ is defined as follows:

γf(z)dz=abf(γ(t))γ(t)dt

Using the chain rule, it is clear that the value of the integral does not depend on the choice γ of parametrization; rather, it depends only on the orientation.