
An annulus
In
mathematics, an 'annulus' (the
Latin word for "little ring", with plural ''annuli'') is a ring-shaped geometric figure, or more generally, a term used to name a ring-shaped object. The adjective form is 'annular' (for example, an
annular eclipse).
The open annulus is
topologically equivalent to both the open
cylinder and the
punctured plane.
The area of such an annulus is given by the difference in the areas of a
circle of radius ''R'' and one of radius ''r'':
:
This result can be obtained via
calculus by dividing the annulus up into an infinite number of annuli of
infinitesimal width
and area
( = circumference × width) and then
integrating from
to
:
:
Interestingly, the area of an annulus can also be obtained by multiplying pi by the square of half of the length of the longest interval that can lie completely inside the annulus.
Complex structure
In
complex analysis an 'annulus' ann''(a; r, R)'' in the
complex plane is an
open region defined by:
:
If ''r'' is 0, the region is known as the 'punctured disk' of radius ''R'' around the point ''a''.
As a subset of the complex
plane, an annulus can be considered as a
Riemann surface. The complex structure of an annulus depends only on the ratio ''r''/''R''. Each annulus ann''(a; r, R)'' can be
holomorphically mapped to a standard one centered at the origin and with outer radius 1 by the map
:
The inner radius is then ''r''/''R'' < 1.
The
Hadamard three-circle theorem is a statement about the maximum value a holomorphic function may take inside an annulus.
See also
★
Cylinder
★
Torus
External links
★
Annulus definition and properties With interactive animation
★
Area of an annulus, formula With interactive animation