TITLE: integral of complex logarithm
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: Consider the integral
$$I=\int_0^{2\pi}\log\left|re^{it}-a\right|\,dt$$
where $a$ is a complex number and $0<r<|a|$. We have
$$I=\operatorname{Re}\left(\int_0^{2\pi}\log\left|re^{it}-a\right|\,dt\right)$$
Let $\gamma=\partial D(0,r)$. Then
$$\begin{align}\int_\gamma\frac{\log(z-a)}{iz}\,dz&=\int_0^{2\pi}\frac{\log\left(re^{it}-a\right)}
{ire^{it}}rie^{it}\,dt\\
&=\int_0^{2\pi}\log\left(re^{it}-a\right)\,dt\end{align}$$
Thus
$$I=\operatorname{Re}\left(\int_{\gamma}\frac{\log(z-a)}{iz}\,dz\right)$$
Now my problem is that $\log(z-a)$ is not holomorphic in $D(0,r)$, so i can't use Cauchy's integral formula to compute $I$. How can I solve this?

REPLY [3 votes]: $\newcommand{\+}{^{\dagger}}
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$\ds{a \in {\mathbb C}}$.

Lets $\ds{z \equiv r\expo{\ic t}\ \imp\ \dd z = r\expo{\ic t}\ic\,\dd t\ \imp\dd t = {\dd z \over \ic z}}$:

\begin{align}
I&=\left.\int_{0}^{2\pi}\ln\pars{\verts{re^{\ic t} - a}}\,\dd t
\,\right\vert_{\,0\ <\ r\ <\ \verts{a}}\ =\
\Re\int_{0}^{2\pi}\ln\pars{re^{\ic t} - a}\,\dd t
\\[5mm] & =
\Re\oint_{0\ <\ \verts{z}\ =\ r\ <\ \verts{a}}
\ln\pars{z - a}\,{\dd z \over \ic z} =
\Re\pars{2\pi\ic\lim_{z\ \to\ 0}\bracks{z\,{\ln\pars{z - a} \over \ic z}}} =
2\pi\,\Re\pars{\ln\pars{-a}}
\\[5mm] &=
\bbox[10px,border:1px groove navy]{2\pi\ln\pars{\verts{a}}}
\end{align}