In the field of complex analysis in mathematics, the Cauchy–Riemann equations, named after Augustin Cauchy and Bernhard Riemann, consist of a system of two partial differential equations which, together with certain continuity and differentiability criteria, form a necessary and sufficient condition for a complex function to be complex differentiable, that is, holomorphic. This system of equations first appeared in the work of Jean le Rond d'Alembert (d'Alembert 1752). Later, Leonhard Euler connected this system to the analytic functions (Euler 1797). Cauchy (1814) then used these equations to construct his theory of functions. Riemann's dissertation (Riemann 1851) on the theory of functions appeared in 1851.
The Cauchy–Riemann equations on a pair of real-valued functions of two real variables u(x,y) and v(x,y) are the two equations:
Typically u and v are taken to be the real and imaginary parts respectively of a complex-valued function of a single complex variable z = x + iy, f(x + iy) = u(x,y) + iv(x,y). Suppose that u and v are real-differentiable at a point in an open subset of C (C is the set of complex numbers), which can be considered as functions from R2 to R. This implies that the partial derivatives of u and v exist (although they need not be continuous) and we can approximate small variations of f linearly. Then f = u + iv is complex-differentiable at that point if and only if the partial derivatives of u and v satisfy the Cauchy–Riemann equations (1a) and (1b) at that point. The sole existence of partial derivatives satisfying the Cauchy–Riemann equations is not enough to ensure complex differentiability at that point. It is necessary that u and v be real differentiable, which is a stronger condition than the existence of the partial derivatives, but it is not necessary that these partial derivatives be continuous.