What enabled the production of mathematical knowledge in complex analysis?

Abstract

With the objective of identifying intrinsic forms of mathematical production in complex analysis (CA), this study presents an analysis of the mathematical activity of five original works that contributed to the development of Cauchy’s integral theorem. The analysis of the mathematical activity was carried out through the identification of the types of expressions used and the way they were used by the historical subjects when communicating their results, to subsequently identify transversal elements of knowledge production. The analysis was refined by the notion of confrontation, which depicts the development of mathematical knowledge through the idea of building knowledge against previous knowledge. As a result of the study we established epistemological hypothesis, which are conceived as conjectures that reveal ways in which mathematical knowledge was generated in CA.