Numerical analytic continuation

Abstract

Let f be an analytic function on a simply-connected compact continuum E of the complex z-plane. This might be an interval of the real line, where f might be real analytic. How can we calculate good estimates of the analytic continuation of f to other points z∈ C ? How can we estimate the locations of real or complex singularities of f? We review both the theory and the practice of some existing methods for these problems and propose that excellent results can be obtained from the computation of rational approximations of f by the AAA algorithm. In the case of analytic functions of two or more variables, the rational approximations are applied along line segments or other analytic arcs.