On a generalization of Chen's iterated integrals

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In this paper, Chen's iterated integrals are generalized by interpolation of functions of the positive integer number of times which particular forms are iterated in integrals along specific paths, to certain complex values. These generalized iterated integrals satisfy both an additive iterative property and comultiplication formula. In a particular example, a (non-classical) multiplicative iterative property is also shown to hold. After developing this theory in the first part of the paper we discuss various applications, including the expression of certain zeta functions as complex iterated integrals (from which an obstruction to the existence of a contour integration proof of the functional equation for the Dedekind zeta function emerges); a way of thinking about complex iterated derivatives arising from a reformulation of a result of Gel'fand and Shilov in the theory of distributions; and a direct topological proof of the monodromy of polylogarithms.

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