A Functional Analysis Perspective
A square matrix represents a linear operator on the Euclidean space Rn where n is the dimension of the matrix. Since such a space is finite-dimensional, this operator is actually bounded.
Using the tools of holomorphic functional calculus, given a holomorphic function f(z) defined on an open set in the complex plane and a bounded linear operator T, one can calculate f(T) as long as f(z) is defined on the spectrum of T.
The function f(z)=ln z can be defined on any simply connected open set in the complex plane not containing the origin, and it is holomorphic on such a domain. This implies that one can define ln T as long as the spectrum of T does not contain the origin and there is a path going from the origin to infinity not crossing the spectrum of T (as such, if the spectrum of T is a circle with the origin inside of it, it is impossible to define ln T).
Back to the particular case of a Euclidean space, the spectrum of a linear operator on this space is the set of eigenvalues of its matrix, and so is a finite set. As long as the origin is not in the spectrum (the matrix is invertible), one obviously satisfies the path condition from the previous paragraph, and as such, the theory implies that ln T is well-defined. The non-uniqueness of the matrix logarithm then follows from the fact that one can choose more than one branch of the logarithm which is defined on the set of eigenvalues of a matrix.
Read more about this topic: Logarithm Of A Matrix
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