Questions tagged [complex-numbers]

Questions involving complex numbers, that is numbers of the form $a+bi$ where $i^2=-1$ and $a,b\in\mathbb{R}$.

A complex number is a number in the form $z=a + bi$, where $a$ and $b$ are real numbers and $i$ is the imaginary unit, or alternatively, $z=r\cdot e^{i\theta}$, with $r$ called the magnitude and $\theta$ called the argument.

The complex conjugate, $\overline z$, is $a-bi$ or $r\cdot e^{-i\theta}$.

Read more about complex numbers and their properties here.

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What is lost when we move from reals to complex numbers?

As I know when you move to "bigger" number systems (such as from complex to quaternions) you lose some properties (e.g. moving from complex to quaternions requires loss of commutativity), but does it hold when you move for example from naturals to…
Юрій Ярош
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Why is $i! = 0.498015668 - 0.154949828i$?

While moving my laptop the other day, I ended up mashing the keyboard a little, and by pure chance managed to do a google search for i!. Curiously, Google's calculator dutifully informed me that $i!$ was, in fact, $0.498015668 - 0.154949828i$. Why…
growse
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A new imaginary number? $x^c = -x$

Being young, I don't have much experience with imaginary numbers outside of the basic usages of $i$. As I was sitting in my high school math class doing logs, I had an idea of something that would allow solving for logs with negative bases or with…
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Prove that $\prod_{k=1}^{n-1}\sin\frac{k \pi}{n} = \frac{n}{2^{n-1}}$

Using $\text{n}^{\text{th}}$ root of unity $$\large\left(e^{\frac{2ki\pi}{n}}\right)^{n} = 1$$ Prove that $$\prod_{k=1}^{n-1}\sin\frac{k \pi}{n} = \frac{n}{2^{n-1}}$$
Ali_ilA
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What is the "standard basis" for fields of complex numbers?

What is the "standard basis" for fields of complex numbers? For example, what is the standard basis for $\Bbb C^2$ (two-tuples of the form: $(a + bi, c + di)$)? I know the standard for $\Bbb R^2$ is $((1, 0), (0, 1))$. Is the standard basis…
Casey Patton
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Why is the complex plane shaped like it is?

It's always taken for granted that the real number line is perpendicular to multiples of $i$, but why is that? Why isn't $i$ just at some non-90 degree angle to the real number line? Could someone please explain the logic or rationale behind this?…
user64742
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Can a complex number ever be considered 'bigger' or 'smaller' than a real number, or vice versa?

I've always had this doubt. It's perfectly reasonable to say that, for example, 9 is bigger than 2. But does it ever make sense to compare a real number and a complex/imaginary one? For example, could one say that $5+2i> 3$ because the real part of…
Juanma Eloy
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Integers $n$ such that $i(i+1)(i+2) \cdots (i+n)$ is real or pure imaginary

A couple of days ago I happened to come across [1], where the curious fact that $i(i-1)(i-2)(i-3)=-10$ appears ($i$ is the imaginary unit). This led me to the following question: Problem 1: Is $3$ the only positive integer value of $n$ such that…
Dave L. Renfro
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How can I introduce complex numbers to precalculus students?

I teach a precalculus course almost every semester, and over these semesters I've found various things that work quite well. For example, when talking about polynomials and rational functions, in particular "zeroes" and "vertical asymptotes", I…
user641
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What lies beyond the Sedenions

In the construction of types of numbers, we have the following sequence: $$\mathbb{R} \subset \mathbb{C} \subset \mathbb{H} \subset \mathbb{O} \subset \mathbb{S}$$ or: $$2^0 \mathrm{-ions} \subset 2^1 \mathrm{-ions} \subset 2^2 \mathrm{-ions}…
Willem Noorduin
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How can I intuitively understand complex exponents?

Could you help me fill in a gap in my understanding of maths? As long as the exponent is rational, I can decompose it into something that always works with primitives I know. Say, I see a power: $x^{-{a\over b}}$ for natural a,b. Using the basic…
SF.
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Why is there never a proof that extending the reals to the complex numbers will not cause contradictions?

The number $i$ is essentially defined for a property we would like to have - to then lead to taking square roots of negative reals, to solve any polynomial, etc. But there is never a proof this cannot give rise to contradictions, and this bothers…
FireGarden
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Applications of complex numbers to solve non-complex problems

Recently I asked a question regarding the diophantine equation $x^2+y^2=z^n$ for $x, y, z, n \in \mathbb{N}$, which to my surprise was answered with the help complex numbers. I find it fascinating that for a question which only concerns integers,…
acernine
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Wild automorphisms of the complex numbers

I read about so called "wild" automorphisms of the field of complex numbers (i.e. not the identity nor the complex conjugation). I suppose they must be rather weird and I wonder whether someone could explain in the simplest possible way (please) how…
Gerard
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Interesting results easily achieved using complex numbers

I was just looking at a calculus textbook preparing my class for next week on complex numbers. I found it interesting to see as an exercise a way to calculate the usual freshman calculus integrals $\int e^{ax}\cos{bx}\ dx$ and $\int e^{ax}\sin{bx}\…
Adrián Barquero
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