Complex number
a complex number.[3]
For a complex number a + bi, the real number a is called its real part , and the real number b (not the
complex number bi) is its imaginary part.[4][5] The real part of a complex number z is denoted Re(z),
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {Re}}(z)}, or
{\displaystyle {\mathfrak {R}}(z)}; the imaginary part is Im(z),
{\displaystyle {\mathcal {Im}}(z)}, or
{\displaystyle {\mathfrak {I}}(z)}: for example,
Re
{\textstyle \operatorname {Re} (2+3i)=2},
Im
{\displaystyle \operatorname {Im} (2+3i)=3}.
A complex number z can be identified with the ordered pair of real numbers
(
z
{\displaystyle (\Re (z),\Im (z))}, which may be interpreted as coordinates of a point in a Euclidean
plane with standard coordinates, which is then called the complex plane or Argand diagram,[6][a].[7]
The horizontal axis is generally used to display the real part, with increasing values to the right, and
the imaginary part marks the vertical axis, with increasing values upwards.
A complex number z, as a point (black) and its position vector (blue).
A real number a can be regarded as a complex number a + 0i, whose imaginary part is 0. A purely
imaginary number bi is a complex number 0 + bi, whose real part is zero. As with polynomials, it is
common to write a + 0i = a, 0 + bi = bi, and a + (−b)i = a − bi; for example, 3 + (−4)i = 3 − 4i.
The set of all complex numbers is denoted by
{\displaystyle \mathbb {C} } (blackboard bold) or C (upright bold).
In some disciplines such as electromagnetism and electrical engineering, j is used instead of i, as i
frequently represents electric current,[8][9] and complex numbers are written as a + bj or a + jb.
Addition and subtraction
edit
Addition of two complex numbers can be done geometrically by constructing a parallelogram.
Two complex numbers
{\displaystyle a=x+yi} and
{\displaystyle b=u+vi} are added by separately adding their real and imaginary parts. That is to say:
+
(
{\displaystyle a+b=(x+yi)+(u+vi)=(x+u)+(y+v)i.}Similarly, subtraction can be performed as
x
+
{\displaystyle a-b=(x+yi)-(u+vi)=(x-u)+(y-v)i.}
The addition can be geometrically visualized as follows: the sum of two complex numbers a and b,
interpreted as points in the complex plane, is the point obtained by building a parallelogram from
the three vertices O, and the points of the arrows labeled a and b (provided that they are not on a
line). Equivalently, calling these points A, B, respectively and the fourth point of the parallelogram X
the triangles OAB and XBA are congruent.
Multiplication
edit
The product of two complex numbers is computed as follows:
d
+
{\displaystyle (a+bi)\cdot (c+di)=ac-bd+(ad+bc)i.}
For example,
4
−
14
5
i
{\displaystyle (3+2i)(4-i)=3\cdot 4-(2\cdot (-1))+(3\cdot (-1)+2\cdot 4)i=14+5i.}
numbers
The n-th power of a complex number can be computed using de Moivre's formula, which is obtained
by repeatedly applying the above formula for the product:
factors
cos
sin
cos
sin
{\displaystyle z^{n}=\underbrace {z\cdot \dots \cdot z} _{n{\text{ factors}}}=(r(\cos \varphi +i\sin \
varphi ))^{n}=r^{n}\,(\cos n\varphi +i\sin n\varphi ).}For example, the first few powers of the
imaginary unit i are
2
=
{\displaystyle i,i^{2}=-1,i^{3}=-i,i^{4}=1,i^{5}=i,\dots }.
Geometric representation of the 2nd to 6th roots of a complex number z, in polar form reiφ where r
= |z | and φ = arg z. If z is real, φ = 0 or π. Principal roots are shown in black.
The n nth roots of a complex number z are given by
z
1
cos
sin
π
n
{\displaystyle z^{1/n}={\sqrt[{n}]{r}}\left(\cos \left({\frac {\varphi +2k\pi }{n}}\right)+i\sin \left({\frac
{\varphi +2k\pi }{n}}\right)\right)}for 0 ≤ k ≤ n − 1. (Here
{\displaystyle {\sqrt[{n}]{r}}} is the usual (positive) nth root of the positive real number r.) Because
sine and cosine are periodic, other integer values of k do not give other values. For any
{\displaystyle z\neq 0}, there are, in particular n distinct complex n-th roots. For example, there are 4
fourth roots of 1, namely
−
1
{\displaystyle z_{1}=1,z_{2}=i,z_{3}=-1,z_{4}=-i.}
In general there is no natural way of distinguishing one particular complex nth root of a complex
number. (This is in contrast to the roots of a positive real number x, which has a unique positive real
n-th root, which is therefore commonly referred to as the n-th root of x.) One refers to this situation
by saying that the nth root is a n-valued function of z.
