Complex number

A complex number can be visually represented as a

pair of numbers (a, b) forming a vector on a diagram

called an Argand diagram, representing the complex

plane. "Re" is the real axis, "Im" is the imaginary axis,
and i satisfies i2 = −1.
A complex number is a number that can
be expressed in the form a + bi, where a
and b are real numbers, and i is a solution
of the equation x2 = −1. Because no real
number satisfies this equation, i is called
an imaginary number. For the complex
number a + bi, a is called the real part, and
b is called the imaginary part. Despite the
historical nomenclature "imaginary",
complex numbers are regarded in the
mathematical sciences as just as "real" as
the real numbers, and are fundamental in
many aspects of the scientific description
of the natural world.[note 1][1]
Complex numbers allow solutions to
certain equations that have no solutions in
real numbers. For example, the equation

has no real solution, since the square of a

real number cannot be negative. Complex
numbers provide a solution to this
problem. The idea is to extend the real
numbers with an indeterminate i
(sometimes called the imaginary unit) that
is taken to satisfy the relation i2 = −1, so
that solutions to equations like the
preceding one can be found. In this case
the solutions are −1 + 3i and −1 − 3i, as
can be verified using the fact that i2 = −1:
According to the fundamental theorem of
algebra, all polynomial equations with real
or complex coefficients in a single variable
have a solution in complex numbers. In
contrast, some polynomial equations with
real coefficients have no solution in real
numbers. The 16th century Italian
mathematician Gerolamo Cardano is
credited with introducing complex
numbers in his attempts to find solutions
to cubic equations.[2]

Formally, the complex number system can

be defined as the algebraic extension of
the ordinary real numbers by an imaginary
number i.[3] This means that complex
numbers can be added, subtracted, and
multiplied, as polynomials in the variable i,
with the rule i2 = −1 imposed. Furthermore,
complex numbers can also be divided by
nonzero complex numbers. Overall, the
complex number system is a field.

Geometrically, complex numbers extend

the concept of the one-dimensional
number line to the two-dimensional
complex plane by using the horizontal axis
for the real part and the vertical axis for
the imaginary part. The complex number
a + bi can be identified with the point (a, b)
in the complex plane. A complex number
whose real part is zero is said to be purely
imaginary; the points for these numbers lie
on the vertical axis of the complex plane.
A complex number whose imaginary part
is zero can be viewed as a real number; its
point lies on the horizontal axis of the
complex plane. Complex numbers can
also be represented in polar form, which
associates each complex number with its
distance from the origin (its magnitude)
and with a particular angle known as the
argument of this complex number.

The geometric identification of the

complex numbers with the complex plane,
which is a Euclidean plane ( ), makes
their structure as a real 2-dimensional
vector space evident. Real and imaginary
parts of a complex number may be taken
as components of a vector with respect to
the canonical standard basis. The addition
of complex numbers is thus immediately
depicted as the usual component-wise
addition of vectors. However, the complex
numbers allow for a richer algebraic
structure, comprising additional
operations, that are not necessarily
available in a vector space; e.g., the
multiplication of two complex numbers
always yields again a complex number,
and should not be mistaken for the usual
"products" involving vectors, like the scalar
multiplication, the scalar product or other
(sesqui)linear forms, available in many
vector spaces; and the broadly exploited
vector product exists only in an orientation-
dependent form in three dimensions.

Definition

An illustration of the complex plane. The real part of a

complex number z = x + iy is x, and its imaginary part
is y.
Based on the concept of real numbers, a
complex number is a number of the form
a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and
i is an indeterminate satisfying i2 = −1. For
example, 2 + 3i is a complex number.[4]

This way, a complex number is defined as

a polynomial with real coefficients in the
single indeterminate i, for which the
relation i2 + 1 = 0 is imposed. Based on
this definition, complex numbers can be
added and multiplied, using the addition
and multiplication for polynomials. The
relation i2 + 1 = 0 induces the equalities
i4k = 1 , i4k+1 = i , i4k+2 = −1 , and
i4k+3 = −i , which hold for all integers k;
these allow the reduction of any
polynomial that results from the addition
and multiplication of complex numbers to
a linear polynomial in i, again of the form
a + bi with real coefficients a, b.

The real number a is called the real part of

the complex number a + bi; the real
number b is called its imaginary part. To
emphasize, the imaginary part does not
include a factor i and b, not bi, is the
imaginary part.[5][6]

Formally, the complex numbers are

defined as the quotient ring of the
polynomial ring in the indeterminate i, by
the ideal generated by the polynomial
i2 + 1 (see below).[7]

Notation
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 for a + 0i and bi for 0 + bi.
Moreover, when the imaginary part is
negative, i.e., b = −|b| < 0, it is common to
write a − |b|i instead of a + (−|b|)i; for
example, for b = −4, 3 − 4i can be written
instead of 3 + (−4)i.

Since in polynomials with real coefficients

the multiplication of the indeterminate i
and a real is commutative, the polynomial
a + bi may be written as a + ib. This is
often expedient for imaginary parts
denoted by expressions, e.g., when b is a
radical.[8]

The real part of a complex number z is

denoted by Re(z) or ℜ(z); the imaginary
part of a complex number z is denoted by
Im(z) or ℑ(z). For example,
 and

The set of all complex numbers is denoted

by (upright bold) or (blackboard
bold).

In some disciplines, in particular

electromagnetism and electrical
engineering, j is used instead of i since i is
frequently used to represent electric
current.[9] In these cases complex
numbers are written as a + bj or a + jb.

Visualisation
A complex number z, as a point (red) and its position
vector (blue)

A complex number z can thus be identified

with an ordered pair (Re(z), Im(z)) of real
numbers, which in turn may be interpreted
as coordinates of a point in a two-
dimensional space. The most immediate
space is the Euclidean plane with suitable
coordinates, which is then called complex
plane or Argand diagram,[10][11] named
after Jean-Robert Argand. Another
prominent space on which the coordinates
may be projected is the two-dimensional
surface of a sphere, which is then called
Riemann sphere.

Cartesian complex plane

The definition of the complex numbers

involving two arbitrary real values
immediately suggest the use of Cartesian
coordinates in the complex plane. The
horizontal (real) axis is generally used to
display the real part with increasing values
to the right and the imaginary part marks
the vertical (imaginary) axis, increasing
values upwards.
A charted number may be either viewed as
the coordinatized point, or as a position
vector from the origin to this point. The
coordinate values of a complex number z
are said to give its Cartesian, rectangular,
or algebraic form.

Notably, the operations of addition and

multiplication take on a very natural
geometric character when complex
numbers are viewed as position vectors:
addition corresponds to vector addition,
while multiplication (see below)
corresponds to multiplying their
magnitudes and adding the angles they
make with the real axis. Viewed in this way
the multiplication of a complex number by
i corresponds to rotating the position
vector counterclockwise by a quarter turn
(90°) about the origin

Polar complex plane

Argument φ and modulus r locate a point in the

complex plane.
Modulus and argument

An alternative option for coordinates in the

complex plane is the polar coordinate
system that uses the distance of the point
z from the origin (O), and the angle
subtended between the positive real axis
and the line segment Oz in a
counterclockwise sense. This leads to the
polar form of complex numbers.

The absolute value (or modulus or

magnitude) of a complex number z = x + yi
is[12]
If z is a real number (that is, if y = 0), then
r = |x|. That is, the absolute value of a
real number equals its absolute value as a
complex number.

By Pythagoras' theorem, the absolute

value of complex number is the distance
to the origin of the point representing the
complex number in the complex plane.

The argument of z (in many applications

referred to as the "phase" φ) is the angle of
the radius Oz with the positive real axis,
and is written as . As with the
modulus, the argument can be found from
the rectangular form [13] by
applying the inverse tangent to the
quotient of imaginary-by-real parts. By
using a half-angle identity a single branch
of the arctan suffices to cover the range of
the arg-function, (−π, π], and avoids a
more subtle case-by-case analysis

Normally, as given above, the principal

value in the interval (−π, π] is chosen.
Values in the range [0, 2π) are obtained by
adding 2π if the value is negative. The
value of φ is expressed in radians in this
article. It can increase by any integer
multiple of 2π and still give the same
angle, viewed as subtended by the rays of
the positive real axis and from the origin
through z. Hence, the arg function is
sometimes considered as multivalued.
The polar angle for the complex number 0
is indeterminate, but arbitrary choice of
the angle 0 is common.

The value of φ equals the result of atan2:

Together, r and φ give another way of

representing complex numbers, the polar
form, as the combination of modulus and
argument fully specify the position of a
point on the plane. Recovering the original
rectangular co-ordinates from the polar
form is done by the formula called
trigonometric form

Using Euler's formula this can be written

as

Using the cis function, this is sometimes

abbreviated to
In angle notation, often used in electronics
to represent a phasor with amplitude r and
phase φ, it is written as[14]

Complex graphs

(z2 − 1)(z − 2 − i)2

A color wheel graph of the expression z2 + 2 + 2i

When visualizing complex functions, both

a complex input and output are needed.
Because each complex number is
represented in two dimensions, visually
graphing a complex function would require
the perception of a four dimensional
space, which is possible only in
projections. Because of this, other ways of
visualizing complex functions have been
designed.

In Domain coloring the output dimensions

are represented by color and brightness,
respectively. Each point in the complex
plane as domain is ornated, typically with
color representing the argument of the
complex number, and brightness
representing the magnitude. Dark spots
mark moduli near zero, brighter spots are
farther away from the origin, the gradation
may be discontinuous, but is assumed as
monotonous. The colors often vary in
steps of π
3 for 0 to 2π from red, yellow,
green, cyan, blue, to magenta. These plots
are called color wheel graphs. This
provides a simple way to visualize the
functions without losing information. The
picture shows zeros for ±1, (2+i) and poles
at ±√−2−2i.

Riemann surfaces are another way to

visualize complex functions. Riemann
surfaces can be thought of as
deformations of the complex plane; while
the horizontal axes represent the real and
imaginary inputs, the single vertical axis
only represents either the real or imaginary
output. However, Riemann surfaces are
built in such a way that rotating them 180
degrees shows the imaginary output, and
vice versa. Unlike domain coloring,
Riemann surfaces can represent
multivalued functions like .

History
The solution in radicals (without
trigonometric functions) of a general cubic
equation contains the square roots of
negative numbers when all three roots are
real numbers, a situation that cannot be
rectified by factoring aided by the rational
root test if the cubic is irreducible (the so-
called casus irreducibilis). This
conundrum led Italian mathematician
Gerolamo Cardano to conceive of complex
numbers in around 1545,[15] though his
understanding was rudimentary.

Work on the problem of general

polynomials ultimately led to the
fundamental theorem of algebra, which
shows that with complex numbers, a
solution exists to every polynomial
equation of degree one or higher. Complex
numbers thus form an algebraically closed
field, where any polynomial equation has a
root.

Many mathematicians contributed to the

full development of complex numbers. The
rules for addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division of complex
numbers were developed by the Italian
mathematician Rafael Bombelli.[16] A more
abstract formalism for the complex
numbers was further developed by the
Irish mathematician William Rowan
Hamilton, who extended this abstraction
to the theory of quaternions.
The earliest fleeting reference to square
roots of negative numbers can perhaps be
said to occur in the work of the Greek
mathematician Hero of Alexandria in the
1st century AD, where in his Stereometrica
he considers, apparently in error, the
volume of an impossible frustum of a
pyramid to arrive at the term
in his calculations,
although negative quantities were not
conceived of in Hellenistic mathematics
and Heron merely replaced it by its
positive ( ).[17]

The impetus to study complex numbers as

a topic in itself first arose in the 16th
century when algebraic solutions for the
roots of cubic and quartic polynomials
were discovered by Italian mathematicians
(see Niccolò Fontana Tartaglia, Gerolamo
Cardano). It was soon realized that these
formulas, even if one was only interested
in real solutions, sometimes required the
manipulation of square roots of negative
numbers. As an example, Tartaglia's
formula for a cubic equation of the form
[note 2] gives the solution to
the equation x3 = x as
At first glance this looks like nonsense.
However formal calculations with complex
numbers show that the equation z3 = i has
solutions −i, and .

Substituting these in turn for in

Tartaglia's cubic formula and simplifying,
one gets 0, 1 and −1 as the solutions of
x3 − x = 0. Of course this particular
equation can be solved at sight but it does
illustrate that when general formulas are
used to solve cubic equations with real
roots then, as later mathematicians
showed rigorously, the use of complex
numbers is unavoidable. Rafael Bombelli
was the first to explicitly address these
seemingly paradoxical solutions of cubic
equations and developed the rules for
complex arithmetic trying to resolve these
issues.

The term "imaginary" for these quantities

was coined by René Descartes in 1637,
although he was at pains to stress their
imaginary nature[18]

[...] sometimes only imaginary,

that is one can imagine as many
as I said in each equation, but
sometimes there exists no
 quantity that matches that
which we imagine.

([...] quelquefois seulement

imaginaires c'est-à-dire que l'on
peut toujours en imaginer
autant que j'ai dit en chaque
équation, mais qu'il n'y a
quelquefois aucune quantité qui
corresponde à celle qu'on
imagine.)

A further source of confusion was that the

equation
seemed to be capriciously inconsistent
with the algebraic identity ,
which is valid for non-negative real
numbers a and b, and which was also
used in complex number calculations with
one of a, b positive and the other negative.
The incorrect use of this identity (and the

related identity ) in the case

when both a and b are negative even

bedeviled Euler. This difficulty eventually
led to the convention of using the special
symbol i in place of √−1 to guard against
this mistake. Even so, Euler considered it
natural to introduce students to complex
numbers much earlier than we do today. In
his elementary algebra text book,
Elements of Algebra, he introduces these
numbers almost at once and then uses
them in a natural way throughout.

In the 18th century complex numbers

gained wider use, as it was noticed that
formal manipulation of complex
expressions could be used to simplify
calculations involving trigonometric
functions. For instance, in 1730 Abraham
de Moivre noted that the complicated
identities relating trigonometric functions
of an integer multiple of an angle to
powers of trigonometric functions of that
angle could be simply re-expressed by the
following well-known formula which bears
his name, de Moivre's formula:

In 1748 Leonhard Euler went further and

obtained Euler's formula of complex
analysis:

by formally manipulating complex power

series and observed that this formula
could be used to reduce any trigonometric
identity to much simpler exponential
identities.
The idea of a complex number as a point
in the complex plane (above) was first
described by Caspar Wessel in 1799,
although it had been anticipated as early
as 1685 in Wallis's De Algebra tractatus.

Wessel's memoir appeared in the

Proceedings of the Copenhagen Academy
but went largely unnoticed. In 1806 Jean-
Robert Argand independently issued a
pamphlet on complex numbers and
provided a rigorous proof of the
fundamental theorem of algebra. Carl
Friedrich Gauss had earlier published an
essentially topological proof of the
theorem in 1797 but expressed his doubts
at the time about "the true metaphysics of
the square root of −1". It was not until
1831 that he overcame these doubts and
published his treatise on complex
numbers as points in the plane, largely
establishing modern notation and
terminology. In the beginning of the 19th
century, other mathematicians discovered
independently the geometrical
representation of the complex numbers:
Buée, Mourey, Warren, Français and his
brother, Bellavitis.[19]

The English mathematician G.H. Hardy

remarked that Gauss was the first
mathematician to use complex numbers in
'a really confident and scientific way'
although mathematicians such as Niels
Henrik Abel and Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi
were necessarily using them routinely
before Gauss published his 1831
treatise.[20]

“If this subject has hitherto been

considered from the wrong
viewpoint and thus enveloped in
mystery and surrounded by
darkness, it is largely an
unsuitable terminology which
should be blamed. Had +1, -1
and √−1, instead of being called
 positive, negative and imaginary
(or worse still, impossible) unity,
been given the names say,of
direct, inverse and lateral unity,
there would hardly have been
any scope for such obscurity.” -
Gauss[21]

Augustin Louis Cauchy and Bernhard

Riemann together brought the
fundamental ideas of complex analysis to
a high state of completion, commencing
around 1825 in Cauchy's case.
The common terms used in the theory are
chiefly due to the founders. Argand called
the direction factor, and
the modulus; Cauchy
(1828) called the reduced
form (l'expression réduite) and apparently
introduced the term argument; Gauss used
i for , introduced the term complex
number for a + bi, and called a2 + b2 the
norm. The expression direction coefficient,
often used for , is due to
Hankel (1867), and absolute value, for
modulus, is due to Weierstrass.

Later classical writers on the general

theory include Richard Dedekind, Otto
Hölder, Felix Klein, Henri Poincaré,
Hermann Schwarz, Karl Weierstrass and
many others.

Relations and operations

Equality

Two complex numbers are equal if and

only if both their real and imaginary parts
are equal. That is, complex numbers
and are equal if and only if
and
. If the complex
numbers are written in polar form, they are
equal if and only if they have the same
argument and the same magnitude.
Ordering

Since complex numbers are naturally

thought of as existing on a two-
dimensional plane, there is no natural
linear ordering on the set of complex
numbers. In fact, there is no linear ordering
on the complex numbers that is
compatible with addition and
multiplication – the complex numbers
cannot have the structure of an ordered
field. This is because any square in an
ordered field is at least 0, but i2 = −1.

Conjugate
Geometric representation of z and its conjugate in
the complex plane

The complex conjugate of the complex

number z = x + yi is given by x − yi. It is
denoted by either or z*.[22] This unary
operation on complex numbers cannot be
expressed by applying only their basic
operations addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division.
Geometrically, is the "reflection" of z
about the real axis. Conjugating twice
gives the original complex number

which makes this operation an involution.

The reflection leaves both the real part and
the magnitude of unchanged, that is

and

The imaginary part and the argument of a

complex number change their sign under
conjugation

and
For details on argument and magnitude,
see the section on Polar form.

The product of a complex number

and its conjugate is always a
positive real number and equals the
square of the magnitude of each:

This property can be used used to convert

a fraction with a complex denominator to
an equivalent fraction with a real
denominator by expanding both numerator
and denominator of the fraction by the
conjugate of the given denominator. This
process is sometimes called
"rationalization" of the denominator
(although the denominator in the final
expression might be an irrational real
number), because it resembles the method
to remove roots from simple expressions
in a denominator.

The real and imaginary parts of a complex

number z can be extracted using the
conjugation:

and

Moreover, a complex number is real if and

only if it equals its own conjugate.
Conjugation distributes over the basic
complex arithmetic operations:

Conjugation is also employed in inversive

geometry, a branch of geometry studying
reflections more general than ones about
a line. In the network analysis of electrical
circuits, the complex conjugate is used in
finding the equivalent impedance when the
maximum power transfer theorem is
looked for.

Addition and subtraction

Addition of two complex numbers can be done
geometrically by constructing a parallelogram.

Two complex numbers and are most

easily added by separately adding their
real and imaginary parts of the
summands. That is to say:

Similarly, subtraction can be performed as

Using the visualization of complex
numbers in the complex plane, the
addition has the following geometric
interpretation: the sum of two complex
numbers and , interpreted as points in
the complex plane, is the point obtained by
building a parallelogram from the three
vertices , and the points of the arrows
labeled and (provided that they are not
on a line). Equivalently, calling these points
respectively and the fourth point of
the parallelogram the triangles
and are congruent. A visualization
of the subtraction can be achieved by
considering addition of the negative
subtrahend.
Multiplication

Since the real part, the imaginary part, and

the indeterminate in a complex number
are all considered as numbers in
themselves, two complex numbers, given
as and are
multiplied under the rules of the
distributive property, the commutative
properties and the defining property
in the following way
Reciprocal and division

Using the conjugation, the reciprocal of a

nonzero complex number z = x + yi can
always be broken down to
since non-zero implies that is
greater than zero.

This can be used to express a division of

an arbitrary complex number
by a non-zero complex number as

Multiplication and division in

polar form

Multiplication of 2 + i (blue triangle) and 3 + i (red

triangle). The red triangle is rotated to match the vertex
of the blue one and stretched by √5, the length of the
hypotenuse of the blue triangle.

Formulas for multiplication, division and

exponentiation are simpler in polar form
than the corresponding formulas in
Cartesian coordinates. Given two complex
numbers z1 = r1(cos φ1 + i sin φ1) and
z2 = r2(cos φ2 + i sin φ2), because of the
trigonometric identities

we may derive
In other words, the absolute values are
multiplied and the arguments are added to
yield the polar form of the product. For
example, multiplying by i corresponds to a
quarter-turn counter-clockwise, which
gives back i2 = −1. The picture at the right
illustrates the multiplication of

Since the real and imaginary part of 5 + 5i

are equal, the argument of that number is
45 degrees, or π/4 (in radian). On the other
hand, it is also the sum of the angles at the
origin of the red and blue triangles are
arctan(1/3) and arctan(1/2), respectively.
Thus, the formula
holds. As the arctan function can be
approximated highly efficiently, formulas
like this – known as Machin-like formulas
– are used for high-precision
approximations of π.

Similarly, division is given by

Square root

The square roots of a + bi (with b ≠ 0) are

, where
and

where sgn is the signum function. This can

be seen by squaring to obtain
a + bi.[23][24] Here is called the
modulus of a + bi, and the square root
sign indicates the square root with non-
negative real part, called the principal
square root; also
where [25]
Exponentiation

Euler's formula

Euler's formula states that, for any real

number x,

where e is the base of the natural

logarithm. This can be proved through
induction by observing that

and so on, and by considering the Taylor

series expansions of eix, cos x and sin x:
The rearrangement of terms is justified
because each series is absolutely
convergent.

Natural logarithm
It follows from Euler's formula that, for any
complex number z written in polar form,

where r is a non-negative real number, one

possible value for the complex logarithm
of z is

Because cosine and sine are periodic

functions, other possible values may be
obtained. For example, ,
so both and are two possible
values for the natural logarithm of .
To deal with the existence of more than
one possible value for a given input, the
complex logarithm may be considered a
multi-valued function, with

Alternatively, a branch cut can be used to

define a single-valued "branch" of the
complex logarithm.

Integer and fractional exponents

Visualisation of the square to sixth roots of a complex
number z, in polar form reiφ where φ = arg z and
r = |z | – if z is real, φ = 0 or π. Principal roots are in
black.

We may use the identity

to define complex exponentiation, which is

likewise multi-valued:
When n is an integer, this simplifies to de
Moivre's formula:

The nth roots of z are given by

for any integer k satisfying 0 ≤ k ≤ n − 1.

n
Here √r is the usual (positive) nth root of
the positive real number r. While the nth
root of a positive real number r is chosen
to be the positive real number c satisfying
cn = r, there is no natural way of
distinguishing one particular complex nth
root of a complex number. Therefore, the
nth root of z is considered as a
multivalued function (in z), as opposed to
a usual function f, for which f(z) is a
uniquely defined number. Formulas such
as

(which holds for positive real numbers), do

in general not hold for complex numbers.
Properties
Field structure

The set C of complex numbers is a

field.[26] Briefly, this means that the
following facts hold: first, any two complex
numbers can be added and multiplied to
yield another complex number. Second, for
any complex number z, its additive inverse
−z is also a complex number; and third,
every nonzero complex number has a
reciprocal complex number. Moreover,
these operations satisfy a number of laws,
for example the law of commutativity of
addition and multiplication for any two
complex numbers z1 and z2:

These two laws and the other

requirements on a field can be proven by
the formulas given above, using the fact
that the real numbers themselves form a
field.

Unlike the reals, C is not an ordered field,

that is to say, it is not possible to define a
relation z1 < z2 that is compatible with the
addition and multiplication. In fact, in any
ordered field, the square of any element is
necessarily positive, so i2 = −1 precludes
the existence of an ordering on C.[27]

When the underlying field for a

mathematical topic or construct is the
field of complex numbers, the topic's name
is usually modified to reflect that fact. For
example: complex analysis, complex
matrix, complex polynomial, and complex
Lie algebra.

Solutions of polynomial
equations

Given any complex numbers (called

coefficients) a0, ..., an, the equation
has at least one complex solution z,
provided that at least one of the higher
coefficients a1, ..., an is nonzero.[28] This is
the statement of the fundamental theorem
of algebra, of Carl Friedrich Gauss and
Jean le Rond d'Alembert. Because of this
fact, C is called an algebraically closed
field. This property does not hold for the
field of rational numbers Q (the polynomial
x2 − 2 does not have a rational root, since
√2 is not a rational number) nor the real
numbers R (the polynomial x2 + a does not
have a real root for a > 0, since the square
of x is positive for any real number x).
There are various proofs of this theorem,
either by analytic methods such as
Liouville's theorem, or topological ones
such as the winding number, or a proof
combining Galois theory and the fact that
any real polynomial of odd degree has at
least one real root.

Because of this fact, theorems that hold

for any algebraically closed field, apply to C.
For example, any non-empty complex
square matrix has at least one (complex)
eigenvalue.

Algebraic characterization
The field C has the following three
properties: first, it has characteristic 0.
This means that 1 + 1 + … + 1 ≠ 0 for any
number of summands (all of which equal
one). Second, its transcendence degree
over Q, the prime field of C, is the
cardinality of the continuum. Third, it is
algebraically closed (see above). It can be
shown that any field having these
properties is isomorphic (as a field) to C.
For example, the algebraic closure of Qp
also satisfies these three properties, so
these two fields are isomorphic (as fields,
but not as topological fields).[29] Also, C is
isomorphic to the field of complex Puiseux
series. However, specifying an
isomorphism requires the axiom of choice.
Another consequence of this algebraic
characterization is that C contains many
proper subfields that are isomorphic to C.

Characterization as a
topological field

The preceding characterization of C

describes only the algebraic aspects of C.
That is to say, the properties of nearness
and continuity, which matter in areas such
as analysis and topology, are not dealt
with. The following description of C as a
topological field (that is, a field that is
equipped with a topology, which allows the
notion of convergence) does take into
account the topological properties. C
contains a subset P (namely the set of
positive real numbers) of nonzero
elements satisfying the following three
conditions:

P is closed under addition, multiplication

and taking inverses.
If x and y are distinct elements of P,
then either x − y or y − x is in P.
If S is any nonempty subset of P, then
S + P = x + P for some x in C.

Moreover, C has a nontrivial involutive

automorphism x ↦ x* (namely the
complex conjugation), such that x x* is in
P for any nonzero x in C.

Any field F with these properties can be

endowed with a topology by taking the
sets
B(x, p) = { y | p − (y − x)(y − x)* ∈ P }  as
a base, where x ranges over the field and p
ranges over P. With this topology F is
isomorphic as a topological field to C.

The only connected locally compact

topological fields are R and C. This gives
another characterization of C as a
topological field, since C can be
distinguished from R because the nonzero
complex numbers are connected, while the
nonzero real numbers are not.[30]

Formal construction
Construction as ordered pairs

William Rowan Hamilton introduced the

approach to define the set C of complex
numbers[31] as the set R2 of
ordered pairs (a, b) of real numbers, in
which the following rules for addition and
multiplication are imposed:[32]
It is then just a matter of notation to
express (a, b) as a + bi.

Construction as a quotient field

Though this low-level construction does

accurately describe the structure of the
complex numbers, the following equivalent
definition reveals the algebraic nature of C
more immediately. This characterization
relies on the notion of fields and
polynomials. A field is a set endowed with
addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division operations that behave as is
familiar from, say, rational numbers. For
example, the distributive law
must hold for any three elements x, y and
z of a field. The set R of real numbers
does form a field. A polynomial p(X) with
real coefficients is an expression of the
form

where the a0, ..., an are real numbers. The

usual addition and multiplication of
polynomials endows the set R[X] of all
such polynomials with a ring structure.
This ring is called the polynomial ring over
the real numbers.
The set of complex numbers is defined as
the quotient ring R[X]/(X 2 + 1).[33] This
extension field contains two square roots
of −1, namely (the cosets of) X and −X,
respectively. (The cosets of) 1 and X form
a basis of R[X]/(X 2 + 1) as a real vector
space, which means that each element of
the extension field can be uniquely written
as a linear combination in these two
elements. Equivalently, elements of the
extension field can be written as ordered
pairs (a, b) of real numbers. The quotient
ring is a field, because X2 + 1 is irreducible
over R, so the ideal it generates is
maximal.
The formulas for addition and
multiplication in the ring R[X], modulo the
relation X2 = −1, correspond to the
formulas for addition and multiplication of
complex numbers defined as ordered
pairs. So the two definitions of the field C
are isomorphic (as fields).

Accepting that C is algebraically closed,

since it is an algebraic extension of R in
this approach, C is therefore the algebraic
closure of R.

Matrix representation of
complex numbers
Complex numbers a + bi can also be
represented by 2 × 2 matrices that have
the following form:

Here the entries a and b are real numbers.

The sum and product of two such
matrices is again of this form, and the sum
and product of complex numbers
corresponds to the sum and product of
such matrices, the product being:
The geometric description of the
multiplication of complex numbers can
also be expressed in terms of rotation
matrices by using this correspondence
between complex numbers and such
matrices. Moreover, the square of the
absolute value of a complex number
expressed as a matrix is equal to the
determinant of that matrix:

The conjugate corresponds to the

transpose of the matrix.
Though this representation of complex
numbers with matrices is the most
common, many other representations
arise from matrices other than
that square to the negative of the identity
matrix. See the article on 2 × 2 real
matrices for other representations of
complex numbers.

Complex analysis
Color wheel graph of sin(1/z). Black parts inside refer
to numbers having large absolute values.

The study of functions of a complex

variable is known as complex analysis and
has enormous practical use in applied
mathematics as well as in other branches
of mathematics. Often, the most natural
proofs for statements in real analysis or
even number theory employ techniques
from complex analysis (see prime number
theorem for an example). Unlike real
functions, which are commonly
represented as two-dimensional graphs,
complex functions have four-dimensional
graphs and may usefully be illustrated by
color-coding a three-dimensional graph to
suggest four dimensions, or by animating
the complex function's dynamic
transformation of the complex plane.

Complex exponential and

related functions

The notions of convergent series and

continuous functions in (real) analysis
have natural analogs in complex analysis.
A sequence of complex numbers is said to
converge if and only if its real and
imaginary parts do. This is equivalent to
the (ε, δ)-definition of limits, where the
absolute value of real numbers is replaced
by the one of complex numbers. From a
more abstract point of view, C, endowed
with the metric

is a complete metric space, which notably

includes the triangle inequality

for any two complex numbers z1 and z2.

Like in real analysis, this notion of

convergence is used to construct a
number of elementary functions: the
exponential function exp(z), also written ez,
is defined as the infinite series
The series defining the real trigonometric
functions sine and cosine, as well as the
hyperbolic functions sinh and cosh, also
carry over to complex arguments without
change. For the other trigonometric and
hyperbolic functions, such as tangent,
things are slightly more complicated, as
the defining series do not converge for all
complex values. Therefore, one must
define them either in terms of sine, cosine
and exponential, or, equivalently, by using
the method of analytic continuation.

Euler's formula states:

for any real number φ, in particular

Unlike in the situation of real numbers,

there is an infinitude of complex solutions
z of the equation

for any complex number w ≠ 0. It can be

shown that any such solution z – called
complex logarithm of w – satisfies

where arg is the argument defined above,

and ln the (real) natural logarithm. As arg
is a multivalued function, unique only up to
a multiple of 2π, log is also multivalued.
The principal value of log is often taken by
restricting the imaginary part to the
interval (−π, π].

Complex exponentiation zω is defined as

and is multi-valued, except when is an

integer. For ω = 1 / n, for some natural
number n, this recovers the non-
uniqueness of nth roots mentioned above.

Complex numbers, unlike real numbers, do

not in general satisfy the unmodified
power and logarithm identities, particularly
when naïvely treated as single-valued
functions; see failure of power and
logarithm identities. For example, they do
not satisfy

Both sides of the equation are multivalued

by the definition of complex
exponentiation given here, and the values
on the left are a subset of those on the
right.

Holomorphic functions
A function f : C → C is called holomorphic
if it satisfies the Cauchy–Riemann
equations. For example, any R-linear map
C → C can be written in the form

with complex coefficients a and b. This

map is holomorphic if and only if b = 0.
The second summand is real-
differentiable, but does not satisfy the
Cauchy–Riemann equations.

Complex analysis shows some features

not apparent in real analysis. For example,
any two holomorphic functions f and g
that agree on an arbitrarily small open
subset of C necessarily agree everywhere.
Meromorphic functions, functions that can
locally be written as f(z)/(z − z0)n with a
holomorphic function f, still share some of
the features of holomorphic functions.
Other functions have essential
singularities, such as sin(1/z) at z = 0.

Applications
Complex numbers have applications in
many scientific areas, including signal
processing, control theory,
electromagnetism, fluid dynamics,
quantum mechanics, cartography, and
vibration analysis. Some of these
applications are described below.

Control theory

In control theory, systems are often

transformed from the time domain to the
frequency domain using the Laplace
transform. The system's zeros and poles
are then analyzed in the complex plane.
The root locus, Nyquist plot, and Nichols
plot techniques all make use of the
complex plane.

In the root locus method, it is important

whether zeros and poles are in the left or
right half planes, i.e. have real part greater
than or less than zero. If a linear, time-
invariant (LTI) system has poles that are

in the right half plane, it will be unstable,

all in the left half plane, it will be stable,
on the imaginary axis, it will have
marginal stability.

If a system has zeros in the right half

plane, it is a nonminimum phase system.

Improper integrals

In applied fields, complex numbers are

often used to compute certain real-valued
improper integrals, by means of complex-
valued functions. Several methods exist to
do this; see methods of contour
integration.

Dynamic equations

In differential equations, it is common to

first find all complex roots r of the
characteristic equation of a linear
differential equation or equation system
and then attempt to solve the system in
terms of base functions of the form
f(t) = ert. Likewise, in difference equations,
the complex roots r of the characteristic
equation of the difference equation
system are used, to attempt to solve the
system in terms of base functions of the
form f(t) = rt.

Signal analysis

Complex numbers are used in signal

analysis and other fields for a convenient
description for periodically varying signals.
For given real functions representing
actual physical quantities, often in terms
of sines and cosines, corresponding
complex functions are considered of
which the real parts are the original
quantities. For a sine wave of a given
frequency, the absolute value |z| of the
corresponding z is the amplitude and the
argument arg(z) is the phase.

If Fourier analysis is employed to write a

given real-valued signal as a sum of
periodic functions, these periodic
functions are often written as complex
valued functions of the form

and

where ω represents the angular frequency

and the complex number A encodes the
phase and amplitude as explained above.
This use is also extended into digital
signal processing and digital image
processing, which utilize digital versions of
Fourier analysis (and wavelet analysis) to
transmit, compress, restore, and otherwise
process digital audio signals, still images,
and video signals.

Another example, relevant to the two side

bands of amplitude modulation of AM
radio, is:
Geometry

Shapes

Three non-collinear points in the

plane determine the shape of the triangle
. Locating the points in the
complex plane, this shape of a triangle
may be expressed by complex arithmetic
as
The shape of a triangle will remain the
same, when the complex plane is
transformed by translation or dilation (by
an affine transformation), corresponding
to the intuitive notion of shape, and
describing similarity. Thus each triangle
is in a similarity class of
triangles with the same shape.[34]

Fractal geometry
the mandelbrot set with the real and imaginary axes
labeled.

The Mandelbrot set is a popular example

of a fractal formed on the complex plane.
It is defined by plotting every location
where iterating the sequence
does not diverge when
iterated infinitely. Similarly, Julia sets have
the same rules, except where remains
constant.

Triangles
Every triangle has a unique Steiner
inellipse – an ellipse inside the triangle
and tangent to the midpoints of the three
sides of the triangle. The foci of a
triangle's Steiner inellipse can be found as
follows, according to Marden's
theorem:[35][36] Denote the triangle's
vertices in the complex plane as
a = xA + yAi, b = xB + yBi, and c = xC + yCi.
Write the cubic equation
, take its derivative, and equate the
(quadratic) derivative to zero. Marden's
Theorem says that the solutions of this
equation are the complex numbers
denoting the locations of the two foci of
the Steiner inellipse.

Algebraic number theory

Construction of a regular pentagon using straightedge

and compass.

As mentioned above, any nonconstant

polynomial equation (in complex
coefficients) has a solution in C. A fortiori,
the same is true if the equation has
rational coefficients. The roots of such
equations are called algebraic numbers –
they are a principal object of study in
algebraic number theory. Compared to Q,
the algebraic closure of Q, which also
contains all algebraic numbers, C has the
advantage of being easily understandable
in geometric terms. In this way, algebraic
methods can be used to study geometric
questions and vice versa. With algebraic
methods, more specifically applying the
machinery of field theory to the number
field containing roots of unity, it can be
shown that it is not possible to construct a
regular nonagon using only compass and
straightedge – a purely geometric
problem.

Another example are Gaussian integers,

that is, numbers of the form x + iy, where x
and y are integers, which can be used to
classify sums of squares.

Analytic number theory

Analytic number theory studies numbers,

often integers or rationals, by taking
advantage of the fact that they can be
regarded as complex numbers, in which
analytic methods can be used. This is
done by encoding number-theoretic
information in complex-valued functions.
For example, the Riemann zeta function
ζ(s) is related to the distribution of prime
numbers.

In Physics

Electromagnetism and electrical

engineering

In electrical engineering, the Fourier

transform is used to analyze varying
voltages and currents. The treatment of
resistors, capacitors, and inductors can
then be unified by introducing imaginary,
frequency-dependent resistances for the
latter two and combining all three in a
single complex number called the
impedance. This approach is called
phasor calculus.

In electrical engineering, the imaginary unit

is denoted by j, to avoid confusion with I,
which is generally in use to denote electric
current, or, more particularly, i, which is
generally in use to denote instantaneous
electric current.

Since the voltage in an AC circuit is

oscillating, it can be represented as

To obtain the measurable quantity, the real

part is taken:
The complex-valued signal is called
the analytic representation of the real-
valued, measurable signal . [37]

Fluid dynamics

In fluid dynamics, complex functions are

used to describe potential flow in two
dimensions.

Quantum mechanics

The complex number field is intrinsic to

the mathematical formulations of
quantum mechanics, where complex
Hilbert spaces provide the context for one
such formulation that is convenient and
perhaps most standard. The original
foundation formulas of quantum
mechanics – the Schrödinger equation
and Heisenberg's matrix mechanics –
make use of complex numbers.

Relativity

In special and general relativity, some

formulas for the metric on spacetime
become simpler if one takes the time
component of the spacetime continuum to
be imaginary. (This approach is no longer
standard in classical relativity, but is used
in an essential way in quantum field
theory.) Complex numbers are essential to
spinors, which are a generalization of the
tensors used in relativity.

Generalizations and related

notions
The process of extending the field R of
reals to C is known as the Cayley–Dickson
construction. It can be carried further to
higher dimensions, yielding the
quaternions H and octonions O which (as
a real vector space) are of dimension 4
and 8, respectively. In this context the
complex numbers have been called the
binarions.[38]

Just as by applying the construction to

reals the property of ordering is lost,
properties familiar from real and complex
numbers vanish with each extension. The
quaternions lose commutativity, i.e.:
x·y ≠ y·x for some quaternions x, y, and
the multiplication of octonions,
additionally to not being commutative,
fails to be associative: (x·y)·z ≠ x·(y·z) for
some octonions x, y, z.

Reals, complex numbers, quaternions and

octonions are all normed division algebras
over R. By Hurwitz's theorem they are the
only ones; the sedenions, the next step in
the Cayley–Dickson construction, fail to
have this structure.

The Cayley–Dickson construction is

closely related to the regular
representation of C, thought of as an R-
algebra (an R-vector space with a
multiplication), with respect to the basis
(1, i). This means the following: the R-
linear map

for some fixed complex number w can be

represented by a 2 × 2 matrix (once a basis
has been chosen). With respect to the
basis (1, i), this matrix is

i.e., the one mentioned in the section on

matrix representation of complex numbers
above. While this is a linear representation
of C in the 2 × 2 real matrices, it is not the
only one. Any matrix

has the property that its square is the

negative of the identity matrix: J2 = −I.
Then
is also isomorphic to the field C, and gives
an alternative complex structure on R2.
This is generalized by the notion of a linear
complex structure.

Hypercomplex numbers also generalize R,

C, H, and O. For example, this notion
contains the split-complex numbers, which
are elements of the ring R[x]/(x2 − 1) (as
opposed to R[x]/(x2 + 1)). In this ring, the
equation a2 = 1 has four solutions.

The field R is the completion of Q, the field

of rational numbers, with respect to the
usual absolute value metric. Other choices
of metrics on Q lead to the fields Qp of p-
adic numbers (for any prime number p),
which are thereby analogous to R. There
are no other nontrivial ways of completing
Q than R and Qp, by Ostrowski's theorem.
The algebraic closures of Qp still carry
a norm, but (unlike C) are not complete
with respect to it. The completion of
turns out to be algebraically closed.
This field is called p-adic complex
numbers by analogy.

The fields R and Qp and their finite field

extensions, including C, are local fields.

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Complex numbers.

Algebraic surface
Circular motion using complex numbers
Complex-base system
Complex geometry
Eisenstein integer
Euler's identity
Geometric algebra (which includes the
complex plane as the 2-dimensional
spinor subspace )
Root of unity
Unit complex number
Notes
1. For an extensive account of the history,
from initial skepticism to ultimate
acceptance, See (Bourbaki 1998), pages 18-
24.
2. In modern notation, Tartaglia's solution is
based on expanding the cube of the sum of
two cube roots:

With , ,
, u and v can be expressed in
terms of p and q as

and

,
respectively. Therefore,

. When is negative
(casus irreducibilis), the second cube root
should be regarded as the complex
conjugate of the first one.

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Works Cited

Ahlfors, Lars (1979), Complex analysis

(3rd ed.), McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-
000657-7
Apostol, Tom (1981). Mathematical
analysis. Addison-Wesley.
Solomentsev, E.D. (2001) [1994],
"Complex number" , in Hazewinkel,
Michiel, Encyclopedia of Mathematics,
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. /
Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN 978-
1-55608-010-4
Further reading
Wikiversity has learning resources about
Complex Numbers

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of:

Calculus/Complex numbers

Wikisource has the text of the 1911

Encyclopædia Britannica article
Number/Complex Numbers.

Penrose, Roger (2005), The Road to

Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of
the Universe, Alfred A. Knopf, ISBN 0-
679-45443-8
 Derbyshire, John (2006), Unknown
Quantity: A Real and Imaginary History of
Algebra, Joseph Henry Press, ISBN 0-
309-09657-X
Needham, Tristan (1997), Visual
Complex Analysis, Clarendon Press,
ISBN 0-19-853447-7

Mathematical

Ahlfors, Lars (1979), Complex analysis

(3rd ed.), McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-
000657-7
Conway, John B. (1986), Functions of
One Complex Variable I, Springer,
ISBN 978-0-387-90328-6
Joshi, Kapil D. (1989), Foundations of
Discrete Mathematics, New York: John
Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-470-21152-6
Pedoe, Dan (1988), Geometry: A
comprehensive course, Dover, ISBN 978-
0-486-65812-4
Press, WH; Teukolsky, SA; Vetterling, WT;
Flannery, BP (2007), "Section 5.5
Complex Arithmetic" , Numerical
Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing
(3rd ed.), New York: Cambridge
University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-88068-
8
Solomentsev, E.D. (2001) [1994],
"Complex number" , in Hazewinkel,
 Michiel, Encyclopedia of Mathematics,
Springer Science+Business Media B.V. /
Kluwer Academic Publishers, ISBN 978-
1-55608-010-4

Historical

Bourbaki, Nicolas (1998), "Foundations

of mathematics § logic: set theory",
Elements of the history of mathematics,
Springer
Burton, David M. (1995), The History of
Mathematics (3rd ed.), New York:
McGraw-Hill, ISBN 978-0-07-009465-9
Katz, Victor J. (2004), A History of
Mathematics, Brief Version, Addison-
Wesley, ISBN 978-0-321-16193-2
Nahin, Paul J. (1998), An Imaginary Tale:
The Story of , Princeton University
Press, ISBN 978-0-691-02795-1
A gentle introduction to the history of
complex numbers and the beginnings
of complex analysis.
Ebbinghaus, H. D.; Hermes, H.;
Hirzebruch, F.; Koecher, M.; Mainzer, K.;
Neukirch, J.; Prestel, A.; Remmert, R.
(1991), Numbers (hardcover ed.),
Springer, ISBN 978-0-387-97497-2
An advanced perspective on the
historical development of the concept
of number.
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