Showing posts with label Complex numbers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Complex numbers. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

algebra of complex numbers


Let us study algebra of complex numbers,
A complex number is an ordered pair of real numbers with addition defined
by
(a, b) + (c, d) = (a + c, b + d)

and multiplication defined by
(a, b) × (c, d) = (ac − bd, ad + bc),

where a, b, c, and d are any real numbers.
We will let i denote the complex number (0, 1). Then, by our definition of multiplication,
i2 = (0, 1) × (0, 1) = (0 − 1, 0 + 0) = (−1, 0).



Geometric representation of a complex number

If we identify the real number a with the complex number (a, 0), then we have
ai = (a, 0) × (0, 1) = (0 − 0, a + 0) = (0, a).
Then for any two real numbers, we have
(a, b) = (a, 0) + (0, b) = a + bi.

That is, a + bi is another way to write the complex number (a, b). In particular, with this
convention, becomes
i2 = −1,
that is,
i = p−1.
Moreover, we may write as
(a + bi) + (c + di) = (a + c) + (b + d)i
and (7.1.2) as
(a + bi) × (c + di) = (ac − bd) + (ad + bc)i.
In fact, we may view the latter as a consequence of the ordinary algebraic expansion of
the product
(a + bi)(c + di)
combined with the equality i2 = −1. That is,
(a + bi)(c + di) = ac + adi + bci + bdi2 = (ac − bd) + (ad + bc)i.
It also follows from this formulation that if r is a real number, which we identify with
r + 0i, and z = a + bi is a complex number, then
rz = r(a + bi) = (r + 0i)(a + bi) = ra + rbi.
Hope the above explanation helped you.