University:
University of Houston
Course:
MATH 2450 | Accelerated Calculus I
Academic year:

2024
Views:

458

Pages:

2
Author:

Malik Morrison

Basics of Complex Numbers (I) 1. General √ • i ≡ −1, so i2 = −1, i3 = −i, i4 = 1 and then it starts over again. • Any complex number z can be written as the sum of a real part and an imaginary part: z = [Re z] + i[Im z] , where the numbers or variables in the []’s are real . So z = x + y i with x and y real is in this form but w = 1/(a + b i) is not (see ”Rationalizing” below). Thus, Im z = y, but Re w 6= 1/a. • Complex Conjugate: The complex conjugate of z, which is written as z ∗ , is found by changing the sign of every i in z: z ∗ = [Re z] − i [Im z] so if z = 1 1 , then z ∗ = . a + bi a − bi Note: There may be “hidden” i’s in the variables; if a is a complex number, then z ∗ = 1/(a∗ − b i). • Magnitude: The magnitude squared of a complex number z is: zz ∗ ≡ |z|2 = [Re z]2 − (i)2 [Im z]2 = [Re z]2 + [Im z]2 ≥ 0 , where the last equality shows that the magnitude is positive (except when z = 0). Basic rule: if you need to make something real, multiply by its complex conjugate. 2. Rationalizing: We can apply this rule to “rationalize” a complex number such as z = 1/(a + b i). Make the denominator real by multiplying by the complex conjugate on top and bottom: 1 a − bi a − bi a −b · = 2 = 2 +i 2 2 2 a + bi a − bi a +b a +b a + b2 so Re z = a/(a2 + b2 ) and Im z = −b/(a2 + b2 ). 3. The Complex x–y Plane • Rectangular form: Any complex number z can be uniquely represented as a point in the x–y plane, where the x–coordinate is Re z and the y–coordinate is Im z (see figure). – You can think of i as a unit vector in the “imaginary” (y) direction. – The magnitude of z is just the length of the vector from the origin. • Polar form: We can also write z in polar form as: z = r eiθ = r cos θ + i r sin θ , where r and θ are real and equal to the length and angle of the vector. 1 – The complex conjugate of z = r eiθ is z ∗ = r e−iθ . √ – Thus the magnitude is |z| = z z ∗ = r. – Rationalizing: 1 1 = e−iθ . iθ re r 4. Multiplying Complex Numbers • Multiplication is distributive: (a + b i) × (c + d i) = (ac − bd) + i(ad + bc). • In polar form, we multiply the r’s and add the θ’s: if z1 = r1 eiθ1 and z2 = r2 eiθ2 , then z1 z2 = r1 r2 ei(θ1 +θ2 ) . 5. Euler’s Theorem and other Goodies: • From the polar form, we have: eiθ = cos θ + i sin θ . • Special values: e2πi = 1 eiπ = −1 eiπ/2 = i √ √ eiπ/4 = 1/ 2 + i/ 2 • We can rewrite sin and cos: cos θ = eiθ + e−iθ 2 sin θ = eiθ − e−iθ , 2i which can be very useful, since it is generally easier to work with exponentials then trigonometric functions. • DeMoivre’s Theorem: z n = (r eiθ )n = rn einθ = rn [cos(nθ) + i sin(nθ)] . We can also write the theorem in the form: z 1/n = r1/n [cos(θ/n) + i sin(θ/n)] , which is great for taking the square root, cube root, etc. of complex numbers! 2