1 Review of complex numbers

1.1 Complex numbers: algebra

The set C of complex numbers is formed by adding a square root i of 1
to the set of real numbers: i
2
= 1. Every complex number can be written
uniquely as a +bi, where a and b are real numbers. We usually use a single
letter such as z to denote the complex number a + bi. In this case a is the
real part of z, written a = Re z, and b is the imaginary part of z, written
b = Imz. The complex number z is real if z = Re z, or equivalently Imz = 0,
and it is pure imaginary if z = (Imz)i, or equivalently Re z = 0. In general
a complex number is the sum of its real part and its imaginary part times i,
and two complex numbers are equal if and only if they have the same real
and imaginary parts.
We add and multiply complex numbers in the obvious way:
(a
1
+ b
1
i) + (a
2
+ b
2
i) = (a
1
+ a
2
) + (b
1
+ b
2
)i;
(a
1
+ b
1
i) (a
2
+ b
2
i) = (a
1
a
2
b
1
b
2
) + (a
1
b
2
+ a
2
b
1
)i.
For example,
(2 + 3i)(5 + 4i) = 22 7i.
In this way, addition and multiplication are associative and commutative,
multiplication distributes over addition, there is an additive identity 0 and
additive inverses ((a + bi) = (a) + (b)i), and there is a multiplicative
identity 1. Note also that Re(z
1
+ z
2
) = Re z
1
+ Re z
2
, and similarly for
the imaginary parts, but a corresponding statement does not hold for mul-
tiplication. Before we discuss multiplicative inverses, let us recall complex
conjugation: the complex conjugate z of a complex number z = a +bi is by
denition z = a bi. It is easy to see that:
Re z =
1
2
(z + z);
Imz =
1
2i
(z z).
Thus z is real if and only if z = z and pure imaginary if and only if z = z.
More importantly, we have the following formulas which can be checked by
1
direct calculation:
z
1
+ z
2
= z
1
+ z
2
;
z
1
z
2
= z
1
z
2
;
z
n
= ( z)
n
;
z = z;
z z = a
2
+ b
2
,
where in the last line z = a + bi. Thus, z z 0, and z z = 0 if and
only if z = 0. We set |z| =

z z =

a
2
+ b
2
, the absolute value, length or
modulus of z.For example, |2 + i| =

5. Note that, for all z
1
, z
2
C,
|z
1
|
2
|z
2
|
2
= z
1
z
1
z
2
z
2
= z
1
z
2
z
1
z
2
= (z
1
z
2
)(z
1
z
2
) = |z
1
z
2
|
2
,
and hence |z
1
||z
2
| = |z
1
z
2
|. The link between the absolute value and addition
is somewhat weaker; there is only the triangle inequality
|z
1
+ z
2
| |z
1
| +|z
2
|.
If z = 0, then z has a multiplicative inverse:
z
1
=
z
|z|
2
.
In terms of real and imaginary parts, this is the familiar procedure of dividing
one complex number into another by rationalizing the denominator: if at
least one of c, d is nonzero, then
a + bi
c + di
=
_
a + bi
c + di
__
c di
c di
_
=
(a + bi)(c di)
c
2
+ d
2
.
Thus it is possible to divide by any nonzero complex number. For example,
to express (2 + i)/(3 2i) in the form a + bi, we write
2 + i
3 2i
=
_
2 + i
3 2i
__
3 + 2i
3 + 2i
_
=
(2 + i)(3 + 2i)
3
2
+ 2
2
=
4 + 7i
13
=
4
13
+
7
13
i.
If z = 0, then z
n
is dened for every integer n, including the case n < 0,
and the formula z
n
= ( z)
n
still holds.
2
1.2 Complex numbers: geometry
Instead of thinking of a complex number z as a + bi, we can identify it
with the point (a, b) R
2
. From this point of view, there is no dierence
between a complex number and a 2-vector, and we sometimes refer to C as
the complex plane. The absolute value |z| is then the same as (a, b), the
distance from the point (a, b) to the origin. Addition of complex numbers
then corresponds to vector addition. However, multiplication of complex
numbers is more complicated. One way to understand it is to use polar
coordinates: if z = a + bi, where (a, b) corresponds to the polar coordinates
(r, ), then r = |z| and a = r cos , b = r sin . Thus we may write z =
r cos + (r sin )i = r(cos + i sin ). This is sometimes called the polar
form of z; r = |z| is, as we have seen, called the modulus of z and is
called the argument, sometimes written = arg z. Note that the argument
is only well-dened up to an integer multiple of 2. If z = r(cos + i sin ),
then clearly r is real and nonnegative and cos +i sin is a complex number
of absolute value one; thus every complex number z is the product of a
nonnegative real number times a complex number of absolute value 1. If
z = 0, then this product expression is unique. (What happens if z = 0?)
For example, the polar form of 1 + i is

2(cos(/4) + i sin(/4)).
Given two complex numbers z
1
and z
2
, with z
1
= r
1
(cos
1
+i sin
1
) and
z
2
= r
2
(cos
2
+ i sin
2
), we can ask for the polar form of z
1
z
2
:
z
1
z
2
= r
1
(cos
1
+ i sin
1
) r
2
(cos
2
+ i sin
2
)
= r
1
r
2
((cos
1
cos
2
sin
1
sin
2
) + i(cos
1
sin
2
+ cos
2
sin
1
))
= r
1
r
2
(cos(
1
+
2
) + i sin(
1
+
2
)),
where we have used the standard addition formulas for sine and cosine. (We
will see in a minute where these addition formulas come from.) Thus the
modulus of the product is the product of the moduli (this is just the formula
|z
1
z
2
| = |z
1
||z
2
| which we have already seen), but the really interesting
formula is that the arguments add:
arg(z
1
z
2
) = arg z
1
+ arg z
2
.
Of course, this has to be understood as up to possibly adding an integer
multiple of 2.
In this way, we can interpret geometrically the eect of multiplying by
a complex number z. If z is real, multiplying by z is just ordinary scalar
multiplication and has the usual geometric interpretation. If z = cos +
i sin has absolute value one, then multiplying a complex number x +iy by
3
z is the same as rotating the point (x, y) by the angle . For a general z,
multiplying the complex number x + iy by z is a combination of these two
operations: rotation by the angle followed by scalar multiplication by the
nonnegative real number |z|.
Using the formula for multiplication, it is easy to see that if z has polar
form r(cos + i sin ), then
z
n
= r
n
(cos n + i sin n);
z
1
= r
1
(cos() + i sin()) = r
1
(cos sin ).
Here the rst formula, which is easily proved by mathematical induction,
holds for all z and positive integers n, and the second holds for z = 0. From
this it is easy to check that, for z = 0, the rst formula holds for all integers
n. This formula is called De Moivres Theorem.
We can use De Moivres Theorem to nd powers and roots of complex
numbers. For example, we have seen that 1+i =

2(cos(/4) +i sin(/4)).
Thus
(1 + i)
20
= (

2)
20
(cos(20/4) + i sin(20/4))
= 2
10
(cos(5) + i sin(5)) = 2
10
(1) = 1024.
De Moivres Theorem can be used to generate identities for sin n and
cos n via the binomial theorem. For example,
cos 3 + i sin 3 = (cos + i sin )
3
= cos
3
+ 3i cos
2
sin 3 cos sin
2
i sin
3

= cos
3
3 cos sin
2
+ i(3 cos
2
sin sin
3
).
Equating real and imaginary parts, we see that cos 3 = cos
3
3 cos sin
2
,
and likewise sin 3 = 3 cos
2
sin sin
3
.
It is more interesting to nd roots. Let z = r(cos +i sin ) be a complex
number, which we assume to be nonzero (since the only n
th
root of 0 is zero
why?), and let w = s(cos +i sin ). Then w
n
= z if and only if s
n
= r and
n = + 2k for some integer k. Thus s = r
1/n
, and = /n + 2k/n for
some integer k. But sometimes these numbers will be the same for dierent
values of k: if
1
= /n + 2k
1
/n and
2
= /n + 2k
2
/n, then
r
1/n
(cos
1
+ i sin
1
) = r
1/n
(cos
2
+ i sin
2
)
if and only if
1
and
2
dier by an integer multiple of 2, if and only
if 2k
1
/n and 2k
2
/n dier by an integer multiple of 2, if and only if n
4
divides k
1
k
2
. Moreover, we can nd a complete set of choices by taking
the arguments
/n, /n + 2/n, . . . , /n + 2(n 1)/n.
Thus we see: If n is a positive integer, then a nonzero complex number has
exactly n distinct n
th
roots given by the formula above.
Examples: the two square roots of i = cos(/2) + i sin(/2) are
cos
_

4
_
+ i sin
_

4
_
=

2
2
+

2
2
i;
cos
_

4
+
_
+ i sin
_

4
+
_
=

2
2

2
2
i.
For another example, to nd all of the fth roots of

3 + i, rst write

3 + i = 2
_

3
2
+
1
2
i
_
= 2
_
cos

6
+ i sin

6
_
.
Thus the fth roots are given by
2
1/5
_
cos
_

30
+
2k
5
_
+ i sin
_

30
+
2k
5
__
, k = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.
We can apply the above to the complex number 1 = cos 0 + i sin 0. Thus
there are exactly n complex numbers z such that z
n
= 1, called the n
th
roots
of unity: namely
cos
_
2k
n
_
+ i sin
_
2k
n
_
, k = 0, 1, . . . , n 1.
It is easy to see that, once we have found one n
th
root w of a nonzero
complex number z, then all of the n
th
roots of z are of the form
_
cos
_
2k
n
_
+ i sin
_
2k
n
__
w,
for k = 0, 1, . . . , n 1, i.e. any two n
th
roots of a given nonzero complex
number dier by multiplying by an n
th
root of unity.
Warning: the usual rules for fractional exponents that hold for positive
real numbers do not usually hold for complex roots; this is connected with
the fact that there is not in general one preferred n
th
root of a complex
number. For example,
1 = i
2
=

1

1 =
_
(1)(1) =

1 = 1.
5
1.3 Complex numbers: the complex exponential function
Given a power series

n=0
a
n
x
n
, we can try to substitute in complex values
for x and see what we get. Here we shall just consider the usual power series
for the exponential function e
x
=

n=0
x
n
n!
. We begin by substituting a purely
imaginary complex number it, where t is real. This gives
e
it
=

n=0
i
n
t
n
n!
=

n=0
i
2n
t
2n
(2n)!
+

n=0
i
2n+1
t
2n+1
(2n + 1)!
,
where we have simply broken the sum up into summing over even and odd
positive integers. Using i
2n
= (1)
n
, and hence i
2n+1
= (1)
n
i, we see that
the sum is equal to
e
it
=

n=0
(1)
n
t
2n
(2n)!
+ i

n=0
(1)
n
t
2n+1
(2n + 1)!
= cos t + i sin t.
This beautiful fact is known as Eulers formula. For example, e
i
= 1.
We can thus write the polar form r(cos + i sin ) for a complex number
as re
i
. Assuming the usual rules for exponents, we can see in another way
that the arguments add under multiplication:
r
1
e
i
1
r
2
e
i
2
= r
1
r
2
e
i
1
e
i
2
= r
1
r
2
e
i
1
+i
2
= r
1
r
2
e
i(
1
+
2
)
.
In particular, e
i
1
e
i
2
= e
i(
1
+
2
)
. Equating real and imaginary parts, we see
that this fact is equivalent to the usual addition formulas for the sine and
cosine functions, and indeed is perhaps the best way of explaining why these
somewhat mysterious looking addition formulas are true.
Eulers formula is a fundamental link between the basic constants of
mathematics, e and , and between the exponential and trigonometric func-
tions. For example, since e
it
= cos(t) + i sin(t) = cos t i sin t, we see
that
cos t = Re e
it
=
1
2
(e
it
+ e
it
);
sin t = Ime
it
=
1
2i
(e
it
e
it
).
Now suppose that we can substitute an arbitrary complex number z =
x + iy in the expression for e
x
, and that the usual rules for exponentiation
apply. Then
e
x+iy
= e
x
e
iy
= e
x
(cos y + i sin y).
6
In particular, if r is a positive real number, then
e
ln r+i
= r(cos + i sin ).
Thus every nonzero complex number z = r(cos + i sin ) has a logarithm.
In fact the possible solutions to e
w
= z are
w = ln r + ( + 2n)i, n an integer.
We call any of these values a logarithm of z and write w = log z. Of course,
log is not a well-dened function. Note that, for real x, the exponential
function e
x
is one-to-one and its values are the positive real numbers; hence
ln x is dened for positive x. For complex z, the exponential function is no
longer one-to-one: e
z
1
= e
z
2
exactly when z
2
= z
2
+2ni for some integer n,
and the values of the complex exponential are all nonzero complex numbers.
Thus log z is dened for all z = 0, but only up to adding an arbitrary
integer multiple of 2i.
For example, log(1) = log(e
i
) = i + 2ni = (2n + 1)i, for any
integer n.
It is then natural to try to dene an expression of the form z

, where z
is a nonzero complex number and is any complex number, by the formula
z

= e
log z
.
Since log z is only well-dened up to adding an integer multiple of 2i, this
says that, given any particular choice of value, say w, for z

, then we
2ni
is also a value for z

, for every integer n. If = 1/k for some integer k, or

more generally if is a rational number, then there are only nitely many
possible values for the expression z

; for example, if = 1/k, we just see

the k dierent k
th
roots of z described earlier. But if is not rational, then
the expression z

will dene innitely many dierent complex numbers! For

example,
2

2
= e

2 log 2
= e

2(ln 2+2ni)
= e

2 ln 2+2n

2i)
= 2

2
e
2n

2i)
= 2

2
(cos(2n

2) + i sin(2n

2),
where, in the second line, the expression 2

2
means the usual real valued
expression e

2 ln 2
, and n is an arbitrary integer. For another example,
2
i
= e
i log 2
= e
i(ln 2+2ni)
= e
i ln 22n
= e
2n
(cos(ln 2) + i sin(ln 2)).
7
1.4 Homework
1. Write in the form a + bi:
(a) (2 + i) (3 + i); (b) (1 + 4i)(2 + 4i); (c) (2 3i)(2 + 3i).
2. Write in the form a + bi:
(a)
2 + i
3 + i
; (b)
1 + 4i
2 + 8i
; (c)
2 3i
3 + 2i
.
3. Write in polar form:
(a) 1

3i; (b) 5 + 5i; (c) i.

4. Write the complex number 3 2i in polar form (using inverse trigono-
metric functions if necessary).
5. (i) Write in the form a + bi:
(a) e
i/4
; (b) e
1+i
; (c) e
3+i
.
6. Evaluate (in the form a + bi): (

3 i)
7
; (1 + i)
9
.
7. Find all complex numbers z such that z
5
= 2 2i. (You can leave z
in polar form.) How many dierent ones are there?
8. Find all solutions in complex numbers z of the equation (z +1)
5
= z
5
.
(Note: you should nd exactly four dierent solutions.)
9. What are all possible values (in the form a + bi) of the following ex-
pressions?
(a) log(1 + i) (b) i
i
(c) i
e
(d) (1 + i)

.
How many are real? Pure imaginary?
What are all possible values of e
i
, interpreting e
i
as (a) the value of
the complex exponential function on i? (b) as the complex number e
raised to the power i?
10. Beginning with the formula cos t =
1
2
(e
it
+ e
it
), nd a formula for
cos
1
x in terms of log and square roots. (Hint: let x = cos t and
z = e
it
, so that e
it
= 1/z. Multiply both sides of the above formula
by 2z and apply the quadratic formula to solve rst for z and then for
t.)
8