43 questions linked to/from Do complex numbers really exist?
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### How can I introduce complex numbers to precalculus students?

I teach a precalculus course almost every semester, and over these semesters I've found various things that work quite well. For example, when talking about polynomials and rational functions, in ...
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### The notion of complex numbers

How does one know the notion of real numbers is compatible with the axioms defined for complex numbers, ie how does one know that by defining an operator '$i$' with the property that $i^2=-1$, we will ...
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### What is a formal polynomial?

I'm starting to study Field Theory by myself, the books don't say explicitly what a polynomial is, I mean, what the $x$ of $f(x)$ in $F[x]$ is? $x\in F$? When I take $f(\alpha)$ am I taking the ...
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### What are imaginary numbers?

At school I really struggled to understand the concept of imaginary numbers. My teacher told us that an imaginary number is a number which has something to do with the square root of $-1$. When I ...
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### What's the precise meaning of imaginary number?

The same to the title,what's the precise meaning of imaginary number? And on the other hand,how can the imaginary number be reflected in Physics?
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### Is the square root of a negative number defined?

I have been in a debate over 9gag with this new comic: "The Origins" And I thought, "haha, that's funny, because I know $i = \sqrt{-1}$". And then, this comment cast a doubt: There is no such ...
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### Simple applications of complex numbers

I've been helping a high school student with his complex number homework (algebra, de Moivre's formula, etc.), and we came across the question of the "usefulness" of "imaginary" numbers - If there ...
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### What's bad about calling $i$ “the square root of -1”?

I vaguely recall a teacher telling me that he dislikes introducing the imaginary unit $i$ as "the square root of $-1$", but I can't remember why. Is there a lack of rigour in the statement, or is it a ...
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### An example of an easy to understand undecidable problem

I am looking for an undecidable problem that I could give as an easy example in a presentation to the general public. I mean easy in the sense that the mathematics behind it can be described, well, ...
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### Is it ever $i$ time?

I am asking this question as a response to reading two different questions: Is it ever Pi time? and Are complex number real? So I ask, is it ever $i$ time? Could we arbitrarily define time as ...
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### Why is $i$ called “imaginary”?

I was reading this question, and, after reading the responses, I felt like I had a much better understanding about how they're just another type of number definition. Why, then, are they called ...
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### Can a circle truly exist?

Is a circle more impossible than any other geometrical shape? Is a circle is just an infinitely-sided equilateral parallelogram? Wikipedia says... A circle is a simple shape of Euclidean geometry ...
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### imaginary numbers - how can I understand them - especially as they occur in 'roots' of polynomials?

In another question here, about roots of equations being imaginary, the accepted answer said something interesting about "imaginary" (as a technical word in math) not meaning "not real". I ...
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### Mathematical misconceptions and how to combat them

There are a lot of common misconceptions when it comes to math. A common one that has already been addressed on this site is $1 \neq .999\cdots$, as is that imaginary numbers "do not exist". Another ...
### Is there a problem in defining a complex number by $z = x+iy$?
The field $\mathbb{C}$ of complex numbers is well-defined by the Hamilton axioms of addition and product between complex numbers, i.e., a complex number $z$ is a ordered pair of real numbers $(x,y)$, ...