Complex Numbers

Balázs Szendrői, based on notes by Richard Earl

Michaelmas 2009

The shortest path between two truths in the real domain passes through the complex domain
Jacques Hadamard (1865-1963)

1 Complex numbers: basics

Solving quadratic equations is something that mathematicians have been able to do since the time of the
Babylonians: as you know, the two roots of the equation
ax2 + bx + c = 0
are √
−b ± b2 − 4ac
x= . (1)
2a
When b2 − 4ac > 0, these two roots are real and distinct; graphically they are where the curve y =
ax2 + bx + c cuts the x-axis. When b2 − 4ac = 0, then we have one real root and the curve just touches
the x-axis here. But what happens when b2 − 4ac < 0? In this case there are no real solutions to the
equation, as no real number squares to give the negative b2 − 4ac. From the graphical point of view, the
curve y = ax2 + bx + c lies entirely above or below the x-axis.
√
If we imagine −1 to exist, and that it behaves much like other numbers, then the two roots of the
quadratic ax2 + bx + c = 0 can be written in the form
√
x = A ± B −1 (2)
√
where A = −b/2a and B = 4ac − b2 /2a are real numbers.
√
Notation 1 We shall from now on write i for −1. This is standard notation amongst mathematicians,
though many books, particularly those written for engineers and physicists, use j instead.
Definition 2 A complex number is a number of the form
z = a + bi
where a and b are real numbers. The real number a is known as the real part of z and b as the imaginary
part. We write a = Re z and b = Im z. Two complex numbers are equal precisely when their real and
imaginary parts are equal — that is a+bi = c+di if and only if a = c and b = d. This is called ‘comparing
real and imaginary parts’.
Note that we can regard real numbers are complex — a real number is simply a complex number with
zero imaginary part.
Notation 3 We write C for the set of all complex numbers.

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2 Operations on complex numbers
We add, subtract, multiply and divide complex numbers much as one would expect. We add and subtract
complex numbers by adding their real and imaginary parts:

(a + bi) + (c + di) = (a + c) + (b + d) i,
(a + bi) − (c + di) = (a − c) + (b − d) i.

We can multiply complex numbers by expanding the brackets in the usual fashion and using i2 = −1:

(a + bi) (c + di) = ac + bci + adi + bdi2 = (ac − bd) + (ad + bc) i.

To divide complex numbers, we note firstly that (c + di) (c − di) = c2 + d2 is real as positive if c + di 6= 0.
So µ ¶ µ ¶
a + bi a + bi c − di ac + bd bc − ad
= × = + i.
c + di c + di c − di c2 + d2 c2 + d2
The number c − di, which we just used, as relating to c + di, has a special name.

Definition 4 Let z = a + bi. The conjugate of z is the number a − bi, and this is denoted as z̄ (or in
some books as z ∗ ).

Let us see some useful algebraic properties of the conjugate function.

Proposition 5 Let z, w ∈ C. Then

z+w = z̄ + w̄. (3)

z−w = z̄ − w̄. (4)
zw = z̄ w̄. (5)
z/w = z̄/w̄ if w 6= 0. (6)

Proof Let us prove one of these statements; the remaining ones are left as exercises.
(5): let z = a + bi and w = c + di. Then

zw = (ac − bd) + (bc + ad) i

= (ac − bd) − (bc + ad) i
= (a − bi) (c − di) = z̄ w̄.

¤
Note from equation (2) that when the real quadratic equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 has complex roots,
then these roots are conjugates of each other. More generally, we have

Corollary 6 The complex roots of a real polynomial come in conjugate pairs. That is, if γ ∈ C satisfies
the polynomial equation ak z k + ak−1 z k−1 + · · · + a0 = 0, where each ai is real, then γ is also a root.

2
Proof Note from the algebraic properties of the conjugate function, proven in the previous proposition,
that
k k−1 k k−1
ak (γ) + ak−1 (γ) + · · · + a1 γ + a0 = ak (γ) + ak−1 (γ) + · · · + a1 γ + a0
k k−1
= ak (γ) + ak−1 (γ) + · · · + a1 γ + a0 [the ai are real]
k k−1
= ak (γ) + ak−1 (γ) + · · · + a0
= 0 [as γ is a root]
= 0.

¤
√
We needed a special symbol i for −1, but we proceed to show that no further symbols are needed
to find the square root of i. Suppose that z 2 = i and z = a + bi, where a and b are real. Then
2
i = (a + bi) = a2 − b2 + 2abi.
¡ ¢

Comparing the real and imaginary parts, we know that

a2 − b2 = 0 and 2ab = 1.
4
So b = 1/2a from the second
√ equation, and
√ substituting for b into the first equation gives a = 1/4, which
has real solutions a = 1/ 2 or a = −1/ 2. So the two z which satisfy z 2 = i, i.e. the two square roots
of i, are
1+i −1 − i
√ and √ .
2 2
In the same spirit, the quadratic formula (1) is also valid for complex coefficients a, b, c, provided that
proper sense is made of the square roots of the complex number b2 − 4ac.

Example 7 We use the quadratic formula to find the two solutions of

z 2 − (3 + i) z + (2 + i) = 0.

We see that a = 1, b = −3 − i, and c = 2 + i. So

2
b2 − 4ac = (−3 − i) − 4 × 1 × (2 + i) = 9 − 1 + 6i − 8 − 4i = 2i.
√ √
Knowing i = ± (1 + i) / 2, from the previous problem, we have
√
−b ± b2 − 4ac
x =
2a √
(3 + i) ± 2i
=
2 √ √
(3 + i) ± 2 i
=
2
(3 + i) ± (1 + i)
=
2
4 + 2i 2
= or
2 2
= 2 + i or 1.

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3 The Argand Plane
The real numbers are often represented on the real line, increasing as we move from left to right.
The complex numbers, having two components, their real and imaginary parts, can be represented
as a plane; indeed, we call it an Argand plane. The point (a, b) represents the complex number a + bi
so that the horizontal axis contains all the real numbers, and so is termed the real axis, and the vertical
axis contains all those complex numbers which are purely imaginary (i.e. have no real part), and so is
referred to as the imaginary axis.

000000000
111111111 10 a + bi
i
01111111111
000000000
000000000
111111111
r

000000000
111111111
000000000
111111111
00000000001
θ 1
real axis 111111111

imaginary axis

Figure 1: Complex numbers on the Argand plane

A complex number z in complex plane can be represented by Cartesian coordinates, its real and
imaginary parts, but equally useful is the representation of z by polar coordinates. If we let r be the
distance of z from the origin, and if, for z 6= 0, we define θ to be the angle that the line connecting the
origin to z makes with the positive real axis, then we can write
z = a + bi = r cos θ + ir sin θ. (7)
The relations between z’s Cartesian and polar coordinates are simple — we see that
a = r cos θ and b = r sin θ,
p b
r = a2 + b2 and tan θ = .
a
Definition 8 The number r is called the modulus of z = a + bi and is written |z|. The number θ is called
the argument of z and is written arg z. The argument of 0 is undefined.
For the complex number z = a + bi, we have the formulae
p b a
|z| = a2 + b2 and sin arg z = √ , cos arg z = √ .
a2 + b2 a2 + b2

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In particular, complex numbers of the form
z = cos θ + i sin θ
have modulus p
|z| = cos θ2 + sin θ2 = 1.
Note also that arg z is defined only up to multiples of 2π. For example, the argument of 1+i could be π/4
or 9π/4 or −7π/4 etc. For simplicity, in this article we shall give all arguments in the range 0 ≤ θ < 2π,
so that π/4 would be the preferred choice here.
We now come to some useful algebraic properties of the modulus and argument functions.
Proposition 9 Let z, w ∈ C. Then
|zw| = |z| |w| . (8)
|z/w| = |z| / |w| if w 6= 0. (9)
2
z z̄ = |z| . (10)
|z̄| = |z| . (11)
Moreover, up to multiples of 2π, the following equations also hold for z, w 6= 0.
arg (zw) = arg z + arg w. (12)
arg (z/w) = arg z − arg w. (13)
arg z̄ = − arg z. (14)

Proof A selection of the above statements is proved here; the remaining ones are left as exercises.
(8): let z = a + bi and w = c + di. Then zw = (ac − bd) + (bc + ad) i, so that
q
2 2
|zw| = (ac − bd) + (bc + ad)
p
= a2 c2 + b2 d2 + b2 c2 + a2 d2
p
= (a2 + b2 ) (c2 + d2 )
p p
= a2 + b2 c2 + d2 = |z| |w| .
(12): let
z = r (cos θ + i sin θ)
and
w = R (cos Θ + i sin Θ) .
Then
zw = rR (cos θ + i sin θ) (cos Θ + i sin Θ)
= rR ((cos θ cos Θ − sin θ sin Θ) + i (sin θ cos Θ + cos θ sin Θ))
= rR (cos (θ + Θ) + i sin (θ + Θ)) .
We can read off that |zw| = rR = |z| |w| which is a second proof (8), and also that
arg (zw) = θ + Θ = arg z + arg w up to multiples of 2π.
¤
An important geometric property of the modulus is

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Proposition 10 (The Triangle Inequality) Let z, w ∈ C. Then

|z + w| ≤ |z| + |w| . (15)

||z| − |w|| ≤ |z − w| . (16)

01
z+w
11111111111111111111111
00000000000000000000000 |w|
00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111
z

00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111
00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111
|z + w|

00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111 |z|
00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111
|z|

00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111
00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111
01
00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111
|w| w

00000000000000000000000
11111111111111111111111
Figure 2: Triangle inequality on the Argand plane

Proof Let us discuss the inequality

|z + w| ≤ |z| + |w| .

Note that the shortest distance between 0 and z + w is the modulus of z + w. This is shorter in length
than the path which goes from 0 to z to z + w. The total length of this second path is |z| + |w|.
For an algebraic proof, note that for any complex number z + z̄ = 2 Re z and Re z ≤ |z| . So for
z, w ∈ C,
z w̄ + z̄w
= Re (z w̄) ≤ |z w̄| = |z| |w̄| = |z| |w| .
2
Then
2
|z + w| = (z + w) (z + w)
= (z + w) (z̄ + w̄)
= z z̄ + z w̄ + z̄w + ww̄
2 2 2
≤ |z| + 2 |z| |w| + |w| = (|z| + |w|) ,

to give the required result. ¤

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 To conclude this section, we introduce a new notation for nonzero complex numbers of modulus r and
argument θ: write
z = r cos θ + i sin θ = reiθ .
In this notation, complex numbers of unit length (length 1) are simply of the form eiθ . Our new notation
is consistent with earlier uses of the exponential function, as the following proposition shows:

Proposition 11 If z = reiθ and w = seiψ then zw = rsei(θ+ψ) and in particular z n = rn einθ for a
positive integer n.

Proof The first identity is simply a re-statement of (8) and (12) of Proposition 9. The second follows
by repeated application of the first. ¤
Finally, here is a useful result summarizing multiple angle formulas:

Corollary 12 (De Moivre’s Theorem) For a real number θ and integer n we have that
n
cos nθ + i sin nθ = (cos θ + i sin θ) .

Proof Using the last formula in Proposition 11,

n
(cos θ + i sin θ) = (eiθ )n = einθ = cos nθ + i sin nθ.

4 Transformations of the Argand plane

We can think of complex numbers z = a + bi as points in an Argand plane, but it can often be useful to
think of them as vectors as well. Addition of a complex number z = a + bi then becomes a transformation
of the complex plane: adding z to another complex number w translates that number by the vector ab .
¡ ¢

That is, the map

w 7→ w + z
represents a translation by a units to the right and b units up in the complex plane.
In a similar vein, we can also think of conjugation as a transformation. The conjugate w̄ of a point w
is its mirror image in the real axis. So
w 7→ w̄
represents reflection in the real axis.
Turning to multiplication, write a nonzero complex number in polar coordinates as

z = x + iy = reiθ .

Then the transformation of multiplication by z,

w 7→ z · w

can be decomposed into two maps

w 7→ eiθ w

7
 0100000000
11111111
z+w
00000000
11111111
00000000
11111111
translation by z
00000000
11111111
0000000001
11111111 w
reflection

01
w̄

Figure 3: Translation and reflection on the Argand plane

and
w 7→ rw.
The latter, with r positive real, is very easy to understand: it is just dilation by magnitude r. Turning to
the former, recall that eiθ is a complex number with modulus one, and, using the formula in Proposition 11,

w = seiψ 7→ eiθ w = sei(θ+ψ) .

So the modulus of eiθ w is the same as that of w, whereas the argument is increased by θ. Thus this
transformation is a rotation of the complex plane by angle θ around the origin.

1111
0000
01
eiθ w
0000
1111
0000
1111 rotation
0000
1111 01
000000000000000000
111111111111111111
0000
1111 01
000000000000000000
111111111111111111
rw

0000
1111
000000000000000000
111111111111111111 w
0000
1111
dilation

000000000000000000
111111111111111111

Figure 4: Dilation and rotation on the Argand plane

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5 The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra
From the quadratic formula (1), we know that a real quadratic polynomial can be solved using complex
numbers. Here is a much more general result.

Theorem 13 (The Fundamental Theorem of Algebra) Any polynomial equation

a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn = 0

with complex coefficients ai ∈ C has a complex root γ ∈ C.

The proof of this theorem is far beyond the scope of these notes. Note that the theorem only guarantees
the existence of the a root for any polynomial somewhere in C, unlike the quadratic formula, which gives
us a formula for the roots. The theorem gives no hint as to where in C a root is to be found.

Corollary 14 Given any polynomial equation

a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn = 0,

with complex coefficients ai ∈ C, there are n (not necessarily distinct) complex numbers γ1 , . . . , γn such
that
a0 + a1 x + a2 x2 + · · · + an xn = an (x − γ1 ) (x − γ2 ) · · · (x − γn ) .
In particular, this shows that a degree n polynomial has, counting repetitions, exactly n roots in C.

As opposed to the Theorem, this statement is actually rather easy to derive (from the Theorem!).

6 Roots of Unity
Problem 15 Let n be a natural number. Find all those complex z such that z n = 1.

We know from the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra that there are (counting repetitions) n solutions:
these are known as the nth roots of unity. Let us first solve z n = 1 directly for n = 2, 3, 4.

• When n = 2 we have
0 = z 2 − 1 = (z − 1) (z + 1)
and so the square roots of 1 are ±1.
• When n = 3 we can factorise as follows

0 = z 3 − 1 = (z − 1) z 2 + z + 1 .
¡ ¢

So 1 is a root and completing the square we see

µ ¶2
2 1 3
0=z +z+1= z+ +
2 4
which has roots √
1 3
− ± i.
2 2
√ √
So the cube roots of 1 are 1, −1/2 + 3i/2, and −1/2 − 3i/2.

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 • When n = 4 we can factorise as follows

0 = z 4 − 1 = z 2 − 1 z 2 + 1 = (z − 1) (z + 1) (z − i) (z + i) ,
¡ ¢¡ ¢

so that the fourth roots of 1 are 1, −1, i and −i.

Plotting these roots on the Argand plane we can see a pattern developing.

01 01
√
−1+ 3i i
2

01 01
−1 1

√
−1− 3i
2
01 01 −i

Figure 5: Roots of unity on the Argand plane for n = 2, 3, 4

Returning to the general case, suppose that z = r (cos θ + i sin θ) and satisfies z n = 1. Then by
Proposition 9, z n has modulus rn and has argument nθ. As 1 has modulus 1 and argument 0, we can
compare their moduli to find rn = 1 giving r = 1 (remember r is a non-negative real number). Comparing
arguments, we see nθ = 0 up to multiples of 2π. That is nθ = 2kπ for some integer k, giving θ = 2kπ/n.
So the roots of z n = 1 are
µ ¶ µ ¶
2kπ 2kπ
z = cos + i sin where k is an integer.
n n

At first glance there seem to be an infinite number of roots but note as cos and sin have period 2π then
these z repeat with period n. So the nth roots of unity are the n complex numbers
µ ¶ µ ¶
2kπ 2kπ
z = cos + i sin where k = 0, 1, 2, . . . , n − 1,
n n
in accordance with Corollary 14.
Plotted on an Argand plane, the nth roots of unity form a regular n-gon inscribed within the unit
circle with a vertex at 1.

Problem 16 Find all the solutions of the cubic z 3 = −2 + 2i.

If we write −2 + 2i in its polar form, we have

√
µ µ ¶ µ ¶¶
3π 3π
−2 + 2i = 8 cos + i sin .
4 4

10
 01
01 01
01 01
01 01
01
Figure 6: Roots of unity on the Argand plane for large n

So if z 3 = −2 + 2i, and z has modulus r and argument θ, then

√ 3π
r3 = 8 and 3θ = up to multiples of 2π,
4
which gives
√ π 2kπ
r= 2 and θ = + for some integer k.
4 3
As before, we need only consider k = 0, 1, 2 (as other k lead to repeats) and we see the three roots are
√ ³ ³π´ ³ π ´´
2 cos + i sin = 1 + i,
4 4 à √ ! Ã√ !
√
µ µ ¶ µ ¶¶
11π 11π −1 3 3 1
2 cos + i sin = − +i − ,
12 12 2 2 2 2
à √ ! à √ !
√
µ µ ¶ µ ¶¶
19π 19π −1 3 3 1
2 cos + i sin = + +i − − .
12 12 2 2 2 2

Historical notes
It is only comparatively recently that mathematicians have become comfortable with the roots of the quadratic
equation ax2 + bx + c = 0 when b2 − 4ac < 0. During the Renaissance the quadratic would have been considered
unsolvable, or its roots would have been called imaginary.
The term ‘imaginary’ was first used by the French Mathematician René Descartes (1596-1650). Whilst he is
known more as a philosopher, Descartes made many important contributions to mathematics and helped found
coordinate geometry — hence the naming of Cartesian coordinates.
But what meaning can ‘imaginary’ roots have? This philosophical point pre-occupied mathematicians until
the start of the 19th century; afterwards these ‘imaginary’ numbers started proving so useful (especially in the
work of Cauchy and Gauss) that these philosophical concerns were essentially forgotten.

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 The i notation was first introduced by the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783). Much of our
modern notation is due to him including e and π. Euler was a giant in 18th century mathematics and the most
prolific mathematician ever. His most important contributions were in analysis (eg. on infinite series, calculus of
variations). The study of topology arguably dates back to his solution of the Königsberg Bridge Problem.
The term ‘complex number’ is due to the German mathematician Carl Gauss (1777-1855). Gauss is considered
by many the greatest mathematician ever. He made major discoveries in almost every area of mathematics from
number theory and non-Euclidean geometry, to astronomy and magnetism. His name precedes a multitude of
theorems and definitions throughout mathematics. In 1799, he proved the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, one
of the first major results concerning complex numbers, which conclusively demonstrated their usefulness.
The Argand plane is named after the Swiss mathematician Jean-Robert Argand (1768-1822).
Abraham De Moivre (1667-1754) was a French protestant who moved to England. He is best remembered
for this formula, but his major contributions were in probability and appeared in his The Doctrine Of Chances
(1718).

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