1

COMPLEX NUMBERS

1) A concise and complete introduction to Complex Numbers Theory

2) An excellent supplementary text for all Mathematics, Physics and Engineering students

3) 90 solved illustrative examples and 180 characteristic problems to be solved

4) Odd-numbered problems are provided with answers

Demetrios P. Kanoussis
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About the Author

Demetrios P. Kanoussis, Ph.D

Kalamos Attikis, Greece

dkanoussis@gmail.com

Dr. Kanoussis is a professional Electrical Engineer and Mathematician. He received his Ph.D
degree in Engineering and his Master degree in Mathematics from Tennessee Technological
University, U.S.A, and his Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from the National
Technical University of Athens (N.T.U.A), Greece.

As a professional Electrical Engineer, Dr. Kanoussis has been actively involved in the design
and in the implementation of various projects, mainly in the area of the Integrated Control
Systems.

Regarding his teaching experience, Dr. Kanoussis has long teaching experience in the field of
Applied Mathematics and Electrical Engineering.

His original scientific research and contribution, in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering,
is published in various, high impact international journals.

Additionally to his professional activities, teaching and research, Dr. Kanoussis is the author
of several textbooks in Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. A list of his
publications is shown below:

Mathematics Textbooks
1) Complex Numbers, an Approach of Understanding, e-book, June 2017.

2) Infinite Series and Products, e-book, April 2017.

3) Sequences of Real and Complex Numbers, e-book, March 2017.

4) Algebraic Equations, e-book, February 2015.

5) Topics in Applied Mathematics, paperback, November 2011, (Greek Edition).

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Electrical Engineering Textbooks

1) Direct Current Circuits Analysis, Vol.2, e-book, May 2017.

2) Introduction to Electric Circuits Theory, Vol. 1, e-book, May 2017.

3) Introduction to Electric Circuits Theory, paperback, August 2013, (Greek Edition).

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Complex Numbers

Copyright 2017, Author: Demetrios P. Kanoussis.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the prior
written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations and certain other
noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Inquires should be addressed directly to the author,

Demetrios P. Kanoussis

dkanoussis@gmail.com

This e book is licensed for your personal use only. This e book may not be resold or given
away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please
purchase an additional copy for each recipient.

Thank you for respecting the work of this author.

First edition, June 2017

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Preface

Solving polynomial equations has been one of the most traditional Algebra topics during the
past few centuries. However, there are equations which do not have any real solution.
For instance the equation has no real roots, since if is any real number,
.

Mathematicians efforts to solve such types of equations, led gradually to the development
of complex numbers. In the set of complex numbers, the symbol does make sense and
has a certain meaning, while in the set of real numbers the symbol does not make any
sense at all.

The introduction of the symbol (the imaginary unit) to stand for , by the great
Mathematician L. Euler in 1777, has contributed immensely to the development of complex
numbers and complex functions in general.

In contemporary terms, a complex number is any number in the form , where and
are real numbers and .

Complex numbers have amazing applications, not only in Mathematics but in many areas of
Physics and Engineering as well. In Mathematics complex numbers are used to evaluate
certain types of infinite series and real valued improper integrals, while in Physics and
Engineering in general, complex numbers help to study the flow of fluids around objects, to
analyze Alternating Current Circuits, (a problem of great practical importance), to
investigate the propagation of radio waves through various media, etc.

Also several features of complex numbers make them extremely useful in proving various
geometrical propositions, in simple and elegant ways. As a striking example, we quote the
Cote’s Theorem, (proved in Example 14-8), the proof of which without complex numbers
would be extremely difficult if not impossible.

The current text is a complete and self contained presentation of fundamental concepts,
definitions, theorems and techniques on complex numbers and has been designed to be an
excellent supplementary textbook for all Mathematics, Physics and Engineering students.

In Chapter 1 the complex numbers are introduced as ordered pairs of real numbers and the
elementary operations with them (equality, addition, subtraction, multiplication and
division) are defined.

In Chapter 2 we define the fundamental laws in the Algebra of complex numbers, treated as
ordered pairs.
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In Chapter 3 we introduce the imaginary unit and show the fundamental

property that every complex number can be expressed in the equivalent form
, where and are real numbers.

In Chapter 4 the concept of the conjugate complex number of is introduced and various
identities involving complex conjugate numbers are proved. Two important Theorems
concerning the roots of polynomial equations with real coefficients are also presented and
proved, with the aid of the properties of complex conjugate numbers.

In Chapter 5 we define the absolute value or the modulus of a complex number , and
derive a number of important properties related to .

In Chapter 6 we derive the so called Trigonometric or Polar form of a complex number, and
prove two important Theorems about the product and the division of two complex numbers
expressed in Trigonometric form.

In Chapter 7 we state and prove the De Moivre’s Theorem and show how this Theorem is
applied in order to express and in terms of and , .

In Chapter 8 we show that every complex number has exactly distinct roots.

In Chapter 9 we derive the roots of unity and discuss some fundamental properties of
the cyclotomic equation .

In Chapter 10 we introduce the famous Euler’s formulas and by means of these formulas
we extent the trigonometric functions from real values of the argument to complex values
of the argument.

In Chapter 11 we introduce the hyperbolic functions of real and complex arguments and
derive the relationship between trigonometric and hyperbolic functions.

In Chapter 12 the exponential form of a complex number is derived, by means of Euler’s

formulas.

In Chapter 13 we define the logarithm of complex numbers, and as a consequence the

logarithm of negative numbers are obtained, (note that within the set of real numbers the
logarithm of a negative number simply does not exist)

In Chapter 14 we discuss the geometrical representation of complex numbers on the

complex plane (Argand’s diagram), and show that geometrically a complex number can be
equivalently represented by a vector, and therefore various properties of complex numbers
can be proved geometrically, and conversely, geometrical propositions can be proved with
the aid of complex numbers.
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The 90 illustrative solved Examples and the 180 characteristic Problems to be solved have
been chosen to help students develop a solid theoretical background, broaden their
knowledge and sharpen their analytical skills on the subject.

A brief Hint or a detailed outline in solving more complicated Problems is often given.

Finally answers are provided to the odd-numbered Problems.

Demetrios P. Kanoussis
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 01

2. The Fundamental Laws in the Algebra of Complex Numbers……………………............. 13

3. The Imaginary Unit …………………………………………………………………. 16

4. Conjugate Complex Numbers……………………………………………………………………………… 23

5. The Absolute Value or Modulus of a Complex Number………………………………………. 28

6. The Trigonometric or Polar Form of a Complex Number……………………………………… 34

7. De Moivre’s Theorem………………………………………………………………………………………….. 41

8. Roots of Complex Numbers…………………………………………………………………………………. 47

9. The Roots of Unity…………………………………………………………………………………………. 53

10. The Euler’s Formulas………………………………………………………………………………………….. 59

11. The Hyperbolic Functions…………………………………………………………………………………… 65

12. The Exponential Form of a Complex Number……………………………………………………… 71

13. The Logarithm of a Complex Number…………………………………………………………………. 74

14. The Complex Plane (or The Argand’s Diagram)…………………………………………………… 82

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1. Introduction.
The equation , admits two real roots, and , i.e. has
two real roots and .

The equation has no real roots.This is obvious, since for any real , , and
therefore .

Equation , is not the only one, having no real solutions (roots). For instance the
equations , , , etc. have no real roots either.

Mathematicians efforts, to solve equations like , led gradually to the invention of

the so called Complex Numbers.

We shall temporarily define a complex number as an ordered pair of real numbers

and , subject to the following operational rules:

1) Equality: if and only if and . (1-1)

2) Sum : . (1-2)

3) Difference : . (1-3)

4) Product : . (1-4)

5) Multiplication of a real number by a complex number ,

. (1-5)

6) Quotient : The quotient of two complex numbers, is another compex

number , which when multiplied by yields .

Provided that , (meaning that and cannot be zero simultaneously), the

quotient exists and is unique. Indeed from

and making use of equation (1-1),

Solving this system for and , we get

We have thus proved that , provided that . (1-6)

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The zero complex number:

The complex number is called the zero complex number.

If is any complex number, then , i.e. the zero

complex number is the neutral element with respect to the addition.

If we multiply any complex number by we obtain (with the aid of eq. (1-4)),
.

The following Theorem states that the inverse statement is also true.

Theorem 1-1.
If the product of two complex numbers is zero, then at least one of them is the zero
complex number.

Proof: Assuming that , and that we shall show that

. From , i.e.
{ and }.

Squaring and adding these two equations, we obtain,

, and since (why?), , which means that

and , therefore and this completes the proof.

The unit complex number:

The complex number is called the unit complex number.

If is any complex number, then

i.e. the is the neutral element with respect to the multiplication.

The inverse of a complex number:

If then there exists another complex number , such that

. This complex number is called the inverse of with
respect to the multiplication.

It is not difficult to show that . (1-7)

For a proof, see Problem 1-1.

Note: Usually we represent complex numbers, by the letters and . For example we may
write, or , , , etc.
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In Chapter 3, we shall develop a more convenient way of expressing complex numbers, with
the aid of the imaginary unit .

Example 1-1.

Given the complex numbers and , find the complex number

.

Solution

The complex number ,

and .

Example 1-2.

Given the complex numbers and , find .

Solution

Making use of equation (1-6), we have,

, and , therefore

Example 1-3.

If find .

Solution

The product , and

, i.e.

PROBLEMS
1-1) Prove equation (1-7).

1-2) If find .

1-3) If and , find and .

(Answer: , ).
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1-4) If , and , find .

1-5) if and , solve for the equation .

(Answer: ).

1-6) If and , show that

.

1-7) If and , show that

.

1-8) If and , show that .

1-9) If , show that .

1-10) If is any positive integer, generalize Problem 1-9, to show that if

then .
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2. The Fundamental Laws in the Algebra of Complex Numbers.

As it is well known, the symbol stands for the set of real numbers. Real numbers are
represented by points on a line, called the real axis, as shown in Fig.2-1.

Fig. 2-1: The Real Axis.

The number zero corresponds to the origin O. Every real number corresponds to a point on
the real axis, and vice versa, every point on the real axis corresponds to a real number.
This is a one to one correspondence. The notation means that the real number ,
corresponds to the point on the real axis.

As we have mentioned in Chapter 1, a complex number , is an ordered pair of

real numbers. It is natural, therefore to expect that a complex number can be
represented by a point, on the plane, i.e. there exists a one to one correspondence
between the complex numbers and the points on the plane. More on this
representation, will be said in Chapter 14.

Let us, from now on, use the symbol , to represent the set of complex numbers. Writing
, means that is a complex number, ( belongs to the set of Complex Numbers).

The fundamental operations among complex numbers, defined in Chapter 1, i.e. addition,
subtraction, multiplication, etc, obey the following fundamental laws:

Let , , and . Then,

1) , and , (The closure law for addition and multiplication).

2) , (Commutative law of addition).

3) , (Associative law of addition).

4) , (Commutative law of multiplication).

5) , (Associative law of multiplication).

6) , (Distributive law).
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7) The complex number is the neutral element with respect to the addition, i.e. for
any complex number , . For simplicity we write for the zero
complex number, instead of full notation .

8) The complex number is the neutral element with respect to the multiplication, i.e.
for any complex number , . For simplicity we write for the unit
complex number, instead of the full notation .

9) For any complex number , there exists another complex number, called the inverse of
with respect to the addition, and denoted by , such that . If
then .

10) For any complex number , there exists another complex number, called the
inverse of with respect to the multiplication, and denoted by , such that . If
then is given by eq. (1-7).

Example 2-1.

If , , and verify the distributive law.

Solution

, and
. (*)

Also, , and
, therefore,
, by virtue of equation (*).

Example 2-2.

If and , show that .

Solution

From . By Theorem 1-1, either

or , and since (by assumption), the factor , or
equivalently , and this completes the proof.

PROBLEMS
2-1) If and verify that .

2-2) If and verify that .

2-3) If , and , show that and .

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2-4) If , does necessarily implies that and ?

Give an example , where , but .

(Answer: In general no, verify with and ).

2-5) If and , verify that .

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3. The Imaginary Unit .

In Chapter 1 we defined the unit complex number , which is the neutral element
in the multiplication, i.e. .

The complex number is defined to be the imaginary unit, and is denoted by the
symbol , i.e.
. (3-1)

(Some authors use the symbol , instead of , to represent the imaginary unit).

The symbol , for the imaginary unit, had a great impact and contributed immensely to the
development of Algebra and Mathematics in general, during the past few centuries.

Let be any complex number. This number can be written in an equivalent form as
. (3-2)

Equation (3-2) shows that every complex number can be expressed equivalently
as, , where is the imaginary unit. (3-3)

The real number is known as the real part of , while the real number is known as the
imaginary part of , and we write,

and . (3-4)

If , the complex number coincides with the real number . If , the complex
number is called a pure imaginary number.

The set of real numbers can be considered as a subset of the set of complex numbers,
i.e. . Any real number can actually be written as . In other
words, every complex number coincides with the real number .

The imaginary unit has the fundamental property that

. (3-5)

Indeed, .

Equation (3-5) implies that . Of course is another square root of , since

.

In summary, the symbol can have two values, either or .

Starting with , one may easily obtain

, , , etc.
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In general, if is any positive integer, can take on one of the four values .
Also by definition, and , where is any positive number.

In terms of the imaginary unit , one may define square roots of negative real numbers,
something which within the set of real numbers, is not possible. Indeed, if is any
positive number,

, where , (3-6)

since .

For example, , , etc. Of course as well, since

. However at this point we will make the agreement, that by the symbol
where , we shall mean , i.e. the square root multiplied by .
Following this agreement, for example, , while will be the .

Finally, making use of the imaginary unit , the operations among complex numbers, are
greatly simplified. Algebraic operations are now performed, in the same way as between
real numbers, applying commutative, associative and distributive laws, and in the final
result, the are replaced by respectively.

Example 3-1.

If and , find the complex numbers and .

Solution

Example 3-2.

If , find .

Solution

Example 3-3.

If and , find .
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Solution

Note: In order to evaluate the quotient we multiply both the numerator and the
denominator by , which is called the complex conjugate of . We note that
the product , is a real number.

Complex conjugate numbers are studied in details, in Chapter 4.

Example 3-4.

If and , find the complex number ,

(see also Problem 1-6).

Solution

Example 3-5.

If and , find the complex number .

(See also Problem 1-7).

Solution

Example 3-6.

Solve for the quadratic equation .

Solution

The discriminant of the given quadratic equation, is . The two

roots and will be,
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Example 3-7.

If and , show that .

Solution

Let us set , (i.e. is the common value of each one of the three equal
fractions). Then, and and .
The quantity , and since
we finally get,
, and this completes the proof.

Example 3-8.

If , (i.e. ), find the possible values of .

Solution

In Example 7-4 we show that if is any complex number , then the finite sum
.
Application of this formula with yields,

a) If , then , and in this case, .

b) If , then , and in this case .

c) If , then , and in this case .

d) If , then , and in this case .

Finally, can take up four different values, .

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Example 3-9.

Find the real numbers and such that .

Solution

Starting with the given equation we have:

and from the equality between these two complex numbers, we must necessarily have,
(a) and (b) .

Subtracting (a) from (b) we get, , i.e. , (c)

Taking (c) into account, equation (a) yields,

or if we set , This is a quadratic equation for

, which is solved easily to yield,

, and .

The solution is rejected because it is negative, and the only acceptable solution is the

root , i.e. , or . Having found the unknown is obtained easily

from equation (c) , i.e. .

We may rationalize the denominator, by multiplying both terms of the fraction by the
number , which is the conjugate of , and we have:

Finally, the real numbers and satisfying the given equation are:

, or .

Note that and have to be either both positive or both negative, (since , see
equation (c)).
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Example 3-10.

If , , find and .

Solution

From the given equation we have,

From the first equation we get,

a) If , from the second equation in (*) we get, , i.e. , and therefore

one complex number which satisfies the original equation is .

b) If , from the second equation in (*) we get, , or

, and finally . The corresponding values of will be .

In summary the totality of the complex numbers satisfying the original equation is,

PROBLEMS
3-1) If , and , find the complex number
.

(Answer: ).

3-2) If , , find .

3-3) Solve the quadratic equation .

(Answer: , ).

3-4) If , and find .

3-5) If and , find .

(Answer: ).

3-6) If find and .

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3-7) Find two real numbers and , such that .

(Answer: ).

3-8) Find the real number such that the number is a root of the equation
, and then find the other root of this equation.

3-9) Find two real numbers and such that

(Answer: or ).

3-10) Show that and that .

3-11) If , show that , (see Problem 1-9).

3-12) If and , find and .

3-13) Find the complex numbers , such that and .

(Answer: , or , or ).

3-14) Express in Cartesian form the complex numbers and

.
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4. Conjugate Complex Numbers.

Let be any complex number. The complex number is called the
complex conjugate of , and is denoted by .

(4-1)

From equation (4-1), one easily obtains,

(4-2)

Also the product of a complex number with its conjugate, is

(4-3)

With the aid of complex conjugate numbers, one may easily obtain the quotient of two
complex numbers, by multiplying both numerator and denominator by the complex
conjugate of the denominator and using (4-3), as shown below,

(4-4)

Note that the result obtained in equation (4-4) is identical to the one shown in eq. (1-6).

Properties of complex conjugate numbers:

Let be the complex conjugate of . The following properties are easily shown.

1) If is a Real number.

2) If is a pure Imaginary number.

3) , and in general (4-5)

4) . (4-6)

5) . (4-7)

6) , and in general (4-8)

7) . (4-9)

8) . (4-10)

9) If is any positive integer, then . (4-11)

For a proof see Examples 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, and Problems 4-3 and 4-4.

Using properties of complex conjugate numbers, one may prove the following Theorem:
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Theorem 4-1.

If is a root of a polynomial with

real coefficients , then the complex conjugate , will also be
a root of .

Proof: Since is a root of ,

, and therefore,

or since the coefficients are real numbers, i.e.

, which means that ,
i.e. the number is a root of , and this completes the proof.

This fundamental Theorem states that in polynomials with real coefficients, the complex
roots appear in pairs, ( a complex root and its conjugate ).

An immediate consequence of Theorem 4-1, is the following

Theorem 4-2.

Every odd degree polynomial has at least one real root.

Example 4-1.

If find .

Solution

The complex conjugate is obtained if in the expression for , the imaginary unit is
replaced by .

Example 4-2.

Prove equation (4-5).

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Solution

Let and . Then , and

, and the proof is completed.

Example 4-3.

Prove equation (4-8).

Solution

If and , then and

. (*)

The product . (**)

From (*) and (**) it follows that .

Example 4-4.

Prove equation (4-10).

Solution

Let (by virtue of property (4-8)), i.e.

or , and the proof is completed.

Example 4-5.

Find the real numbers and , satisfying the equation .

Solution

From the given equation we have,

The last equation implies that and .

From , we have either or .

If , then from we obtain .

If , then from we obtain .

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Finally the real numbers and satisfying the given equation are either
or .

Example 4-6.

Find all the complex numbers which satisfy the equation .

Solution

If we set , then the given equation is equivalent to the following :

and this is split into two equations,

(a) and (b) .

From equation (b) we have that either or .

Case :

From equation (a) we have, , i.e. or .

Case :

From equation (a) we have, .

Finally the four complex numbers satisfying the given equation are,

Example 4-7.

If show that , and conversely.

Solution

We want to show that,

which is true by assumption, and this completes the proof. Note that we have used the
identity, , which is easily proved.
 27

PROBLEMS

4-1) For any complex number , show that .

4-2) If and are any two complex numbers, show that is real

Hint: It suffices to show that , (see property (1)).

4-3) Prove equation (4-6).

4-4) Prove equations (4-9) and (4-11).

4-5) If , show that and .

4-6) If , show that and .

4-7) Express the complex number in the form .

(Answer: ).

4-8) If and are any two complex numbers, and , , and

, show that . (Assume ).

4-9) If , show that , , and are real numbers.

Hint: It suffices to show that .

4-10) Find the complex numbers satisfying the equation .

(Answer: and ).

4-11) If show that either is real or is a pure imaginary number.

4-12) If are two complex numbers satisfying , then they will

satisfy , as well.

Hint: Use properties (4-6) and (4-11).

4-13) a) Show that the number is real,

b) Show that the number is pure imaginary.
Hint: (a) Show that , (b) Show that .
 28

5. The Absolute Value (or Modulus) of a Complex Number.

If is a complex number, the absolute value or modulus of , is a non negative
real number, denoted by , and defined as,

(5-1)

For example, , , , etc.

The following properties about the absolute value of complex numbers are easily proved.

Properties about the absolute value of complex numbers:

1) . (5-2)

2) and in general, (5-3)

3) . (5-4)

4) . (5-5)

5) . (5-6)

6) . (5-7)

7) . (5-8)

8) , and in general, (5-9)

9) . (5-10)

10) . (5-11)

For a proof see Examples 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, 5-4 and Problems 5-1, 5-2 and 5-3.

Example 5-1.

Prove equation (5-3).

Solution

Let and . Then , and

. (*)

Also, , therefore
. (**)

From (*) and (**), we get , and this completes the proof.
 29

Note: Equation (5-4) is obtained easily from (5-3). For example,

, and similarly for .

Example 5-2.

Prove equation (5-5).

Solution

Let , by virtue of eq. (5-3), and therefore,

, i.e. , and the proof is completed.

Example 5-3.

Prove equation (5-7).

Solution

If then , and .

Note: Equation (5-7) is a very important formula, with a wide range of applications.

Example 5-4.

Prove equation (5-9).

Solution

We want to show that if and are two complex numbers, then

,

or taking into consideration the properties (5-7) and (4-5),

In the derivation of eq. (*) we have made use eq.(4-2) and the fact that .
Since , , equation
(*) is equivalent to

. (**)

a) If then obviously inequality (**) is true.

b) If , it suffices to show that

 30

which obviously is true, and this completes the proof.

Example 5-5.

If , find .

Solution

Example 5-6.

If , find .

Solution

Example 5-7.

If and , show that .

Solution

Since , the complex conjugate , and similarly and . (*)

Therefore the expression ,

and taking the absolute values of both sides, we get

and the proof is completed. Note that in the process of the proof we have been using the
appropriate properties of the absolute values of complex numbers.

Example 5-8.

If , show that .
 31

Solution

Since both sides of the given inequality are positive numbers, it suffices to show that,

and taking into consideration properties (4-5) and (5-7), the inequality above simplifies to

which is obviously true, by virtue of the fundamental inequality (5-9), with

and , and this completes the proof.

Example 5-9.

If and is a positive real number, show the inequality

Solution

In order to prove this inequality, we shall use the (easily shown) inequality,

If are real numbers then , (prove it).

Applying this permanent inequality for

and we get,

since , and finally

and the proof is completed.

 32

PROBLEMS
5-1) Prove equation (5-8).

Hint: Apply equation (5-4) for .

5-2) Prove equation (5-10).

5-3) Prove equation (5-11).

5-4) If find , , , , and .

5-5) If , find .

(Answer: ).

5-6) If and , find .

5-7) If , find .

(Answer: ).

5-8) If a complex number satisfies , show that .

5-9) If is a positive real number, is a real number greater than , and is a complex
number satisfying , show that .

5-10) If find and verify the inequality

.

5-11) If and show that .

5-12) If , find .

Hint: Apply properties (5-4), (5-5) and (5-8).

5-13) If , show that ,( .

5-14) If and show that .

Hint: Apply the permanent inequality used in Example 5-9, with

and . Also use equation (5-9).

5-15) If show that .

 33

5-16) If , show that

Hint: Using the well known identity

,
the given condition is equivalent to .
Set , and note that and .
Then show that and are the roots of the quadratic equation , etc.

5-17) If show that , and conversely, ( ).

5-18) If show that , and conversely, ( ).

5-19) Find the complex number such that .

(Answer: ).

5-20) If show that .

5-21) If and , show that .

5-22) If and , show that .

 34

6. The Trigonometric or Polar Form of a Complex Number.

Let be any complex number, ( ). This number can be written as

(6-1)

The quantity is the absolute value of , i.e. .

If we set , , (or equivalently ), and ,then

equation (6-1) can be written as,

(6-2)

The expression is known as the trigonometric or polar form of the

complex number , while is known as the Cartesian form of .

The angle , having cosine equal to and sine equal to , is called the
argument of .

It is obvious that if is an argument of , then , where is any integer, will also

be an argument, which in turns means that any complex number , has an infinite
number of arguments, differing from each other by an integral multiple of .To denote
that is an argument of , we write,

(6-3)

Note: Usually we take the argument to lie in the interval , i.e.

(6-4)

In this case we write , with capital initial letter, to emphasize the fact that
lies in the interval .

is known as the Principal Value of the argument of .

Theorem 6-1.

If
then the product

. (6-5)

Proof: (i) Let and The product

, i.e.
 35

(*)

(ii) Let be a third complex number. The product

, or
making use of (*),

(iii) The generalization from to , then from to , etc, is now obvious

and this actually completes the proof of Theorem 6-1.

Note: The and the notation.

Let be numbers (real or complex).

The sum , can be expressed briefly using the Greek symbol , as

The index is a dummy variable, in the sense that

This sum could also be written, as

Similarly, the product ,can be expressed briefly using the Greek symbol
as

Obviously, is a dummy variable, again, since

This product could also be written as

 36

Making use of the and the notation, Theorem 6-1, can be expressed in compact form,
as

Theorem 6-2.

If and , then the quotient

(6-6)

Proof: If and , the quotient

which is easily simplified to

(Note that ).

Example 6-1.

Express in polar form.

Solution

The absolute value of is , while the principal argument

of is , (since lies in the interval , , ),

therefore is the polar form of .

Example 6-2.

Express in polar form.

 37

Solution

The absolute value of is , while the principal argument of

is , therefore .

Example 6-3.

Find the amplitude and the principal argument of the complex number

Solution

1) The amplitude of is .

2) The numerator of is , and the argument of this complex

number, (according to Theorem 6-1) is,
(*)

The denominator of is and the argument of this complex number is

(**)

By Theorem (6-2) the argument of is

.

However this is not the principal value of the argument, since the principal argument lies
within the interval , while lies outside this interval. In order to determine the
Principal argument we think as follows:

Any two arguments of a complex number differ by an integral multiple of , i.e.

., in other words , and since ,

and the only integer satisfying this double inequality is , and finally,
.

Example 6-4.

If is a complex number and is any angle, show that .

Solution

Let be the polar form of the complex number . Then

 38

and , since and

.

Example 6-5.

If and express in polar form.

Solution

1) The amplitude of is

2) The principal argument of is ,

(see Example 6-4), and therefore .

Example 6-6.

If , show that

Solution

From . This is a quadratic equation for ,

the solution of which is easily found to be, , and similarly for the
.

a) Let us keep thesign, (the negative sign will be treated similarly in part (b)). In this case,
.
From Theorem 6-1, we have

The term

and finally,

and this completes the proof.

b) The proof is identical if we choose the negative sign in the expressions of
 39

Example 6-7.

Consider the complex numbers and . Find the product and then
show that .

Solution

The complex number If we express the numbers ,

and in polar form, we obtain,

where and ,and since all arguments are

principal arguments, we get
, and this completes the proof.

PROBLEMS
6-1) Express in polar form.

(Answer: )

6-2) Express in polar form.

6-3) Express in polar form.

(Answer: ).

6-4) If and , find the Cartesian form of the

numbers and .

6-5) Find the principal argument of the complex number .

(Answer: ).

6-6) Show that the principal argument of the complex number is .

6-7) If , show that .

Hint: Consider the complex numbers and , and work as

in Example 6-7.
 40

6-8) Express and in polar form.

 41

7. De Moivre’s Theorem.
De Moivre’s Theorem is an important Theorem, with a wide range of applications.

Theorem 7-1.

If and is any positive integer, then

(7-1)

Proof: The proof follows directly from equation (6-1), if we take

.

In Example 7-1, we shall show that De Moivre’s Theorem is true also in cases where is a
negative integer. This means that equation (7-1) is valid for all integer values of , positive
or negative.

One of the most important applications of De Moivre’s Theorem, is to express or

in terms of and . This is illustrated in Example 7-2.

Example7-1.

Show that equation (7-1) is valid even in cases where is a negative integer.

Solution

Let , where is a positive integer. Then,

, (*)

(since , (why?)).

Taking into account that in general, and , equation (*)

can be written as,

or in terms of ,

and this completes the proof.

 42

Example 7-2.

Express and in terms of and .

Solution

Using De Moivre’s Theorem, with and , we have,

Or expanding the left side according to the well known formula,

or

Equating real and imaginary parts, we get

, and ,

and expressing , and , we finally obtain,

, and .

Example 7-3.

If , express in the form , (Cartesian form).

Solution

One possible way to solve the problem would be to find , then find ,
etc. It is evident that this approach of solving the problem would require an enormous
amount of calculations and computing time.

An easier approach to solve the problem is to make use of the De Moivre’s Theorem, by
expressing firstly the complex number in polar form, as shown below:

However, , therefore , and

, and finally,

Example 7-4.

If is a complex number ( ), show that the sum .

 43

Solution

If , then , and subtracting

the second from the first, yields,

, or .

Example 7-5.

If is any positive integer, use Example 7-4, to show that,

Solution

Let us form the sum

or if we set , and use the result obtained in Example 7-3, we have,

The denominator in (*) is equal to

while the numerator in (*), (after some simplifications involving known Trigonometric
identities) becomes,(see Problem 7-7),
 44

Equation (*) is now written as

Equating real and imaginary parts, and are easily obtained.

Example 7-6.

Show that

Solution

If we express and in polar form, and apply the De Moivre’s Theorem, we get,

, and this completes the proof.

Example 7-7.

If and , show that the number is a real number, for any

.

Solution

Without loss of generality we may set , and .

Then

Similarly

Then , and this completes the proof.

 45

Note: In Example 7-7, we used two fundamental Trigonometric Identities,

, and .

PROBLEMS
7-1) Using De Moivre’s Theorem, show that

, and
.

7-2) If , (i.e. ), show that

7-3) Solve the Trigonometric equation .

Hint: Make use of Problem 7-1.

(Answer: , or , or ).

7-4) Express the complex number in the form .

7-5) Show that

Hint: Use De Moivre’s Theorem to express and in terms of and

, and then find

7-6) Consider the expression for found in Example 7-5, apply it for , and
show that

7-7) Make analytic calculations to show equation (**) in Example 7-5.

7-8) Express in the form .

7-9) Express in the form .

(Answer: ).

7-10) Show that .

Hint: See Example 7-6.

 46

7-11) If , show that

7-12) Express and in terms of and .

7-13) If , with , and and are positive

integers, show that .

7-14) Find the principal argument of the complex number .

Hint: See Example 6-3.

7-15) Using De Moivre’s Theorem simplify the expression .

(Answer: ).

7-16) Express in Cartesian form .

7-17) Express in Cartesian form .

 47

8. Roots of Complex Numbers.

A complex number is called the root of another complex number , if .
In this case we write .

For example, since , the complex number is a square root of the

complex number . Also the number is another square root of .

It turns out that every complex number has exactly roots. This important result is
stated precisely and proved in the following Theorem.

Theorem 8-1.

If is any positive integer, then any complex number has exactly

distinct (i.e. different from each other) roots, given by

(8-1)

Proof: The proof follows directly from the De Moivre’s Theorem, since

and this is true for every . The values , given in

equation (8-1) are distinct, (why?).

We note that if , the , and similarly , , i.e. we do

not get different roots of .

The only distinct roots of , are the ones given by equation (8-1), when runs over
the values .

Therefore the algebraic symbol can take on different values, i.e.

is an valued function of .

Similarly, if is any positive integer, the symbol represents different

values .

In order to find the distinct roots of a given complex number , we first express in
polar form, and then apply formula (8-1).

Example 8-1.

Find the cubic roots of .

 48

Solution

We first express in polar form, i.e.

According to equation (8-1), , .

 For , ,
 For , ,
 For .

Example 8-2.

Find the sixth roots of the number .

Solution

Let , (recall that is always a positive number).

Then according to equation (8-1),

 For , ,
 For , ,
 For , ,
 For , ,
 For , ,
 For , .

Example 8-3.

Solve the equation

Solution

Within the set of real numbers, the equation has no solution, (why?).However,
within the set of complex numbers, the given equation must have four roots, according to
the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra.
 49

From , , i.e. the sought for roots will be the

four roots of the number , which according to equation (8-1), are
given by, , where

 For ,

 For ,

 For ,

 For ,

Example 8-4.

Find the square root of the number

Solution

The given number is easily simplified to the standard Cartesian form , or to

the equivalent Polar form,

, where

The square root of will be,

 For
 For

Example 8-5.

In this example we present a different method to find the square root of a given complex
number , i.e. to find a complex number , such that .

Solution

From we have,

Equating real and imaginary parts implies that { and }. (*)

Squaring and adding term wise the two equations appearing in (*), we get,
 50

. (**)

( The is rejected since and are real numbers).

Adding the first equation in (*) with equation (**), we obtain,

. (***)

From the second equation in (*), the corresponding values of are found to be,

, and . (****)

In summary, the complex number , has two square roots, and , given by

{ and }, where and and

are given by equations (***) and (****).

Example 8-6.

Solve the equation .

Solution

We first note that , therefore the given equation is equivalent to , i.e.

the number is the fifth root of the number , and is therefore
given by,

, (*)

or equivalently,

, and making use of equation (*),

Making use of the well known Trigonometric identities,

, and , we have,
 51

The complex number , (see Problem 8-1) and therefore,

are the five roots of .

PROBLEMS

8-1) Show that .

8-2) Work Example 8-4, making use of the method developed in Example 8-5.

8-3) Solve the equation .

(Answer: ).

8-4) Find all distinct values of and .

8-5) Solve the equation ,

a) Making use of equation (8-1), (note that ), and
b) Using the method developed in Example 8-5.

(Answer: ).

8-6) Find the seven seventh roots of the complex number .

Hint: Express firstly in the Cartesian form .

8-7) Solve the equation

Note: Within the set of Real numbers , the given equation has no solutions (why?).
However within the set of Complex numbers , the given equation has six roots, according
to the fundamental Theorem of Algebra, since the left side of the given equation is a sixth
degree polynomial in . To solve the equation, follow the procedure outlined in
Example 8-6.

(Answer: )
 52

8-8) According to Theorem 4-1, the complex roots of the equation

in Problem 8-7, should appear in pairs (i.e. a complex root and its conjugate), since all the
coefficients of the equation are real numbers. Identify these pairs, in the roots found in
Problem 8-7.

8-9) In Problem 8-5, the two roots of the equation are not complex conjugate
numbers. Does this violate Theorem 4-1?

(Answer: No, since the coefficients of the equation are not all real numbers).

8-10) Show that , using two different methods,

a) Making use of equation (8-1), and

b) Using the method outlined in Example 8-5.

8-11) Solve the equation .

(Answer: ).

8-12) Find .

8-13) Solve the equation .

(Answer: ).

8-14) Solve the equation .

8-15) Solve the equation .

(Answer: 0, 2, ).

8-16) Simplify the expressions and .

8-17) Solve the equation , .

(Answer: )

8-18) Solve the equation , .

 53

9. The roots of unity.

If is a positive integer, the roots of the equation , are called the roots of
unity. From , or equivalently , the roots of unity are
easily obtained by means of the formula,

(9-1)

If is odd, is the only real root, all others are complex roots. For example, the
equation , has only one real root , the other two roots are complex.

If is even, there exist two real roots, and , all others are complex
roots. For example the equation , has two real roots , the other
two roots are complex.

The equation is called cyclotomic equation of degree . The

roots of a cyclotomic equation, i.e. the roots of unity, in the complex plane, divide the
unit circle into segments of equal length, starting from the point .
In other words, the roots of the cyclotomic equation
, are the vertices of a normal polygon with -sides, inscribed in the unit circle,
(see also Chapter 14).

Example 9-1.

Find the three cubic roots of .

Solution

Application of equation (9-1), with yields,

 For ,
 For ,

 For , .

Example 9-2.

If is a positive integer ( ), show that

 54

Solution

Let us consider the equation , having roots,(according to equation (9-1)),

(*)

This means that the numbers are roots of the polynomial

equation . Making use of the well known Vieta’s formulas, (see Note), we have,
, (since the coefficient of is zero), i.e.

,
or equivalently,

, and , i.e. and , and the proof is

thus completed.

Note: Let us consider the degree polynomial,

(*).
The coefficients , could be either real or complex numbers, in the
most general case. By virtue of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, the polynomial
has roots, real or complex. Let us call the roots of .
If we define,

then the according to the Vieta’s Theorem,

Also, the polynomial (*) can be expressed in terms of its roots as

Example 9-3.

If is any root of , different from , ( ), show that

.
 55

Solution

In Example 7-4 we proved that ,

and the proof is thus completed.

Example 9-4.

Solve the equation

Solution

Since , obviously is not a root of the given equation, we divide both sides by and
we get the equivalent equation,

, or if we define , . (*)

The solution of (*) is given by . (**)

The corresponding values of will be obtained from (*), and are , i.e.

Note in (***) that starts from on, (i.e. the index cannot take the value ), since for
, and the corresponding is not defined,(see equation (***)). Making use of
the trigonometric identities quoted in Example 8-6, we have,

since , (multiply both numerator and denominator

by the complex conjugate of the denominator).

Note that there are different roots , and we are consistent
with the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, since the original equation
actually is a polynomial equation of degree , (the term is cancelled from both
sides and the remaining equation is of degree ), and we therefore expect to find
roots, which are given by the , .

Example 9-5.

Solve the equation .

 56

Solution

Since , (see Example 7-4), the roots of the original

equation will be the roots of , except , since does not satisfy the
original equation, i.e.

The index starts from , since the , as we have mentioned is not accepted.

Example 9-6.

Use Example 9-5 and the Vieta’s formulas to show that .

Solution

The six roots of the equation , satisfy

the Vieta’s formula, . (*)
Let us consider the two roots and .
Since , the and the , (see
note at the end of this Example),
the , and similarly and
. Equation (*) thus yields,

and this completes the proof.

Note: In general, if , then and .
This can be proved easily from the general Trigonometric identities,
, and
.

Example 9-7.

If is any positive integer, show that

(For the and notation, see Chapter 6).

Solution

Let us consider the equation . Since

, the roots of the given equation will be the roots of
 57

except , i.e. the roots of are given by

(The is not accepted).

The polynomial
. (**)
Equation (**) is an identity for , i.e. is true for any value of , therefore it will remain valid
if is substituted by , in which case we get,

Applying now Theorem (6-1), equation (***) yields,

We note that
therefore and ,
and finally equation (****) implies that

and this completes the proof.

PROBLEMS
9-1) Work Example 9-1 using a different approach. Consider the equation
, etc.

9-2) If are the three roots of , verify Vieta’s formulas, i.e.

, .

9-3) Solve the equation , with the aid of equation (9-1).

 58

(Answer: ).

9-4) Solve the equation , by factoring out the polynomial .

If are the four roots of , verify Vieta’s formulas.

9-5) Solve the equation , with the aid of equation (9-1).

(Answer: ).

9-6) Solve the equation , by factoring out the polynomial .

Hint:

9-7) Use the result obtained in Example 9-7, to show that

9-8) Consider the equation .

a) Show that the roots of this equation will be the roots of , except .
b) Then follow the approach developed in Example 9-7 to show that

9-9) If is an odd positive integer find the roots of , and then show that

9-10) Find the roots of , and then show that

 59

10. The Euler’s Formulas.

In this chapter we shall introduce the famous Euler’s formulas. However, prior to doing so,
we need to remind the following power series expansions, of the elementary functions
and .

 If is any real number, the exponential function can be expanded in an infinite

power series ,as shown below,

(10-1)
 If represents any angle (or arc), in radians, the trigonometric functions and
, admit the following power series expansions,

(10-2)
(10-3)

The term (read factorial), is by definition , , while

(by definition). For example,
etc.

 If is any complex number, the exponential function , is defined to be,

(10-4)

Note: The number (known as the Euler’s number), was originally defined as the limit of
the sequence , i.e. .

The number , is a transcendental number, (proved by Charles Hermite in

1873). A number is called transcendental, if it is not a root of any polynomial with integer
coefficients.

Another famous transcendental number is the number (proved by Von

Lindemann, in 1882).

Equation (10-4) reduces to equation (10-1), in case where is a real number,

i.e. when .

If is a pure imaginary number, i.e. if , where , equation (10-4) implies,

or equivalently,
 60

and taking into consideration equations (10-2) and (10-3),

(10-5)

From equation (10-5), replacing by and noting that and

, one obtains,

(10-6)

Equations (10-5) and (10-6) are the famous Euler’s formulas.

Adding and subtracting equations (10-5) and (10-6), yields

, and , where . (10-7)

Making use of equations (10-7), one may define the trigonometric functions

, and , (10-8)
for arbitrary complex number .

The and are determined from the infinite power series expansion (10-4).

Having defined and , for any arbitrary complex number , one may define
and .

It can be shown that all properties of still apply for the function . For example,

, where is an integer, etc.

If , then .

We note that the function is a periodic function, with fundamental period , since

Setting , in equation (10-5), yields

(10-9)

This formula is one of the most beautiful and mysterious formulas in mathematics. It relates
in a simple and elegant way, the five most important mathematical constants,
and .
 61

The Trigonometric numbers of complex numbers are in many respects similar to the
Trigonometric numbers of real numbers. Many identities satisfied by , etc.
remain valid if the real is replaced by the complex . For example, it can be easily shown
that,

(10-10)

(10-11)

(10-12)

(10-13)

(10-14)

(10-15)

(10-16)

(10-17)

However, there are also some striking differences. While the and are
bounded, i.e. and , , the and are
unbounded, i.e. and , as .
For a proof see Example 11-6.

Example 10-1.

Express in Cartesian form .

Solution

a) The number , which after some

simplifications yields, .

b) Another method.

We express in polar form, i.e. , therefore,

, (see eq.(6-6).

Given that and , , one easily obtains (with

the aid of equations (10-12) and (10-14)), that
 62

Example 10-2.

Prove equation .

Solution

Making use of the defining equations (10-8),

Example 10-3.

Show that the two roots of the equation , are and

.

Solution

The discriminant of the quadratic equation is

, and the two roots and will be,

Example 10-4.

Show that the imaginary unit can be written as .

Solution

The number , and the proof is thus completed.

Example 10-5.

Making use of the defining equations (10-8), prove equation (10-12).

Solution

Usually when we have to prove an identity, we start with the most complicated side and try
to convert to the form appearing in the other side. In that sense, we shall start with the right
side of equation (10-12) and show that it is equivalent to the left side, (which is simpler).
 63

PROBLEMS

10-1) Express the complex number in the form .

(Answer: ).

10-2) Making use of equation (10-8), show equation (10-11).

10-3) Making use of eq. (10-8), prove equations (10-13) and (10-14).

10-4) Prove equations (10-15) and (10-16).

10-5) Prove equation (10-17).

10-6) If is any positive integer, show that

10-7) Making use of equation (10-8), show that the roots of , are , where
is an arbitrary integer,( ).

10-8) Making use of equation (10-8), show that the roots of , are
, where .

10-9) If is real, express in Cartesian form ,( ).

(Answer: ).

10-10) Express in Cartesian form ,( ).

10-11) Find the sum of the infinite series,

Hint: Apply equation (10-4), for .

(Answer: ).
 64

10-11) Show that .

10-12) Evaluate to 2 decimal place accuracy and in Cartesian form, using

equation (10-4).
 65

11. The Hyperbolic Functions.

a) The Hyperbolic Functions with Real Arguments:

If is any real number, one may define the functions hyperbolic cosine ( ) and
hyperbolic sine ( ), by means of the formulas,

and . (11-1)

The hyperbolic tangent ( ) and the hyperbolic cotangent ( ), are defined as

and (11-2)

Making use of (10-1), the and functions admit the following series
representations:

(11-3)

(11-4)

A rough sketch of the functions and is shown in Fig. 11-1.

Fig. 11-1: Graph of the functions and .

The following identities involving hyperbolic functions, are easily proved, making use of the
defining equations (11-1) and (11-2).
 66

1) and (11-5)

2) (11-6)

3) (11-7)

4) (11-8)

5) (11-9)

6) (11-10)

7) (11-11)

8) (11-12)

9) (11-13)

10) and (11-14)

11) and (11-15)

12) and (11-16)

b) The Hyperbolic Functions with Complex Arguments:

If is any complex number, we may similarly define the hyperbolic cosine of

( ) and the hyperbolic sine of ( ), by means of the formulas,

and (11-17)

The hyperbolic tangent of , ( ) and the hyperbolic cotangent of , ( ), are

defined as

and (11-18)

We note that the defining equations of the hyperbolic functions with complex arguments
are identical to the defining equations of the hyperbolic functions with real arguments.

Making use of (10-4), the and functions admit the following series
representations:

(11-19)

(11-20)
 67

We note that if is replaced by a real , equations (11-19) and (11-20) give the power series
expansion for the and , respectively.

We also note that all the identities, from (11-5) up to (11-13) still remain valid, if the real
is replaced by the complex , and the real is replaced by the complex .

c) Relationship between the Trigonometric and the Hyperbolic Functions:

The hyperbolic functions are closely related to the trigonometric functions, as shown in the
following identities:

(11-21)

(11-22)

The proof of (11-21) and (11-22) follows directly from the defining equations of the
trigonometric and the hyperbolic functions, (see Example 11-2).

As an immediate consequence of identities (11-21) and (11-22), any identity

, involving trigonometric functions, leads to a new, equivalent
identity involving hyperbolic functions. This is so, because from the given identity, we first
get, (replacing by ), , and then making use of (11-21)
and (11-22), we obtain , which is an identity involving
hyperbolic functions.

For example, from the fundamental trigonometric identity, ,

(see (10-10)), replacing by , we get,

, or , or finally
, which is a fundamental identity of the hyperbolic functions.

Of course, this identity could have been obtained, directly from the defining equations
(11-17), (see Example (11-1)).

Example 11-1.

Making use of the defining equations (11-17), show that .

Solution
 68

Example 11-2.

Show that .

Solution

Making use of equation (11-17), we have,

Example 11-3.

Show the identity .

Solution

Starting with the right side of the sought for identity, and using (11-17), we have:

Example 11-4.

If , with and real numbers, show that

.

Solution

Making use of equation (10-13) we have,

, or using (11-21),
, and therefore,

since , (see identity (11-6)), and finally

Example 11-5.

Show that if is real, the .

 69

Solution

From equation (11-1), , and therefore,

since , and .

Example 11-6.

Show that becomes unbounded, as .

Solution

If , the , and as , the , (for a fixed ).

From Examples 11-4 and 11-5,

as , meaning that the cannot be bounded by any finite

positive number, as .

Note: This is an essential difference between the trigonometric functions with real
arguments and the trigonometric functions with complex arguments. The trigonometric
functions with real argument remain finite for any value of the argument, ( and
, provided that is real), while the corresponding trigonometric functions with
complex argument, and remain unbounded (as ).

PROBLEMS
11-1) Show that is an even function of , i.e. , while is an
odd function of , i.e. .

11-2) For real, make a rough sketch of the functions and . You may
use your digital calculator, in order to obtain values of the hyperbolic functions.

11-3) Show that

11-4) If and are any two complex numbers, show the identity,
.
 70

11-5) Show the identity, .

11-6) Show the identity, .

11-7) Show the identity, .

11-8) Solve for the equation

Hint: The given equation is equivalent to , which eventually simplifies to

, which is quadratic equation for , etc.

11-9) Solve for the equation .

(Answer: ).

11-10) If , with and real numbers, show that

11-11) Use Problem 11-10, to show that cannot be bounded by any finite positive
number, as .

Hint: See Example 11-6.

11-12) If and are real numbers, show that .

11-13) If and are real numbers and , show that

11-14) Show the identity .

11-15) Express in Cartesian form the following expressions:

Assume that and are real numbers.

11-16) Find the value of and .

11-17) Show that .

11-18) If , show that and

.
 71

12. The Exponential Form of a Complex Number.

So far we have shown that any complex number , can be expressed either
1) In the Cartesian form , and , or
2) In the Trigonometric or Polar form , where

, , .

Making use of the Euler’s formulas,(equation(10-5)), the polar form of a complex number ,
can now be written in the so called Exponential form as
3) The Exponential Form (13-1)

In view of (13-1), De Moivre’s Theorem is easily proved, since

Example 12-1.

Express the complex number in exponential form.

Solution

The modulus of is , while the principal argument of is

found from , or
The exponential form of is .

Example 12-2.

Express the complex number in exponential form.

Solution

The modulus of is , while the argument of is found

from , or
The exponential form of is .

Example 12-3.

Express the complex number in Cartesian form .

Solution

It is obvious that if one chooses to carry out the calculations, keeping the Cartesian form of
the complex numbers involved, the amount of calculations will be enormous. However,
using the exponential form of the complex numbers involved, things are greatly simplified.
From the previous two examples,
 72

and , therefore,

Example 12-4.

Express in Cartesian form . Assume that is real.

Solution

Let . Then,
, and using equations (10-11) and (11-21), we have,

PROBLEMS

12-1) Express in exponential form.

(Answer: )

12-2) Express in exponential form.

Hint: The correct answer is . Note that if you blindly use the calculator to find
the argument of , . This is so because the answer supplied by the
calculator, is the principal value of the inverse tangent function, which by definition lies in
the open interval , or in case the argument is expressed in radians.

The principal argument of the given complex number , will be

.

12-3) Express in exponential form.

(Answer: ).

12-4) Express the complex number in Cartesian form.

12-5) Express the complex number in Cartesian form.

(Answer: )
 73

12-6) Using Example 12-4, show that . Is

bounded as ? (The answer is yes. Justify this answer).

12-7) Express in Cartesian form . Assume that is real.

(Answer: ).

12-8) Assuming that , write the complex numbers and in Cartesian form.

12-9) If , , find .

(Answer: ).

12-10) If , show that .

12-11) If , show that and .

12-12) Show that is periodic with fundamental period .

 74

13. The Logarithm of a Complex Number.

a) The Natural Logarithm of a Real Number:

Let us consider the equation , where and . The solution

of this equation, which expresses in terms of , is by definition given as , ( read
the Natural Logarithm of ), i.e.

, where and (13-1)

From (13-1) we have the following identities,

, , and (13-2)

(13-3)

A rough sketch of the function is shown in Fig.13-1.

Fig. 13-1: The function, .

The basic properties of the function are summarized below:

1) and (13-4)

2) If are positive numbers, then (13-5)

3) If and are positive numbers, then (13-6)

4) If is a positive number and is any real number, then (13-7)

5) and (13-8)

Note 1: Equation (13-6) implies that if is any positive number, then , (since
). Also , if , , equation (13-7) implies,

6) (13-9)
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Note 2: All properties of the function are implied directly from the properties of
the corresponding exponential function , i.e.

Note 3: The most general definition of , is given in terms of the definite integral

(13-10)

However, for the needs of this book, it suffices to consider the defining equation (13-1) and
the elementary properties (13-4) up to (13-9).

b) The Natural Logarithm of a Complex Number:

We are now in a position to extend the definition of the function, from real to
complex .

Let us consider the equation . The solution of this equation, which

expresses in terms of , is by definition given as , (read the Natural Logarithm
of ), i.e.

(13-11)

If we express in exponential form , , and set

, equation (13-11) implies,

and this equation in turn, implies that

(13-12)

From the first equation in (13-12), we get , and therefore,

(13-13)

We note that the function is a multi-valued function, (actually is an infinitely-

valued function), since for each , in (13-13) we obtain one . We say that for each value
of we obtain one branch of the logarithmic function.

Usually we deal with the principal branch of the function, obtained from (13-13) for
, i.e. the principal branch of is given by the equation,

(13-14)
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c) The power :

Let us consider the complex unit which can be expressed as .

By virtue of equation (13-13), the
(13-15)
Equation (13-15) can be written equivalently as

and finally,
(13-16)
This is a rather curious result, showing that the “power” takes on only real values, given
by equation (13-16). For we obtain one possible value of .

Example 13-1.

Solve the exponential equation .

Solution

The given equation is known as an exponential equation, since the unknown appears in
the exponent. In order to solve this equation, we take the logarithms of both sides of the
equation, and we have:

This is the sought for solution. If we wish to find the approximate value of , which satisfies
the given equation, we may use a digital calculator to find the and , and thus

Example 13-2.

Solve the equation .

Solution

The given exponential equation can be rewritten, equivalently as,

and if we set , the equation becomes .

 77

This is a quadratic equation for , and can be solved easily:

The discriminant of the equation is, , and

a) The value(s) of , corresponding to , is obtained from the solution of the

exponential equation,

and finally, .

b) Working as in part (a), we easily find that the value of corresponding to ,

is . Finally the given equation has three roots, and
.

Example 13-3.

Solve the system , assuming that and are positive real

numbers.

Solution

Taking the logarithms of both sides of the given equations, and making use of (13-5) and
(13-7), the original system is transformed into the equivalent system,

. (*)

Solving the second equation for and substituting into the first, we get,

This equation is satisfied either if or if .

a) if , , and from the second equation in (*), and . Therefore,

one solution of the system is .

b) If , , and . The second equation in (*)

yields,

i.e. , and .
 78

Summarizing, the given system has two solutions,

and .

Example 13-4.

Find all the values of . What is the principal value of ?

Solution

a) In exponential form, the complex number , and according to (11-12),

,

b) The principal value of is the one corresponding to , and is

.

Example 13-5.

Find all the values of . What is the principal value of ?

Solution

a) In exponential form the complex number , and according to

(11-12),

b) For , we obtain the principal value of , which is .

Note: Within the set of real numbers, the logarithm of a negative number is not defined,
(does not exist), and therefore the does not exist within the set of real numbers.
However, within the set of complex numbers, the logarithm of any negative numbers can
be defined, since any negative number can be written as
, and then apply equation (11-12).

Example 13-6.

Find all the complex numbers which satisfy the equation .

Solution

Using the Euler’s definition for the cosine, (equation (10-8)), we have,

This is a quadratic equation for , the solution of which is easily found to be,
 79

a) Choosing the sign:

, and therefore, from (11-12) we have,

, and solving for we get,

b) Choosing the – sign:

, (recall that the modulus of a complex

number is always a positive number), and working as in part (a), we find,

Example 13-7.

Find all the complex numbers satisfying the equation .

Solution

Using the equation (11-17), we have:

This is a quadratic equation for , therefore, .

a) Choosing the sign:

, (recall that the modulus of a complex

number has to be positive, ( ), and therefore

b) Choosing the – sign:

and working as in part (a), we find easily that,

Example 13-8.

Assuming that and are real numbers, show that if , then

.
 80

Solution

The given equation implies that

. (*)
In deriving equation (*) we have used equations (10-11) and (11-21) respectively.
Equation (*) implies further that
, from which
, and (**)
(***)
Squaring both sides of (**) and (***) and adding together we get,
, (since ), (****)
and using the easily derived identities,

equation (****) becomes , and this completes the proof.

Example 13-9.

Determine all values of

Solution

Since , the power where

. We note that the power in general is a complex number. Only the
principal value of corresponding to is real, and equal to 1, all other values are
complex.

PROBLEMS

13-1) Simplify the expressions .

(Answer: ).

13-2) Assuming that and are positive real numbers, show that if , then
.

13-3) Assuming that are positive real numbers, not equal to each other, show that if
, then .

Hint: Set . Then , or , and ,

etc.
 81

13-4) Find all values of . What is the principal value?

13-5) Determine all values of .

(Answer: ).

Hint: etc.

13-6) Determine all values of and . What are the principal values of these numbers?

13-7) If , show that in general

13-8) Find all values of for which and .

13-9) Show that all roots of , with real and , are real.

13-10) Show that all roots of , with real and , are real.
 82

14. The Complex Plane (or The Argand’s Diagram).

In Chapter 2 we defined the complex number as an ordered pair of real numbers
and . Let us now consider the plane, formed by two perpendicular axes and ,
as shown in Fig. 14-1.

Imaginary Axis

1
Real Axis

Fig.14-1: The Complex Plane, (Argand’s Diagram).

Let and be the unit vectors along and , respectively. The is an orthonormal
system, meaning that the two axes are perpendicular to each other, and that .
From Analytic Geometry, we know that the ordered pair is associated with a unique
point , as shown in Fig. 14-1. We write to denote that the point represents the
ordered pair .

The numbers and are known as the coordinates of the point . The coordinate is
called the abscissa of , while is called the ordinate of . Note that the coordinates
and are signed numbers, their signs depending on the quadrant in which lies. The origin
of the system corresponds to the pair .

We accept that the point represents the complex number , and we

write, . In that sense, it is convenient to call the plane, the complex
plane or the Argand diagram.

Every point on the complex plane represents a complex number, and conversely, every
complex number is associated with a point on the complex plane. The -axis is called the
Real axis, while the –axis is called the Imaginary axis.

With reference the Fig. 14-2, we note that

 83

1) The point represents the complex number ,

2) The point represents the complex number ,
3) The point represents the complex number ,
4) The point represents the complex number .

Imaginary Axis

Real Axis

Fig. 14-2: Complex Numbers on the Argand Diagram.

Points on the real axis represent real numbers, like and , while points on the
imaginary axis represent pure imaginary numbers. Note that the point corresponds
to the imaginary unit , defined in chapter 3.

Let be a point on the complex plane, corresponding to the complex number

. We may as well consider that the vector also represents the complex
number , as shown in Fig.14-3.
1) The length of the vector is equal to the absolute value of , i.e.
, while
2) The angle between and represents the argument of , i.e.
Angle Argument of .

Note that since is the symmetric of with respect to the real axis, the
vector represents , i.e. the complex conjugate of .
 84

Fig.14-3: Vector Representation of Complex Numbers.

Since complex numbers are eventually represented by vectors, addition or subtraction of

complex numbers is equivalent to the addition or subtraction of the corresponding vectors,
as shown in Fig.14-4.

Fig. 14-4: Addition and Subtraction of Complex Numbers.

 85

In the first Figure, , so the vector represents the complex number

. From the triangle , or , and this
shows geometrically that , (The Triangular Inequality).

In the second Figure, , so the vector represents the

complex number . From the triangle , , and this shows
geometrically that .

For the multiplication and the division of complex numbers, in the complex plane, let us
consider Fig. 14-5.

Fig. 14-5: Multiplication and Division of Complex Numbers.

 86

The two figures are easily obtained, if one expresses the complex numbers and by
their exponential form.

In particular, multiplication of any complex number , represented by the vector , by

the imaginary unit , geometrically means rotation of the vector by ,( ).

Indeed, if , then .

Example 14-1.

If show that is a positive real number, (assume ).

Solution

From , or if we call , . (*)

Squaring both sides of (*) we get,

(**)
If we set , then equation (**) implies that

and this means that , and the proof is completed.

Can you work Example 14-1 geometrically, considering Fig.14-4 ?

Example 14-2.

What is the locus of the points , whose modulus is ?

Solution

If is any point on this locus, the , meaning that the locus will be a circle, centered
at the origin and having radius .
In general, , represents a circle, centered at and having radius ,
as shown in Fig. 14-6.
The points on the circle admit the following parametric representation,

For example, in Fig. 14-6, the point A represents the complex number
, the point B the number , while the point
C the number .
 87

Fig. 14-6: Equation of a circle in the complex plane.

Example 14-3.

On the Argand’s plane find the set of points such that is a pure imaginary number.

Solution

Setting the number .

In order to be a pure imaginary number, the real part must be zero, i.e.

and this shows that the set of points is the unit circle, centered at the origin.

Example 14-4.

Show that geometrically, the complex conjugate of a complex number is the reflection
of in the horizontal (Real) axis.

Solution

The proof follows immediately from Fig.14-3.

Example 14-5.

Consider the complex number where is a real

parameter. Show that as varies, the corresponding points on the Argand plane lie on an
ellipse. What is the equation of this ellipse?
 88

Solution

Let . Then , and simplifying we get,

From equation (*) we get (by eliminating ),

and this is the equation of the sought for ellipse, (with major semi axis and minor semi axis
).

Example 14-6.

If and , show that the distance

between the points and , in the Argand diagram is .

Solution

Fig.14-7: Distance between two complex numbers on the Argand diagram.

The distance

since and
and finally, , and this completes the proof.
 89

Example 14-7.

Let be a regular polygon with sides, inscribed in a unit circle as shown

in Fig.14-8. Show that the product .

Solution

Fig.14-8: A regular polygon with sides inscribed in a unit circle.

Let us consider the cyclotomic equation , (see Chapter 9). The roots of this
equation , divide the unit circle
into segments of equal length, starting from the point . In other words the points
in Fig.14-8 represent the vertices of a regular polygon
inscribed in the unit circle.
We know that

Equation (*) is an identity for , which when applied for , yields,

However from the Fig.14-8, we have , , ,

, and therefore,
 90

(from equation (**), and this completes the proof.

Example 14-8. (The Cote’s Theorem)

Let be a regular polygon with sides inscribed in a circle of radius . If

is an interior point of the circle, ( ), show that
.

Fig. 14-9: Cote’s Theorem.

Let us consider the equation . The roots of this equation are given by, (see
Chapter 8),

The vertices of the regular polygon correspond to the complex numbers

respectively, while the point corresponds to the complex number .
We know that

Also
and therefore,

or taking into account equation (**), (substitute with ),

 91

since , and this completes the proof of Cotes Theorem.

Note: Cote’s Theorem and the Example 14-7, are rather easily proved, using complex
numbers. A pure geometrical proof would be extremely difficult, if not impossible. Cote’s
theorem could perhaps, be easily proved for small values of , for example for or or
. But how could you prove this theorem, for example for or ?

PROBLEMS
14-1) Plot on the Argand’s diagram the points .

14-2) Plot on the Argand’s plane the points .

14-3) Assuming that find and sketch the set of points satisfying
a) , b) and c)

(Answer: a) , b) , c) ).

14-4) Describe and graph the locus represented by each of the following:
a) b) , c) , d) .

14-5) If show that is a negative real number, (assume ).

14-6) The position vectors of the points and are given by,
and respectively. Find the lengths of the sides of the triangle .

Hint: .

14-7) Show that the equation represents a circle having center

and radius .

14-8) Show that the set of points on the Argand diagram such that , where is a
positive constant , is a circle.

Hint: Use Problem 14-7.

14-9) In Problem 14-8, if , find the center and the radius of the circle.

14-10) In problem 14-8, if , show that the set of points is a straight line.

14-11) If the point in Example 14-8, (Cote’s Theorem) lies outside the circle, show that
.