Complex Numbers: The Basics

James Limon - Case Western Reserve University

March 2018

1 Imaginary Numbers
Imaginary numbers, I, are a set of numbers that exist outside of the real number set R. The
imaginary unit, i, is defined as the solution to the polynomial:

x2 + 1 = 0 (1)

There is no real number that can satisfy this equation and as such we use the imaginary
number i to do so. Solving equation (1) we can find the value of i.

x2 = −1
√
x = −1 = i

The imaginary unit can be treated just as any real variable. While it may be difficult to
grasp the concept√of imaginary numbers, it really is just a normal variable simply with the
specific value of −1.

2 Complex Numbers
Complex numbers, denoted C, are the intersection of real numbers and imaginary numbers.
Complex numbers take the form of z = a + bi, in which z is the complex number and a
and b are real numbers. a is the real component, denoted as Re(z), and b is the imaginary
component, denoted as Im(z). It is important note that Im(z) is a real number.

2.1 Complex Arithmetic

Arithmetic involving complex numbers is, for the most part, just like normal arithmetic.
Observe the following properties:

1
 (a + bi) + 0 = a + bi (2)
(a + bi) ∗ 1 = a + bi (3)
(a + bi) + (c + di) = (a + c) + (b + d)i (4)
(a + bi) − (c + di) = (a − c) + (b − d)i (5)
k(a + bi) = ka + kbi (6)
2
(a + bi)(c + di) = ac + adi + bci + bdi (7)
2
= ac + (ad + bc)i + bdi (8)
= (ac − bd) + (ad + bc)i (9)

This covers many of the possible arithmetic operations of vectors. One that is left out is
division. That is because division is a slightly more involved computation. In order to divide
a complex number by another one, you first need to multiply by the complex conjugate. The
complex conjugate a complex number z is z̄. The complex conjugate had a real component
that is equal in magnitude, and an imaginary part that is equal in magnitude but opposite
in sign.

z = a + bi (10)
z̄ = a − bi (11)

With this in mind we can learn how to divide complex numbers. Lets take some complex
number, call it j, and divide it by another complex number, call it z.

j j z̄
= (12)
z z z̄
One may wonder, how does this help us? All we did was multiply the fraction by 1. It
helps us because a spicy little trick called the difference of squares.
Let’s take a complex number, call it p = a + bi, and its conjugate, p̄ = a − bi, and
multiply them together.

p ∗ p̄ = (a + bi)(a − bi) (13)

2 2 2
= a − abi + abi − b i (14)
2 2
=a +b (15)

As you can see, a complex number multiplied by its conjugate is a real number, and that
real number happens to be the square of the complex number’s magnitude (complex num-
ber’s magnitudes are discussed more in the complex plane section). Returning to division,
and equation 12, the denominator is z ∗ z̄, which we now know is a real number. Dividing a
complex number by a real number is just like multiplying by 1 over the number. Therefore:

2
 j jz
= (16)
z z z̄
jz
= (17)
kzk
1
= jz (18)
kzk

3 The Complex Plane

Graphically, we can view complex numbers by plotting them like vectors. The real compo-
nent is on the x-axis, and the imaginary component is on the y-axis. This plane, the one
spanned by the imaginary axis and real axis is called the complex plane.

Figure 1: Two complex numbers, a and b

There are two important graphical components of complex numbers that we are con-
cerned with. Given a complex number, z, the angle that the complex number makes with
the positive axis is referred to as arg z. For any complex number

 
Im(z)
arg z = arctan (19)
Re(z)
The length of a complex number is referred to as the magnitude of the complex number.
This is computed just as a 2D vector’s magnitude.

p
kzk = Re(z)2 + Im(z)2 (20)