8 Real and complex

numbers
8.1 Number systems
The following number systems will be considered briefly in turn:
N-the set of positive integers and zero,
7L -the set of all integers, positive and negative, including zero,
a:J!-the set of rational numbers,
~-the set of real numbers,
C-the set of complex numbers.
It will be observed that each successive set in this list contains all of the preceding
sets as subsets, so that, in set notation,
N c 7L c Q c ~ c C,

and it will be noted that, on moving upward in the hierarchy of systems, equations
that were insoluble in one system become soluble in some higher system.

8.2 The set N (positive integers and zero)

The set N = {0, 1, 2, 3, ... } has the following properties:
Property 1 The set N is closed under the binary operations of addition and
multiplication, i.e. adding or multiplying any two members of N produces another
member of N. In set language this becomes:
If a, b E N then a+ b E N and ab E N.
Property 2 Addition and multiplication are associative in N:
(a+b)+c = a+(b+c) for all a, b, c EN,
(ab)c = a(bc) for all a, b, c E N.
Property 3 Addition and multiplication are commutative inN:
a+b = b+a for all a, bEN,
ab = ba for all a, b E N.
Property 4 The 'cancellation property' holds for addition and multiplication in
N:
a+b = a+c <=> b = c for all a, b, c EN,
ab = ac <=> b = c for all a, b, c EN, except when a = 0.
Property 5 The set N is ordered: given any n elements of N they can be arranged
so that a 1 :::::;; a2 :::::;; a 3 :::::;; • . . :::::;; an.
In N the identity element for multiplication is the element 1, and the identity

C. W. Celia et al. Advanced mathematics 1

© C.W. Celia, A.T.F. Nice & K.F. Elliott 1980
element for addition is 0. The set N is not closed with respect to subtraction; a
member x of N cannot be found which satisfies the equation x+ 5 = 3. Also the
set N is not closed with respect to division; a member x of N cannot be found which
satisfies the equation 5x = 3.

8.3 The integers, the set .:2'={0, ± 1, ± 2, ...}

An extension of the set N needs to be found so that an equation such as x +a = b,
where a > b, is soluble in this extended set.
In the set 7L the negative number -a, where a E N, is defined to be the additive
inverse of a, so that

a+( -a) = ( -a)+a = 0.

The five properties of N listed in section 8.2 still hold in 7L. The set 7L is closed with
respect to subtraction, but it is not closed with respect to division.
So, in.£', the equation x + 5 = 3 can be solved, but the equation 5x = 3 cannot.

8.4 The rational numbers, the set Q= {mjn: mE£', nE.:f', n=FO}
Again, an extension of the set .£' needs to be made to enable a solution of an
equation of the form ax = b, where a and b have no common factor, to be found
in the extended set.
A rational number may be exhibited in different forms, e.g. 2/5 = 4/10 = 6/15.
Where feasible, rational numbers will be exhibited in the form mjn where m and n
have no common factor, and m/1 will be written as m. Thus rational numbers with
unit denominators may be regarded as integers. Addition and multiplication for
rational numbers are defined by the following rules:
a c ad+bc
b+d = bd

It follows that

a c ac
and -x- = - = ac.
1 1 1

Note that the rules do not conflict with the rules for integers.
Rational numbers possess all the properties enumerated for integers and, in
addition, have the property that, between any two given rational numbers,
another rational number can always be found.
In Q there is both an additive identity element (0) and a multiplicative identity

Real and complex numbers 207