MATH F112- Complex Variables

Saranya G. Nair
Department of Mathematics

BITS Pilani

May 16, 2023

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 1 / 12

Representation of Complex numbers
We have seen that complex numbers came to be viewed as ordered pairs
of real numbers. That is, a complex number z is defined to be z = (x, y ),
where x and y are both real numbers.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 2 / 12

Representation of Complex numbers
We have seen that complex numbers came to be viewed as ordered pairs
of real numbers. That is, a complex number z is defined to be z = (x, y ),
where x and y are both real numbers.
• If we are to have a meaningful number system, there needs to be a
method for combining these ordered pairs.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 2 / 12

Representation of Complex numbers
We have seen that complex numbers came to be viewed as ordered pairs
of real numbers. That is, a complex number z is defined to be z = (x, y ),
where x and y are both real numbers.
• If we are to have a meaningful number system, there needs to be a
method for combining these ordered pairs.
• i.e We need to define algebraic operations in a consistent way so that
the sum, difference, product, and quotient of any two ordered pairs
will again be an ordered pair.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 2 / 12

Representation of Complex numbers
We have seen that complex numbers came to be viewed as ordered pairs
of real numbers. That is, a complex number z is defined to be z = (x, y ),
where x and y are both real numbers.
• If we are to have a meaningful number system, there needs to be a
method for combining these ordered pairs.
• i.e We need to define algebraic operations in a consistent way so that
the sum, difference, product, and quotient of any two ordered pairs
will again be an ordered pair.
• The key is to equate (x, y ) with x + iy .
For z1 = (x1 , y1 ), z2 = (x2 , y2 ), then

z1 + z2 = (x1 , y1 ) + (x2 , y2 ) = (x1 + iy1 ) + (x2 + iy2 )

= (x1 + x2 ) + i(y1 + y2 ) = (x1 + x2 , y1 + y2 ).

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 2 / 12

In the same way,

z1 − z2 = (x1 − x2 , y1 − y2 )
z1 .z2 = (x1 x2 − y1 y2 , x1 y2 + x2 y1 )
 
z1 x1 x2 + y1 y2 −x1 y2 + x2 y1
= , , z2 ̸= (0, 0)
z2 x12 + y22 x12 + y22

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 3 / 12

In the same way,

z1 − z2 = (x1 − x2 , y1 − y2 )
z1 .z2 = (x1 x2 − y1 y2 , x1 y2 + x2 y1 )
 
z1 x1 x2 + y1 y2 −x1 y2 + x2 y1
= , , z2 ̸= (0, 0)
z2 x12 + y22 x12 + y22

It turns out that our algebraic definitions give complex numbers all the
properties we normally ascribe to the real number system. Taken together,
they describe what algebraists call a Field.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 3 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition
• Associative law for addition

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition
• Associative law for addition
• Existence of additive identity (is also called as zero element)

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition
• Associative law for addition
• Existence of additive identity (is also called as zero element)
• Existence of additive inverses

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition
• Associative law for addition
• Existence of additive identity (is also called as zero element)
• Existence of additive inverses
• Commutative law for multiplication

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition
• Associative law for addition
• Existence of additive identity (is also called as zero element)
• Existence of additive inverses
• Commutative law for multiplication
• Associative law for multiplication

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition
• Associative law for addition
• Existence of additive identity (is also called as zero element)
• Existence of additive inverses
• Commutative law for multiplication
• Associative law for multiplication
• Existence of multiplicative identity (is also called as identity)

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition
• Associative law for addition
• Existence of additive identity (is also called as zero element)
• Existence of additive inverses
• Commutative law for multiplication
• Associative law for multiplication
• Existence of multiplicative identity (is also called as identity)
• Existence of multiplicative inverses (for all non-zero elements)

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Field

A field is a set (in this case, the complex numbers) together with two
binary operations (in this case, addition and multiplication) with the
following properties:
• Commutative law for addition
• Associative law for addition
• Existence of additive identity (is also called as zero element)
• Existence of additive inverses
• Commutative law for multiplication
• Associative law for multiplication
• Existence of multiplicative identity (is also called as identity)
• Existence of multiplicative inverses (for all non-zero elements)
• The distributive law

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 4 / 12

Exercise: Show that the set of Complex numbers denoted by C under the
(+, .) is a field.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 5 / 12

Exercise: Show that the set of Complex numbers denoted by C under the
(+, .) is a field.
• Is R ⊂ C?
• Is (R, +, .) a field? What about (Q, +, ·)?
• Is (Z, +, .) a field?

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 5 / 12

Exercise: Show that the set of Complex numbers denoted by C under the
(+, .) is a field.
• Is R ⊂ C?
• Is (R, +, .) a field? What about (Q, +, ·)?
• Is (Z, +, .) a field?
These are the examples of infinite sets which are fields and hence we call
them infinite fields.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 5 / 12

Exercise: Show that the set of Complex numbers denoted by C under the
(+, .) is a field.
• Is R ⊂ C?
• Is (R, +, .) a field? What about (Q, +, ·)?
• Is (Z, +, .) a field?
These are the examples of infinite sets which are fields and hence we call
them infinite fields. Does there exists finite fields?

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 5 / 12

Exercise: Show that the set of Complex numbers denoted by C under the
(+, .) is a field.
• Is R ⊂ C?
• Is (R, +, .) a field? What about (Q, +, ·)?
• Is (Z, +, .) a field?
These are the examples of infinite sets which are fields and hence we call
them infinite fields. Does there exists finite fields? Finite fields form a
central role in Cryptography and Coding theory. More intersting such
algebraic structures will be discussed in courses like Number Theory and
Algebra.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 5 / 12

Using Linear Algebra

Let  
x
y
be a vector in R2 and let  
a b
c d
be a 2 × 2 matrix.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 6 / 12

Using Linear Algebra

Let  
x
y
be a vector in R2 and let  
a b
c d
be a 2 × 2 matrix. Then
    
a b x ax + by
=
c d y cx + dy

gives a new vector in R2 .

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 6 / 12

Now consider a subset S of the whole collection of 2 × 2 matrices those of
the form  
a −b
b a
where a and b are real numbers.
Remark
Show that S form a subspace of the four dimensional space of all 2 × 2
matrices over R. What is the dimension of S over R? Give a basis for S.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 7 / 12

Exercise: Check each of the following statements:
• If you add two such matrices, the result still has the same form, the
zero matrix is in the collection, and if you multiply any matrix by a
real number, you get another matrix in the set.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 12

Exercise: Check each of the following statements:
• If you add two such matrices, the result still has the same form, the
zero matrix is in the collection, and if you multiply any matrix by a
real number, you get another matrix in the set.
• These matrices are also closed under multiplication
• The zero matrix and identity matrix is in the set.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 12

Exercise: Check each of the following statements:
• If you add two such matrices, the result still has the same form, the
zero matrix is in the collection, and if you multiply any matrix by a
real number, you get another matrix in the set.
• These matrices are also closed under multiplication
• The zero matrix and identity matrix is in the set.
• Every such matrix has an inverse except when both a and b are zero,
and the inverse is also in the set.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 12

Exercise: Check each of the following statements:
• If you add two such matrices, the result still has the same form, the
zero matrix is in the collection, and if you multiply any matrix by a
real number, you get another matrix in the set.
• These matrices are also closed under multiplication
• The zero matrix and identity matrix is in the set.
• Every such matrix has an inverse except when both a and b are zero,
and the inverse is also in the set.
• The matrices in the set commute under multiplication.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 8 / 12

• All the rotation matrices
 
cos θ − sin θ
sin θ cos θ

are in the set.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 9 / 12

• All the rotation matrices
 
cos θ − sin θ
sin θ cos θ

are in the set.

• The columns of any matrix in the set are orthogonal

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 9 / 12

• All the rotation matrices
 
cos θ − sin θ
sin θ cos θ

are in the set.

• The columns of any matrix in the set are orthogonal
• This subset of all 2 × 2 matrices is two dimensional.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 9 / 12

 • All the rotation matrices
 
cos θ − sin θ
sin θ cos θ

are in the set.

• The columns of any matrix in the set are orthogonal
• This subset of all 2 × 2 matrices is two dimensional.

Remark
This particular collection of matrices also represents the set of Complex
Numbers.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 9 / 12

We define the complex numbers the following way.
Definition
C is the name of the two dimensional subspace of the four dimensional
space of 2 × 2 matrices having entries of the form
 
a −b
b a

for any real numbers a, b. Points of C are called complex numbers.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 10 / 12

We define the complex numbers the following way.
Definition
C is the name of the two dimensional subspace of the four dimensional
space of 2 × 2 matrices having entries of the form
 
a −b
b a

for any real numbers a, b. Points of C are called complex numbers.

The set of matrices is a two dimensional vector space means that we can
treat it as if it were R2 by f : R2 → C.
   
a a −b
∼ .
b b a

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 10 / 12

We define the complex numbers the following way.
Definition
C is the name of the two dimensional subspace of the four dimensional
space of 2 × 2 matrices having entries of the form
 
a −b
b a

for any real numbers a, b. Points of C are called complex numbers.

The set of matrices is a two dimensional vector space means that we can
treat it as if it were R2 by f : R2 → C.
   
a a −b
∼ .
b b a

This sets up a one to one correspondence between the points of the plane
and the matrices in C. It is easy to check that f is a linear map.
Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 10 / 12
Different representaions of C
• We can write a + ib for a complex number, a is called the real part
and b is called the imaginary part. This is the classical representation
of a complex number.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 11 / 12

Different representaions of C
• We can write a + ib for a complex number, a is called the real part
and b is called the imaginary part. This is the classical representation
of a complex number.
• We can write  
a
b
for a complex number. This the point representation of a complex
number and it emphasises the fact that the complex numbers form a
plane.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 11 / 12

Different representaions of C
• We can write a + ib for a complex number, a is called the real part
and b is called the imaginary part. This is the classical representation
of a complex number.
• We can write  
a
b
for a complex number. This the point representation of a complex
number and it emphasises the fact that the complex numbers form a
plane.
• We can write  
a −b
b a
for the complex number. This the matrix representation for the
complex number.
Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 11 / 12
Which is the right way to think of complex numbers? The answer is: All
of the above, simultaneously.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 12 / 12

Which is the right way to think of complex numbers? The answer is: All
of the above, simultaneously.
• The first is useful in terms of easy notation.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 12 / 12

Which is the right way to think of complex numbers? The answer is: All
of the above, simultaneously.
• The first is useful in terms of easy notation.
• The second is useful when looking at the geometry of complex
numbers.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 12 / 12

Which is the right way to think of complex numbers? The answer is: All
of the above, simultaneously.
• The first is useful in terms of easy notation.
• The second is useful when looking at the geometry of complex
numbers.
• The third is helpful when thinking about the multiplication aspects of
complex numbers.

Saranya G. Nair (BITS Pilani) Mathematics I May 16, 2023 12 / 12