A-level Mathematics/MEI/FP2/Complex Numbers

Modulus-argument form edit

Polar form of a complex number edit

It is possible to express complex numbers in polar form. The complex number z in the diagram below can be described by the length r and the angle   of its position vector in the Argand diagram.

[Argand diagram]

The distance r is the modulus of z,  . The angle   is measured from the positive real axis and is taken anticlockwise. Adding any whole multiple of   however, would give the same vector so a complex number's principal argument,  , is where  . The following examples demonstrate this in each quadrant.

The following Argand diagram shows the complex number  .

[Argand diagram]

 

 
This Argand diagram shows the complex number  .
This Argand diagram shows the complex number  .
This Argand diagram shows the complex number  .

When we have a complex number   in polar form   we can use   and   to write it in the form:  . This is the modulus-argument form for complex numbers.

Multiplication and division edit

The polar form of complex numbers can provide a geometrical interpretation of the multiplication and division of complex numbers.

Multiplication edit

Take two complex numbers in polar form,

 

 

and then multiply them together,

 

The result is a complex number with a modulus of   and an argument of  . This means that:

 

 

Division edit

Dividing two complex number   and   in polar form:

 

 

 

Multiply numerator and denominator by  .

 

Then, use distribution to simplify.

 

Here, factorize by   in the numerator and cancel out terms in the denominator. Note that  .

 

 

Apply the formulas for the cosine of the difference of two angles and for the sine of the difference of two angles:

 .

De Moivre's theorem edit

Using the multiplication rules we can see that if

 

then

 

 

De Moivre's theorem states that this holds true for any integer power. So,

 

Complex exponents edit

Definition edit

If we let   we can then differentiate z with respect to  .

 

The general solution to the differential equation   is  .

This means that  

By putting   as 0 we get:

 

So the general definition can be made:

 

For a complex number  , calculating   can be done:

 

Proof of de Moivre's theorem edit

We can now give an alternative proof of de Moivre's theorem for any rational value of n:

 

Summations edit

deMoivre's therom can come in handy for finding simple expressions for infinite series. This usually involves a series multiple angles, cosrθ, as in this next example:

Infinite series are defined by:

 

 

In order to find either the sum of C or the sum of S (or both!) you need to add C to jS:   Which using deMoivre's theorem can be written as:

 

It is easier to work with now using the form e^jθ:

 

and you should be able to see the pattern, that the factor is negative 1/2 to the power of n-1 (the negative being alternately to even then odd powers is what makes it flip between + and -) and the power of e (the number in front of θ in our original equations) is equal to 3(n-1)jθ.

 

This is a geometric series, with a=

Complex roots edit

The roots of unity edit

The fundamental theorem of algebra states that a polynomial of degree n should have exactly n (complex) roots. This means that the simple equation   has n roots.

Let's take a look at  . This has two roots, 1 and -1. These can be plotted on an Argand diagram:

[Argand diagram]

Consider  , from the above stated property, we know this equation has three roots. One of these is easily seen to be 1, for the others we rewrite the equation as   and use the factor theorem to obtain  . From this, we can solve   by completing the square on z so that we have  . Solving for z you obtain  . We have now found the three roots of unity of  , they are  ,   and  

Solving an equation of the form   edit

We know   has six roots, one of which is 1.

We can rewrite this equation replacing the number 1 with   since 1 can be represented in polar form as having a modulus of 1 and an argument which is an integer multiple of  .

 

Now by raising is side to the power of 1/6:

 

To find all six roots we just change k, starting at 0 and going up to 5:

Applications of complex numbers in geometry edit