MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS II!

COMPLEX ALGEBRA!
LECTURE - 1
“The imaginary numbers are a wonderful flight
of God’s spirit; they are almost an amphibian
between being and not being”, !
LEIBNITZ 1702"

Dr. Vasileios Lempessis

 Why we care about complex
variables in physics?-1
• In the study of AC electric circuits the impedance of
coils and capacitors can be expressed in a complex
form. Complex expressions for impedance, voltage
and current give a better insight into the phase
difference between voltage and current in the circuit."
• In wave and oscillation physics the use of complex
numbers facilitates the study of the corresponding
effects and gives a better insight into effects like
forced and damped oscillations."
• Complex numbers have a central position in the
mathematical arsenal of quantum mechanics."
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Why we care about complex
variables in physics?-2
• In physics we may encounter pairs of functions u and
v which both satisfy Laplace equation. "
2
∇ψ =
∂ 2
ψ ( x, y ) +
∂ 2
ψ ( x, y )
=0
2 2
∂x ∂y
• For example if u is the electrostatic potential then v is
the electric field. Or, in the hydrodynamics of
irrotational flow of an ideal fluid, u might describe
the velocity potential, whereas the function v the
stream function. In many cases in which these
functions are unknown, mapping or transforming in
the complex plane permits us to create a coordinate
system tailored to the particular problem.
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Why we care about complex
variables in physics?-3
• Second order differential equations of interest in
physics may be solved in power series in a complex
plane. The use of complex analysis gives us greater
insight into the behavior of our solution and a
powerful tool (analytic continuation) for extending
the reason in which the solution is valid."
• The change of the parameter k from real to
imaginary, k -> ik, transforms the Helmholtz equation
into the diffusion equation. The same change
transforms the Helmholtz equation solutions (Bessel
and spherical Bessel) into the diffusion equation
solutions (modified Bessel and spherical Bessel)."
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Why we care about complex
variables in physics?-4
• Integrals in the complex plane have a wide
variety of useful applications:"
1. Evaluating definite integrals"
2. Inverting power series"
3. Forming finite products"
4. Obtaining solutions of differential for large values
of the variable (asymptotic solutions)"
5. Investigating the stability of potentially oscillatory
systems."
6. Inverting integral transforms."

Dr. Vasileios Lempessis

 Basics of complex algebra-1
• A complex number is an ordered pair of two
numbers (a, b) or a+ib, where i = −1."
• Similarly a complex variable is an ordered
pair of two real variables"
z = ( x, y ) = x + iy
• The real numbers x and y are known as the
real and imaginary parts of z, respectively:"
Re z = x, Im z = y
• The ordering is significant since"
x + iy ≠ y + ix
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Basics of complex algebra-2
• The addition and multiplication of complex
numbers are defined as follows:"
( x1 + iy1 ) + ( x2 + iy2 ) = ( x1 + x2 ) + i ( y1 + y2 )
( x1 + iy1 ) ⋅ ( x2 + iy2 ) = ( x1 x2 − y1 y2 ) + i ( y1 x2 + x1 y2 )
• The following properties (known from real
numbers) do hold:"
z1 + z2 = z2 + z1 , z1 ⋅ z2 = z2 ⋅ z1
( z1 + z2 ) + z3 = z1 + ( z2 + z3 ) , ( z1z2 ) z3 = z1 ( z2 z3 )
z ( z1 + z2 ) = zz1 + zz2
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Basics of complex algebra-3
• The identity elements with respect to addition and
multiplication are the numbers:"
0 = ( 0, 0 ) , 1 = (1, 0 )
• For which: "
z + 0 = z, z ⋅1 = z

• For any complex number z = (x, y) there is a number

-z = (-x, -y) such that:"
z + ( −z ) = 0

Dr. Vasileios Lempessis

 Basics of complex algebra-4
• For any non-zero complex number z there is a
−1
number z such that:"
z ⋅ z −1 = 1
• The division of two complex numbers is defined as:"
z1 −1
= z1 ( z2 )
z2

Dr. Vasileios Lempessis

 Basics of complex algebra-5"
The complex plane or Argand
• Complex variable can be graphically
represented if we plot the real part x of
z as the abscissa and the imaginary part
y of z as the ordinate."
y (x, y)
r

x
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Basics of complex algebra-6"
The complex plane or Argand
• The geometric representation shows us that
to each complex number corresponds a
vector. The magnitude of this vector is the
modulus of the complex number: "

z = x 2 + y2

Dr. Vasileios Lempessis

 Basics of complex algebra-7"
complex conjugation

• For a given complex number z!= x + iy

we may define a conjugate number given
by"
z* = z = x − iy
"
The complex variable and its conjugate
are mirror images of each other
reflected in the x-axis. "
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Basics of complex algebra-8"
complex conjugation
y
(x, y)
z
θ
θ x

z* (x,-y)

• Example: Show that the product of a complex

number and its conjugate gives the following
* 2
important relation:"z ⋅ z = z
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Basics of complex algebra-9"
The polar form of a complex number
• The vector form of complex numbers is
reflected on the so called triangle
inequality!
z1 − z2 ≤ z1 + z2 ≤ z1 + z2
• This inequality can be generalized to:"

z1 + z2 + ... + zn ≤ z1 + z2 + ... + zn (n ≥ 2)
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Basics of complex algebra-10"
The polar form of a complex number
• If we use polar coordinates we know
that" x = r cosθ
y = r sin θ

1/2
(x, y) r = z = x 2 + y 2
y ( )
r θ = arctan(y / x)
θ or θ = arg z
x
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
 Basics of complex algebra-11"
The polar form of a complex number
• Then we may write for the complex number z:"
z = r(cosθ + i sin θ )
• For a complex number z ≠ 0 we may write also"
z = r #$ cos (θ + 2nπ ) + i sin (θ + 2nπ ) %& ( n = 0, ± 1, ± 2,...)

• As principal value of the arg z, which we denote it Arg

z, we define the unique value of arg z which lies in
the interval (-#, #], thus"
arg z = Argz + 2nπ ( n = 0, ± 1, ± 2,...)
Dr. Vasileios Lempessis
Basics of complex algebra-12
the exponential form
• The relation "
eiθ = cosθ + i sin θ
is known as Euler’s formula. "
• With the help of this formula we can write a
complex number z in polar representation as
follows:"
iθ iθ
z = re = z e

Dr. Vasileios Lempessis

 Basics of complex algebra-13"
product of complex numbers
• Using the exponential form of a complex number we
may find the following relations"

z1 ⋅ z2 = z1 ⋅ z2

arg ( z1 ⋅ z2 ) = arg z1 + arg z2

Dr. Vasileios Lempessis

 Basics of complex algebra-14"
The polar form of a complex number
• The choice of polar or cartesian
representation is a matter of convenience.
Addition and subtraction of complex
variables are easier in cartesian form.
Multiplication, division, powers and roots are
easier to handle in polar form."

Dr. Vasileios Lempessis