Re: complex numbers

From: Owen (oorionus_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 03/23/05 

Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 15:57:01 -0500

  "Thomas Mautsch" <mautsch@math.ethz.ch> wrote in message
news:slrnd43kij.l85.mautsch@almahani.math.ethz.ch...
> In news:<D6OdndYgwp1MU9zfRVn-2g@rogers.com> schrieb Owen
<oorionus@yahoo.com>:
>> "Jim Spriggs" <jim.sprigs@ANTISPAMbtinternet.com.invalid> wrote in
message
>> news:4241C5A7.2F17D801@ANTISPAMbtinternet.com.invalid...
>> > Vec wrote:
>> >>
>> >> If the complex number is a number which represents 2 parameters in
a 2
>> >> dim.plan. then is there a like number which can represent more than
2
>> >> parameters and can be as easily used as the complex numbers.
>> >
>> > Yes and no. There are numbers called quaternions which are a _bit
like_
>> > complex numbers but are four-dimensional. Hence the "yes". But,
>> > whereas with the complex numbers there is commutativity: zw = wz for
all
>> > complex numbers z and w; with the quaternions we have zw = -wz.
Hence
>> > the "no" (specifically to your "as easily used").
>> >
>> > There are also three-dimensional numbers for which associativity (
t(wz)
>> > = (tw)z ) fails.
>> >
>> > Indeed, for all dimensions greater than two there are so-called
>> > "hypercomplex" numbers" but some handy properties of the complex
numbers
>> > are lost.
>>
>> I don't think so.
>
> Is it important to you
> that you can divide by any non-zero number?

  It is incorrect to say so!

  You cannot divide by any zero divisor.
>

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