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Srinivasan Nenmeli Ph D
Richard Feynman , a Nobel Laureate in Physics and
Professor at CalTech ,called this equation --" the gem
of mathematics".
It is an equation that relates 'e', the base of natural
logarithm, 'i' the imaginary quantity, 'pi" you know
that, and '1' the unity and has an 'equal' sign. Recall
that i2 is -1.
------------------(1)
You can recall "polar coordinates" to understand
this equation. [Z is now a vector in the complex
plane with axes x and iy.]
e i = -1
or e (i) +1 = 0 ----------(4)
Example:
z= 4+3i = 5 exp(i 0.643)
and z' = 12 + 5i = 13 exp(i 0.395)
Find z/z'
z/z' = (5/13)exp(i 0.248)= 0.3846 exp(i 0.248)
[Check : You can check the result by normal
method of dividing two complex numbers:
z/z' = (4+3i)(12-5i)/ [(12+5i)(12-5i) ]
= 63/169 + i 16/169 = 0.3728+ i 0.0947
= 0.3845 exp( i0.2472) ]
z = 3 + 4 i = 5 exp( i 0.643)
z.z = 25 exp( 1.286)
[No need to use de Moivre's theorem , using cis()
formulas.]
Example 2 Show that
[cos + i sin ]2 = cos (2) + i sin (2)
This is an exercise for you.
Some Anecdotes
Leonhard Euler [1707-1783] was a prolific
mathematician, with results in algebra, analysis
[calculus],geometry,number theory topology, variational
calculus, graph theory and other fields.He lost his
eyesight some 17 years before his death...but he was
active in math during those years too. His collected
works would run into 75 volumes, with each volume of
500 pages!
Euler , born in Basel, Swiss, spent many years of his
career as a professor in the Russian Academy in St.
Petersburgh.
The great Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan