- #1
Rothiemurchus
- 203
- 1
are complex numbers part of the "real" world
The square root of -1 is used a lot in physics.
But how does it relate to what,I suspect,most people would regard
as the real world i.e real numbers (for example we speak of real
probabilities
and not imaginary probabilities - real probabilities are the "real"
world).
Complex numbers can be represented by two orthogonal axes on a sheet
of paper and so can real numbers.Since such representations are both
geometrical
entities,do complex numbers only relate to real numbers (and hence the
"real" world) in the context of geometry? And since general relativity
is a theory based on ideas of geometry, do complex numbers only relate
to the real
world in the context of general relativity i.e would an imaginary
probability seem reasonable in the theory of general relativity?
The square root of -1 is used a lot in physics.
But how does it relate to what,I suspect,most people would regard
as the real world i.e real numbers (for example we speak of real
probabilities
and not imaginary probabilities - real probabilities are the "real"
world).
Complex numbers can be represented by two orthogonal axes on a sheet
of paper and so can real numbers.Since such representations are both
geometrical
entities,do complex numbers only relate to real numbers (and hence the
"real" world) in the context of geometry? And since general relativity
is a theory based on ideas of geometry, do complex numbers only relate
to the real
world in the context of general relativity i.e would an imaginary
probability seem reasonable in the theory of general relativity?