Mathematica AlgebraicNumber to simple number in Mathematica

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The discussion centers on the challenge of converting the output "AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]" into the desired form of "i/4" using Mathematica. The user notes that using the function N[] results in "0. + 0.25 i," which is not the expected output. There is speculation that complex numbers may not be automatically reduced to explicit forms like integers or rationals, as indicated in the Mathematica reference. Attempts to extract the imaginary part using Im[] and simplify the expression with Simplify[] yield no satisfactory results, leading to frustration over the apparent limitation of the software. Suggestions are made to seek further assistance on a dedicated forum, highlighting the need for a solution to this unexpected behavior in Mathematica.
zplot
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Hello,

From some matrix operations I get "AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]" as output.

I need to get i/4 and I don't know how. If I write "N[AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]]",
I get 0. + 0.25 i but it is not what I want neither. I would like to get just i/4 as output.

Can anybody help?
Thank you in advance.
 
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zplot said:
From some matrix operations I get "AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]" as output.

I need to get i/4 and I don't know how.

That seems odd because this
http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/ref/AlgebraicNumber.html
under More Information says
"AlgebraicNumber objects representing integers or rational numbers are automatically reduced to explicit integer or rational form."
Perhaps that implies that complex are not automatically reduced to explicit form.

What do you get with Im[AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]]

What do you get with Simplify[AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]]
 
Thank you Bill.

With
Im[AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]]
I get
Im[AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]]
and with
Simplify[AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]]
I get
AlgebraicNumber[-4 I, {0, -(1/16)}]

so no solution yet.

Any other idea?

Thanks a lot.
 
Unfortunately I can't test that for you at the moment and that severely restricts what I can find.

You might post it here
http://forums.wolfram.com/student-support/discussions/4/

This is very very odd and looks like a limitation that should not be there.
The URL I posted previously seemed like it said I am should have worked.
 
Thank you
 

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