High School Can Complex Numbers Extend Beyond Two Dimensions?

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Complex numbers, represented as a + bi, extend the real number line into two dimensions. The discussion explores whether there are extensions into three or more dimensions, concluding that quaternions represent a four-dimensional extension of complex numbers. Quaternions can be understood through the structure of C × R, incorporating rules for addition and multiplication. Additionally, real numbers can be viewed as a subset of complex numbers, where they have a zero imaginary component. This highlights the hierarchical nature of number systems beyond traditional dimensions.
thetexan
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Complex numbers ##a+bi## can be thought of as a second dimension extension of the real number line.

Is there a third dimension version of this? Are there even more complex numbers that not only extend into the y-axis but also the z axis?

tex
 
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thetexan said:
Complex numbers ##a+bi## can be thought of as a second dimension extension of the real number line.

Is there a third dimension version of this? Are there even more complex numbers that not only extend into the y-axis but also the z axis?

tex

Not 3, but 4 dimensions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaternion
 
yes, You can obtain it considering ##\mathbb{C}\times \mathbb{R}## as structure space and giving rules for the addition and multiplication, from the history point of view is not used so much this extension ...
More interesting is the ##4## dimensional extension, this is the set of quaternions ...
 
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Fixed that for you...
Ssnow said:
giving rules for the addiction addition and multiplication
 
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So is it correct to say that the single dimension real numbers can be considered a subset of the two dimensional complex number set where the real numbers are complex numbers with a 0 imaginary component?

tex
 
thetexan said:
So is it correct to say that the single dimension real numbers can be considered a subset of the two dimensional complex number set where the real numbers are complex numbers with a 0 imaginary component?

tex

Yes!
 
Here is a little puzzle from the book 100 Geometric Games by Pierre Berloquin. The side of a small square is one meter long and the side of a larger square one and a half meters long. One vertex of the large square is at the center of the small square. The side of the large square cuts two sides of the small square into one- third parts and two-thirds parts. What is the area where the squares overlap?

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