What are the solutions to the equation (z+1)^4=1-i?

matpo39
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find all solutions of the given equation: (z+1)^4=1-i
im not sure if i did this right, but here's what i did
the first thing that i did was notice that
1-i = 2^1/2 * (cos (pi/4) + i*sin(pi/4))
then i found
z= [2^(1/2*1/4) * (cos (pi/4) + i*sin (pi/4) )^1/4] -1
then using de moivre's thrm
z= {2^3/4 *(cos [pi/16 +2k*pi/16] + i*sin[pi/16 + 2k*pi/16])}-1 ; k=0,1,2,3
does this look right?
thanks
 
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matpo39 said:
find all solutions of the given equation: (z+1)^4=1-i
im not sure if i did this right, but here's what i did
the first thing that i did was notice that
1-i = 2^1/2 * (cos (pi/4) + i*sin(pi/4))
then i found
z= [2^(1/2*1/4) * (cos (pi/4) + i*sin (pi/4) )^1/4] -1
then using de moivre's thrm
z= {2^3/4 *(cos [pi/16 +2k*pi/16] + i*sin[pi/16 + 2k*pi/16])}-1 ; k=0,1,2,3
does this look right?
thanks

Well the angle isn't pi/4 for the first thing. The point corresponding to 1-i is (1, -1)
 
whoops, my bad
1-i = (2^1/2) * [cos (-pi/4) + i*sin(-pi/4)]

If i use this for 1-i and use the method of the first post will i obtain the correct answer?

thanks
 
I just worked it out using your method and it looks good to me. You end up with four roots and they seem to correspond numerically to the values that Mathematica produces.
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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