So what exactly is a complex number?

[Steve Holden]

Roy Smith wrote:
> Boris Borcic <bborcic at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Complex numbers are like a subclass of real numbers 
> 
> I wouldn't use the term "subclass".  It certainly doesn't apply in the same 
> sense it applies in OOPLs.  For example, you can't say, "All complex 
> numbers are real numbers".  In fact, just the opposite.
> 
> But, it's equally wrong to say, "real numbers are a subclass of complex 
> numbers", at least not if you believe in LSP 
> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liskov_substitution_principle).  For example, 
> it is true that you can take the square root of all complex numbers.  It is 
> not, however, true that you can take square root of all real numbers.
> 
That's not true. I suspect what you are attempting to say is that the 
complex numbers are closed with respect to the square root operation, 
but the reals aren't. Clearly you *can* take the square root of all real 
numbers, since a real number *is* also a complex number with a zero 
imaginary component. They are mathematically equal and equivalent.

> Don't confuse "subset" with "subclass".  The set of real numbers *is* a 
> subset of the set of complex numbers.  It is *not* true that either reals 
> or complex numbers are a subclass of the other.

I don't think "subclass" has a generally defined meaning in mathematics 
(though such an assertion from me is usually a precursor to someone 
presenting evidence of my ignorance, so I should know better than to 
make them).

obpython: I have always thought that the "key widening" performed in 
dictionary lookup is a little quirk of the language:

 >>> d = {2: "indeedy"}
 >>> d[2.0]
'indeedy'
 >>> d[2.0+0j]
'indeedy'
 >>>

but it does reflect the fact that the integers are a subset of the 
reals, which are (as you correctly point out) a subset of the complexes.

regards
  Steve
-- 
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