17.

2 Powers and Roots

Introduction Recall from calculus that a point (x, y) in rectangular coordinates can also be expressed in terms of polar coordinates (r, u). We shall see in this section that the ability to express a complex number z in terms of r and u greatly facilitates finding powers and roots of z.
y z = x + iy r r sin x

Polar Form Rectangular coordinates (x, y) and polar coordinates (r, u) are related by the equations x r cos u and y r sin u (see Section 14.1). Thus a nonzero complex number z x iy can be written as z (r cos u) i(r sin u) or z r (cos u i sin u). (1)

r cos

FIGURE 17.2.1 Polar coordinates

We say that (1) is the polar form of the complex number z. We see from FIGURE 17.2.1 that the polar coordinate r can be interpreted as the distance from the origin to the point (x, y). In other words, we adopt the convention that r is never negative so that we can take r to be the modulus CHAPTER 17 Functions of a Complex Variable

766

of z; that is, r Z z Z . The angle u of inclination of the vector z measured in radians from the positive real axis is positive when measured counterclockwise and negative when measured clockwise. The angle u is called an argument of z and is written u arg z. From Figure 17.2.1 we see that an argument of a complex number must satisfy the equation tan u y/x. The solutions of this equation are not unique, since if u0 is an argument of z, then necessarily the angles u0 2p, u0 4p, , are also arguments. The argument of a complex number in the interval p u p is called the principal argument of z and is denoted by Arg z. For example, Arg(i) p/2.

EXAMPLE 1

A Complex Number in Polar Form

Express 1 23 i in polar form.

Solution With x 1 and y 23, we obtain r Z z Z #1 12 2 1 1 2 232 2 2. Now since the point (1, 23) lies in the fourth quadrant, we can take the solution of tan u 23/1 23 to be u arg z 5p/3. It follows from (1) that a polar form of the number is z 5 2 a cos 5p 5p 1 i sin b. 3 3
5 /3

y x

/3

As we see in FIGURE 17.2.2, the argument of 1 23 i that lies in the interval (p, p], the principal argument of z, is Arg z p/3. Thus, an alternative polar form of the complex number is p p z 5 2 c cos a2 b 1 i sin a2 b d . 3 3 Multiplication and Division The polar form of a complex number is especially convenient to use when multiplying or dividing two complex numbers. Suppose z1 r1(cos u1 i sin u1) and z2 r2(cos u2 i sin u2),

1 3i

FIGURE 17.2.2 Two arguments of z 1 23 i in Example 1

where u1 and u2 are any arguments of z1 and z2, respectively. Then z1z2 r1r2[(cos u1 cos u2 sin u1 sin u2) i(sin u1 cos u2 cos u1 sin u2)] and for z2 0, z1 r1 5 [(cos u1 cos u2 sin u1 sin u2) i(sin u1 cos u2 cos u1 sin u2)]. z2 r2 From the addition formulas from trigonometry, (2) and (3) can be rewritten, in turn, as z1z2 r1r2 [cos(u1 u2) i sin(u1 u2)] and z1 r1 5 [cos(u1 u2) i sin(u1 u2)]. z2 r2 Z z1 Z z1 2 5 , z2 Z z2 Z (4) (5) (3) (2)

Inspection of (4) and (5) shows that Z z1z2 Z 5 Z z1 Z Z z2 Z , 2 (6)

and

arg(z1z2) arg z1 arg z2,

z1 arg a b arg z1 arg z2. z2

(7)

EXAMPLE 2

Argument of a Product and of a Quotient

We have seen that Arg z1 p/2 for z1 i. In Example 1 we saw that Arg z2 p/3 for z2 1 23 i. Thus, for z1z2 5 i1 1 2 23i 2 5 23 1 i and z1 23 i 1 52 5 1 i z2 4 4 1 2 23i 17.2 Powers and Roots 767

it follows from (7) that arg1 z1z22 5 z1 p p p p p 5p 2 5 and arg a b 5 2 a2 b 5 . z 2 3 6 2 3 6 2

In Example 2 we used the principal arguments of z1 and z2 and obtained arg(z1z2) Arg(z1z2) and arg(z1/z2) Arg(z1/z2). It should be observed, however, that this was a coincidence. Although (7) is true for any arguments of z1 and z2, it is not true, in general, that Arg(z1z2) Arg z1 Arg z2 and Arg(z1/z2) Arg z1 Arg z2. See Problem 39 in Exercises 17.2. Powers of z We can find integer powers of the complex number z from the results in (4) and (5). For example, if z r (cos u i sin u), then with z1 z and z2 z, (4) gives z 2 r 2 [cos (u u) i sin (u u)] r 2 (cos 2u i sin 2u). Since z 3 z2z, it follows that z3 r3 (cos 3u i sin 3u). Moreover, since arg(1) 0, it follows from (5) that 1 z2 r2 [cos(2u) i sin(2u)]. z2 Continuing in this manner, we obtain a formula for the nth power of z for any integer n: z n r n (cos nu i sin nu). (8)

EXAMPLE 3

Power of a Complex Number

Compute z 3 for z 1 23 i. Solution In Example 1 we saw that p p z 5 2 c cos a 2 b 1 i sin a 2 b d . 3 3 Hence from (8) with r 2, u p/3, and n 3, we get p p 1 1 2 23i2 3 5 23 c cos a 3 a 2 b b 1 i sin a 3 a 2 b b d 3 3 8[cos(p) i sin(p)] 8. DeMoivres Formula When z cos u i sin u, we have Z z Z r 1 and so (8) yields (cos u i sin u)n cos nu i sin nu. (9)

This last result is known as DeMoivres formula and is useful in deriving certain trigonometric identities. Roots A number w is said to be an nth root of a nonzero complex number z if w n z . If we let w r(cos f i sin f) and z r (cos u i sin u) be the polar forms of w and z , then in view of (8) , w n z becomes rn (cos nf i sin nf) r (cos u i sin u). From this we conclude that rn r or r r1/n and cos nf i sin nf cos u i sin u. By equating the real and imaginary parts, we get from this equation cos nf cos u 768 and sin nf sin u.

CHAPTER 17 Functions of a Complex Variable

These equalities imply that nf u 2kp, where k is an integer. Thus, f5 u 1 2kp . n

As k takes on the successive integer values k 0, 1, 2, , n 1, we obtain n distinct roots with the same modulus but different arguments. But for k n we obtain the same roots because the sine and cosine are 2p-periodic. To see this, suppose k n m, where m 0, 1, 2, . Then f5 and so u 1 2 1 n 1 m2 p u 1 2mp 5 1 2p n n u 1 2mp u 1 2mp b ,cos f 5 cos a b. n n

sin f 5 sin a

We summarize this result. The nth roots of a nonzero complex number z r (cos u i sin u) are given by wk 5 r1>n c cos a where k 0, 1, 2, , n 1. u 1 2kp u 1 2kp b 1 i sin a bd, n n (10)

EXAMPLE 4

Roots of a Complex Number

Find the three cube roots of z i. Solution With r 1, u arg z p /2, the polar form of the given number is z cos(p/2) i sin(p/2). From (10) with n 3 we obtain wk 5 1 12 1>3 c cos a Hence, the three roots are k 5 0,w0 5 cos k 5 1,w1 5 cos k 5 2,w2 5 cos p p 23 1 1 i sin 5 1 i 6 6 2 2 5p 5p 23 1 1 i sin 52 1 i 6 6 2 2 3p 3p 1 i sin 5 2i. 2 2
y w1 w0 x w2

p> 2 1 2kp p> 2 1 2kp b 1 i sin a b d ,k 5 0, 1, 2. 3 3

The root w of a complex number z obtained by using the principal argument of z with k 0 is sometimes called the principal nth root of z. In Example 4, since Arg(i) p/2, w0 23/2 (1/2)i is the principal third root of i. Since the roots given by (8) have the same modulus, the n roots of a nonzero complex number z lie on a circle of radius r1/n centered at the origin in the complex plane. Moreover, since the difference between the arguments of any two successive roots is 2p/n, the nth roots of z are equally spaced on this circle. FIGURE 17.2.3 shows the three roots of i equally spaced on a unit circle; the angle between roots (vectors) wk and wk 1 is 2p/3. As the next example will show, the roots of a complex number do not have to be nice numbers as in Example 3.

FIGURE 17.2.3 Three cube roots of i

EXAMPLE 5

Roots of a Complex Number

Find the four fourth roots of z 1 i. Solution In this case, r 22 and u arg z p/4. From (10) with n 4, we obtain wk 5 1 222 1>4 c cos a p> 4 1 2kp p> 4 1 2kp b 1 i sin a b d ,k 5 0, 1, 2, 3. 4 4

17.2 Powers and Roots

769

The roots, rounded to four decimal places, are k 5 0,w0 5 1 22 2 1>4 c cos k 5 1,w1 5 1 222 1>4 c cos k 5 2,w2 5 1 222 1>4 c cos k 5 3,w3 5 1 222 1>4 c cos p p 1 i sin d 5 1.0696 1 0.2127i 16 16 9p 9p 1 i sin d 5 20.2127 1 1.0696i 16 16 17p 17p 1 i sin d 5 21.0696 2 0.2127i 16 16 25p 25p 1 i sin d 5 0.2127 2 1.0696i. 16 16