Changes

The complex numbers are numbers of the form <math> a + bi </math>  where <math> a </math> and <math> b </math> are real numbers and <math> i </math> is a square root of unity. The complex numbers form an [[algebraic closure|algebraicly closed]] [[field (mathematics)|field]] but do not permit a non-trivial ordering that is preserved under operations.  

The complex numbers are numbers of the form <math> a + bi </math>  where <math> a </math> and <math> b </math> are real numbers and <math> i </math> is a square root of -1. The complex numbers form an [[algebraic closure|algebraicly closed]] [[field (mathematics)|field]] but do not permit a non-trivial ordering that is preserved under operations.  

===In popular culture===

===In popular culture===

In [[Yvgeny Zamyatin]]'s satirical novel ''[[We (novel)|We]]'', the narrator's psychological distress at contemplating the concept of complex numbers becomes a metaphor for the limitations of totalitarian systems of thought.

In [[Yvgeny Zamyatin]]'s satirical novel ''[[We (novel)|We]]'', the narrator's psychological distress at contemplating the concept of complex numbers becomes a metaphor for the limitations of totalitarian systems of thought.