Complex numbers

The complex numbers are numbers of the form $a+bi$ where $a$ and $b$ are real numbers and $i$ is a square root of unity. The complex numbers form an algebraicly closed field but do not permit a non-trivial ordering that is preserved under operations.

In popular culture

In Yvgeny Zamyatin's satirical 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.