There has long been a mystery when calculating how an incoming light wave scatters off an object and becomes a modified, ...

Imaginary numbers, also called complex numbers, are used in real-life applications, such as electricity, as well as quadratic equations.

To a nonmathematician, having the letter “i” represent a number that does not quite exist and is “imaginary” can be hard to wrap your head around. If you open your mind to this way of ...

However, the imaginary number i openly appears next to the wave function in the Schrödinger equation.

The imaginary numbers weren't describing some bizarre microwave daydream, but rather a tiny shift in the carrier wave's frequency as it passes through a material thanks to the way the transmitted ...

The values of the Riemann zeta function are shown for various inputs of real (horizontal axis) and imaginary (vertical axis) numbers. Black areas are where the zeta function returns zero — the ...

The Imaginary Number Simon Singh's Numbers Five Numbers The imaginary number takes mathematics to another dimension. If the square root of +1 is both +1 and -1, then what is the square root of -1?

Imaginary numbers might seem like unicorns and goblins — interesting but irrelevant to reality. But for describing matter at its roots, imaginary numbers turn out to be essential. They seem to ...

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss imaginary numbers - important mathematical phenomena which provide us with useful tools for understanding the world. Show more Melvyn Bragg and his guests ...