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Monday, Nov. 18, 2024

2:32am EST

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Complex Numbers

by Robert Waltz

Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #1196512

Not for the faint of art.

Complex Numbers

A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number.

The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi.

Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary.

Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty.

http://www.ddewey.net/mandelbrot/

Signature for Honorable Mentions in 2018 Quill Awards

A signature for exclusive use of winners at the 2019 Quill Awards

Signature for those who have won a Quill Award at the 2020 Quill Awards

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

tj-turkey-jobble-jobble-hard-J

about 10 hours ago
In response to "Revisited: "A Frank Discussion""

I became disgruntled with meat sold in local grocery stores; half the weight is water, the taste is bland, and it's "use by" date is usually one day away. I found a small town butcher/locker plant that sells locally raised meats and buy in bulk so it's actually fresher, cheaper, and better tasting. Recently, I decided to try my hand at making our own sausage as well. It's a bit of work, but I think it's worth the trouble.

1 Like

Turkey DrumStik

a day ago
In response to "Barley There"

And approximately 15 seconds later, someone's going to screech about genetically engineered crops.

That would be me...screeching for more genetically engineered crops.

Write_Mikey_Write!

Nov 14, 2024 at 2:04pm
In response to "Global Domination"

A little girl wearing a Hello Kitty shirt in Middle-of-Nowhere, Siberia will certainly make you wonder how it got there. My grandson has a souvenir t-shirt with a Terex 33-19 "Titan" on it. When it was built in 1973, the Titan was the largest, highest payload capacity truck ever built, a title it held for 25 years. The thing is, the truck on that t-shirt is on display in Sparwood, BC, Canada - over 1000 miles from here, and his mom got the shirt at a local thrift store. Makes me wonder.

Oh, yeah - I thought 'Schrödinger's Hello Kitty' was funny, too.

1 Like

Adherennium Plotting something

Nov 14, 2024 at 12:10pm
In response to "Global Domination"

For whatever warped reason, 'Schrödinger's Hello Kitty' has tickled my funny bone.

3 Like

Brandiwyn🎶

Nov 12, 2024 at 10:50am
In response to "Blond Man's Bluff"

That's interesting about the two spellings of blonde. I always thought blonde referred to the person and blond referred to the hair. But I never bothered to look it up, So you've catered to my lazy today.

3 Like

Kåre เลียม Enga

Nov 9, 2024 at 1:02pm
In response to "It Was a Dark and Starry Night"

Ah... but why did he see those swirls when many of us don't? A totally different discussion... out of thin air... which is a frozen fog today when I gaze out the window.

Humans have great skills of observation; some of us extraordinary skills. Is The Scream depictive or evocative? 😱

Turkey DrumStik

Nov 9, 2024 at 11:04am
In response to "It Was a Dark and Starry Night"

Frankly, I'm more surprised to see reasonably good reporting from CNN. I'd given up on their ability to rein in their tendency toward loaded speech.

2 Like

JayNaNoOhNo

Nov 8, 2024 at 12:00pm
In response to "Bungalow Bash"

For the love of God, what did I just read? That is by far the worst use case of a bungalow I've ever seen, and a fundamental misunderstanding of the value of front porches—and the size of bungalows.

Was this his point? Nope, I know what his point was. For a guy so worried about presentation, he certainly undercut his own arguement.

1 Like

Turkey DrumStik

Nov 8, 2024 at 9:47am
In response to "Bungalow Bash"

"People don't change their minds on the internet. They usually do that in books, battlefields, or not at all.

Yeah, that's a little bleak."

Bleak and also inaccurate.

1 Like

Kåre เลียม Enga

Nov 7, 2024 at 10:19pm
In response to "Past and Future Intents"

I must live in the present. In the past I daydreamed a lot... probably to escape the bruises of reality; however, I need to be more aware crossing streets or even how I get out of bed (no rapid movements without thinking of consequences).

I can envision a future more peaceful than the present because this time-and-place isn't the only "present" that's ever existed, and I do try to see the larger view (emphasis on 'try').

1 Like

September 10, 2023 at 9:13am

#1055524

Revisited: "Annoying Things"

We're not reaching very far into the bowels of the past in today's Revisited. Barely even penetrating the rectum, really.

Anything within the last 12 months is ineligible for revisiting, but this one's from May of last year: "Annoying Things"

Sometimes, to mix things up a little, I like to participate in blogging activities or contests. That entry was prompted by "Invalid Item"

. Another perennial favorite of mine is "Journalistic Intentions"

[18+], which I mention because there's a new round of that next month.

Plugs aside, the entry was, as per the title, about things that annoy me. Specifically, they're annoyances about living in Charlottesville, apart from the blindingly obvious annoyance of my town being internationally famous for a deadly protest/riot that mostly involved out-of-towners.

As I've noted before, when it's not freezing (defined by me as 55F or below) outside, I like to sit on my deck. I paid a lot of money for that thing and by Marduk's manhood, I'm going to use it.

I'd forgotten that particular oath. Along with "Thor's balls" and "Ishtar's tits," I'm going to need to remember it and use it more.

This is normally quite pleasant. Songbirds are tweeting (and not complaining about Elon Musk)...

You know what else is annoying? Every gods-damned news outlet still insists on reporting Xits, and always with a line like "...posted on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter." We get it. It's X now. Anyone who doesn't know this didn't know what Twatter was to begin with. So just call it X. Or Xitter (where the X is pronounced like sh). And call the blathering a Xit, like I just did. Also pronounced like sh, or maybe like z; either way works for me.

...bees are buzzing, owls are hooting (yes, yes, I did my Duolingo lessons; shut up)...

Over four years of daily Duolingo now. They keep changing the lesson plan. It's annoying. Mais je crois que j'apprends quelque chose.

Yes, very pleasant, except during the day and at night.

Sometimes, I forget what I wrote, and when I find it again, I crack me up. This was one of those times. That's another reason I like to do these retrospectives.

During the day, everyone gets their yard work done. This wouldn't be so bad if everyone did it at the same time. But no; that would be too kind. The neighbor mows his lawn. Then, when that's finally done, the other neighbors mow their lawn. After that one's finished, one of the people behind me mows their lawn. And then another. And then another.

For whatever reason, this hasn't been nearly as bad, this summer. It's been pointed out to me that this particular noise problem may have been the result of everyone using one lawn care company. But it's not. There are like four dozen different lawn care companies around here, and besides, most of the mowing in my neighborhood is done by the resident. Not mine, though. Too lazy.

And also the nightly muscle car race. For some reason, that's still a thing.

That hasn't stopped or slowed down. But the other night, I heard one of those 8-cylinder engines rev up and gear on down the residential streets. Then, I heard CRUNCH... followed by blessed silence.

For about 2 minutes, at which point the sirens started.

I'd like to say I hoped no one was injured, but I'd be lying. Let's leave it at "I hope no one died."

Oh, and as that entry was posted in late spring, I'd forgotten one of the massive annoyances of fall: every other damn Saturday, on average, UVA has a sportsball game. I live a bit over a mile from the stadium, just close enough to hear the announcer, the bands, and the roar of the crowd, but just far enough away so I can rarely understand what they're actually saying. They also use the stadium for other events, so this isn't limited to football.

I can usually ignore that, though. But last year, some rocket surgeon decided it would be a good idea to have some Air Force jets fly low overhead at great speed as part of the halftime show. That sucked, especially since they flew directly over my neighborhood, and you don't hear them until they're right on top of you (speed of sound and all that).

Anyway, it helps me sometimes to count my annoyances. Once I'm done with that, I can go back to being content with life.

3 Like • Comment • View 2 comments

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