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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:

Elisa the Bunny Stik

May 29, 2024 at 9:02am
In response to "Ordinary Average Guy"

I think we need to be careful about saying there's no difference in socializing between online and off. I saw the following in response to a comment about discussions of gender online and the stances taken by LGBTQ community members that are chronically online:

"Truth. I had to stop looking for queer spaces online because it was full of this and angry exclusion discourse. I found some queer spaces offline and it reminded me that most people are normal and chill."

This is a topic I will likely be visiting in my journal in July. I figured I'd at least get this response in here first as a warm-up.

1 Like

Elisa the Bunny Stik

May 28, 2024 at 1:46pm
In response to "Long in the Tooth"

I feel I was too busy as a teen to screw around in convenience stores. On the rare occasion I wasn't at school or working, I tended to hang out by myself. If I hung out with friends, it was usually at someone's house (rarely mine).

Elisa the Bunny Stik

May 27, 2024 at 11:42am
In response to "Olive It And More"

Every once in a while, someone will misread the order slip and give me green peppers, which are an abomination, instead of green olives.

They truly are an abomination. If you're going to put peppers on a pizza, make sure it's anything but those little soggy cardboard slice things. Hell, even poblanos would be a major upgrade.

1 Like

Elisa the Bunny Stik

May 27, 2024 at 11:38am
In response to "Coming Up the Pike"

Man, people on Fandom Secrets would be aghast at how much you like Strange New Worlds. Personally, I haven't seen much of it. However, I did watch an episode at the gym once and found it enjoyable. It gave me that fascinated feeling I had when watching The Next Generation as a kid.

1 Like

Elisa the Bunny Stik

May 27, 2024 at 11:13am
In response to "Burgundy"

I will admit that I'm not much of a wine drinker. I've had reds and whites but tend to prefer reds. Then again, when it comes to booze, I tend to prefer things that are more intense in flavor. White wines...tend not to be that way for me.

2 Like

Elisa the Bunny Stik

May 27, 2024 at 10:38am
In response to "Distrust the Process"

That being said, I do think that people going out of their way to demonize ultra-processed foods are causing just as many issues as lobbyists are. These folks' actions exacerbate eating disorders and nervous thinking around food insecurity in equal measure. I wish the conversation around this set of actions was louder.

3 Like

Elycia Lee ☮

May 27, 2024 at 10:31am
In response to "Distrust the Process"

To me, as long food is 100% natural, then it is healthy. Pretty much like fruits, veggies and rice. I know people have thoughts about whether rice is good or not, but it is natural food so... I shall go with that.

2 Like

Kåre Enga in Montana

May 25, 2024 at 3:13pm
In response to "Plan Solo"

I'm more introverted than extroverted, but my only apprehension involves language and cultural barriers.

I'm bi- or ambi- but... always annoying. I waver between wanting to be left alone and not wanting to be alone.

I make my adjustments as necessary.

But LANGUAGE and CULTURE: true barriers that can cause problems for some and angst for me. I love strangers but find it frustrating when I can't connect.

For Belgium: make those plans soon. Today's connectivity means booking lodging in advance. In the old days it was show-up-and-ask-if-they-have-a-room. Still possible but not recommended unless cost is not an issue.

I prefer staying in hostels but rarely join in 'events'. I have gone out with fellow travelers however.

Kåre Enga in Montana

May 25, 2024 at 2:58pm
In response to "Banned Camp"

I remember when the movie "Brokeback Mountain" received "F"s from folks who basically commented that they would never NEVER watch such filth. Even those who liked or enjoyed it missed the main theme of poverty (financial, cultural, individual...). Personally, I preferred the short story to the movie. Both made a point that America didn't/doesn't want to face: choice and lack of choice.

That said, if someone were to ban my poetry I could probably live off of the notoriety.

Burning at the stake though seems a more likely outcome.

2 Like

🌕 HuntersMoon

May 25, 2024 at 11:32am
In response to "Banned Camp"

"Any book worth banning is a book worth reading." Isaac Asimov

2 Like

May 3, 2019 at 12:45am

#958116

Heritage

Tell us a fact about one of your ancestors. Where does your family come from? How far back can you trace your ancestry?

Real family or birth family?

It only matters in terms of what you're trying to prove for yourself, I suppose. Birth family contributes genetics, obviously. As I've noted before, though, I have no real interest in seeking them out. Last thing I need at my age is to find another mother. Yes, I know who she is. As of a couple of years ago, she was still alive. Still no interest in contacting her.

As for real family, I talked about them in my last entry. So here's a fact I don't think I've disclosed: One of my grandmothers died in 1918. Dad never told me how; I think the memory was always too painful for him, even though he would have been too young to remember her. From what I've been able to piece together, I suspect it was the flu epidemic that was rampant at the time.

And that's as far back as it goes. Like most people, I suppose, I got curious after a while, and when the internet made it possible for me to be lazy and still determine my heritage, I tried tracing it back. My legal name is extremely rare, so I figured it should be easy, right? Nope. Grandparents, end of story, as if they sprang from the ether to which my lineage will return when I'm gone.

Well, that's not entirely true. I know who my maternal great-grandfather was. From him descended not only my grandfather and mother - neither of whom was in any way famous - but a particular family who shall remain nameless for security reasons, but whose influence on the world is decidedly malign. Sometimes you learn things you'd rather not.

In the words of both Popeye and God, I am what I am. I don't need to trace lineage back to find myself; I'm right here. I might as well be a child of Earth; apart from visible features such as the pale skin and blue eyes that marks me as primarily of Northern European extraction, there's nothing to prove anything for or against a heritage from anywhere on the planet. I am, in short, a lineage of one, world without end, amen. Even that is merely an accident of genetics, which I've already argued against as a meaningful measure of anything.

There's a freedom in that, you know. I'm not boxed in (well, apart from having a fractured relationship with the accursed daystar, which keeps me from frolicking in the outdoors - pale skin, remember). There are enough factors keeping us apart from each other; why not just acknowledge our shared humanity and not worry about artificial divisions? Go back far enough and we're all descended from the same (relatively) hairless ape, anyway.

I mean, I get wanting to know where you come from. I just think it's more relevant to know where you're going.

6 Like • Comment • View 7 comments

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