Taking the imaginary to the imaginary

Algebra Level 3

Evaluate

i i = ? \large i^i=\ ?

Undefined 1 e 2 n π π 2 , n Z e^{2n\pi - \frac \pi 2},\ n\in\Z i i 0 e π 2 e^{\frac{-\pi}{2}} \infty

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2 solutions

Chew-Seong Cheong
Jun 15, 2020

By Euler's formula , e θ i = cos θ + i sin θ e^{\theta i} = \cos \theta + i \sin \theta , we have i i = e ( 2 n π + π 2 ) i × i = e 2 n π π 2 \large \blue i^i = \blue e^{\blue{\left(2n\pi + \frac \pi 2\right)i}\times i} = \boxed{e^{2n\pi -\frac \pi 2}} , where n n is an integer.

James Watson
Jun 15, 2020

First of all, note that i i = e i ln ( i ) i^i = e^{i\ln(i)}

ln ( i ) \ln(i) is tricky, but by using Euler's formula ( e i θ = cos θ + i sin θ ) \left(e^{i\theta}=\cos\theta + i\sin\theta\right) we can determine that e i π 2 = cos ( π 2 ) + i sin ( π 2 ) = 0 + i ( 1 ) = i e^{i\frac{\pi}{2}}=\cos\left(\frac{\pi}{2}\right) + i\sin\left(\frac{\pi}{2}\right)=0+i(1)=i

Knowing this, we see that ln ( i ) = ln ( e i π 2 ) = i π 2 \ln(i)=\ln\left(e^{i\frac{\pi}{2}}\right)=i\frac{\pi}{2} and we can conclude that i i = e i ( i π 2 ) = e π 2 i^i=e^{i\left(i\frac{\pi}{2}\right)}=e^\frac{-\pi}{2}

However, this is not the only answer because Euler's formula works π 2 \frac{\pi}{2} plus all positive and negative multiples of 2 π 2\pi (think about rotating all the way around a circle to end back at the start position, in this case π 2 \frac{\pi}{2} )

Therefore we can finally conclude that, having n n be a constant that exists in the set of all positive and negative integers:

i i = e i ( i π 2 + 2 i π n ) = e 2 π n π 2 , n Z i^i=e^{i\left(i\frac{\pi}{2}+2i\pi n\right)}=\boxed{e^{2\pi n - \frac{\pi}{2}}, n\in\Z}

Edit: Didn't include the 2 π n 2\pi n inside θ \theta

Where did you add the 2 π n 2 \pi n ? Or, are you sure you used the brackets in the correct places?

Atomsky Jahid - 12 months ago

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ah yes, i see. i forgot to include 2 π n 2\pi n in the θ \theta and i just added it. thanks for pointing that out @Atomsky Jahid

James Watson - 12 months ago

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There will be no i i in the final answer.

Atomsky Jahid - 12 months ago

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@Atomsky Jahid yeah its e π 2 2 π n , n Z e^{\frac{-\pi}{2}-2\pi n}, n\in\Z . i upvoted your report

James Watson - 12 months ago

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@James Watson Can you change the correct answer? If you are able to do it, I will remove the report.

Atomsky Jahid - 12 months ago

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@Atomsky Jahid i cant change it, i submitted a report to the mods as well :)

James Watson - 12 months ago

@Atomsky Jahid its annoying that you cant do it

James Watson - 12 months ago

The answer to the problem and the answer here are not the same. The answer to the problem is wrong. Please change it.

Ved Pradhan - 12 months ago

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have done. thanks for letting me know :D

James Watson - 12 months ago

0 pending reports

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