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Square roots of negative numbers are called imaginary because in early-modern mathematics, only what are now called real numbers, obtainable by physical measurements or basic arithmetic, were considered to be numbers at all – even negative numbers were treated with skepticism – so the square root of a negative number was previously considered undefined or nonsensical.
Although there are no real square roots of −1, the complex number i satisfies i 2 = −1, and as such can be considered as a square root of −1. [2] The only other complex number whose square is −1 is − i because there are exactly two square roots of any non‐zero complex number, which follows from the fundamental theorem of algebra.
An illustration of the complex plane. The imaginary numbers are on the vertical coordinate axis. Although the Greek mathematician and engineer Heron of Alexandria is noted as the first to present a calculation involving the square root of a negative number, [6] [7] it was Rafael Bombelli who first set down the rules for multiplication of complex numbers in 1572.
A positive number has two square roots, one positive, and one negative, which are opposite to each other. When talking of the square root of a positive integer, it is usually the positive square root that is meant. The square roots of an integer are algebraic integers—more specifically quadratic integers.
The two square roots of a negative number are both imaginary numbers, and the square root symbol refers to the principal square root, the one with a positive imaginary part. For the definition of the principal square root of other complex numbers, see Square root § Principal square root of a complex number.
The principal square root of a real positive semidefinite matrix is real. [3] The principal square root of a positive definite matrix is positive definite; more generally, the rank of the principal square root of A is the same as the rank of A. [3] The operation of taking the principal square root is continuous on this set of matrices. [4]
A square root of a number x is a number r which, when squared, becomes x: =. Every positive real number has two square roots, one positive and one negative. For example, the two square roots of 25 are 5 and −5. The positive square root is also known as the principal square root, and is denoted with a radical sign:
Euler's identity is also a special case of the more general identity that the n th roots of unity, for n > 1, add up to 0: = = Euler's identity is the case where n = 2. A similar identity also applies to quaternion exponential: let {i, j, k} be the basis quaternions; then,