Embedding of real numbers in complex numbers (original) (raw)

Constructing a complex number with an imaginary component equal to an integer zero simply returns the real number corresponding to the real component:

C{ 1 2 } C{ 3 -2 } + .
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Constructing a complex number with an imaginary component equal to floating point zero will still output a new complex number, however:

C{ 0.0 2.0 } C{ 0.0 1.0 } * .
C{ -2.0 0.0 }

Unlike math, where all real numbers are also complex numbers, Factor only considers a number to be a complex number if its imaginary part is non-zero. However, complex number operations are fully supported for real numbers; they are treated as having an imaginary part of zero.