Complex Numbers, Transformations and Fractals

The Expanding Number System

It all starts with the Natural Numbers {0, 1, 2, 3, 4, …}. As long as we
stick to adding and multiplying them, we never need any other sort of
number. But what about subtracting? Try 8 − 5; no problem. But what if
we try 5 − 8 ? The answer to that isn’t part of our number system – yet.
So we extend the number system to include {…, −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, …}
- the Integers. Now we can add, multiply and subtract and never leave the
integers. But what if we want to divide?
So we extend the system to include { 25 ,3 14 , 83 , etc etc} - the Rational
Numbers. Now we can add, multiply, subtract and divide (except by 0 -
but that’s another story), and never leave the rational numbers. But what
about finding square roots?
So we extend the system to include irrational numbers {√2, π etc etc}.
Together the rational and irrational numbers are called the Real Numbers.
All the numbers we have so far can be shown on a number line:

−3 −2 −1 0 1 √2 2 5/2 3 π 4 5 6
It can be proved that the real numbers completely fill up the number line -
every dot on the line corresponds to a real number. So is that it? Have we
reached the end of the line - included all the numbers there are to find? But
what about √ −1 ? We haven’t got a number for that yet.
So we extend the system to include √ −1 , which we give the symbol i. So
i2 = −1. Just this one symbol gives us a whole lot more numbers. For
example √ −9 = √ 9×−1 = √ 9 × √−1 = 3i.
We can add, subtract, multiply, divide, i with all the real numbers to get
numbers such as 3 + 4i, √5 − i, etc, etc. All these numbers together are
called the Complex Numbers.
And now that really is it. We don’t need any more numbers - no matter
what operations we perform on complex numbers, the result is always a
1 1
complex number. Even √i is just another complex number (it is √ 2 + √ 2 i -
you can check this in a minute).
Arithmetic with complex numbers
This is really quite easy. Just treat the i as you would in ordinary algebra,
except that any time you see i2, replace it with −1. (Division is a bit more
tricky - we will skip that.)
For example, if a = 2 + i and b = 3 − 5i, then
1) a + b = 5 − 4i 2) a − b = −1 + 6i
3) ab = (2 + i)(3 − 5i) = 6 −10i + 3i − 5i2 = 11 − 7i
1 1
Exercise: If p = 3 + 4i, q = 5 + 12i, r = 4 + i and s = √ 2 + √ 2 i , calculate the
following:
1) p + q 2) p − q 3) p + r 4) q − r 5) pq 6) pr
7)r 8) r (r ×r) 9) r 10) s2
2 3 2 4
11) s4 12) s8
But how would we show these numbers on a diagram? The real numbers
completely fill up the number line, so there is no room for the other
complex numbers there.
We need an extra dimension - instead of a number line, we have a number
plane called the “complex plane” or “Argand diagram”, with two axes -
the Real axis, which is the original number line, and the Imaginary axis,
which is
labelled i, 2i, 3i,
etc. Then every a-b
6i
complex
number
4i
corresponds to a
point on this
plane. To the 2i
a
right is a
complex plane 0
showing the -6 -4 -2 2 4 6 8 10 12
points -2i
corresponding
a+b
to the numbers -4i
b
a, b, etc, from
the example -6i
above. ab

Exercise: Draw
a complex plane to illustrate the numbers p, q, r, p+q and p−q from the
exercise above. How is the point for p+q related geometrically to the
points for p and for q? What about the point for p−q ?
Adding and subtracting complex numbers is very similar to adding and
subtracting vectors. But what about multiplying them?
Exercise:
1) (a) Draw a complex plane to illustrate the numbers p, q and pq from
the exercise on the previous page. Draw a line from the origin to
each point.
(b) Find the length of each of these lines. (Use Pythagoras.) What do
you notice?
(c) Find the angle which each of the lines makes with the positive x-
axis. (Use trigonometry or a protractor!) What do you notice?
(d) Can you form a hypothesis about how the position in the complex
plane of a product ab is related to the positions of a and b?
2) Draw another diagram showing the points p, r and pr. Repeat Q1
with these points. Do these fit in with your rule? Look at the
diagram on the previous sheet showing a, b and ab. Do they fit the
rule?
3) Draw a diagram showing r, r2, r3 and r4. Do they fit in with your
rule? What would happen if you plotted r5, r6, etc?
4) Do s, s2, s4, and s8 fit in with the rule?

The distance from the origin to a point z is called the modulus of z, and the
angle which the line Oz makes with the positive real axis is called the
argument of z (strange name, but that’s what it is). So when multiplying
complex numbers, we multiply their moduli and add their arguments.
Transformations of the complex plane
Suppose we have an equation linking two complex numbers z and w - for
example w = z + 1 + 3i. Then we can show this on two complex planes -
one showing the original points z, and the other the new points w. For
example, on the left hand diagram below, three points are marked: z1 = 2 +
i, z2 = 4 + i, and z3 = 4 + 2i.
Applying the equation w = z + 1 + 3i to each point in turn gives w1 = z1 + 1
+ 3i = (2 + i) + 1 + 3i = 3 + 4i and similarly for w2 and w3. These image
points are shown on the right hand diagram.
 w = z + 1 + 3i

z - plane w - plane
6i 6i
w3
4i 4i w1 w2

2i z3
2i
z1 z2

0 0
-6 -4 -2 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 2 4 6
-2i -2i

-4i -4i

-6i -6i

Obviously the equation w = z + 1 + 3i corresponds to a translation . We

can find equations corresponding to all the usual types of transformation,
such as rotations, reflections, enlargements. But we can also find equations
which give rise to lots of new types of transformations.
Exercise: Draw a z-plane like the one above, including the triangle of
points z1, z2, and z3. Use the equation w = iz to work out image points w1,
w2 and w3. Draw a w-plane and on it mark these points. What
transformation does this equation correspond to? (By thinking about the
effect of multiplying complex numbers on their moduli and arguments, you
should work out why.)
Computer Exercise: We can explore mappings further using WinLab.
Log on to the network, and go to Apps on the L: Drive. Click on Maths,
then WinLab, then WinLab (the icon is a cone with a slice through it).
This opens a starter window. Choose Window, Mapper. You will see two
windows containing axes, and a small window with a menu bar at the top.
It is this menu bar which we mostly use.
First we will copy the diagram you have just drawn by hand. Click on
Edit, Real Mode to get rid of the tick there. Click on Edit, Mapping, and
type iz into the mapping box. Click on Draw, Freehand. Now use the
mouse to draw a triangle in the left hand complex plane. (You need a
steady hand for this, but it doesn’t matter if it is wobbly!) You will see the
image triangle appear in the right hand complex plane.
Now we can explore other mappings.
1) Click on Edit, Mapping and type in −z. Draw a shape in the left hand
window. (If you need to wipe the left hand plane clean, click on View,
Clear.) What transformation is represented by w = −z ?
2) Repeat with the mappings:
(a) w = 2 – z (b) w = 4i – z (c) w = 2 + 4i – z
Can you write down a mapping which would represent a rotation through
180° about a point z1 (where z1 is a complex number?
3) Repeat with the mapping w = 3z (this may appear to produce an
identical copy, but look at the scale on the axes). What transformation
does this represent?
4) Repeat with the mapping w = (1+i)z. What two transformations does
this represent?
5) All the transformations so far have been fairly conventional ones. Now
try w = z2 (the easiest way to type this in is zz). Draw a few shapes to get
the feel of this (eg try drawing a large square). This transformation twists
the plane up - to see this, click on Draw, Grid, which draws a series of red
vertical lines on the z-plane, and their images on the w-plane, and then
repeats with blue horizontal lines.
1
6) Try also w = z (Type in 1/z. The program will complain a bit about
overflow, because it can’t do 1 ÷ 0, but just click OK and it will cope.) A
large square on this should transform to a sort of 4-leaf clover. Try Draw,
Grid again to see why.
7) Try some of your own.
Iterating a Transformation
Iteration is the process of repeating a transformation over and over again,
with the output of each iteration becoming the input for the next. For
1 1
example, using the mapping z à z2, and a starting value z0 = 2 + 2 i , gives:
2 1 2 1 2
z1 = ( ( 12 + 12 i ) = 2
i z2 = ( ( 12 i ) i)2 = − 4 z3 = (− 14 ) = … etc.

Exercise: Draw a complex plane and plot the points z0 to z4 on it. This set
of points is called the ORBIT of + i.
Work out the first five points in the orbit of 1 – i, and plot these on your
diagram too. What is happening to the points in the orbit as we perform
the iteration more times? Can you explain why the behaviour differs?
Computer Exercise: To illustrate this process on the computer, start
WinFeed, (click on Apps, then Maths, then Winfeed). Click on Window,
Julia Set. (It will start drawing a pretty looking graph – we will be coming
back to graphs like this.) Note that Winfeed draws its graphs in “waves”
putting in more detail each time; to interrupt it, just press the space bar.
These “Julia sets” are based on a transformation z à z2 + c, where c (the
“Julia constant”) can be any number. Click on Adjust, then Julia Constant
and make a=0 and b=0 (the Julia constant is a+bi, so this makes the
transformation z à z2). Click on Draw. The graph will change to a black
circle. Click on View, then Axes to show the axes.
Click on Orbit, then Keyboard Start, and start the orbit at 0.5+0.5i (ie make
a=0.5 and b=0.5). By pressing the space bar, you can see the successive
points in the orbit (and the coordinates are shown in the title bar at the top).
Check that this agrees with your own calculations in the exercise above.
Then start a new orbit with 1 – i and check this.
Now try these starting values:
(a) 0.8 + 0.59i (b) 0.8 + 0.6i (c) 0.8 + 0.61i.
Can you explain the different behaviours which occur?
The Julia set for the transformation (which is the black part of the graph)
is the set of points for which the orbit does not diverge. So for the
transformation z à z2, the Julia set is a circle radius 1. (The different
shades outside the circle indicate the rate at which these points diverge).
Now try the transformation z à z2 – 1. Click on Adjust, then Julia
constant, and set a= –1 , b=0. Then click on Draw. Try starting an orbit at
z=1. What happens? Now try various other staring points (rather than
using keyboard start, you can just left-click anywhere on the graph to select
a starting point). Try some points in different parts of the black bit, then
outside the black bit (but near the edge of it – in the reddish bit, otherwise
they will diverge very quickly).
This Julia set is clearly much more complicated than a circle. To see how
complicated, you can right-click on the graph to zoom in to it. By right-
clicking near the boundary you will see that each “wrinkle” has smaller
“wrinkles” on it, and those wrinkles have smaller ones, and so on… - this
graph is a fractal.
Now try adjusting the transformation to z à z2 + (0.25+0.5i) and
experiment. Try some of your own, too.
Now try z à z2 + 0.5. In this graph the Julia set has fragmented – in fact it
is a set of isolated points. It is not easy to find points which are in the Julia
set since they are nearly all irrational, but if you start an orbit at:
z0 = 0.45477475554549571833 - 0.46879073677195335816i
then it should jump around from black dot to black dot, before coming to
rest at 0.5+0.5i. (you might not need all those decimal places, but you
need at least 10). Try a few other starting points; even if you aim at the
dark bits the orbit will probably diverge.
To see how the shape of the Julia set changes for different values of c in
the transformation z à z2 + c, click on Window (at the top of Winfeed)
and select Mandelbrot set. Click on Click, and make sure that Tour has a
tick next to it. Now by clicking at a certain point on this graph, you will
see the outline of the Julia set for that value of c. So if you click at the
origin 0, you see the Julia set for z à z2, which is a circle. Move to –1 to
see the Julia set for z à z2 – 1. Experiment with this.
Finally, what is the Mandelbrot set? It is the set of values of c for which
the corresponding Julia set is connected. So long as you keep c in the
black area, the Julia set is one connected area (even if some of the “straits”
joining different “lakes” are very narrow). For values of c outside the
Mandelbrot set, the Julia set becomes a set of isolated points or “dust”.
The Mandelbrot set has been called the most complex mathematical object
yet discovered. You can right click on it in Winfeed to zoom in. For
pretty pictures, though, try using WinFract (find it in Apps, Maths,
WinFract). This doesn’t do the mathematical bits like plotting orbits etc,
but it does produce stunning graphics. The use of the mouse is different in
WinFract. Right click at a point on the Mandelbrot set to see the Julia set
for that value of c. Right click again to return to the Mandelbrot set. To
zoom, point at the spot you want to magnify, and drag to draw a rectangle.
Release the mouse button. The rectangle remains, and can be moved if
necessary by dragging it. To perform the actual zoom, double click inside
the rectangle. You can also save a screen you particularly like (save it in
your own area though please!).
I hope you have found this introduction to complex numbers and fractals
interesting. All the software used is free – if you want a copy of it, bring a
floppy disc and I will copy it.