Imaginary Numbers: An Absurd Starting Point or a Mathematical Necessity?

If a negative number multiplied by itself equals a positive number, then it’s hard to understand the square root of a negative number. [1]

I read somewhere, but I cannot find the source: “When we teach complex numbers, we usually start with an absurd assumption. We define i to be the square root of -1. Then, we construct this elegant theory. But since we start with an absurd assumption, many people have this lingering doubt. We don’t have to start from an absurd point.” Yes, the statement is right I think. What is this absurd point that is the starting point for imaginary numbers and hence for complex numbers?

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Not applicable

The datasets used in this study are openly available at [repository link] and the source code is available on GitHub at [GitHub link].

This work did not receive any external funding.