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number > algebraic number

Preferred term

algebraic number  

Definition

  • An algebraic number is a number that is a root of a non-zero polynomial in one variable with integer (or, equivalently, rational) coefficients. For example, the golden ratio, , is an algebraic number, because it is a root of the polynomial x2x − 1. That is, it is a value for x for which the polynomial evaluates to zero. As another example, the complex number is algebraic because it is a root of x4 + 4.
    All integers and rational numbers are algebraic, as are all roots of integers. Real and complex numbers that are not algebraic, such as π and e, are called transcendental numbers.
    The set of algebraic numbers is countably infinite and has measure zero in the Lebesgue measure as a subset of the uncountable complex numbers. In that sense, almost all complex numbers are transcendental.
    (Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_number)

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http://data.loterre.fr/ark:/67375/PSR-V3F2M3LL-D

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