Meanings
plural Gaussian integers
- algebraAny complex number of the form a + bi, where a and b are integers.
3 more examples
We could say that a Gaussian integer is larger than another if its norm is larger, that is, if its distance from the origin is larger. That's all right, although it has the peculiarity that 5 is larger than -7 as an integer, but smaller than -7 as a Gaussian integer! In a way, this notion of larger makes more sense: shouldn't -7 be considered larger than 5?
1997, Bernard L. Johnston, Fred Richman, Numbers and Symmetry: An Introduction to Algebra, CRC Press, page 442000, André Weilert, Asymptotically fast GCD Computation in ℤ[i], Wieb Bosma (editor), Algorithmic Number Theory: 4th International Symposium, ANTS-IV, Proceedings, Springer, LNCS 1838, page 595, We present an asymptotically fast algorithm for the computation of the greatest common divisor (GCD) of two Gaussian integers.
2008, Timothy Gowers, June Barrow-Green, Imre Leader (editors), The Princeton Companion to Mathematics, Princeton University Press, page 319, For example, in the ring of Gaussian integers, R_-1, we have the factorizations 2=(1+i)(1-i), 5=(1+2i)(1-2i), 13=(2+3i)(2-3i), 17=(1+4i)(1-4i), 29=(2+5i)(2-5i), ⋮ where all the Gaussian integer factors in brackets above are irreducible elements of the ring of Gaussian integers.
Cite this entry
Gaussian integer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gaussian%20integer
“Gaussian integer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gaussian%20integer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Gaussian integer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gaussian%20integer.
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