In mathematics, a real-valued function is a function whose values are real numbers. In other words, it is a function that assigns a real number to each member of its domain. Real-valued functions of a real variable (commonly called real functions) and real-valued functions of several real variables are the main object of study of calculus and, more generally, real analysis. In particular, many function spaces consist of real-valued functions. Let be the set of all functions from a set X to real numbers .
In mathematics, value may refer to several, strongly related notions. In general, a mathematical value may be any definite mathematical object. In elementary mathematics, this is most often a number – for example, a real number such as pi or an integer such as 42. The value of a variable or a constant is any number or other mathematical object assigned to it. The value of a mathematical expression is the result of the computation described by this expression when the variables and constants in it are assigned values.
Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathematics, including algebraic geometry, number theory, analytic combinatorics, applied mathematics; as well as in physics, including the branches of hydrodynamics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and twistor theory. By extension, use of complex analysis also has applications in engineering fields such as nuclear, aerospace, mechanical and electrical engineering.
In mathematics (particularly in complex analysis), the argument of a complex number z, denoted arg(z), is the angle between the positive real axis and the line joining the origin and z, represented as a point in the complex plane, shown as in Figure 1. It is a multivalued function operating on the nonzero complex numbers. To define a single-valued function, the principal value of the argument (sometimes denoted Arg z) is used. It is often chosen to be the unique value of the argument that lies within the interval .
In mathematics, the complex plane is the plane formed by the complex numbers, with a Cartesian coordinate system such that the x-axis, called the real axis, is formed by the real numbers, and the y-axis, called the imaginary axis, is formed by the imaginary numbers. The complex plane allows a geometric interpretation of complex numbers. Under addition, they add like vectors.