Complex Extensions, Conjugate Primes

Conjugate Primes

In the complex plane, i2 is -1. The conjugate of u+vi is u-vi, the reflection of the point through the x axis. Verify that conjugate commutes with addition and multiplication. That is, the conjugate of the sum is the sum of the conjugates, and the conjugate of the product is the product of the conjugates.

It follows that u+vi is a factor of x+yi iff u-vi is a factor of x-yi. If you have the complete factorization for a complex number z, conjugate all those primes to get the unique factorization for the conjugate of z.

If a gaussian prime p happens to be a pure integer, and it divides x+yi, the quotient has to be (x/p)+(y/p)i, hence p divides both x and y.

If u+vi is a complex prime, could its conjugate, u-vi, be the same prime? If they are associates of each other, u+vi is multiplied by 1, -1, i, or -i, to get u-vi. If 1 or -1 is used, that forces u or v to zero. But u+vi is a complex prime, so both coordinates are nonzero. Using i or -i forces u = ±v. Now u±ui can only be prime if u = 1. In fact 1+i is prime, and its conjugate, 1-i, is the same prime, merely 1+i × -i. This is the only prime with 4 associates. All other primes have two associates, the prime and its opposite. This could be p and -p, or u+vi and -u-vi.

If the complex prime u+vi divides the real number n, take conjugates to show u-vi also divides n. If u = v = 1 then (1+i)×(1-i), or 2, divides n, and n is even. For any other values of u and v, u+vi and u-vi are different primes. They both divide n, hence n is divisible by u2+v2.