algebraic number

algebraic number
1. a root of an algebraic equation with integral coefficients.
2. root1 (def. 10b).
[1930-35]

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      real number for which there exists a polynomial equation with integer coefficients such that the given real number is a solution. Algebraic numbers include all of the natural numbers, all rational numbers, some irrational numbers, and complex numbers of the form pi + q, where p and q are rational, and i is the square root of −1. For example, i is a root of the polynomial x2 + 1 = 0. Numbers, such as that symbolized by the Greek letter π, that are not algebraic are called transcendental numbers. The mathematician Georg Cantor (Cantor, Georg) proved that, in a sense that can be made precise, there are many more transcendental numbers than there are algebraic numbers, even though there are infinitely many of these latter.

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Universalium. 2010.

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