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Do Complex Numbers Exist?

Sabine Hossenfelder · 854.4K views · 2021-03-06 · 11:26

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Overview

Sabine Hossenfelder asks whether complex numbers are just a convenient tool or necessary in physics. She discusses a recent paper arguing that quantum mechanics cannot be done with real numbers alone.

On Hacker News

HN recommends it as a short, accessible layperson explanation of the real-versus-complex quantum theory debate.

Recommended by 3 HN people across 3 months · HN mentions 2021–2023

Topics

Quantum physicsPure mathematics
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complex numbersquantum mechanicsphysicssabine hossenfelder

What people said

viktorcode · 2022-02 · Strong recommendation

I highly recommend video by Sabine Hossenfelder [1] on this topic. She's explaining the topic in layman terms, starting from what does it mean to exist (or be real) in physical sense. Complex numbers, as useful as they are, just an abstraction, a tool which can be replaced with different forms of calculations. That makes the question of "reality" rather complex (pardon the pun). [1] [VIDEO]

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ars · 2023-04 · Recommendation

This video by Sabine Hossenfelder is probably more informative on this topic: [VIDEO] (it discusses this paper).

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johnp271 · 2021-12 · Recommendation

There is a nice 10 minute discussion about this paper by physicist Sabine Hossenfelder on her "Science without the gobbelydgook" youtube series (which I recommend). She considers the existential questions regarding necessity of complex numbers a "super-niche nerd fight". You can find the video here [VIDEO] .

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Sources

Video by Sabine Hossenfelder, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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