Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!crdgw1!ethiopia!mallick
From: mallick@ethiopia.crd.ge.com (john a mallick)
Newsgroups: sci.electronics
Subject: Re: Why sqrt(-1)=j and not sqrt(-1)=i
Keywords: imaginary...
Message-ID: <19102@crdgw1.crd.ge.com>
Date: 30 Apr 91 21:28:07 GMT
References: <1139@helps.cactus.org> <1085@zds-oem.UUCP>
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Reply-To: mallick@ethiopia.crd.ge.com (john a mallick)
Organization: GE Corp. Research and Development, Schenectady, NY
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To add more fuel to the fire, I seem to recall that someone once
mentioned that 
i = -j ;  both still have the property that i^2 = j^2 = -1.  There seemed to be
this disconnect between the engineers and the physicists regarding how to use
complex exponentials to represent sinusoids.  The engineers (at least EE's) use
exp(j*wt) = cos(wt) + j sin(wt) and you get sin(wt) by either using
Im(exp(j*wt))
or Re(-j*exp(j*wt)).  The physicists prefer to stay away from the
Imaginary-part-of stuff and stick with Re(i*exp(-i*wt)).  It all depends
where you like to put the - sign.  

Maybe this should go to alt.folklore.physics...

John Mallick WA1HNL