# Do the real numbers and the complex numbers have the same cardinality?

So it's easy to show that the rationals and the integers have the same size, using everyone's favorite spiral-around-the-grid.

Can the approach be extended to say that the set of complex numbers has the same cardinality as the reals?

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One can show that $|\mathbb R| = |\mathbb R^2| = |\mathbb C|$ – Stefan Nov 26 '12 at 19:05

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It's quite sad, but it's easier to write an answer than finding the duplicate. And I am sure this question has been asked before. – Asaf Karagila Nov 26 '12 at 19:08

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– Brian M. Scott Nov 26 '12 at 19:31

## 3 Answers

Yes.

$$|\mathbb R|=2^{\aleph_0}; |\mathbb C|=|\mathbb{R\times R}|=|\mathbb R|^2.$$

We have if so:

$$|\mathbb C|=|\mathbb R|^2 =(2^{\aleph_0})^2 = 2^{\aleph_0\cdot 2}=2^{\aleph_0}=|\mathbb R|$$

If one wishes to write down an explicit function, one can use a function of $\mathbb{N\times 2\to N}$, and combine it with a bijection between $2^\mathbb N$ and $\mathbb R$.

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Of course. I will show it on numbers in $[0,1)$ and $[0,1)\times[0,1)$. Consider $z=x+iy$ with $x=0.x_1x_2x_3\ldots$ and $y=0.y_1y_2y_3\ldots$ their decimal expansions (the standard, greedy ones with no $9^\omega$ as a suffix). Then the number $f(z)=0.x_1y_1x_2y_2x_3y_3\ldots$ is real and this map is clearly injective on the above mentioned sets. Generalization to the whole $\mathbb C$ is straighforward. This gives $\#\mathbb C\leq\#\mathbb R$. the other way around is obvious.

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This requires a bit more work. The map isn’t well-defined until you deal with the $0.4999\dots=0.5000\dots$ issue; if you deal with that straightforwardly, it’a nor surjective. – Brian M. Scott Nov 26 '12 at 19:14
Yes, you are right. However, they all all (complex) rational hence of no interest for the sets of continuum cardinality. I'll add a comment. – tohecz Nov 26 '12 at 19:16
And btw, usually a string with suffix $9^\omega$ is not considered to be an expansion (it is only a representation), in the usual greedy expansions as defined by Rényi in 1957. – tohecz Nov 26 '12 at 19:22
I’ve never seen anyone make a distinction between representation and expansion, and I very much doubt that the distinction can be considered standard; certainly it does not qualify as well-known, so if you use it, you need to explain it. – Brian M. Scott Nov 26 '12 at 19:29

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And yes, I know that only countably many numbers are affected and that this does not affect the result, but I don’t know that the OP knows this. – Brian M. Scott Nov 26 '12 at 19:33
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One particularly nice class of bijections from $\Bbb R$ to $\Bbb C = \Bbb R^2$, which is in my opinion a little bit similar to the spiral around the grid, is given by the space-filling curves.

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