1 Answers
An algebraic number is a number that is a root of a non-zero polynomial in one variable with integer coefficients. For example, the golden ratio, / 2 {\displaystyle /2} , is an algebraic number, because it is a root of the polynomial x − x − 1. That is, it is a value for x for which the polynomial evaluates to zero. As another example, the complex number 1 + i {\displaystyle 1+i} is algebraic because it is a root of x + 4.
All integers and rational numbers are algebraic, as are all roots of integers. Real and complex numbers that are not algebraic, such as π and e, are called transcendental numbers.
The set of algebraic numbers is countably infinite and has measure zero in the Lebesgue measure as a subset of the uncountable complex numbers. In that sense, almost all complex numbers are transcendental.