In a message dated 2/1/99 6:38:53 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
> Hi.
> Just to continue the delightfully irrelevant string of almost-off-topic
> posts, I note that -3i (where i is the square root of -1) has the same
> absolute value as 3, so it IS as small a factor, by some definition.
I have seen definitions of factoring that define 1, -1, i, -i as "units", and
prove that every integer can be factored uniquely into the product of positive
prime integers and one "unit". So yes, -3i is a factor, but it should be
considered "composite."
