Root of Unity
The
th roots of unity
are roots
of the
cyclotomic equation
which are known as the de Moivre numbers. The notations
,
, and
, where the value of
is understood by
context, are variously used to denote the
th
th root of unity.
is always an
th root of unity,
but
is such a root only if
is even. In general,
the roots of unity form a regular polygon with
sides, and each vertex lies on the unit
circle.
cyclotomic factorization




