ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Complexification

Complexification is when we take something that is simple and make it more complicated by adding something new to it. It's like when we're playing with Lego and we start with a small tower and then add more blocks and shapes to make it bigger and more interesting.

In mathematics, complexification is when we take a real number (which is a number we can count with, like 1 or 5 or 10) and add a special new number to it called "i". This new number i is called an imaginary number because it's not a number we can count with like real numbers.

When we add i to a real number, we get what's called a complex number. Complex numbers are like a combination of real numbers and imaginary numbers. They have a special form where we write them as a real number plus an imaginary number, like 2+3i.

Complex numbers are really useful in math and science because they can help us solve more complicated problems that involve things like waves and electricity. They also have some cool properties, like the fact that when we multiply two complex numbers together, we can use a special trick called FOIL to simplify it.

In summary, complexification is when we take something simple and add something new to it to make it more complicated. In math, complexification involves adding an imaginary number to a real number to create a complex number, which can be really helpful for solving complex problems.