[Math] What does the notation $z\in\mathbb{C}\backslash\mathbb{R}$ mean

notation

I know that $z\in\mathbb{C}/ \mathbb{R}$ means that the domain is the complex plane with the real line removed.

What does the notation $z\in\mathbb{C}\backslash \mathbb{R}$ mean?

EDIT:

Turns out that I got things backwards. If $\mathbb{C}\backslash \mathbb{R}$ is the set difference, what does $\mathbb{C}/ \mathbb{R}$ actually mean?

Best Answer

$z \in \mathbb{C} \setminus \mathbb{R}$ means that $z$ is a complex number that is not a real number. I.e., any number of the form $a+bi$ where $b \not= 0$.

The "backslash" $\setminus$ is the set-difference or set-minus operation. In general $A \setminus B$ is the set of all $x \in A$ such that $x \not\in B$.

The "forward slash" $/$ is a quotient operator. $\mathbb{C}/\mathbb{R}$ would be the set of all cosets of $\mathbb{R}$ in $\mathbb{C}$; these cosets each contain complex numbers whose imaginary components are equal.

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