Cube root polar angle by three in order to define a cube root. With this definition, the principal cube root of a negative number is a complex number, and for instance will not be −2, but rather . This difficulty can also be solved by considering the cube root as a multivalued function: if we write the original complex number "x" in three equivalent forms, namely The principal complex cube roots of these three forms are then respectively Unless , these three complex numbers are distinct, even though the three representations of "x" were equivalent. For example, may then be calculated to
Root of unity modulo n it is not a primitive root, then there would be some divisor ℓ of "k", with formula_57. In order to exclude this possibility, one has only to check for a few ℓ's equal "k" divided by a prime. That is, what needs to be checked is: Among the primitive "k"-th roots of unity, the primitive formula_23-th roots are most frequent. It is thus recommended to try some integers for being a primitive formula_23-th root, what will succeed quickly. For a primitive formula_23-th root "x", the number formula_30 is a primitive formula_25-th root of unity. If "k" does not divide formula_23,