quadratic-irrational

A library for exact computation with quadratic irrationals with support for exact conversion from and to (potentially periodic) simple continued fractions.

A quadratic irrational is a number that can be expressed in the form

(a + b √c) / d

where a, b and d are integers and c is a square-free natural number.

Some examples of such numbers are

• 7/2,

• √2,

• (1 + √5)/2 (the golden ratio),

• solutions to quadratic equations with rational constants – the quadratic formula has a familiar shape.

A simple continued fraction is a number in the form

a + 1/(b + 1/(c + 1/(d + 1/(e + …))))

or alternatively written as

[a; b, c, d, e, …]

where a is an integer and b, c, d, e, … are positive integers.

Every finite SCF represents a rational number and every infinite, periodic SCF represents a quadratic irrational.

3.5      = [3; 2]
(1+√5)/2 = [1; 1, 1, 1, …]
√2       = [1; 2, 2, 2, …]