My opinion: The major way Pynchon uses imaginary numbers in Against the Day. Anti-reality.

[Mark Kohut]

HCRIchardson, historian: " In response to the news that House speaker Kevin
McCarthy has put Santos on the House Science Committee, Foster tweeted: “As
the only recipient of the Wilson Prize for High-Energy Particle Accelerator
Physics serving in Congress, it can get lonely. Not anymore!... I’m
thrilled to be joined on the Science Committee by my Republican colleague
Dr. George Santos, winner of not only the Nobel Prize, but also the Fields
Medal—the top prize in Mathematics—for his groundbreaking work with
imaginary numbers.”