{"id":104,"date":"2006-08-07T19:53:33","date_gmt":"2006-08-07T19:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scientopia.org\/blogs\/goodmath\/2006\/08\/07\/quaternions-upping-the-dimensions-of-complex-numbers\/"},"modified":"2006-08-07T19:53:33","modified_gmt":"2006-08-07T19:53:33","slug":"quaternions-upping-the-dimensions-of-complex-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/2006\/08\/07\/quaternions-upping-the-dimensions-of-complex-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Quaternions: upping the dimensions of complex numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quaternions
\nLast week, after I wrote about complex numbers, a bunch of folks wrote and said “Do quaternions next!” My basic reaction was “Huh?” I somehow managed to get by without ever being exposed to quaternions before. They’re quite interesting things.
\nThe basic idea behind quaterions is: we see some amazing things happen when we expand the dimensionality of numbers from 1 (the real numbers) to 2 (the complex numbers). What if we add *more* dimensions?
\nIt doesn’t work for three dimensions But you *can* create a system of numbers in *four* dimensions. As with complex numbers, you need a distinct unit for each dimension. In complex, those were 1 and i. For quaternions, you need for units: we’ll call them “1”, “i”, “j”, and “k”. In quaternion math, the units have the following properties:
\n1. i2<\/sup> = j2<\/sup> = k2<\/sup> = ijk = -1
\n2. ij = k, jk = i, and ki=j
\n3. ji = -k, kj = -i, and ik=-j
\nNo, that last one is *not* an error. Quaternion multiplication is *not* commutative: ab &neq; ba. It *is* associative over multiplication, meaning (a*b)*c = a*(b*c). And fortunately, it’s both commutative and associative over addition.
\nAnyway, we write a quaternion as “a + bi + cj + dk”; as in “2 + 4i -3j + 7k”.
\nAside from the commutativity thing, quaternions work well as numbers; they’re a non-abelian group over multiplication (assuming you omit 0); they’re an abelian group over addition; they form a division algebra *over* the reals (meaning that you can define an algebra with operations up to multiplication and division over the quaternions, and operations in this algebra will generate the same results as normal real algebra if the i,j, and k components are 0.)
\nHistory
\n———
\nQuaternions are a relatively recent creation, so we know the history quite precisely. Quaternions were invented by a gentleman named William Hamilton on October 16th, 1843, while walking over the Broom bridge with his wife. He had been working on trying to work out something like the complex numbers with more dimensions for a while, and the crucial identity “ijk=-1” struck him while he was walking over the bridge. He immediately *carved it into the bridge* before he forgot it. Fortunately, this act of vandalism wasn’t taken seriously: the Broom bridge now has a plaque commemorating it!
\n\"Quaternion_Plague_on_Broom_Bridge.jpg\"
\nQuaternions were controversial from the start. The fundamental step that Hamilton had taken in making quaternions work was abandoning commutativity, and many people believed that this was simply *wrong*. For example, Lord Kelvin said “Quaternions came from Hamilton after his really good work had been done; and, though beautifully ingenious, have been an unmixed evil to those who have touched them in any way.”
\nWhy are they non-commutative?
\n——————————-
\nQuaternions are decidedly strange things. As I mentioned above, they’re non-commutative. Doing math with things where ab &neq; ba was a *huge* step, and it can be strange. But it is necessary for quaternions. Here’s why.
\nLet’s take the fundamental identity of quaternions: ijk = -1
\nNow, let’s multiply both sides by k: ij(k2<\/sup>) = -1k
\nSo, ij(-1)=-k, and ij=k.
\nNow, multiply by *i* on the left on both sides: i2<\/sup>j = ik
\nAnd so, -1j = ik, and ik=-j.
\nKeep playing with multiplication in the identities, and you find that the identities simple *do not work* unless it’s non-commutative.
\nWhat are they good for?
\n————————-
\nFor the most part, quaternions aren’t used much anymore. Initially, they were used in many places where we now use complex vectors, but that’s mostly faded away. What they *are* used for is all sorts of math that in any way involves *rotation*. Quaternions capture the essential properties of rotation.
\nTo describe a rotation well, you actually need to have *extra* dimensions. To describe an *n*-dimensional rotation, you need *n+2* dimensions. Since in our three dimensional world, we rotate things around a *line* which is two dimensional, the description of the rotation needs *four* dimensions. And further, rotation itself is non-commutative.
\nTake a book and put it flat on the table, with the binding to the left. Flip it so that the binding stays on the same side, but now you’ve got the back cover on top, upside-down. Then rotate it clockwise 90 degrees on the table. You now have the book with its back cover up, and the binding facing away from you.
\nNow, start over: book right side up, binding facing left. Rotate it clockwise 90 degrees. Now flip it the same way you did before (over the x axis if you think of left as -x, right as +x, away from you as +y, up as +z, etc.)
\n\"rotate.jpg\"
\nWhat’s the result? You get the book with its back cover up, and the binding factor *towards* you. It’s 180 degrees different depending on which order you do it in. And 180 degrees is a reverse equivalent to the sign difference that you get in quaternion multiplication! Quaternions have exactly the right properties for describing rotations – and in particular, the *composition* of rotations.
\nThe use of quaternions for rotations is used in computer graphics (when something rotates on the screen of your PS2, it’s doing quaternion math!); in satellite navigation; and in relativity equations (for symmetry wrt rotation).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quaternions Last week, after I wrote about complex numbers, a bunch of folks wrote and said “Do quaternions next!” My basic reaction was “Huh?” I somehow managed to get by without ever being exposed to quaternions before. They’re quite interesting things. The basic idea behind quaterions is: we see some amazing things happen when we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-goodmath","category-numbers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4lzZS-1G","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.goodmath.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}