Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In mathematics, quaternions are a non-commutative number system that extends the complex numbers.Quaternions and their applications to rotations were first described in print by Olinde Rodrigues in all but name in 1840, [1] but independently discovered by Irish mathematician Sir William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space.
Therefore, nonzero, non-scalar quaternions, or positive scalar quaternions, have exactly two roots, while 0 has exactly one root (0), and negative scalar quaternions have infinitely many roots, which are the vector quaternions located on {} (), i.e., where the scalar part is zero and the vector part is located on the 2-sphere with radius .
William Rowan Hamilton invented quaternions, a mathematical entity in 1843. This article describes Hamilton's original treatment of quaternions, using his notation and terms. Hamilton's treatment is more geometric than the modern approach, which emphasizes quaternions' algebraic properties. Mathematically, quaternions discussed differ from the ...
In particular, the Mad Hatter's tea party was meant to represent the folly of quaternions and the need to revert to Euclidean geometry. [58] In September 2022 evidence was presented to counter this suggestion, which appears to have been based on an incorrect understanding of both quaternions and their history. [59]
Pages in category "Historical treatment of quaternions" The following 14 pages are in this category, out of 14 total. This list may not reflect recent changes .
The Hurwitz quaternions form an order (in the sense of ring theory) in the division ring of quaternions with rational components. It is in fact a maximal order; this accounts for its importance. The Lipschitz quaternions, which are the more obvious candidate for the idea of an integral quaternion, also form an order.
It can also be realized as the subgroup of unit quaternions generated by [10] = / and =. The generalized quaternion groups have the property that every abelian subgroup is cyclic. [ 11 ] It can be shown that a finite p -group with this property (every abelian subgroup is cyclic) is either cyclic or a generalized quaternion group as defined ...
In the nineteenth century, number systems called quaternions, tessarines, coquaternions, biquaternions, and octonions became established concepts in mathematical literature, added to the real and complex numbers. The concept of a hypercomplex number covered them all, and called for a discipline to explain and classify them.