 |
Geometric Algebra
In mathematics, a geometric algebra (also known as a Clifford algebra) is an algebra that can represent and manipulate geometrical objects such as vectors. Geometric algebra is built out of two fundamental operations, addition and the geometric product. Multiplication of vectors results in higher-dimensional objects called multivectors. Compared to other formalisms for manipulating geometric objects, geometric algebra is noteworthy for supporting vector division (though generally not by all elements) and addition of objects of different dimensions. The geometric product was first briefly mentioned by Hermann Grassmann, who was chiefly interested in developing the closely related exterior algebra. In 1878, William Kingdon Clifford greatly expanded on Grassmann's work to form what are now usually called Clifford algebras in his honor (although Clifford himself chose to call them "geometric algebras"). Clifford defined the Clifford algebra and its product as a unification of the Gras ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include number theory (the study of numbers), algebra (the study of formulas and related structures), geometry (the study of shapes and spaces that contain them), Mathematical analysis, analysis (the study of continuous changes), and set theory (presently used as a foundation for all mathematics). Mathematics involves the description and manipulation of mathematical object, abstract objects that consist of either abstraction (mathematics), abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicspurely abstract entities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. Mathematics uses pure reason to proof (mathematics), prove properties of objects, a ''proof'' consisting of a succession of applications of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Bivector
In mathematics, a bivector or 2-vector is a quantity in exterior algebra or geometric algebra that extends the idea of scalars and vectors. Considering a scalar as a degree-zero quantity and a vector as a degree-one quantity, a bivector is of degree two. Bivectors have applications in many areas of mathematics and physics. They are related to complex numbers in two dimensions and to both pseudovectors and vector quaternions in three dimensions. They can be used to generate rotations in a space of any number of dimensions, and are a useful tool for classifying such rotations. Geometrically, a simple bivector can be interpreted as characterizing a directed plane segment (or oriented plane segment), much as vectors can be thought of as characterizing '' directed line segments''. The bivector has an ''attitude'' (or direction) of the plane spanned by and , has an area that is a scalar multiple of any reference plane segment with the same attitude (and in geometric algebra, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Complex Analysis
Complex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is helpful in many branches of mathematics, including algebraic geometry, number theory, analytic combinatorics, and applied mathematics, as well as in physics, including the branches of hydrodynamics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and twistor theory. By extension, use of complex analysis also has applications in engineering fields such as nuclear, aerospace, mechanical and electrical engineering. As a differentiable function of a complex variable is equal to the sum function given by its Taylor series (that is, it is analytic), complex analysis is particularly concerned with analytic functions of a complex variable, that is, '' holomorphic functions''. The concept can be extended to functions of several complex variables. Complex analysis is contrasted with real analysis, which dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Integral
In mathematics, an integral is the continuous analog of a Summation, sum, which is used to calculate area, areas, volume, volumes, and their generalizations. Integration, the process of computing an integral, is one of the two fundamental operations of calculus,Integral calculus is a very well established mathematical discipline for which there are many sources. See and , for example. the other being Derivative, differentiation. Integration was initially used to solve problems in mathematics and physics, such as finding the area under a curve, or determining displacement from velocity. Usage of integration expanded to a wide variety of scientific fields thereafter. A definite integral computes the signed area of the region in the plane that is bounded by the Graph of a function, graph of a given Function (mathematics), function between two points in the real line. Conventionally, areas above the horizontal Coordinate axis, axis of the plane are positive while areas below are n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
Differentiation (mathematics)
In mathematics, the derivative is a fundamental tool that quantifies the sensitivity to change of a function's output with respect to its input. The derivative of a function of a single variable at a chosen input value, when it exists, is the slope of the tangent line to the graph of the function at that point. The tangent line is the best linear approximation of the function near that input value. For this reason, the derivative is often described as the instantaneous rate of change, the ratio of the instantaneous change in the dependent variable to that of the independent variable. The process of finding a derivative is called differentiation. There are multiple different notations for differentiation. '' Leibniz notation'', named after Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, is represented as the ratio of two differentials, whereas ''prime notation'' is written by adding a prime mark. Higher order notations represent repeated differentiation, and they are usually denoted in Leibn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
 |
Geometric Calculus
In mathematics, geometric calculus extends geometric algebra to include differentiation and integration. The formalism is powerful and can be shown to reproduce other mathematical theories including vector calculus, differential geometry, and differential forms. Differentiation With a geometric algebra given, let a and b be vectors and let F be a multivector-valued function of a vector. The directional derivative of F along b at a is defined as :(\nabla_b F)(a) = \lim_, provided that the limit exists for all b, where the limit is taken for scalar \epsilon. This is similar to the usual definition of a directional derivative but extends it to functions that are not necessarily scalar-valued. Next, choose a set of basis vector In mathematics, a set of elements of a vector space is called a basis (: bases) if every element of can be written in a unique way as a finite linear combination of elements of . The coefficients of this linear combination are referred to as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Algebra Of Physical Space
Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic operations other than the standard arithmetic operations, such as addition and multiplication. Elementary algebra is the main form of algebra taught in schools. It examines mathematical statements using variables for unspecified values and seeks to determine for which values the statements are true. To do so, it uses different methods of transforming equations to isolate variables. Linear algebra is a closely related field that investigates linear equations and combinations of them called '' systems of linear equations''. It provides methods to find the values that solve all equations in the system at the same time, and to study the set of these solutions. Abstract algebra studies algebraic structures, which consist of a set of mathemat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Spacetime Algebra
In mathematical physics, spacetime algebra (STA) is the application of Clifford algebra Cl1,3(R), or equivalently the geometric algebra to physics. Spacetime algebra provides a "unified, coordinate-free formulation for all of special relativity, relativistic physics, including the Dirac equation, Maxwell's equations, Maxwell equation and General Relativity" and "reduces the mathematical divide between classical physics, classical, quantum mechanics, quantum and Relativistic quantum mechanics, relativistic physics." Spacetime algebra is a vector space that allows not only Vector (geometry), vectors, but also bivectors (directed quantities describing rotations associated with rotations or particular planes, such as areas, or rotations) or Blade (geometry), blades (quantities associated with particular hyper-volumes) to be combined, as well as rotation, rotated, Reflection (mathematics), reflected, or Lorentz boosted. It is also the natural parent algebra of spinors in special relati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Theory Of Relativity
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated physics theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in the absence of gravity. General relativity explains the law of gravitation and its relation to the forces of nature. It applies to the cosmological and astrophysical realm, including astronomy. The theory transformed theoretical physics and astronomy during the 20th century, superseding a 200-year-old theory of mechanics created primarily by Isaac Newton. It introduced concepts including 4-dimensional spacetime as a unified entity of space and time, relativity of simultaneity, kinematic and gravitational time dilation, and length contraction. In the field of physics, relativity improved the science of elementary particles and their fundamental interactions, along with ushering in the nuclear age. With relativity, cosmolog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Orthogonal Projection
In linear algebra and functional analysis, a projection is a linear transformation P from a vector space to itself (an endomorphism) such that P\circ P=P. That is, whenever P is applied twice to any vector, it gives the same result as if it were applied once (i.e. P is idempotent). It leaves its image unchanged. This definition of "projection" formalizes and generalizes the idea of graphical projection. One can also consider the effect of a projection on a geometrical object by examining the effect of the projection on points in the object. Definitions A projection on a vector space V is a linear operator P\colon V \to V such that P^2 = P. When V has an inner product and is complete, i.e. when V is a Hilbert space, the concept of orthogonality can be used. A projection P on a Hilbert space V is called an orthogonal projection if it satisfies \langle P \mathbf x, \mathbf y \rangle = \langle \mathbf x, P \mathbf y \rangle for all \mathbf x, \mathbf y \in V. A projection on a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
Blade (geometry)
In the study of geometric algebras, a -blade or a simple -vector is a generalization of the concept of scalars and vectors to include ''simple'' bivectors, trivectors, etc. Specifically, a -blade is a -vector that can be expressed as the exterior product (informally ''wedge product'') of 1-vectors, and is of '' grade'' . In detail: * A 0-blade is a scalar. * A 1-blade is a vector. Every vector is simple. * A 2-blade is a ''simple'' bivector. Sums of 2-blades are also bivectors, but not always simple. A 2-blade may be expressed as the wedge product of two vectors and : *: a \wedge b . * A 3-blade is a simple trivector, that is, it may be expressed as the wedge product of three vectors , , and : *: a \wedge b \wedge c. * In a vector space of dimension , a blade of grade is called a ''pseudovector'' or an '' antivector''. *The highest grade element in a space is called a ''pseudoscalar'', and in a space of dimension is an -blade. * In a vector space of dimension , there are di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
|
Trivector
In multilinear algebra, a multivector, sometimes called Clifford number or multor, is an element of the exterior algebra of a vector space . This algebra is graded, associative and alternating, and consists of linear combinations of simple -vectors (also known as decomposable -vectors or -blades) of the form : v_1\wedge\cdots\wedge v_k, where v_1, \ldots, v_k are in . A -vector is such a linear combination that is ''homogeneous'' of degree (all terms are -blades for the same ). Depending on the authors, a "multivector" may be either a -vector or any element of the exterior algebra (any linear combination of -blades with potentially differing values of ). In differential geometry, a -vector is usually a vector in the exterior algebra of the tangent vector space of a smooth manifold; that is, it is an antisymmetric tensor obtained by taking linear combinations of the exterior product of tangent vectors, for some integer . A differential -form is a -vector in the exterior al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |