Quaternionic And Clifford Calculus For Physicists And Engineers

Quarternionic calculus covers a branch of mathematics which uses computational techniques to help solve problems from a wide variety of physical systems which are mathematically modelled in 3, 4 or more dimensions. Examples of the application areas include thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, geophysics and structural mechanics. Focusing on the Clifford algebra approach the authors have drawn together the research into quarternionic calculus to provide the non-expert or research student with an accessible introduction to the subject. This book fills the gap between the theoretical representations and the requirements of the user.

The use of Clifford algebras in mathematical physics and engineering has grown rapidly in recent years. Whereas other developments have privileged a geometric approach, this book uses an algebraic approach that can be introduced as a tensor product of quaternion algebras and provides a unified calculus for much of physics. It proposes a pedagogical introduction to this new calculus, based on quaternions, with applications mainly in special relativity, classical electromagnetism, and general relativity.

Quaternion and Clifford Fourier Transforms describes the development of quaternion and Clifford Fourier transforms in Clifford (geometric) algebra over the last 30 years. It is the first comprehensive, self-contained book covering this vibrant new area of pure and applied mathematics in depth. The book begins with a historic overview, followed by chapters on Clifford and quaternion algebra and geometric (vector) differential calculus (part of Clifford analysis). The core of the book consists of one chapter on quaternion Fourier transforms and one on Clifford Fourier transforms. These core chapters and their sections on more special topics are reasonably self-contained, so that readers already somewhat familiar with quaternions and Clifford algebra will hopefully be able to begin reading directly in the chapter and section of their particular interest, without frequently needing to skip back and forth. The topics covered are of fundamental interest to pure and applied mathematicians, physicists, and engineers (signal and color image processing, electrical engineering, computer science, computer graphics, artificial intelligence, geographic information science, aero-space engineering, navigation, etc.). Features Intuitive real geometric approach to higher-dimensional Fourier transformations A comprehensive reference, suitable for graduate students and researchers Includes detailed definitions, properties, and many full step-by-step proofs Many figures and tables, a comprehensive biography, and a detailed index make it easy to locate information

The invited papers in this volume provide a detailed examination of Clifford algebras and their significance to analysis, geometry, mathematical structures, physics, and applications in engineering. While the papers collected in this volume require that the reader possess a solid knowledge of appropriate background material, they lead to the most current research topics. With its wide range of topics, well-established contributors, and excellent references and index, this book will appeal to graduate students and researchers.

Quaternion and Clifford Fourier and wavelet transformations generalize the classical theory to higher dimensions and are becoming increasingly important in diverse areas of mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering. This edited volume presents the state of the art in these hypercomplex transformations. The Clifford algebras unify Hamilton’s quaternions with Grassmann algebra. A Clifford algebra is a complete algebra of a vector space and all its subspaces including the measurement of volumes and dihedral angles between any pair of subspaces. Quaternion and Clifford algebras permit the systematic generalization of many known concepts. This book provides comprehensive insights into current developments and applications including their performance and evaluation. Mathematically, it indicates where further investigation is required. For instance, attention is drawn to the matrix isomorphisms for hypercomplex algebras, which will help readers to see that software implementations are within our grasp. It also contributes to a growing unification of ideas and notation across the expanding field of hypercomplex transforms and wavelets. The first chapter provides a historical background and an overview of the relevant literature, and shows how the contributions that follow relate to each other and to prior work. The book will be a valuable resource for graduate students as well as for scientists and engineers.

The Clifford or geometric algebra (GA) is an algebra generated by a vector space with a bilinear form with some special properties. GA is more efficient than the matrix algebra because of the fact that the components of geometric algebra can be expressed without introducing any arbitrary basis and turned out to be a superior mathematical tool which provides a common mathematical language that aids a unified approach and understanding in topics across mathematics, physics and engineering. For example, complex variables, vectors, quaternions, matrix theory, differential forms, tensor calculus, spinors and twistors, are all subsumed under a common approach.The book begins with a brief historical introduction, followed by a description of the mathematical formalism of Clifford algebra. In particular, definitions, axiom and examples applied to two-dimensional and three-dimensional spaces have been presented. Section 1 gives an overview of the application of GA in Physics, focusing on geometric algebra pictures of both the plane wave solution of the Maxwell equation and special relativity, a toy model of SU(3) symmetry, and some preliminary thoughts about a possible geometric meaning of quantum mechanics. In particular, it is cleared that the internal spin structure of the particle is hidden in both Schrödinger and Dirac equations showing that the classical mechanics combined with zero-point field leads to quantum mechanics. Section 2 discusses the problem of quantization in quantum theory, a natural algebraic alternative definition of time, a coordinate-free formulation of General Relativity, a more unified and systematic description of flux compactifications and of supergravity and string compactifications in general. Finally, the last Section 3 begins with the study of the association of a quaternion algebra to the set of generalized Fibonacci quaternions by using the construction of Clifford algebras and concludes with the study of an important branch of modern analysis: The Clifford analysis.

The invited papers in this volume provide a detailed examination of Clifford algebras and their significance to analysis, geometry, mathematical structures, physics, and applications in engineering. While the papers collected in this volume require that the reader possess a solid knowledge of appropriate background material, they lead to the most current research topics. With its wide range of topics, well-established contributors, and excellent references and index, this book will appeal to graduate students and researchers.

The second part of a two-volume set concerning the field of Clifford (geometric) algebra, this work consists of thematically organized chapters that provide a broad overview of cutting-edge topics in mathematical physics and the physical applications of Clifford algebras. from applications such as complex-distance potential theory, supersymmetry, and fluid dynamics to Fourier analysis, the study of boundary value problems, and applications, to mathematical physics and Schwarzian derivatives in Euclidean space. Among the mathematical topics examined are generalized Dirac operators, holonomy groups, monogenic and hypermonogenic functions and their derivatives, quaternionic Beltrami equations, Fourier theory under Mobius transformations, Cauchy-Reimann operators, and Cauchy type integrals.