In mathematics, hypercomplex number is a traditional term for an element of a finite-dimensional unital algebra over the field of real numbers. The study of hypercomplex numbers in the late 19th century forms the basis of modern group representation theory.
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.
The cataloguing project began in 1872 when Benjamin Peirce first published his Linear Associative Algebra, and was carried forward by his son Charles Sanders Peirce. [1] Most significantly, they identified the nilpotent and the idempotent elements as useful hypercomplex numbers for classifications. The Cayley–Dickson construction used involutions to generate complex numbers, quaternions, and octonions out of the real number system. Hurwitz and Frobenius proved theorems that put limits on hypercomplexity: Hurwitz's theorem says finite-dimensional real composition algebras are the reals , the complexes , the quaternions , and the octonions , and the Frobenius theorem says the only real associative division algebras are , , and . In 1958 J. Frank Adams published a further generalization in terms of Hopf invariants on H-spaces which still limits the dimension to 1, 2, 4, or 8. [2]
It was matrix algebra that harnessed the hypercomplex systems. For instance, 2 x 2 real matrices were found isomorphic to coquaternions. Soon the matrix paradigm began to explain several others as they were represented by matrices and their operations. In 1907 Joseph Wedderburn showed that associative hypercomplex systems could be represented by square matrices, or direct products of algebras of square matrices. [3] [4] From that date the preferred term for a hypercomplex system became associative algebra , as seen in the title of Wedderburn's thesis at University of Edinburgh. Note however, that non-associative systems like octonions and hyperbolic quaternions represent another type of hypercomplex number.
As Thomas Hawkins [5] explains, the hypercomplex numbers are stepping stones to learning about Lie groups and group representation theory. For instance, in 1929 Emmy Noether wrote on "hypercomplex quantities and representation theory". [6] In 1973 Kantor and Solodovnikov published a textbook on hypercomplex numbers which was translated in 1989. [7] [8]
Karen Parshall has written a detailed exposition of the heyday of hypercomplex numbers, [9] including the role of mathematicians including Theodor Molien [10] and Eduard Study. [11] For the transition to modern algebra, Bartel van der Waerden devotes thirty pages to hypercomplex numbers in his History of Algebra. [12]
A definition of a hypercomplex number is given by Kantor & Solodovnikov (1989) as an element of a unital, but not necessarily associative or commutative, finite-dimensional algebra over the real numbers. Elements are generated with real number coefficients for a basis . Where possible, it is conventional to choose the basis so that . A technical approach to hypercomplex numbers directs attention first to those of dimension two.
Theorem: [7] : 14, 15 [13] [14] Up to isomorphism, there are exactly three 2-dimensional unital algebras over the reals: the ordinary complex numbers, the split-complex numbers, and the dual numbers. In particular, every 2-dimensional unital algebra over the reals is associative and commutative.
Proof: Since the algebra is 2-dimensional, we can pick a basis {1, u}. Since the algebra is closed under squaring, the non-real basis element u squares to a linear combination of 1 and u:
for some real numbers a0 and a1.
Using the common method of completing the square by subtracting a1u and adding the quadratic complement a2
1 / 4 to both sides yields
Thus where The three cases depend on this real value:
The complex numbers are the only 2-dimensional hypercomplex algebra that is a field. Algebras such as the split-complex numbers that include non-real roots of 1 also contain idempotents and zero divisors , so such algebras cannot be division algebras. However, these properties can turn out to be very meaningful, for instance in describing the Lorentz transformations of special relativity.
In a 2004 edition of Mathematics Magazine the 2-dimensional real algebras have been styled the "generalized complex numbers". [15] The idea of cross-ratio of four complex numbers can be extended to the 2-dimensional real algebras. [16]
A Clifford algebra is the unital associative algebra generated over an underlying vector space equipped with a quadratic form. Over the real numbers this is equivalent to being able to define a symmetric scalar product, u ⋅ v = 1/2(uv + vu) that can be used to orthogonalise the quadratic form, to give a basis {e1, ..., ek} such that:
Imposing closure under multiplication generates a multivector space spanned by a basis of 2k elements, {1, e1, e2, e3, ..., e1e2, ..., e1e2e3, ...}. These can be interpreted as the basis of a hypercomplex number system. Unlike the basis {e1, ..., ek}, the remaining basis elements need not anti-commute, depending on how many simple exchanges must be carried out to swap the two factors. So e1e2 = −e2e1, but e1(e2e3) = +(e2e3)e1.
Putting aside the bases which contain an element ei such that ei2 = 0 (i.e. directions in the original space over which the quadratic form was degenerate), the remaining Clifford algebras can be identified by the label Clp,q(), indicating that the algebra is constructed from p simple basis elements with ei2 = +1, q with ei2 = −1, and where indicates that this is to be a Clifford algebra over the reals—i.e. coefficients of elements of the algebra are to be real numbers.
These algebras, called geometric algebras, form a systematic set, which turn out to be very useful in physics problems which involve rotations, phases, or spins, notably in classical and quantum mechanics, electromagnetic theory and relativity.
Examples include: the complex numbers Cl0,1(), split-complex numbers Cl1,0(), quaternions Cl0,2(), split-biquaternions Cl0,3(), split-quaternions Cl1,1() ≈ Cl2,0() (the natural algebra of two-dimensional space); Cl3,0() (the natural algebra of three-dimensional space, and the algebra of the Pauli matrices); and the spacetime algebra Cl1,3().
The elements of the algebra Clp,q() form an even subalgebra Cl[0]
q+1,p() of the algebra Clq+1,p(), which can be used to parametrise rotations in the larger algebra. There is thus a close connection between complex numbers and rotations in two-dimensional space; between quaternions and rotations in three-dimensional space; between split-complex numbers and (hyperbolic) rotations (Lorentz transformations) in 1+1-dimensional space, and so on.
Whereas Cayley–Dickson and split-complex constructs with eight or more dimensions are not associative with respect to multiplication, Clifford algebras retain associativity at any number of dimensions.
In 1995 Ian R. Porteous wrote on "The recognition of subalgebras" in his book on Clifford algebras. His Proposition 11.4 summarizes the hypercomplex cases: [17]
All of the Clifford algebras Clp,q() apart from the real numbers, complex numbers and the quaternions contain non-real elements that square to +1; and so cannot be division algebras. A different approach to extending the complex numbers is taken by the Cayley–Dickson construction. This generates number systems of dimension 2n, n = 2, 3, 4, ..., with bases , where all the non-real basis elements anti-commute and satisfy . In 8 or more dimensions (n ≥ 3) these algebras are non-associative. In 16 or more dimensions (n ≥ 4) these algebras also have zero-divisors.
The first algebras in this sequence are the four-dimensional quaternions, eight-dimensional octonions, and 16-dimensional sedenions. An algebraic symmetry is lost with each increase in dimensionality: quaternion multiplication is not commutative, octonion multiplication is non-associative, and the norm of sedenions is not multiplicative.
The Cayley–Dickson construction can be modified by inserting an extra sign at some stages. It then generates the "split algebras" in the collection of composition algebras instead of the division algebras:
Unlike the complex numbers, the split-complex numbers are not algebraically closed, and further contain nontrivial zero divisors and nontrivial idempotents. As with the quaternions, split-quaternions are not commutative, but further contain nilpotents; they are isomorphic to the square matrices of dimension two. Split-octonions are non-associative and contain nilpotents.
The tensor product of any two algebras is another algebra, which can be used to produce many more examples of hypercomplex number systems.
In particular taking tensor products with the complex numbers (considered as algebras over the reals) leads to four-dimensional bicomplex numbers (isomorphic to tessarines ), eight-dimensional biquaternions , and 16-dimensional complex octonions .
In algebra, a division ring, also called a skew field, is a nontrivial ring in which division by nonzero elements is defined. Specifically, it is a nontrivial ring in which every nonzero element a has a multiplicative inverse, that is, an element usually denoted a–1, such that a a–1 = a–1 a = 1. So, (right) division may be defined as a / b = a b–1, but this notation is avoided, as one may have a b–1 ≠ b–1 a.
In mathematics, a Clifford algebra is an algebra generated by a vector space with a quadratic form, and is a unital associative algebra with the additional structure of a distinguished subspace. As K-algebras, they generalize the real numbers, complex numbers, quaternions and several other hypercomplex number systems. The theory of Clifford algebras is intimately connected with the theory of quadratic forms and orthogonal transformations. Clifford algebras have important applications in a variety of fields including geometry, theoretical physics and digital image processing. They are named after the English mathematician William Kingdon Clifford (1845–1879).
In mathematics, the octonions are a normed division algebra over the real numbers, a kind of hypercomplex number system. The octonions are usually represented by the capital letter O, using boldface O or blackboard bold . Octonions have eight dimensions; twice the number of dimensions of the quaternions, of which they are an extension. They are noncommutative and nonassociative, but satisfy a weaker form of associativity; namely, they are alternative. They are also power associative.
In mathematics, the quaternion number system extends the complex numbers. Quaternions were first described by the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space. The algebra of quaternions is often denoted by H, or in blackboard bold by Quaternions are not a field, because multiplication of quaternions is not, in general, commutative. Quaternions provide a definition of the quotient of two vectors in a three-dimensional space. Quaternions are generally represented in the form
In mathematics, the Cayley–Dickson construction, named after Arthur Cayley and Leonard Eugene Dickson, produces a sequence of algebras over the field of real numbers, each with twice the dimension of the previous one. The algebras produced by this process are known as Cayley–Dickson algebras, for example complex numbers, quaternions, and octonions. These examples are useful composition algebras frequently applied in mathematical physics.
In mathematics, an algebra over a field is a vector space equipped with a bilinear product. Thus, an algebra is an algebraic structure consisting of a set together with operations of multiplication and addition and scalar multiplication by elements of a field and satisfying the axioms implied by "vector space" and "bilinear".
In mathematics, and more specifically in abstract algebra, a *-algebra is a mathematical structure consisting of two involutive ringsR and A, where R is commutative and A has the structure of an associative algebra over R. Involutive algebras generalize the idea of a number system equipped with conjugation, for example the complex numbers and complex conjugation, matrices over the complex numbers and conjugate transpose, and linear operators over a Hilbert space and Hermitian adjoints. However, it may happen that an algebra admits no involution.
In abstract algebra, a branch of mathematics, a simple ring is a non-zero ring that has no two-sided ideal besides the zero ideal and itself. In particular, a commutative ring is a simple ring if and only if it is a field.
In algebra, a split complex number is based on a hyperbolic unitj satisfying A split-complex number has two real number components x and y, and is written The conjugate of z is Since the product of a number z with its conjugate is an isotropic quadratic form.
In abstract algebra, the algebra of hyperbolic quaternions is a nonassociative algebra over the real numbers with elements of the form
In abstract algebra, in particular in the theory of nondegenerate quadratic forms on vector spaces, the finite-dimensional real and complex Clifford algebras for a nondegenerate quadratic form have been completely classified as rings. In each case, the Clifford algebra is algebra isomorphic to a full matrix ring over R, C, or H, or to a direct sum of two copies of such an algebra, though not in a canonical way. Below it is shown that distinct Clifford algebras may be algebra-isomorphic, as is the case of Cl1,1(R) and Cl2,0(R), which are both isomorphic as rings to the ring of two-by-two matrices over the real numbers.
In abstract algebra, the biquaternions are the numbers w + xi + yj + zk, where w, x, y, and z are complex numbers, or variants thereof, and the elements of {1, i, j, k} multiply as in the quaternion group and commute with their coefficients. There are three types of biquaternions corresponding to complex numbers and the variations thereof:
In abstract algebra, the split-quaternions or coquaternions form an algebraic structure introduced by James Cockle in 1849 under the latter name. They form an associative algebra of dimension four over the real numbers.
In mathematics, a quaternion algebra over a field F is a central simple algebra A over F that has dimension 4 over F. Every quaternion algebra becomes a matrix algebra by extending scalars, i.e. for a suitable field extension K of F, is isomorphic to the 2 × 2 matrix algebra over K.
In mathematics, a composition algebraA over a field K is a not necessarily associative algebra over K together with a nondegenerate quadratic form N that satisfies
In mathematics, a split-biquaternion is a hypercomplex number of the form
In abstract algebra, a bicomplex number is a pair (w, z) of complex numbers constructed by the Cayley–Dickson process that defines the bicomplex conjugate , and the product of two bicomplex numbers as
A non-associative algebra (or distributive algebra) is an algebra over a field where the binary multiplication operation is not assumed to be associative. That is, an algebraic structure A is a non-associative algebra over a field K if it is a vector space over K and is equipped with a K-bilinear binary multiplication operation A × A → A which may or may not be associative. Examples include Lie algebras, Jordan algebras, the octonions, and three-dimensional Euclidean space equipped with the cross product operation. Since it is not assumed that the multiplication is associative, using parentheses to indicate the order of multiplications is necessary. For example, the expressions (ab)(cd), (a(bc))d and a(b(cd)) may all yield different answers.
In mathematics, Hurwitz's theorem is a theorem of Adolf Hurwitz (1859–1919), published posthumously in 1923, solving the Hurwitz problem for finite-dimensional unital real non-associative algebras endowed with a nondegenerate positive-definite quadratic form. The theorem states that if the quadratic form defines a homomorphism into the positive real numbers on the non-zero part of the algebra, then the algebra must be isomorphic to the real numbers, the complex numbers, the quaternions, or the octonions, and that there are no other possibilities. Such algebras, sometimes called Hurwitz algebras, are examples of composition algebras.
In differential geometry, a quaternionic manifold is a quaternionic analog of a complex manifold. The definition is more complicated and technical than the one for complex manifolds due in part to the noncommutativity of the quaternions and in part to the lack of a suitable calculus of holomorphic functions for quaternions. The most succinct definition uses the language of G-structures on a manifold. Specifically, a quaternionic n-manifold can be defined as a smooth manifold of real dimension 4n equipped with a torsion-free -structure. More naïve, but straightforward, definitions lead to a dearth of examples, and exclude spaces like quaternionic projective space which should clearly be considered as quaternionic manifolds.