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A type of number orthogonal to both real and complex?

Posted 8 years ago

We typically draw the real and complex number lines orthogonal to one another, forming a plane. The big question is: does there exist a meaningful type of number line that we could use as an axis orthogonal to that plane? (I'm guessing no, but let's have some fun.)

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I suppose we could use any type of number line we wanted, but I'm looking for the most "natural" choice. So let's hear your wildest guesses for what the z-axis could be.

POSTED BY: Bryan Lettner
2 Replies

Hi,

you might wan too look at quaternions and octonions have a look at Hurwitz's 1,2,4,8 impossibility theorem on composition algebras. But then there are also other "schools of thought". ;-)

What might be relevant to this forum is that Quaternions have their own package in Mathematica. Quaternions are often used to efficiently compute rotations.

Cheers,

M.

POSTED BY: Marco Thiel
Posted 8 years ago

Perfect, thank you Marco. I think this is going to keep me busy for months.

POSTED BY: Bryan Lettner
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