3 ms·
I have to disagree that quaternions underlie Special Relativity. Although special relativity does use 4-vectors, those aren't quaternions.
by Ono-Sendai 8y ago
I have to disagree that quaternions underlie Special Relativity. Although special relativity does use 4-vectors, those aren't quaternions.
- madhadron 8y agoI remember going down that path when I was an undergraduate. Fortunately I had a very experienced theorist to hand who explained that, yes, people did try that, but stopped bothering because it doesn't generalize to general relativity, and there was no point keeping two mathematical toolboxes around when you could have one.
- eigenspace 8y agoClifford algebras are great for both SR and GR and have all the properties that one likes in quaternions (and more)
- blutfink 8y agoThere are equivalent formulations of SR using quaternions.
- throwaway37585 8y agoBut do they generalize to GR?
- soVeryTired 8y agoNo, which is why the quaternionic approach isn't generally presented in textbooks. I think taylor and wheeler's SR book touches on it as an aside.