Derivation of the Euler-Rodrigues formula for three-dimensional rotations from the general formula for four-dimensional rotations

dc.creatorMebius, Johan Ernest
dc.date2007-01-26
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T07:43:19Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T07:43:19Z
dc.descriptionThe general 4D rotation matrix is specialised to the general 3D rotation matrix by equating its leftmost top element (a00) to 1. Its associate matrix of products of the left-hand and right-hand quaternion components is specialised correspondingly. Inequalities involving the angles through which the coordinate axes in 3D space are displaced are used to prove that the left-hand and the right-hand quaternions are each other's inverses, thus proving the Euler-Rodrigues formula. A general procedure to determine the Euler parameters of a given 3D rotation matrix is sketched. By equating the leftmost top element to -1 instead of +1 in the general 4D rotation matrix, one proves the counterpart of the Euler-Rodrigues formula for 3D rotoreflections. Keywords: Euler--Rodrigues formula, Euler parameters, quaternions, four--dimensional rotations, three--dimensional rotations, rotoreflections
dc.description5 references; about 2500 words
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/math/0701759
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/math/0701759
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/122779
dc.subjectGeneral Mathematics
dc.subject20G20 (Primary), 51N20 (Secondary)
dc.titleDerivation of the Euler-Rodrigues formula for three-dimensional rotations from the general formula for four-dimensional rotations
dc.typetext

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