Rafal Ablamowicz - Böcker

This text introduces mathematicians and physicists to a crossing point of algebra, physics, differential geometry and complex analysis. It follows the French tradition of Cartan, Chevalley and Crumeyrolle and summarizes Crumeyrolle's own work on exterior algebra and spinor structures. The depth and breadth of Crumeyrolle's research interests and influence in the field is investigated in a number of articles. Of interest to physicists is the modern presentation of Crumeyrolle's approach to Weyl spinors and to his spinoriality groups, which are formulated with spinor operators of Kustaanheimo and Hestenes. The Dirac equation and Dirac operator are studied both from the complex analytic and differential geometric points of view, in the modern sense of Ryan and Trautman. This book is intended for mathematicians and mathematical physicists whose research involves algebra, quantum mechanics and differential geometry.

The subject of Clifford (geometric) algebras offers a unified algebraic framework for the direct expression of the geometric concepts underlying the mathematical theories of linear and multilinear algebra, projective and affine geometries, and differential geometry. This bird's-eye view of Clifford (geometric) algebras and their applications is presented by six of the world's leading experts in the field.Key topics and features of this systematic exposition:* An Introductory chapter on Clifford Algebras by Pertti Lounesto* Ian Porteous (Chapter 2) reveals the mathematical structure of Clifford algebras in terms of the classical groups* John Ryan (Chapter 3) introduces the basic concepts of Clifford analysis, which extends the well-known complex analysis of the plane to three and higher dimensions* William Baylis (Chapter 4) investigates some of the extensive applications that have been made in mathematical physics, including the basic ideas of electromagnetism and special relativity* John Selig (Chapter 5) explores the successes that Clifford algebras, especially quaternions and bi-quaternions, have found in computer vision and robotics* Tom Branson (Chapter 6) discusses some of the deepest results that Clifford algebras have made possible in our understanding of differential geometry* Editors (Appendix) give an extensive review of various software packages for computations with Clifford algebras including standalone programs, on-line calculators, special purpose numeric software, and symbolic add-ons to computer algebra systemsThis text will serve beginning graduate students and researchers in diverse areas---mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering; it will be useful both for newcomers who have little prior knowledge of the subject and established professionals who wish to keep abreast of the latest applications.

The first 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. This volume is devoted specifically to the mathematical aspects of Clifford algebras and their applications in physics. Algebraic geometry, cohomology, non-communicative spaces, "q"-deformations and the related quantum groups, and projective geometry provide the basis for algebraic topics covered. Physical applications and extensions of physical theories such as the theory of quaternionic spin, a projective theory of hadron transformation laws, and electron scattering are also presented, showing the broad applicability of Clifford geometric algebras in solving physical problems. Treatment of the structure theory of quantum Clifford algebras, the connection to logic, group representations, and computational techniques including symbolic calculations and theorem proving rounds out the presentation.

The plausible relativistic physical variables describing a spinning, charged and massive particle are, besides the charge itself, its Minkowski (four) po­ sition X, its relativistic linear (four) momentum P and also its so-called Lorentz (four) angular momentum E # 0, the latter forming four trans­ lation invariant part of its total angular (four) momentum M. Expressing these variables in terms of Poincare covariant real valued functions defined on an extended relativistic phase space [2, 7J means that the mutual Pois­ son bracket relations among the total angular momentum functions Mab and the linear momentum functions pa have to represent the commutation relations of the Poincare algebra. On any such an extended relativistic phase space, as shown by Zakrzewski [2, 7], the (natural?) Poisson bracket relations (1. 1) imply that for the splitting of the total angular momentum into its orbital and its spin part (1. 2) one necessarily obtains (1. 3) On the other hand it is always possible to shift (translate) the commuting (see (1. 1)) four position xa by a four vector ~Xa (1. 4) so that the total angular four momentum splits instead into a new orbital and a new (Pauli-Lubanski) spin part (1. 5) in such a way that (1. 6) However, as proved by Zakrzewski [2, 7J, the so-defined new shifted four a position functions X must fulfill the following Poisson bracket relations: (1.

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.

Clifford algebras are at a crossing point in a variety of research areas, including abstract algebra, crystallography, projective geometry, quantum mechanics, differential geometry and analysis. For many researchers working in this field in ma- thematics and physics, computer algebra software systems have become indispensable tools in theory and applications. This edited survey book consists of 20 chapters showing application of Clifford algebra in quantum mechanics, field theory, spinor calculations, projective geometry, Hypercomplex algebra, function theory and crystallography. Many examples of computations performed with a variety of readily available software programs are presented in detail, i.e., Maple, Mathematica, Axiom, etc. A key feature of the book is that it shows how scientific knowledge can advance with the use of computational tools and software.