An Introduction to Clifford Algebras and Spinors

An Introduction to Clifford Algebras and Spinors PDF Author: Jayme Vaz Jr.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198782926
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
This work is unique compared to the existing literature. It is very didactical and accessible to both students and researchers, without neglecting the formal character and the deep algebraic completeness of the topic along with its physical applications.

An Introduction to Clifford Algebras and Spinors

An Introduction to Clifford Algebras and Spinors PDF Author: Jayme Vaz Jr.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198782926
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
This work is unique compared to the existing literature. It is very didactical and accessible to both students and researchers, without neglecting the formal character and the deep algebraic completeness of the topic along with its physical applications.

Clifford Algebras and Spinors

Clifford Algebras and Spinors PDF Author: Pertti Lounesto
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521005515
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
This is the second edition of a popular work offering a unique introduction to Clifford algebras and spinors. The beginning chapters could be read by undergraduates; vectors, complex numbers and quaternions are introduced with an eye on Clifford algebras. The next chapters will also interest physicists, and include treatments of the quantum mechanics of the electron, electromagnetism and special relativity with a flavour of Clifford algebras. This edition has three new chapters, including material on conformal invariance and a history of Clifford algebras.

Clifford Algebras: An Introduction

Clifford Algebras: An Introduction PDF Author: D. J. H. Garling
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107096383
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
A straightforward introduction to Clifford algebras, providing the necessary background material and many applications in mathematics and physics.

Clifford Algebra to Geometric Calculus

Clifford Algebra to Geometric Calculus PDF Author: David Hestenes
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9789027725615
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Matrix algebra has been called "the arithmetic of higher mathematics" [Be]. We think the basis for a better arithmetic has long been available, but its versatility has hardly been appreciated, and it has not yet been integrated into the mainstream of mathematics. We refer to the system commonly called 'Clifford Algebra', though we prefer the name 'Geometric Algebra' suggested by Clifford himself. Many distinct algebraic systems have been adapted or developed to express geometric relations and describe geometric structures. Especially notable are those algebras which have been used for this purpose in physics, in particular, the system of complex numbers, the quaternions, matrix algebra, vector, tensor and spinor algebras and the algebra of differential forms. Each of these geometric algebras has some significant advantage over the others in certain applications, so no one of them provides an adequate algebraic structure for all purposes of geometry and physics. At the same time, the algebras overlap considerably, so they provide several different mathematical representations for individual geometrical or physical ideas.

Clifford Algebras and Lie Theory

Clifford Algebras and Lie Theory PDF Author: Eckhard Meinrenken
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642362168
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
This monograph provides an introduction to the theory of Clifford algebras, with an emphasis on its connections with the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras. The book starts with a detailed presentation of the main results on symmetric bilinear forms and Clifford algebras. It develops the spin groups and the spin representation, culminating in Cartan’s famous triality automorphism for the group Spin(8). The discussion of enveloping algebras includes a presentation of Petracci’s proof of the Poincaré–Birkhoff–Witt theorem. This is followed by discussions of Weil algebras, Chern--Weil theory, the quantum Weil algebra, and the cubic Dirac operator. The applications to Lie theory include Duflo’s theorem for the case of quadratic Lie algebras, multiplets of representations, and Dirac induction. The last part of the book is an account of Kostant’s structure theory of the Clifford algebra over a semisimple Lie algebra. It describes his “Clifford algebra analogue” of the Hopf–Koszul–Samelson theorem, and explains his fascinating conjecture relating the Harish-Chandra projection for Clifford algebras to the principal sl(2) subalgebra. Aside from these beautiful applications, the book will serve as a convenient and up-to-date reference for background material from Clifford theory, relevant for students and researchers in mathematics and physics.

A New Approach to Differential Geometry using Clifford's Geometric Algebra

A New Approach to Differential Geometry using Clifford's Geometric Algebra PDF Author: John Snygg
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 081768283X
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
Differential geometry is the study of the curvature and calculus of curves and surfaces. A New Approach to Differential Geometry using Clifford's Geometric Algebra simplifies the discussion to an accessible level of differential geometry by introducing Clifford algebra. This presentation is relevant because Clifford algebra is an effective tool for dealing with the rotations intrinsic to the study of curved space. Complete with chapter-by-chapter exercises, an overview of general relativity, and brief biographies of historical figures, this comprehensive textbook presents a valuable introduction to differential geometry. It will serve as a useful resource for upper-level undergraduates, beginning-level graduate students, and researchers in the algebra and physics communities.

The Theory of Spinors

The Theory of Spinors PDF Author: Élie Cartan
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486137325
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Describes orthgonal and related Lie groups, using real or complex parameters and indefinite metrics. Develops theory of spinors by giving a purely geometric definition of these mathematical entities.

Clifford (geometric) Algebras with Applications to Physics, Mathematics, and Engineering

Clifford (geometric) Algebras with Applications to Physics, Mathematics, and Engineering PDF Author: William Eric Baylis
Publisher: Boston : Birkhäuser
ISBN:
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
This volume offers a comprehensive approach to the theoretical, applied and symbolic computational aspects of the subject. Excellent for self-study, leading experts in the field have written on the of topics mentioned above, using an easy approach with efficient geometric language for non-specialists.

An Introduction to Spinors and Geometry with Applications in Physics,

An Introduction to Spinors and Geometry with Applications in Physics, PDF Author: Ian M. Benn
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 9780852742617
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
There is now a greater range of mathematics used in theoretical physics than ever. The aim of this book is to introduce theoretical physicists, of graduate student level upwards, to the methods of differential geometry and Clifford algebras in classical field theory. Recent developments in particle physics have elevated the notion of spinor fields to considerable prominence, so that many new ideas require considerable knowledge of their properties and expertise in their manipulation. It is also widely appreciated now that differential geometry has an important role to play in unification schemes which include gravity. All the important prerequisite results of group theory, linear algebra, real and complex vector spaces are discussed. Spinors are approached from the viewpoint of Clifford algebras. This gives a systematic way of studying their properties in all dimensions and signatures. Importance is also placed on making contact with the traditional component oriented approach. The basic ideas of differential geometry are introduced emphasising tensor, rather than component, methods. Spinor fields are introduced naturally in the context of Clifford bundles. Spinor field equations on manifolds are introduced together with the global implications their solutions have on the underlying geometry. Many mathematical concepts are illustrated using field theoretical descriptions of the Maxwell, Dirac and Rarita-Schwinger equations, their symmetries and couplings to Einsteinian gravity. The core of the book contains material which is applicable to physics. After a discussion of the Newtonian dynamics of particles, the importance of Lorentzian geometry is motivated by Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. A description of gravitation is motivated by Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. A description of gravitation in terms of the curvature of a pseudo-Riemannian spacetime is used to incorporate gravitational interactions into the language of classical field theory. This book will be of great interest to postgraduate students in theoretical physics, and to mathematicians interested in applications of differential geometry in physics.

Clifford (Geometric) Algebras

Clifford (Geometric) Algebras PDF Author: William E. Baylis
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461241049
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 522

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Book Description
This volume is an outgrowth of the 1995 Summer School on Theoretical Physics of the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP), held in Banff, Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies, from July 30 to August 12,1995. The chapters, based on lectures given at the School, are designed to be tutorial in nature, and many include exercises to assist the learning process. Most lecturers gave three or four fifty-minute lectures aimed at relative novices in the field. More emphasis is therefore placed on pedagogy and establishing comprehension than on erudition and superior scholarship. Of course, new and exciting results are presented in applications of Clifford algebras, but in a coherent and user-friendly way to the nonspecialist. The subject area of the volume is Clifford algebra and its applications. Through the geometric language of the Clifford-algebra approach, many concepts in physics are clarified, united, and extended in new and sometimes surprising directions. In particular, the approach eliminates the formal gaps that traditionally separate clas sical, quantum, and relativistic physics. It thereby makes the study of physics more efficient and the research more penetrating, and it suggests resolutions to a major physics problem of the twentieth century, namely how to unite quantum theory and gravity. The term "geometric algebra" was used by Clifford himself, and David Hestenes has suggested its use in order to emphasize its wide applicability, and b& cause the developments by Clifford were themselves based heavily on previous work by Grassmann, Hamilton, Rodrigues, Gauss, and others.