Re:Walking Paths with Complex Numbers
by ajkjk on Friday December 02, 2016 @03:01PM
(#13091799)
Quaternions model 3d rotations, and Clifford algebras in general model rotations in arbitrary higher dimensions, but it's definitely non-trivial to go from "complex numbers model 2d" to all of that machinery.
What I mean is that the intuition around complex numbers doesn't extend. Certainly not the "i is the square root of -1"-level understanding of complex numbers.
Clifford algebras are better thought of as structures built over the higher-dimension vectors spaces, with little relationship to algebras/fields. They have much more in common with the matrix representation than the algebraic one. The algebraic perspective only supports complex, quaternion, and octonion numbers before breaking down.
What I mean is that the intuition around complex numbers doesn't extend. Certainly not the "i is the square root of -1"-level understanding of complex numbers.
Clifford algebras are better thought of as structures built over the higher-dimension vectors spaces, with little relationship to algebras/fields. They have much more in common with the matrix representation than the algebraic one. The algebraic perspective only supports complex, quaternion, and octonion numbers before breaking down.