Maths - Pauli matrices - 3D

The basis vectors can be represented by matrices, this algebra was worked out independently by Pauli for his work on quantum mechanics, we can define the following equivalents:

e1=
0 1
1 0
e2=
0 -i
i 0
e3=
1 0
0 -1

The scalar would be the identity matrix.

1=
1 0
0 1

The bivectors can be calculated by multiplying the matrices:

e1e2=
0 1
1 0
*
0 -i
i 0
=
i 0
0 -i
e3e1=
1 0
0 -1
*
0 1
1 0
=
0 1
-1 0
e2e3=
0 -i
i 0
*
1 0
0 -1
=
0 i
i 0

The tri-vector is:

e1e2e3=
i 0
0 -i
*
1 0
0 -1
=
i 0
0 i

 

So the complete geometric multiplication table is:

a*b
 b.e b.e1 b.e2 b.e3 b.e12 b.e31 b.e23 b.e123
a.e
1 0
0 1
0 1
1 0
0 -i
i 0
1 0
0 -1
i 0
0 -i
0 1
-1 0
0 i
i 0
i 0
0 i
a.e1
0 1
1 0
1 0
0 1
i 0
0 -i
0 -1
1 0
0 -i
i 0
-1 0
0 1
i 0
0 i
0 i
i 0
a.e2
0 -i
i 0
-i 0
0 i
1 0
0 1
0 i
i 0
0 -1
-1 0
i 0
0 i
1 0
0 -1
0 1
-1 0
a.e3
1 0
0 -1
0 1
-1 0
0 -i
-i 0
1 0
0 1
i 0
0 i
0 1
1 0
0 i
-i 0
i 0
0 -i
a.e12
i 0
0 -i
0 i
-i 0
0 1
1 0
i 0
0 i
-1 0
0 -1
0 i
i 0
0 -1
1 0
-1 0
0 1
a.e31
0 1
-1 0
1 0
0 -1
i 0
0 i
0 -1
-1 0
0 -i
-i 0
-1 0
0 -1
i 0
0 -i
0 i
-i 0
a.e23
0 i
i 0
i 0
0 i
-1 0
0 1
0 -i
i 0
0 1
-1 0
-i 0
0 i
-1 0
0 -1
0 -1
-1 0
a.e123
i 0
0 i
0 i
i 0
0 1
-1 0
i 0
0 -i
-1 0
0 1
0 i
-i 0
0 -1
-1 0
-1 0
0 -1

which is equivalent to the table derived here.

Further Reading

Other uses of Pauli Matrix:

Related Concepts:

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see also:

 
Correspondence about this page

Book Shop - Further reading.

Where I can, I have put links to Amazon for books that are relevant to the subject, click on the appropriate country flag to get more details of the book or to buy it from them.
flag flag flag flag flag flag Clifford Algebra to Geometric Calculus: A Unified Language for Mathematics and Physics (Fundamental Theories of Physics). This book is intended for mathematicians and physicists rather than programmers, it is very theoretical. It covers the algebra and calculus of multivectors of any dimension and is not specific to 3D modelling.

 

Terminology and Notation

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