1. Introduction
In the realm of Clifford algebra, we present the quaternionic representation of the split-tetraquaternion algebra which is isomorphic to the Clifford algebra of the Minkowski space
.
It is well-known that matrix theory occupies the foreground in the representation of Clifford algebras (Geometric algebras). In [1], matrix representations of lower-dimensional geometric algebras are reviewed dealing with the following cases: the algebra of complex numbers
, the algebra of hyperbolic numbers
, the geometric algebra
of the 2D-Euclidean space
, the geometric algebra
of the pseudo-Euclidean space
, the geometric algebra of quaternions
, the geometric algebra
of the 3D-Euclidean space
. A general table of matrix representations of Clifford algebras
is given in ([1] p. 15). The quaternionic formulation is a way to represent Clifford algebras without using matrix, it is the case of hyperquaternion algebras. Four classes of Clifford algebras constitute the main object of the hyperquaternion algebras studied in [2]-[8] which are in particular
,
,
and
, for
. In other words, some Clifford algebras
with
are isomorphic to hyperquaternion algebras [7]. A change of the signature
of the Euclidean or pseudo-Euclidean spaces in
leads to the treatment of some Clifford algebras with
from the quaternionic point of view. In this paper, we are interested on the study of the split-tetraquaternion algebra and some of its subalgebras. In [8], the tetraquaternion algebra
generated by the basis vectors of the pseudo-Euclidean space
is extensively studied, in particular the treatment of multivector calculus, Lorentz group, classical electromagnetiusm, special theory of relativity, general theory of relativity within the tetraquaternion algebra over
has been developed.
When we change the signature of the Minkowski space
from (3, 1) to (1, 3) we derive the split-tetraquaternion algebra, denoted
, which is the main object of the present paper. The algebra
is isomorphic to the Clifford algebras
and has a wide variety of interesting sub-algebras, including the complex and split-complex algebras, the quaternion and split-quaternion algebras, the biquaternion and split-biquaternion algebras that we will present in our discussions. These sub-algebras are useful in mathematical and physics applications.
This paper is organized as follows; in Section 2, we present the tetraquaternion algebra which will serve as a support for the construction and the development of the split-tetraquaternion algebra. The algebra
and its sub-algebras are presented in Section 3 and constitute the main object of our study. In the Section 4, we relate the split-tetraquaternion algebra to the stabilized Poincaré-Heisenberg algebra simply by defining a Lie structure on
and we give some applications of the algebra
and its subalgebras.
2. Preliminaries
This section briefly presents the tetraquaternion algebra
which is isomorphic the Clifford spacetime algebra
of the Minkowski space
. The algebra
has been widely used in physics, especially in the special theory of relativity, classical electromagnetism and the general theory of relativity, … [8].
The sixteen basis elements of this algebra, chosen here, are expressed as follows: scalar (1), vectors
, bivectors
, trivectors
and pseudoscalar (i). The table below gives the multivector structure of
where (I, j, k) and (I, J, K) are two differents quaternionic systems i.e.
and
, see ([5] p. 6).
1 |
I = e32 |
J = e13 |
K = e21 |
i = e0123 |
iI = e01 |
iJ = e02 |
iK = e03 |
j = e0 |
jI = e032 |
iJ = e013 |
iK = e021 |
k = e123 |
kI = e1 |
kJ = e2 |
kK = e3 |
3. Split-Tetraquaternion Algebra and Its Subalgebras
3.1. Split-Tetraquaternion Algebra
To derive the split-tetraquaternion algebra form the tetraquaternion algebra
, we make a change of the signature of the Minkowski space
by multiplying by an unit imaginary
the elements of basis
of
. We obtain the four vectors
,
,
and
which constitute a basis of the Minkowski space
. The algebra table below describes the multivector structure of the split-tetraquaternion algebra, denoted by
.
1 |
I = e23 |
J = e31 |
K = e12 |
i = e0123 |
iI = e10 |
iJ = e20 |
iK = e30 |
i’j = e0 |
i’jI = e023 |
i’jJ = e031 |
i’jK = e012 |
i’k = e132 |
i’kI = e1 |
i’kJ = e2 |
i’kK = e3 |
There are sixteen basis elements of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
represented by one scalar (1), four vectors
, six bivectors
, four trivectors
and one pseudoscalar i. Among these unit basis elements, six square to 1 and ten square to −1.
On one hand, it is easy to establish that the split-tetraquaternion algebra
is isomorphic to the Clifford spacetime algebra Cl1,3. And on the other hand, it is obvious that there is no isomorphism between the split-tetraquaternion algebra
and the tetraquaternion algebra
.
If we denote by
the set of multivectors of grade n it follows that
is the field of real numbers,
is the Minkowski space
,
is the multivector space of all bivectors of
,
is the multivector space of all trivectors of
and
is the multivector space of all quadrivectors of
. Taking in account this notation, the split-tetraquaternion can be written as follows:
.(1)
An arbitrary split-tetraquaternion can be written as follows:
(2)
where
.
The application
defined as follows, for any multivector q of grade k,
, is called the conjugation and the conjugate of q is
(3)
The conjugation preserves the grade of the multivector i.e. if
then
.
From the product
we define the quadratic form
(4)
The norm of the split-tetraquaternion q, denoted
, is defined as follows
. (5)
In the split-tetraquaternion algebra
, there are three types of elements according to the sign of the quadratic form
:
1) If
then q is said to be a timelike split-tetraquaternion,
2) If
then q is said to be a spacelike split-tetraquaternion,
3) If
then q is said to be a lightlike split-tetraquaternion.
The quadratic form
defined above is isotropic it means that there exists a nonzero split-tetraquaternion q such that
therefore the algebra
isn’t a division algebra but it is a split algebra.
We recall that:
1) an algebra is said to be a division algebra if and only if (
),
2) an algebra A together with a quadratic form
isotropic i.e. there exists a nonzero element
such that
is said to be a split algebra.
It would also be desirable to recall the Frobenius theorem which states the following: “The only division algebras over the field of the real numbers are
and the algebra of octonions”.
Note that a nonzero split-tetraquaternion q admits an inverse
and it is obvious that the inverse exists only for timelike and spacelike split-tetraquaternions.
For a vector
i.e.
, the inverse exists if and only if
. In this case, the inverse of vector q is
. (6)
If the vector q is isotropic i.e.
, we said that q belongs to the lightcone.
The inverse of a bivector
exists if and only if
.
3.2. Subalgebras of the Tetraquaternion Algebra
Here, we cannot give a complete list of all subalgebras of
, we take in account the most remarkable of them in terms of applications in physics and Born geometry which are the biquaternion and split-biquaternion algebras, the quaternion and split-quaternion algebras, the algebra of complex numbers and the split-complex algebra.
3.2.1. Biquaternion Algebra
The biquaternion algebra
or Pauli algebra is a subalgebra of
generated by the three bivectors
,
and
of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
. If denote
the three generators of the biquaternion algebra
, then
,
,
are bivectors and
is pseudoscalar. The table below gives a basis of this algebra.
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
An arbibraty element q of
is written
(7)
and its conjugate is
(8)
In this case, the quadratic form is
. (9)
As
, it follows that the biquaternion algebra is isomorphic the Clifford algebra Cl3,0 of the Euclidean space
.
3.2.2. Split-Biquaternion Algebra
The three vectors
,
and
of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
generate the split-biquaternion
,
,
,
are bivectors and
is the pseudoscalar element.
From
, it follows that the split-biquaternion algebra over
is isomorphic the Clifford algebra Cl0,3 of the pseudo-Euclidean space
. It appears that the passage from the biquaternion algebra
to the split-biquaternion algebra
can be seen as a transformation of the signature from (3, 0) to (0, 3).
A complete table of a basis of the split-biquaternion algebra
is given below.
1 |
I = e23 |
J = e31 |
K = e12 |
i’k = e132 |
i’kI = e1 |
i’kJ = e2 |
i’kK = e3 |
Let q be an element of
.
(10)
its conjugate is
(11)
and
. (12)
3.2.3. Quaternion Algebra
Two of the three bivectors
,
and
of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
generate the quaternion algebra
, we select the bivectors I and J and we denote
,
the generators of the quaternion algebra
. We remark that
is a bivector and
.
A quaternion can be written
(13)
its conjugate is
(14)
and the quadratic form
.
We remark that the quadratic form
defined above is anisotropic i.e.
it follows that the quaternion algebra
is a division algebra and nonzero quaternions are invertible.
3.2.4. Split-Quaternion Algebra
It would be appropriate to point out the existence of two split-quaternion algebras isomorphic respectively to the Clifford algebras Cl2,0 and Cl1,1.
1) Split-quaternion algebra
The bivectors
of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
can be considered as the generators of the split-quaternion
, the product
is the pseudoscalar denoted
when
and
.
As
, it is obvious that the split-quaternion algebra over
is isomorphic the Clifford algebra Cl2,0 of the Euclidean space
.
A split-quaternion is
(15)
its conjugate is
(16)
and the quadratic form
.
Hence, the split-quaternion
isn’t a division algebra.
2) Split-quaternion algebra
The vectors
and
of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
generate of the 4D-dimensional algebra, named the split-quaternion
. The multivetor structure of the algebra
is given in the table below:
1 |
|
|
iI = e10 |
i’j = e0 |
i’kI = e1 |
The product
is a bivector, specially the pseudoscalar of the algebra. From
and
, it follows that the split-quaternion algebra over
is isomorphic the Clifford algebra Cl1,1 of the pseudo-Euclidean space
.
A split-quaternion is
(15)
its conjugate is
(16)
and the quadratic form
.
It is obvious that the split-quaternion
isn’t a division algebra.
3.2.5. Algebra of Complex Numbers
and Split-Complex Algebra
The bivectors
of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
generates the algebra of complex numbers
which is isomorphic the Clifford algebra
of the pseudo-Euclidean space
. Similarly, the bivectors
of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
generates the split-complex algebra
which is isomorphic the Clifford algebra
of the Euclidean space
.
A split-complex number is
(17)
its conjugate is
(18)
and the quadratic form
.
It is obvious that the split-complex algebra
isn’t a division algebra.
4. Applications
4.1. Some Applications in Physics
As applications in physics, the special theory of relativity, the classical electromagnetism, the general theory of relativity and the quantum theory are developed in the tetraquaternion algebra
and in the biquaternion algebra
[8].
4.2. Stabilized Poincaré-Heisenberg Algebra
In order to obtain a structure of Lie algebra on the split-tetraquaternion algebra, we deform this product as follows: for any
in
,
. The split-tetraquaternion algebra
endowed with the product
, denoted
is called the stabilized Poincaré-Heinsenberg algebra [9].
Here, we calculate the product of some elements of the stabilized Poincaré-Heinsenberg algebra
.
1) Product of two vectors
A direct calculation of the non-trivial products of vector leads to:
From the above, it follows that the product of two vectors of
is either zero or is a bivector.
2) Product of two bivectors
The split-tetraquaternion algebra
is a semi-simple algebra and therefore it is a stable algebra.
4.3. Applications in Born Geometry
Without going in the details of the double structures, we give an application of some subalgebras of the split-tetraquaternion in Born geometry. The table below show the correspond between some subalgebras of the split-tetraquaternion algebra
and the algebra of double structures, ([10] p. 17).
Algebra of double structure |
Subalgebras of
|
Generalized hyperkahler |
|
Born |
|
Born and generalized Kahler |
|
Born and generalized hyperkahler |
|
5. Conclusion
The study of the split-tetraquaternion algebra and some of its sub-algebras shows that some classes of Clifford algebras
with
can be represented by using the quaternionic formulation without using matrix representation. The fact that the split-tetraquaternion algebra is a stable algebra allows to describe the well-known stabilized Poincaré-Heisenberg algebra which is a Lie algebra obtained by defining the commutators of the non-scalars basis elements. The stabilized Poincaré-Heisenberg algebra is useful in quantum mechanics and in relativity. We list the algebras of double structure which can be approach by mean of the sub-algebras of
.