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Quasi-sphere
In mathematics and theoretical physics, a quasi-sphere is a generalization of the hypersphere and the hyperplane to the context of a pseudo-Euclidean space. It may be described as the set of points for which the quadratic form for the space applied to the displacement vector from a centre point is a constant value, with the inclusion of hyperplanes as a limiting case. Notation and terminology This article uses the following notation and terminology: * A pseudo-Euclidean vector space, denoted , is a real vector space with a nondegenerate quadratic form with signature . The quadratic form is permitted to be definite (where or ), making this a generalization of a Euclidean vector space. * A pseudo-Euclidean space, denoted , is a real affine space in which displacement vectors are the elements of the space . It is distinguished from the vector space. * The quadratic form acting on a vector , denoted , is a generalization of the squared Euclidean distance in a Euclidean space. É ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polarization Identity
In linear algebra, a branch of mathematics, the polarization identity is any one of a family of formulas that express the inner product of two vectors in terms of the norm of a normed vector space. If a norm arises from an inner product then the polarization identity can be used to express this inner product entirely in terms of the norm. The polarization identity shows that a norm can arise from at most one inner product; however, there exist norms that do not arise from any inner product. The norm associated with any inner product space satisfies the parallelogram law: \, x+y\, ^2 + \, x-y\, ^2 = 2\, x\, ^2 + 2\, y\, ^2. In fact, as observed by John von Neumann, the parallelogram law characterizes those norms that arise from inner products. Given a normed space (H, \, \cdot\, ), the parallelogram law holds for \, \cdot\, if and only if there exists an inner product \langle \cdot, \cdot \rangle on H such that \, x\, ^2 = \langle x,\ x\rangle for all x \in H, in which case ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pencil (mathematics)
In geometry, a pencil is a family of geometric objects with a common property, for example the set of lines that pass through a given point in a plane, or the set of circles that pass through two given points in a plane. Although the definition of a pencil is rather vague, the common characteristic is that the pencil is completely determined by any two of its members. Analogously, a set of geometric objects that are determined by any three of its members is called a bundle. Thus, the set of all lines through a point in three-space is a bundle of lines, any two of which determine a pencil of lines. To emphasize the two dimensional nature of such a pencil, it is sometimes referred to as a ''flat pencil''. Any geometric object can be used in a pencil. The common ones are lines, planes, circles, conics, spheres, and general curves. Even points can be used. A pencil of points is the set of all points on a given line. A more common term for this set is a ''range'' of points. Penci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperbolic Plane (quadratic Forms)
In mathematics, a quadratic form over a field ''F'' is said to be isotropic if there is a non-zero vector on which the form evaluates to zero. Otherwise the quadratic form is anisotropic. More precisely, if ''q'' is a quadratic form on a vector space ''V'' over ''F'', then a non-zero vector ''v'' in ''V'' is said to be isotropic if . A quadratic form is isotropic if and only if there exists a non-zero isotropic vector (or null vector) for that quadratic form. Suppose that is quadratic space and ''W'' is a subspace of ''V''. Then ''W'' is called an isotropic subspace of ''V'' if ''some'' vector in it is isotropic, a totally isotropic subspace if ''all'' vectors in it are isotropic, and an anisotropic subspace if it does not contain ''any'' (non-zero) isotropic vectors. The of a quadratic space is the maximum of the dimensions of the totally isotropic subspaces. A quadratic form ''q'' on a finite-dimensional real vector space ''V'' is anisotropic if and only if ''q'' is a defin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unit Hyperbola
In geometry, the unit hyperbola is the set of points (''x'',''y'') in the Cartesian plane that satisfy the implicit equation x^2 - y^2 = 1 . In the study of indefinite orthogonal groups, the unit hyperbola forms the basis for an ''alternative radial length'' : r = \sqrt . Whereas the unit circle surrounds its center, the unit hyperbola requires the ''conjugate hyperbola'' y^2 - x^2 = 1 to complement it in the plane. This pair of hyperbolas share the asymptotes ''y'' = ''x'' and ''y'' = −''x''. When the conjugate of the unit hyperbola is in use, the alternative radial length is r = \sqrt . The unit hyperbola is a special case of the rectangular hyperbola, with a particular orientation, location, and scale. As such, its eccentricity equals \sqrt. The unit hyperbola finds applications where the circle must be replaced with the hyperbola for purposes of analytic geometry. A prominent instance is the depiction of spacetime as a pseudo-Euclidean space. There the asymptotes of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isotropic Line
In the geometry of quadratic forms, an isotropic line or null line is a line for which the quadratic form applied to the displacement vector between any pair of its points is zero. An isotropic line occurs only with an isotropic quadratic form, and never with a definite quadratic form. Using complex geometry, Edmond Laguerre first suggested the existence of two isotropic lines through the point that depend on the imaginary unit :Edmond Laguerre (1870) "Sur l’emploi des imaginaires en la géométrie" Oeuvres de Laguerre2: 89 : First system: (y - \beta) = (x - \alpha) i, : Second system: (y - \beta) = -i (x - \alpha) . Laguerre then interpreted these lines as geodesics: :An essential property of isotropic lines, and which can be used to define them, is the following: the distance between any two points of an isotropic line ''situated at a finite distance in the plane'' is zero. In other terms, these lines satisfy the differential equation . On an arbitrary surface one can study c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. Most are nonprofit organizations and an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by schola ... in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Press is a department of the University of Cambridge and is both an academic and educational publisher. It became part of Cambridge University Press & Assessment, following a merger with Cambridge Assessment in 2021. With a global sales presence, publishing hubs, and offices in more than 40 Country, countries, it publishes over 50,000 titles by authors from over 100 countries. Its publishing includes more than 380 academic journals, monographs, reference works, school and uni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermitian Form
In mathematics, a sesquilinear form is a generalization of a bilinear form that, in turn, is a generalization of the concept of the dot product of Euclidean space. A bilinear form is linear in each of its arguments, but a sesquilinear form allows one of the arguments to be "twisted" in a semilinear manner, thus the name; which originates from the Latin numerical prefix ''sesqui-'' meaning "one and a half". The basic concept of the dot product – producing a scalar from a pair of vectors – can be generalized by allowing a broader range of scalar values and, perhaps simultaneously, by widening the definition of a vector. A motivating special case is a sesquilinear form on a complex vector space, . This is a map that is linear in one argument and "twists" the linearity of the other argument by complex conjugation (referred to as being antilinear in the other argument). This case arises naturally in mathematical physics applications. Another important case allows the scalars to co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quaternion
In mathematics, the quaternion number system extends the complex numbers. Quaternions were first described by the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space. Hamilton defined a quaternion as the quotient of two '' directed lines'' in a three-dimensional space, or, equivalently, as the quotient of two vectors. Multiplication of quaternions is noncommutative. Quaternions are generally represented in the form :a + b\ \mathbf i + c\ \mathbf j +d\ \mathbf k where , and are real numbers; and , and are the ''basic quaternions''. Quaternions are used in pure mathematics, but also have practical uses in applied mathematics, particularly for calculations involving three-dimensional rotations, such as in three-dimensional computer graphics, computer vision, and crystallographic texture analysis. They can be used alongside other methods of rotation, such as Euler angles and rotation matrices, or as an alternative to them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Number
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the form a + bi, where and are real numbers. Because no real number satisfies the above equation, was called an imaginary number by René Descartes. For the complex number a+bi, is called the , and is called the . The set of complex numbers is denoted by either of the symbols \mathbb C or . Despite the historical nomenclature "imaginary", complex numbers are regarded in the mathematical sciences as just as "real" as the real numbers and are fundamental in many aspects of the scientific description of the natural world. Complex numbers allow solutions to all polynomial equations, even those that have no solutions in real numbers. More precisely, the fundamental theorem of algebra asserts that every non-constant polynomial equation with real or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conformal Transformation
In mathematics, a conformal map is a function that locally preserves angles, but not necessarily lengths. More formally, let U and V be open subsets of \mathbb^n. A function f:U\to V is called conformal (or angle-preserving) at a point u_0\in U if it preserves angles between directed curves through u_0, as well as preserving orientation. Conformal maps preserve both angles and the shapes of infinitesimally small figures, but not necessarily their size or curvature. The conformal property may be described in terms of the Jacobian derivative matrix of a coordinate transformation. The transformation is conformal whenever the Jacobian at each point is a positive scalar times a rotation matrix ( orthogonal with determinant one). Some authors define conformality to include orientation-reversing mappings whose Jacobians can be written as any scalar times any orthogonal matrix. For mappings in two dimensions, the (orientation-preserving) conformal mappings are precisely the locall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generalized Circle
In geometry, a generalized circle, also referred to as a "cline" or "circline", is a straight line or a circle. The concept is mainly used in inversive geometry, because straight lines and circles have very similar properties in that geometry and are best treated together. Inversive plane geometry is formulated on the plane extended by one point at infinity. A straight line is then thought of as one of the circles that passes through the asymptotic point at infinity. The fundamental transformations in inversive geometry, the ''inversions'', have the property that they map generalized circles to generalized circles. Möbius transformations, which are compositions of inversions, inherit that property. These transformations do not necessarily map lines to lines and circles to circles: they can mix the two. Inversions come in two kinds: inversions at circles and reflections at lines. Since the two have very similar properties, we combine them and talk about inversions at generalized ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
