TY - JOUR
T1 - Wedge reversion antisymmetry and 41 types of physical quantities in arbitrary dimensions
AU - Gopalan, Venkatraman
N1 - Funding Information:
V. Gopalan gratefully acknowledges support for this work from the US National Science Foundation (grant No. DMR-1807768) and the Penn State NSF-MRSEC Center for Nanoscale Science (grant No. DMR 1420620).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Acta Crystallographica Section A: Foundations and Advances. All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/5/1
Y1 - 2020/5/1
N2 - It is shown that there are 41 types of multivectors representing physical quantities in non-relativistic physics in arbitrary dimensions within the formalism of Clifford algebra. The classification is based on the action of three symmetry operations on a general multivector: spatial inversion, 1, time-reversal, 1′, and a third that is introduced here, namely wedge reversion, 1†. It is shown that the traits of 'axiality' and 'chirality' are not good bases for extending the classification of multivectors into arbitrary dimensions, and that introducing 1† would allow for such a classification. Since physical properties are typically expressed as tensors, and tensors can be expressed as multivectors, this classification also indirectly classifies tensors. Examples of these multivector types from non-relativistic physics are presented.
AB - It is shown that there are 41 types of multivectors representing physical quantities in non-relativistic physics in arbitrary dimensions within the formalism of Clifford algebra. The classification is based on the action of three symmetry operations on a general multivector: spatial inversion, 1, time-reversal, 1′, and a third that is introduced here, namely wedge reversion, 1†. It is shown that the traits of 'axiality' and 'chirality' are not good bases for extending the classification of multivectors into arbitrary dimensions, and that introducing 1† would allow for such a classification. Since physical properties are typically expressed as tensors, and tensors can be expressed as multivectors, this classification also indirectly classifies tensors. Examples of these multivector types from non-relativistic physics are presented.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084489383&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85084489383&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1107/S205327332000217X
DO - 10.1107/S205327332000217X
M3 - Article
C2 - 32356782
AN - SCOPUS:85084489383
SN - 0108-7673
VL - 76
SP - 318
EP - 327
JO - Acta Crystallographica Section A: Foundations and Advances
JF - Acta Crystallographica Section A: Foundations and Advances
ER -