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Daniel al-Autistiqui (govende30@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) wrote:
> So, if I want to post a question to sci.math about multiplication of
> quaternions, how are the people there supposed to know which kind I am
> talking about? I'd doubt that people specifically indicate whether
> they want i*j to be positive or negative in every single post
> involving quaternions and their multiplication.
>
> (I should admit that, although I originally learned it as "i*j = -k",
> I have been using the "i*j = k" system ever since I saw the Wikipedia
> article. I seem to like that latter system better: as Arturo points
> out, one of the equations that can be made out of the three (positive)
> imaginary units is in alphabetical order. I was never really able to
> understand the purpose of making i*j negative.)
I'm surprised you were taught ij = -k; I've never heard of
that convention being used. I would assume as a matter of
course that everyone would assume the convention used by
Hamilton when he originally introduced quaternions. -- Mike Hardy
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