O'Farrell, Anthony G. (2006) A quaternionic gem. Irish Mathematics Teachers' Association Newsletter (105). pp. 16-25.

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Abstract

It is generally accepted nowadays that Hamilton’s greatest achievment is his general theory of dynamics. By comparison, quaternions have had less impact. At the same time, people continue to use and develop the theory and techniques of quaternionic algebra and analysis, and they continue to find new applications, so one cannot say what the verdict may be on the relative importance of the two inventions, in the long run. It is in the nature of mathematics that its abstract concepts find use far from their origins. Quaternions were invented because Hamilton wanted an algebra that would facilitate geometric work in three dimensions. Number theory (the theory of whole numbers) is quite a different area of mathematics, so I particularly like the fact that quaternions may be used to make an important step in the proof of a theorem in number theory.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Quaternionic; Fundamental theorem of arithmetic; Lagrange’s Theorem; Euler’s Lemma.
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Science and Engineering > Mathematics and Statistics
Item ID:	1794
Depositing User:	Prof. Anthony O'Farrell
Date Deposited:	19 Jan 2010 14:48
Journal or Publication Title:	Irish Mathematics Teachers' Association Newsletter
Publisher:	Irish Mathematics Teachers' Association (IMTA)
Refereed:	No
URI:	Organisation
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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