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Concept
Quaternion algebra
Summary
In mathematics, a quaternion algebra over a field F is a central simple algebra A over F that has dimension 4 over F. Every quaternion algebra becomes a matrix algebra by extending scalars (equivalently, tensoring with a field extension), i.e. for a suitable field extension K of F, is isomorphic to the 2 × 2 matrix algebra over K.
The notion of a quaternion algebra can be seen as a generalization of Hamilton's quaternions to an arbitrary base field. The Hamilton quaternions are a quaternion algebra (in the above sense) over , and indeed the only one over apart from the 2 × 2 real matrix algebra, up to isomorphism. When , then the biquaternions form the quaternion algebra over F.
Quaternion algebra here means something more general than the algebra of Hamilton's quaternions. When the coefficient field F does not have characteristic 2, every quaternion algebra over F can be described as a 4-dimensional F-vector space with basis , with the following multiplication rules:
where a and b are any given nonzero elements of F. From these rules we get:
The classical instances where are Hamilton's quaternions (a = b = −1) and split-quaternions (a = −1, b = +1). In split-quaternions, and , differing from Hamilton's equations.
The algebra defined in this way is denoted (a,b)F or simply (a,b). When F has characteristic 2, a different explicit description in terms of a basis of 4 elements is also possible, but in any event the definition of a quaternion algebra over F as a 4-dimensional central simple algebra over F applies uniformly in all characteristics.
A quaternion algebra (a,b)F is either a division algebra or isomorphic to the matrix algebra of 2 × 2 matrices over F; the latter case is termed split. The norm form
defines a structure of division algebra if and only if the norm is an anisotropic quadratic form, that is, zero only on the zero element. The conic C(a,b) defined by
has a point (x,y,z) with coordinates in F in the split case.
Quaternion algebras are applied in number theory, particularly to quadratic forms.
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