Cayley-Klein Parameters

The parameters , , , and which, like the three Euler angles, provide a way to uniquely characterize the orientation of a solid body. These parameters satisfy the identities

			(1)
			(2)
			(3)
			(4)
			(5)

and

			(6)
			(7)

where denotes the complex conjugate. In terms of the Euler angles , , and , the Cayley-Klein parameters are given by

			(8)
			(9)
			(10)
			(11)

(Goldstein 1960, p. 155).

The transformation matrix is given in terms of the Cayley-Klein parameters by

(12)

(Goldstein 1960, p. 153).

The Cayley-Klein parameters may be viewed as parameters of a matrix (denoted for its close relationship with quaternions)

(13)

which characterizes the transformations

			(14)
			(15)

of a linear space having complex axes. This matrix satisfies

(16)

where is the identity matrix and the conjugate transpose, as well as

(17)

In terms of the Euler parameters and the Pauli matrices , the -matrix can be written as

(18)

(Goldstein 1980, p. 156).

SEE ALSO: Euler Angles, Euler Parameters, Pauli Matrices, Quaternion, Rotation. [Pages Linking Here]

REFERENCES:

Goldstein, H. "The Cayley-Klein Parameters and Related Quantities." §4-5 in Classical Mechanics, 2nd ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, pp. 148-158, 1980.

Varshalovich, D. A.; Moskalev, A. N.; and Khersonskii, V. K. "Description of Rotations in Terms of Unitary Matrices. Cayley-Klein Parameters." §1.4.3 in Quantum Theory of Angular Momentum. Singapore: World Scientific, pp. 24-27, 1988.

CITE THIS AS:

Eric W. Weisstein. "Cayley-Klein Parameters." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Cayley-KleinParameters.html