In physics, the algebra of physical space (APS) is the use of the Clifford or geometric algebra Cl3,0(R) of the three-dimensional Euclidean space as a model for (3+1)-dimensional spacetime, representing a point in spacetime via a paravector (3-dimensional vector plus a 1-dimensional scalar).
The Clifford algebra Cl3,0(R) has a faithful representation, generated by Pauli matrices, on the spin representation C2; further, Cl3,0(R) is isomorphic to the even subalgebra Cl[0]3,1(R) of the Clifford algebra Cl3,1(R).
APS can be used to construct a compact, unified and geometrical formalism for both classical and quantum mechanics.
APS should not be confused with spacetime algebra (STA), which concerns the Clifford algebra Cl1,3(R) of the four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime.
In APS, the spacetime position is represented as the paravector
where the time is given by the scalar part x0 = t, and e1, e2, e3 is a basis for position space.
In the Pauli matrix representation, the unit basis vectors are replaced by the Pauli matrices and the scalar part by the identity matrix.
This means that the Pauli matrix representation of the space-time position is
The restricted Lorentz transformations that preserve the direction of time and include rotations and boosts can be performed by an exponentiation of the spacetime rotation biparavector W
In the matrix representation, the Lorentz rotor is seen to form an instance of the SL(2, C) group (special linear group of degree 2 over the complex numbers), which is the double cover of the Lorentz group.
The unimodularity of the Lorentz rotor is translated in the following condition in terms of the product of the Lorentz rotor with its Clifford conjugation
This Lorentz rotor can be always decomposed in two factors, one Hermitian B = B†, and the other unitary R† = R−1, such that
The unitary element R is called a rotor because this encodes rotations, and the Hermitian element B encodes boosts.
The four-velocity, also called proper velocity, is defined as the derivative of the spacetime position paravector with respect to proper time τ:
This expression can be brought to a more compact form by defining the ordinary velocity as
and recalling the definition of the gamma factor:
The proper velocity is a positive unimodular paravector, which implies the following condition in terms of the Clifford conjugation
The proper velocity transforms under the action of the Lorentz rotor L as
The four-momentum in APS can be obtained by multiplying the proper velocity with the mass as
with the Hermitian part representing the electric field E and the anti-Hermitian part representing the magnetic field B.
In the standard Pauli matrix representation, the electromagnetic field is:
where the scalar part equals the electric charge density ρ, and the vector part the electric current density j.
Introducing the electromagnetic potential paravector defined as:
in which the scalar part equals the electric potential ϕ, and the vector part the magnetic potential A.
and F is invariant under a gauge transformation of the form
The electromagnetic field is covariant under Lorentz transformations according to the law
The Lorentz force equation takes the form
where e3 is an arbitrary unitary vector, and A is the electromagnetic paravector potential as above.
The electromagnetic interaction has been included via minimal coupling in terms of the potential A.
which can be integrated to find the space-time trajectory