• DocumentCode
    2931924
  • Title

    Electrical circuit analysis using four dimensional complex numbers, in the form of quaternions

  • Author

    Barry, Noel

  • Author_Institution
    Nat. Maritime Coll. of Ireland, Cork, Ireland
  • fYear
    2013
  • fDate
    2-5 Sept. 2013
  • Firstpage
    1
  • Lastpage
    4
  • Abstract
    The paper demonstrates how electrical variables, when formulated as vector quaternions, can be manipulated. Circuit parameters can easily be obtained, for analytical purposes. Quaternions, which were discovered 170 years ago, are the basis for four dimensional vectors. Electrical variables fit into this realm, as some circuit variables are in quadrature with one another when viewed across different circuit components. The manipulation of the variables to obtain power, energy and impedance is shown to be simple and visual when vectors are looked at, in various planes of the four dimensional space. Other applications of quaternions and complex numbers in the general field of electrical engineering are also alluded to in the paper for completeness and in particular the famous and initial application of quaternions in electric field theory analysis by James Clerk Maxwell.
  • Keywords
    Maxwell equations; electrical engineering; network analysis; James Clerk Maxwell; circuit components; circuit parameters; circuit variables; electric field theory analysis; electrical circuit analysis; electrical engineering; electrical variables; four dimensional complex numbers; vector quaternions; Electric fields; Equations; Impedance; Mathematical model; Quaternions; RLC circuits; Vectors; Maxwell equations; circuit analysis; electric field theory; quaternions;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • Conference_Titel
    Power Engineering Conference (UPEC), 2013 48th International Universities'
  • Conference_Location
    Dublin
  • Type

    conf

  • DOI
    10.1109/UPEC.2013.6714856
  • Filename
    6714856