The International Journal of

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Unifying Screw Geometry and Matrix Transformations

A.E. Samuel, P.R. McAree and K.H. Hunt
The International Journal of Robotics Research 1991 10: 454
DOI: 10.1177/027836499101000502

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A. E. Samuel
P. R. McAree
K. H. Hunt
Robotics Laboratory
Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
The University of Melbourne
Parkville, Victoria, Australia, 3052
Abstract
Transformation matrices are widely used in robotics for
kinematic analysis and trajectory planning. Screw geome-
try offers better geometric insight into such analyses. In
this article we unify the two approaches through the use
of invariant properties of orthogonal matrices under simi-
larity transformations. We give a complete expression for
the finite screw motion in terms of the entires of a 3 x 3
dual-number transformation matrix. Our analysis suggests
that the finite screw is suitable for trajectory planning,
and we develop a concise expression that gives the trans-
formation matrix describing the displacement at each
point along the path of the finite screw motion.
1. Introduction
In 1955, Denavit and Hartenberg devised a standard
representation of the lower kinematic pairs that can
be used to formulate closure equations of any spatial
linkage. The method is based on the transformation
of spatial frames associated with the kinematics
pairs. Starting with two adjacent pairs, z-axes are
placed along each joint axis, and an x-axis is placed
along their common perpendicular. A y-axis is then
defined by the cross-product of the x- and z-axes, so
completing a Cartesian coordinate frame. When a
third pair axis is added in series, then the same pro-
cedure gives a second frame, and so on. The spatial
relationship between successive frames is then
described by a standard transformation matrix.
Denavit and Hartenberg used 4 x 4 coordinate
transformation matrices, but 3 x 3 dual-number
orthogonal matrices serve the purpose equally well.
As described, the method can be applied directly to
The International Journal of Robotics Research,
Vol. 1 U, No. 5, October 1991,
© 1991 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
454 Downloaded from ijr.sagepub.com at MARQUETTE UNIV on August 17, 2014
UnifyingScrew Geometry
and Matrix
Transformations
revolute, cylindrical, helical, or prismatic pairs.
Spherical pairs can be described as the composite of
three linearly independent revolute pairs whose axes
intersect at a point; planar pairs can be described as
the composite of two linearly independent prismatic
pairs, a revolute pair whose axis is orthogonal to the
plane of the prismatic pairs.
It is well known that Denavit and Hartenberg’s
procedure can be used to form the closure equations
of a serial robot arm; a full explanation of the
approach can be found in many places, for example,
Whitney (1972), Paul (1981), Paul et al. (1984), Pen-
nock and Yang (1985), and McCarthy (1986). What
is not widely recognized in robotics is that the
matrices used for generating these closure equations
form a representation of the group of rigid body dis-
placements. This is the so-called euclidean group in
three dimensions, denoted symbolically by E(3). The
euclidean group is, in our opinion, fundamental to
mechanism theory and spatial kinematics, as all
locations of a rigid body are uniquely described by
the elements of this six-dimensional group. Our pri-
mary objective in this article is to elicit some of the
rich geometric structure of the euclidean group. In
particular, we demonstrate the relationship between
matrix representations of the group and screw
geometry. In doing so we seek to give enlightened
interpretation of the quantities and collections of
symbols that arise when the procedure of Denavit
and Hartenberg is applied. These expressions are
usually complicated, their structure and character
being obscured by a mass of detail. Indeed, even for
relatively simple robots (Paul 1981), the complica-
tion becomes so great that it is nearly impossible to
grasp the significance of the results, so the analyst
who pursues Denavit and Hartenberg’s procedure
blindly can be forgiven for failing to recognize the
geometry that is subjacent to the algebra.
In section 2 we investigate the group structure of _
the set of displacements of a rigid body and discuss
Euler’s parameterization of the group. The Euler
parameterization leads to (at least) two different
matrix representations of E(3); namely, the group of
4 x 4 coordinate transformation matrices and the
group of 3 x 3 dual-number transformation
matrices. We briefly review both of these represen-
tations. Most of the material in this section should
be familiar, perhaps with the exception of 3 x 3
dual-number matrices. The reader who is not
acquainted with dual numbers should refer to appen-
dix A.
In section 3 we show that, in addition to its group
structure, the euclidean group is also a smooth man-
ifold. Hence it is a Lie group. Every Lie group has a
Lie algebra, and the Lie algebra of the E(3) is the
space of infinitesimal screws. We claim no original-
ity for this observation; it is touched on in Selig
(1985), Selig and Rooney (1989) and in the appendix
of Gibson and Hunt (1990). However, the coupling
of screw geometry to the theory of Lie groups
remains virtually unknown, and it almost certainly
has not been fully exploited. Notwithstanding the
references cited, we are not aware of a concise
treatment of this subject. A complete exposition is
beyond the scope of this article; however, we hope
that section 3 goes some of the way toward filling
this gap. The emphasis in section 3 is somewhat dif-
ferent from that found in the standard texts on Lie
groups and Lie algebras. We eschew a formal style
based on rigorous proofs and theorems so that we
may present the results in a way that makes their
geometric and mechanical significance palpable.
Section 4 is primarily a study of finite screw
motions. Elegant use of the invariant properties of
orthogonal 3 x 3 dual-number matrices under simi-
larity transformation allows us to derive explicit
expressions for a finite screw motion. This result
sets forth a solution to an idea originally suggested
by Saussure (1896)-namely, that of effecting a
workpiece displacement by a single finite screwing
motion. This approach to path planning does not
appear to have been given adequate attention by
researchers, despite its simplicity. We illustrate the
result with a simple example.
In preparing this article we have assumed that the
reader may not be familiar with all of the concepts
used, particularly those from group theory, the
structure of manifolds, and the theory of Lie groups
and their Lie algebras. We have supplemented the
main body of the text with appendices in which we
briefly introduce the relevant topics. Wherever pos-
sible, we refer the reader to more definitive discus-
sions.
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2. Rigid Body Displacements and the
Euclidean Group
A rigid body does not change, in either size or
shape, under transformation, so the distance
between any two of its points remains the same after
every displacement. For this reason, every rigid
body displacement is an isometry (a distance-pre-
serving map) of the ambient space 1R3. In this con-
text the term displacement has a special meaning,
for it refers only to the initial and final locations of
the body; it is in no way concerned with any of the
body’s intermediate locations. Clearly there is no
limit to the number of different paths that the body
could sweep out, and each of these paths corre-
sponds to the same rigid body displacement but a
different rigid body motion.
Cartesian coordinate frame in the
If we inscribe a
body, then the set of all possible displacements of
the body is the set of all locations of this frame. Fig-
ure 1 shows a Cartesian frame n (normal), o (orien-
tation), and a (approach) inscribed in the center of a
(rigid) robot gripper. We denote the frame by the
symbol C{3, allowing the gripper to undertake an arbi-
trary displacement, D, from its initial position at 19
to a final position at C{3’ (Fig. 2). For the purposes of
describing the displacement, we call 19 the fixed
frame and C{3’ the moving frame.
Remark 1. The set of all isometries of [R3 forms a
group. This is the so-called euclidean group, denoted
by E(3).
By &dquo;group&dquo; we mean a group in the mathematic
sense (see appendix C), so for Remark 1 to hold, the
four group properties must hold. These are (1) clo-
sure under composition, (2) association, (3) the exis-
tence of an inverse, and (4) the existence of an iden-
tity. The composition of two displacements, Da and
Db, is itself clearly a displacement; hence the set of
rigid body displacements is closed under composi-
tion. We define the product of Do and Db, when
Fig. 1. Gripper frame
455

Fig. 2. Displacement offraine 19 to frame ~’.
they body in that order, as Db-Da. To
act on the
show that displacements are associative, take a third
displacement Doc. The effect of the three displace-
ments Du, Dh’ and Dc, taken in that order, will pro-
duce the same net displacement regardless of the
way they are grouped, that is Dco(DboDa) =
(DcoDh)oDa. Hence association holds. To demon-
strate the identity displacement, notice that there is
a family of motions that will return a body to its ini-
tial location. We call each member of this family a
loop motion, and each corresponds to the identity
displacement-namely, the displacement that leaves
the body unaltered. This is the identity element of
the set, and we denote it by Dp. Finally, it remains
to demonstrate that each displacement has an
inverse. To do so, consider an arbitrary displace-
ment D of a body. Clearly there always exists a dis-
placement D-’ that returns the body to its initial
position. The combined effect of D and D- yields
the identity displacement (that is, D-’°D Do);
hence the displacement D-’ is the inverse of the
displacement D. This demonstrates the four group
properties, and so the set of all possible rigid body
displacements E(3) is a group.
Notice that, in general, rigid body displacements
do not commute; that is, Db-D, 0 DaoDb. Hence the
euclidean group is not an Abelian group.
A number of other workers have considered the
euclidean group to be important in kinematics.
Among these are Bottema and Roth (1979), who
describe but do not subsequently use the group
structure of E(3); Popplestone (1984), who uses the
group structure of E(3) to describe relationships
between mating components; and Selig and Rooney
( 1989), who show that the lower Reuleux pairs are
symplectic subgroups of E(3).
The history of the euclidean group cannot, with
456
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any certainty, be traced back before the works of
Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) (Gray 1980). Euler
made several significant contributions to our under-
standing of the laws that govern rigid body motions.
He demonstrated that every infinitesimal rotation
takes place about an instantaneous axis. He gave an
explicit notation for describing a general finite rota-
tional displacement in terms of rotations in three
successive planes (Euler angles); he showed that six
parameters are needed to specify a general spatial
displacement; and he demonstrated that a general
spatial displacement can always be factored as a
rotation, R, about an axis through an arbitrary point
together with a translation, d. This last observation
is sometimes referred to as the Euler parameteriza-
tion of E(3).
The set of rotations and the set of translations are
both subgroups of the euclidean group. The three-
dimensional rotation group can be represented by
the group of 3 x 3 orthogonal matrices with deter-
minants equal to + 1. This is the so-called special
orthogonal group in three dimensions, denoted by
SO(3). A generic element R of SO(3) has the follow-
ing form:
- - - -
I --,
I
The special orthogonal group in three dimensions is
a noncommutative group with composition given by
the standard matrix product.
The three-dimensional translation group, denoted
by T(3), has the three-dimensional vector space ~3
as its natural representation. We can describe an
element of T(3) by a three-vector
=
where dx, ~y, and dz are, respectively, the compo-
nents of the translation in the x, y, and z directions.
Elements of T(3) compose according to the standard
law of vector addition. We draw the reader’s atten-
tion to the commutative (Abelian) structure of the
translation group and contrast it with the noncom-
mutative structure of the rotational group.
The modern view that displacements form a group
began with the French mathematician Olinde
Rodrigues (1794-1851). Rodrigues published only
one paper on the subject (Rodrigues 1840), which, as
Gray (1980) points out, is possibly the first treatment
of motion in complete isolation from the forces that
cause it. Rodrigues was clearly aware that the rota-
tion group and the translational group have different
structures, and a main theme of his work was to The 4 x 4 matrix of equation (4) is the basis of
show how the two combine. In doing so he estab- the unified description of the lower kinematic pairs
lished that the structure of the euclidean group is (in introduced in Denavit and Hartenberg (1955). The
modern mathematic terminology) the semidirect application of 4 x 4 coordinate transformation
product of the rotation group SO(3) with the transla- matrices to robot kinematics is discussed in Paul
tion group T(3): (1981) and in Paul et al. (1984).
The 3 x 3 dual-number matrix representation of
E(3) describes how lines (and screws) transform
Using the Euler parameterization, two general dis- under rigid body displacements. Consider an arbi-
placements (Ra, da) and (Rb, db) commute according trary line with Plfcker coordinates (appendix A):
to the following rule (Normand 1980; Selig and Roo-
ney 1989):
Under the displacement, $ is carried into the line $’
by
Another important idea conveyed in Rodrigues’
paper is embodied in what he calls the théorème
fondamental (Rodrigues 1840). (This states that where A is a 3 x 3 orthogonal matrix whose ele-
every finite displacement can be effected by a rota- ments are dual numbers. In equation (5), the lines $
tion about a definite axis combined with a transla- and $’ are given dual vectors
as (appendix A). In
tion along that axis-that is, by a finite screw terms of the matrices defined in equations (1) and
motion.) This result is more frequently attributed to (2), A is given by:
Chasles ( 1830)’ and has become known as Chasles’
Theorem (Hunt 1978). The importance of the finite
screw in the context of the euclidean group is dis-
cussed in sections 3 and 4.

2.1. Two Matrix Representations of the Euclidean

Group
Here we briefly review two matrix representations
of E(3) that have found application in robot kinemat-
ics. They are (1) the group of 4 x 4 homogeneous
coordinate transformation matrices and (2) the group
of 3 x 3 dual-number orthogonal matrices.
The 4 x 4 matrix representation of E(3) describes where is the dual unit that satisfies C2 0 =
(appen-
how points transform under a rigid displacement. dix A). The matrix A is orthogonal; hence
Under the rigid body displacement D, depicted in
Figure 2, the point P (x, y, z) is transformed into
=

the point P’ = (x’, y’, z’)
where d =
(dn dy, dz) gives the coordinates of the
origin of frame ~’ in frame ~, and the matrix R E
SO(3) gives the orientation of 16’ in ~. As is shown
in Denavit and Hartenberg (1955) and Bottema and
Roth (1979) (and indeed in many other places), equa-
tion (3) can be written as a 4 x 4 matrix
1. Rodrigues was familiar with Chasles’ work and attributed many
of his results to him.
where E is the 3 x 3 identity matrix. We denote the
group of all 3 x 3 dual-number matrices by OD(3).
Because the determinant of any matrix A satisfies
elements of OD(3) must have determinant ± I . The
action of A is a proper displacement if det(A) = + 1
and an improper displacement if det(Â) = -1. Thus
O~ is the union of two sets; the group of proper dis-
placements, or the special orthogonal group of dual-
number matrices, denoted by SOD(3), and its com-
plement comprising all dual-number orthogonal
matrices with determinant - 1. This latter set is not
a group, as it does not contain the identity. In this
article we consider only proper displacements,

457
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which are those displacements that can be factored
as proper rotations (this excludes rotations formed
by inversions, reflections, and rotor-reflections)
together with translations (all of which are proper).
Three-by-three dual-number matrices are
described in Yang (1969), Bottema and Roth (1979),
Hsia and Yang (1981), Pennock and Yang (1985) and
McCarthy (1986). The articles by Pennock and Yang
(1985) and McCarthy (1986) are interesting in that
they show how 3 x 3 dual-number matrices can be
used to formulate the closure equations of serial
robot manipulators. Both do so by reformulating
Denavit and Hartenberg’s standard form for the Fig. 3. The parametric ball. Rotoation (01) corresponds to
lower kinematic pairs in terms of the 3 x 3 dual- the point P. The loclls of P traces a m>o-sphere with
number matrix. antipodal points identified.

3. The Lie Group Structure of the Euclidean
Group
A set that can be continuously parameterized by n
parameters is an n-dimensional manifold (see appen-
dix B). A rigid body displacement is determined by
six continuous parameters: three rotations and three
translations. Accordingly, the euclidean group has
the structure of a six-dimensional manifold. This is
called the configuration manifold of E(3), and each
point on the manifold corresponds to a rigid body
displacement. Its structure is best studied through
the configuration manifolds of its subgroups SO(3)
and T(3).
The configuration manifold of SO(3) is discussed
in numerous texts. Here we briefly sketch the con-
struction that appears most frequently (Mishchenko
and Fomenko 1988). Any element R of rotation
group SO(3) can be parameterized by the angle of
rotation 0 and axis of rotation I, which we write as
R( 01). This parameterization of a rotation is redun-
dant in that it uses not three parameters but four-
namely, the three direction components of I and the
angle 0. But normalizing I introduces a dependency
that reduces to three the number of free parameters.
The symbol 01 can be thought of as single quantity-
namely, a vector parallel to the axis of rotation of
modulus 0, with which we associate the point P
clear that there is a one-to-one mapping that goes
both ways, between SO(3) and the points of the
parametric ball. The parametric ball is itself homeo-
morphic to the projective three-sphere P S3-
namely, the manifold obtained by identifying each
point three-sphere (the set of points on [R4 at
on a
unit distance from the origin) with the point that is
diametrically opposite it. The projective three-sphere
can also be identified with the bundle of ~3 lines
through the origin of (R4. This latter construction
defines a projective three-space.
It is difficult to visualize the homeomorphism
between P S3 and the parametric ball, as it takes
place in real four-space [R4. There is, however, an
analogous association between the disc D2 in [R2 and
the projective two-sphere P S’. The disc D2 is a
slice of the parametric ball taken through a great cir-
cle and is a generator of the manifold of SO(3).
Figure 4 shows a two-sphere, S2. The line joining
any two antipodal points on S2 passes through the
center of the sphere, and the bundle of all such lines
defines a projective two-space, 1P2. This establishes
=

01 shown in Figure 3. By continuously varying the

direction of I and the angle 0, the point P traces a
three-ball, D3, of diameter 2n. This ball is some-
times referred to as the parametric ball of SO(3).
Because R( 01) and R(- 01) describe the same rota-
tion, diametrically opposite points on the surface of
the parametric ball D3 are not distinguished from
one another.
Having made conspicuous the antipodal corre-
spondence between points on the surface of D3, it is Fig. 4. Construction of the projective two-sphere from D2.

458
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a two-to-one correspondence between points on
and the space p2. We make this map (almost)
can
one-to-one by taking only the upper hemisphere of
S2, so that now only points on the equator map in
two-to-one fashion. It is possible to make the corre-
spondence strictly one-to-one by excluding one half
of the equator, but for our purposes it is enough to
simply identify antipodal points. In Figure 4, the
upper hemisphere of S2 is denoted by S2 +. It is easy
to see that S2 can be deformed into the disc D2,
thus demonstrating that S~ and D2 have equivalent
topologic structures and are therefore homeo-
morphic. The deformation process is probably best
viewed as an orthogonal projection of each point of
S2 into a point of DZ (see Fig. 4). Observe that this
projection preserves the identification of antipodal
points on the equator of S2 + by identifying diametri-
cally opposite points on D2.
A manifold M is said to be (arcwise) connected if
any two points a, b E M can be joined by a curve
on M. The manifold of SO(3) is connected, but it is
not simply connected; that is, not every loop motior
of the body corresponds to a curve on P S3 that can
be contracted into a point. Recall from our earlier
definition that a loop motion is any rigid body
motion that returns the body to its original position
in the ambient three-space. If the body is con-
strained to twist about a fixed axis I, then the
obvious loop motion is a rotation about I through
2~r. On the group manifold, such a motion is a curv(
that extends from the point a (the initial position) to
the point b that is antipodal to a. Rotating the body
through a further 2?r radians (continuing in the same
direction) completes a great circle on S’, so that a
and b coincide once again. Clearly we can contract
the curve of the rotation through 47T to a point, but
we cannot do the same for the rotation through 21r,
despite the fact that both are loop motions. Hence
we conclude that the manifold of SO(3) is not a sim-
ply connected manifold.
Remark 2. The group SO(3) has the structure of
a manifold that is isomorphic to a projective three-
sphere S’. This manifold is compact2 and con-
nected, but it is not simply connected.
Elements of the three-dimensional translation
group, T(3), can be identified with vectors in ~3.
Thus the group manifold of T(3) is simply the
space ~3. By contrast with the manifold of SO(3),
the manifold f~3 is simply connected but it is not
compact.
2. The set is closed and bounded.
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S2 Remark 3. The configuration manifold of the
euclidean group is a smooth six-dimensional mani-
fold that is isomorphic to the product of the projec-
tive three-sphere, P S3, with the real three-space,
fl~~ : E(3) * P S3 x 1R3. The manifold of E(3) is con-
nected, but it is not simply connected nor is it compact.
Each matrix A E SOD(3) identifies a point on the
group manifold of E(3), and the nine dual-number
elements of A can be used to construct a coordinate
system E(3). Each such nine-tuple satisfies 13
on
constraints, 12 of which are implied by the orthog-
onality condition [equation (7)], and the thirteenth
specifies that the displacement be proper: det(Â) =
+ 1.Given another elementfi E SOD(3), the matrix
product BA (which corresponds to the group opera-
tion of composition) defines a map mi - l§mi that
takes the point A into the point BA on E(3). Because
the coordinates of BA-namely, the elements of the
matrix BA-are (infinitely) differentiable functions of
the coordinates of A, the map h - BA is smooth.
Moreover, if we treat the group operation of inver-
sion as a special composition, then it, too, is a
smooth map.
A set that is both a group and a smooth manifold
on which composition and inversion appear as
smooth maps is (by definition C3) a Lie group. Thus
we conclude the following:
Remark 4. The euclidean group, E(3), has the
structure of a Lie group.
By similar arguments it is easy to show that the
subgroups SO(3) and T(3) are also Lie groups.
3.1. Infinitesimal Motions and the Lie Algebra
The smoothness of its manifold endows the group
E(3) with the special property that each of its points
has a tangent space (appendix B). The tangent space
at the general point P comprises all the vectors tan-
gent to E(3) at P, giving it the structure of a real six-
dimensional vector space, [R6. Physically the vectors
of this space describe the first-order kinematic prop-
erties (velocities) of a rigid body motion. Of particu-
lar interest is the tangent space at the group identity.
This is the so-called Lie algebra of the group, and it
is usually denoted by e(3). Each vector in e(3) corre-
sponds to an infinitesimal twist, so the space [R6 is
the space of twists. It is convenient to identify the
elements of e(3) with dual vectors (see appendix A).
The term twist was introduced by Ball (1900) to
describe the infinitesimal displacement that results
when a body is rotated about an axis while simul-
459
taneously being translated parallel to that axis. This
is the most general form of motion that a body can

undertake, and Ball (1900) demonstrates, every

as
infinitesimal motion of a rigid body can be resolved
into a unique twist. Every twist takes place about an
infinitesimal screw axis, and the rate w at which the
body twists is called the amplitude of the twist.
Ball’s terminology has an intuitive flavor that is
worth keeping; however, it has been used inconsis-
tently by various authors (even Ball himself is guilty
of this). To avoid the confusion that can arise, we
adopt the following definitions.
Fig. 5. Path on the group manifold.
DEFINITION 1. A screw, $(h), is a line in the
ambient space f~3 together with a scalar quantity, h,
called the pitch. The pitch of a screw is the ratio of The matrix D( 1) defines the vector that is tangential
the translational displacement and the rotational dis- to the path on E(3) at the point A(t). The orthogo-
placement of the body. To uniquely specify the axis nality condition [equation (7)] tells us that
of the screw, four independent parameters are
needed. The pitch gives a fifth parameter, so the set
of all screws is a five-parameter family.
points on the path. Then by differentiating
for all
DEFINITION 2. A twist £( úJ, h) is a screw $( h) equation (9) with respect to t we obtain
together with a scalar quantity, w, called the ampli-
tude. Physically the amplitude describes the rate at
which a rigid body twists about the screw $(h). Six Observing that Â(t)n7ú) = (n(t)Â T(t))T we con-

independent parameters are needed to specify a clude that n(t)Â T(t) is skew symmetric, that is
twist-namely, the five parameters of the screw $(h)
and the amplitude co. iAt)A T(t)
On any given screw there is a family of twists,
each member of which differs from the others only
in the value of its amplitude. In the space [R6, each
such family is a line through the origin, and the bun-
dle of all such lines defines a projective five-space
IP5 that is the space of screws. Thus screws are the A space of n x n skew-symmetric matrices defines
elements of the underlying projective five-space of a vector space of dimension n(n - 1)/2. So the set
the real vector space [R6. An important corollary of of 3 x 3 skew-symmetric matrices with dual-number
this observation is that each screw is a projective elements is a three-space of dual vectors. This space
twist. Twist and screws are fundamental concepts in shall be denoted by SkD(3), and we note that SkD(3)
kinematics, and the general theory is developed is isomorphic to the Lie algebra e(3). We identify
comprehensively in Ball (1900) and Hunt (1978). A every matrix ,f2(t)AT(t) E SkD(3) with a dual vector
comprehensive treatment of screws as elements of
the space p5 is given in Gibson and Hunt (1990).
We can make the foregoing remarks explicit by
considering an arbitrary path t ~ A(t) on E(3),
where t is a continuous parameter and A(t) E
SOn(3) for all t. The path is depicted in Figure 5. which is a twist of amplitude ~ ~ (wi + c:v~ +
For clarity we explicitly identify t with time, so that cvZ)’~2, acting on a screw $(h) of pitch
at time t the infinitesimal properties of the motion
are given by:

The normalized Plfcker coordinates of $(h ) are

460
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 (from appendix A):
The geometric significance of each of the
.
quantities
in equation ( 12) is depicted in Figure 6.
3.2. The Algebraic Structure of e(3)
In addition to its vector space properties, the Lie
algebra, e(3), has an algebraic structure that it inher-
its from the group structure on the manifold of E(3).
A Lie algebra (Samelson 1969) is defined formally as
a vector space together with a bilinear product that
maps the space into itself. The product operator,
denoted by [ , ], is .called the Lie bracket or commu-
tator of the algebra, and it satisfies the following
conditions:
for all X, Y, Z E e(3). Property (a) is called skew
symmetry and (b) is called the Jacobi identity.
Fig. 6. An infinitesimal twist £(h) of amplitude w acting
on a screw $(h). The two components off are shown as
and w x a.
Downloaded from ijr.sagepub.com at MARQUETTE UNIV on August 17, 2014
Because the Lie bracket maps e(3) into itself, [X, Y]
E e(3) for all X, Y E e(3); hence the Lie algebra is
closed. Other properties of the algebra can be
inferred from the vector space structure of e(3) and
from the bilinearity of the bracket. For example:
for all a, 8 E fez.
The Lie bracket of any two twists A, B E SkD(3)
can be found from:
where AB denotes the standard matrix product.
Equation (13) gives the vector product of A and B. If
A = a + sa* and B = b + eb* the bracket [A, B]
can be written
where 1B denotes the cross-product. Physically [A, B]
is a twist that acts on a screw whose axis is the
common perpendicular to the axes of both A and B.
The pitch of this screw is easily found to be (h,, + hb)
+ d cot B, where ha is the pitch of the screw on
which twist A acts, dcb is the pitch of the screw on
which B acts, 0 is the angle between the axes of A
and B, and d is the distance between the axes of A
and B measured along the common perpendicular.
The amplitude of [A, B] equals wcob sin 0, where (Ùa
and w~ are the amplitudes of A and B respectively.
The twist [A, B] is depicted in Figure 7.
The Jacobi identity [property (b)] specifies the
condition for a body receiving twists about three
screws, £1 [X, [Y, Z]], £2
=
[Y, [Z, X]], and £3 =
=
[Z, [X, Y]], to resume the same position after the
last twist that it occupied before the first. The order
in which the twists are applied is of no consequence;
T Fig. 7. The Lie bracket $[A,SJ of two twists on screw
J~A~huJ and ,~B~hb)·
461
their accumulated effect simply maintains the body
in kinematic equilibrium. Hence the screws on
which the three twists act are linearly dependent
(each of the twists is the negated sum of the other
two), so they belong to the same two-system (Ball
1900; Hunt 1978; Gibson and Hunt 1990). The axes
of the screws of a two-system lie as generators on a
ruled surface; in general this surface is a cylindroid
(Fig. 8). The cylindroid is fundamental to the study
of screw and line geometry, and much more can be
said about it in the context of the Lie algebra. For
example, the three twists defined by the bracket
operations [.f, £2], [~2, ~3]. and [£~, jf]] share the
same axis, and this axis is precisely the nodal line of
the cylindroid (the central line that all of the screw Fig. 9. The standard basis of the Lie algebra e(3).
axes intersect at right angles). For an enlightened
discussion of this most fascinating surface we refer
the reader to Ball (1900). which is the Lie algebra of the three-dimensional
Any six linearly independent twists form a basis rotational group. Similarly the three infinitesimal
for e(3). The six unit twists shown in Figure 9, translations
which might well be regarded as normalized screws,
are the constituents of a basis called the standard
basis of e(3). Three of these describe infinitesimal
rotations, and the other three are infinitesimal trans-
lations. The three rotations are

I,

form the standard basis for the Lie algebra of the

These three twists form the standard basis of~so(3),
three-dimensional translation group, usually denoted
by t(3).
The vector space structure of e(3) is given by the
sum so(3) + t(3)-that is, e(3) comprises all vectors
of the form s + t where s E so(3) and t E t(3).
The commutations of the algebra of e(3), in terms
of the elements of its standard basis, are given in
Table 1. From Table 1 we can make the following
observations about the algebraic structure of e(3).
1. The subspaces so(3) and t(3) are sub (Lie) alge-
bras of e(3), as they are closed under the
bracket operation.
2. The subalgebra t(3) is an Abelian Lie algebra,

Table 1. Commutations of the Lie Algebra e(3)

Fig. 8. The cylindroid.

462 Downloaded from ijr.sagepub.com at MARQUETTE UNIV on August 17, 2014

 since the Lie bracket [tip , t2l 0 for all ti, t2 E
=
by taking the Lie bracket of any two left invariant
t(3). We note that the Lie algebra of an Abelian vector fields is also left invariant.
Lie group is always Abelian. A smooth path t - A(t) on the manifold of E(3) is
3. The Lie bracket of any infinitesimal rotation an integral curve (appendix B) of the vector field
and any infinitesimal translation is an infinitesi- VeL) if
mal translation-that is, [s, t] E t(3) for all s E
so(3) and t E t(3). Hence it follows that e(3) is
the semidirect sum of t(3) and so(3). This is
written e(3) so(3) E9s t(3), where 6), denotes
=

We can relate two points A(to) and A(to + e) on an

the semidirect sum.
integral curve by the Taylor series expansion:

3.3. The Exponential Map

Consider again the smooth path t - A(t) on E(3)
depicted in Figure 5. Every point A on the path has
a unique tangent vector, hA = dÂ(t)/dt, that
describes the instantaneous properties of the motion.
The twist £ about which the motion proceeds is
found by mapping the matrix h into the group’s Lie
algebra. This map, defined by equation (10), is a
right shift (definition C2) of i2 into the group iden-
tity : RA - i £ _ zap 1. Conversely, we can map
the twist £ E e(3) into the tangent vector h by a left
shift LA : ~2 =
£.
Left shifting an arbitrary twist fE e(3)

Equation (14) is called the exponentiation of the dif-

generates a vector field the
V(£) (appendix B) on ferential operator dldt. If the A(to) E, the group =

manifold of E(3), notionally depicted in Figure 10. identity, then the differential daldt £ is a twist, =

The group structure on the manifold E(3), and in
particular the group property of closure under com-
position, ensures that every left shift LA maps V(£)
into itself, and so V(£) is invariant under a left shift.
For obvious reasons Vel) is called a left invariant
vector field on E(3). Every twist i E e(3) defines a
distinct left invariant vector field on the group mani-
fold, from which it follows that the field generated
and equation (14) becomes
Equation (15) is called the exponential map, and
from it we see how the infinitesimal twist £(c~, h)
determines a (finite) group operation. The exponen-
tial map hence plays a central role in describing how
the Lie algebra influences the structure of the group
E(3). Each i(co, h) E e(3) is called an infrnitesimal
generator of the group, as every group operation
can be generated by infinitely repeating (that is,

exponentiating), the appropriate twist. This last

remark has its realization in Chasles’ (1830) theo-
rem, which states that every finite rigid body dis-
placement can be effected by a finite screwing about
a distinct axis. On E(3) each finite screw motion

appears as an integral curve of a left invariant vector

field. Such a motion can be generated by taking the
exponent of some £(úJ, h) in e(3). The correspon-
dence between the Lie algebra e(3) and the Lie
group E(3), via the exponential map, is depicted in
Figure 11.
Fig. 10. A left invariant vector field on E(3) generated by For£(ú), h) E SkD(3) equation (15) is a matrix
left-shifting the twist Ie. exponential function. For example, exponentiation

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463
 virtue of this property called isotropic points;
are

they correspond to the

four eigenvectors of the
matrix defined in equation (4). These isotropic
points need not all be either real or distinct.
Consider the sphere, S’, whose equation is

The intersection of S2 with the plane at infinity, w =

0, is

which is the imaginary spherical circle. All spheres

contain 4 in its entirety, and the intersection is inde-
Fig. 11. The exponential. pendent of both the radius r of the sphere and its
location ( f , g, h). The imaginary spherical circle is
hence unaltered by a general displacement. Two of
of the twist
the four isotropic points of the displacement D lie on
0. They correspond precisely to the imaginary cir-
cwlar points, I and J, common to all circles in all
planes perpendicular to the axis of the finite screw
of the displacement. Suppose that the finite screw
which acts on a screw coincident to the z-axis with
axis coincides with the z-axis; then by a straightfor-
pitch h d/0, yields
=

ward calculation the coordinates of I and J are given

exp (£(úJ. h)) by the complex conjugate: (x, ± a, 0, 0). The circu-
lar points I and J and the imaginary spherical circle
f) are notionally depicted in Figure 12. Also shown
are the two imaginary lines, Tt and The that are tan-

gential to 6 at points I and ,1. Ti and 7y are unal-

tered by the displacement D, and so the real point S
at which they intersect is a further isotropic point of
the displacement. The point S is the eigenvector of
the repeated eigenvalue A + 1 of equation (4), and
=

it corresponds to the point at which the finite screw

where b = 0 + ed is called a dual angle (see appen- axis meets the plane at infinity. Thus when the finite
dix A). The matrix of equation (16) describes a finite screw axis coincides with the z-axis, S has coordi-

screwing about the z-axis through an angle 0, cou-

pled with a translation d parallel to the z-axis.
From well-known properties of the exponent

for alla, {3 E R. So, for every fixed Q, the map a

exp (cx £) exp (/3.f) is an Abelian one-parameter
subgroup of E(3). Each finite screw motion is hence
a one-parameter subgroup of E(3).

4. Finite Displacements
Equation (3) expresses the rule
by which a point P
transforms under rigid body displacement. rf P is
a

given by a quadruple of homogeneous coordinates-

that is, P (x, y, z, w)-then equation (3) defines a
=

Fig. 12. Invariant points and lines under a general rigid

projective isometry D: ~3 ~ p3 that maps the plane body displacement. The (imaginary) line IJ is the vanish-
at infinity into itself. In general, four points of P’ ing line of all planes per pendicular to the finite screw
remain unaltered by a general transformation and by axis, operated on by the imaginary operator i.

464 Downloaded from ijr.sagepub.com at MARQUETTE UNIV on August 17, 2014

nates (0, 0, z, 0). The point S isrepeated eigenvec-
a As Gibson and Hunt (1990) explain in greater
tor, so we have identified the four isotropic points of
D.
The displacement Dleaves three lines in [R3 unal-
tered. These the finite screw axis and the imagi-
are
nary tangent lines T, and Tl. In the mechanical
world the only isotropic line of significance is that of
the finite screw axis. In general this is the only real
isotropic line of the displacement D.
Suppose that we wish to effect a displacement by
a finite screw motion (for example, the displacement
that takes frame 16 into ~’, depicted in Figure 2);
then it is necessary to specify (1) the axis of the
screw, $~, ; (2) the angle rotated, 0; and (3) the dis-
tance translated, T. We shall now show that it is
possible to express these three parameters in terms
of the nine elements of the matrix A that describes
the displacement.
The reduction of an orthogonal matrix of general
form to one of a special form can be effected by a
similarity transformation (Ayres 1962). We can
make use of the properties of similarity transforma-
tions to reduce any matrix A E SOD(3) to a matrix
of the form
where matrix B E OD(3), and the matrices A and
BAB&dquo;’ are said to be similar or equivalent. The
similarity transformation that gives equation (17)
serves to align the z-axis of the reference coordinate
frame with the axis of the finite screw. Two similar
matrices have the same trace (Ayres 1962) so
thus
where fiii aii + can, i
=
1, 2, 3, is the (ii)th ele-
=
ment of the matrix A. We can separate equation (18)
into its real and dual parts
to give two expressions that yield the angle of rota-
tion 0 and the magnitude of the translation T.
Because T is, by definition, a positive scalar, equa-
tions (19) and (20) have a unique solution.
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detail, the space of screws, p>5, is filled by a pencil
of hyperquadrics, each of which comprises all the
screws of a distinct pitch, h. If a screw $(h) is
described by a dual vector u + cv*, then (using the
notation of Gibson and Hunt), the pitch hyperquad-
ric on which it lies is given by
Screws of pitch, or lines, occupy a special
zero
hyperquadric Qo, sometimes called the Klein quad-
ric. For each point $(h) = u + cv* in ~5 there is a
map
that takes $(h) into the Klein quadric. This map
establishes the axis $(0) on which the screw $(h)
acts. The line in P’ joining $(0) and $(h) intersects
all of the pitch hyperquadrics and represents all of
the screws that can have $(0) as their axis.
The euclidean group acts naturally in ¡p>5, mapping
points onto points according to the rule given by
equation (6). Under the group action, each pitch
hyperquadric is mapped into itself, and for a general
displacement, only one (real) point on each pitch
hyperquadric remains where it is. There is a
(straight) line L in ¡p>5 through these invariant points
that intersects all of the pitch hyperquadrics and
defines the family of all possible screws that may act
on the axis of the finite screw of the displacement.
Under the exponential map, this family generates a
symplectic subgroup of E(3) that we can identify
with a cylindrical pair centered on the finite screw
axis. The point where the line L intersects the
hyperquadric Q*($) (that contains all the screws of
infinite pitch) is the vanishing line in the plane at
infinity of all planes perpendicular to the finite screw
axis (see Fig. 12).
Each screw on L is a projective twist; hence there
is a double infinitude of twists that, in general, are
unaltered by a general displacement. Each of these
twists is an eigenvector of the matrix A of the dis-
placement and hence satisfies
where the dual number A is an eigenvalue of A. The
matrix A is similar to the matrix of equation (17);
hence A satisfies
465
which yields a cubic in A screw motion.’ To further emphasize the distinction
between 9 and the finite screw, we call the pitch of 9
the translation scalar, and its amplitude shall be
The three roots of equation (21) are
referred to as its modulus.
The translation scalar of 9 is denoted by ii, where

It is important to recognize that ii does not equal

the pitch of the finite screw motion-that is,
so provided 8 =¡f 0, zr, the eigenvalue Â1 + 1 is the =

g ~ TI e. However, as 0 tends to zero, the values of

only real eigenvalue of A. Thus the isotropic twist £
,u and h coincide; hence the translation scalar of an
satisfies
infinitesimal displacement is equal to its pitch.
The modulus of 9 is denoted by 1/1, where

and from the orthogonality condition [equation (7)],

From 9 we can calculate the Plfcker coordinates
of the axis $ about which the finite screwing motion
Subtracting equation (23) from (22) gives of the body takes place:

Let 9 =
(A - A I&dquo;). Clearly 9 E SkD(3), so we iden- As we have already seen, a general matrix A E
SOD(3) can always be reduced to the form of equa-
tify it with the dual vector
tion (17) by performing a similarity transformation.
From the Pliicker coordinates of the similar matrix,
equation (17), we can derive alternative expressions
for the modulus and the translation scalar of the sec-
We then rewrite equation (24) the
ondary isotropic twist.
can as cross-prod- From equation (27), the Plfcker coordinates of the
uct of two dual vectors, £ and 9
secondary isotropic twist of equation (17) are

and from equation (26) it follows that the twist s and which reveals that the modulus <~ is
£ coincide, and therefore 9 is an eigenvector of A
corresponding to the eigenvalue A + 1. =

The screw on which the twist 9 acts corresponds
to the point on the isotropic line L with Plucker
coordinates (appendix A)
In general, exponentiation of 9 does not yield the
finite screw described by A; however, it will yield a
finite screw motion that takes place about the axis
of the finite screw. The use of the superscript t in
equation (27), in preference to the usual superscript
*, is meant to draw the reader’s attention to this
point. We call i the secondary isotropic twist of A,
and translation scalar p is
A geometric interpretation of the secondary iso-
tropic twist, based on equations (31), (32), and (33),
is given in Figure 13.
Equations (30), (31), and (32) and a knowledge of
dual-number algebra reveals the alternative but
equivalent method for finding of the normalized
Placker coordinates of the finite screw axis. This is
given by equation (34).
3. There is an unlimited number of screws on L that generate the
finite screw motion of the displacement, as the pitch of this screw
may be r/(8 ± 2niT), n 0, 1, 2, 3, ... , where - o = 8 S 1r.
=

the primary isotropic twist being the infinitesimal The screw that we refer to here is specifically that whose pitch is
screw that, by exponentiation, generates the finite r18. Hunt (1978) calls this pitch the cardinal pitch.

466
Downloaded from ijr.sagepub.com at MARQUETTE UNIV on August 17, 2014
 The angle of rotation is 0 cos-’ (2(trace A - 1)),
=

and the translation scalar ~u, 0. Paul (1981) dis-

=

cusses this special case, and equation (36) should be

compared with equations (1.83) to (1.85) on page 311

of that reference.

Pure Translation
Thus Plucker coordinates of the axis of a pure trans-
lation follow can be written down by inspection as

Fig. 13. Geometric interpretation of the secondary iso-

tropic twist.

where (dx, have the same meaning as in

d,,, dz)
equation (2). The angle of rotation 0 0, and the =

translation scalar jn x. The axis is identified by its

=

where the rule for dividing two dual numbers is direction only and so can be regarded as a free vec-
defined in appendix A. In matrix form these expres- tor.
sions can be rewritten

4.2. A Worked Example Made Easy to Visualize

Figure 14 shows two Cartesian frames <[3 and ~’ . The
origin of the <[3’ frame is located at the point (1, - 1, 1)
in <[3, that is dx + 1, d, 1, and dz = + 1. The
=
z

rotation matrix
4.1. Special Cases
Two special cases of equation (27) are of particular
interest. They correspond to pure rotation and pure
translation. serves to orientate ~’ in 16. Using equation (6), the
3 x 3 dual-number matrix that describes the loca-
Pure Rotation tion of 16’ in 16 is
If the displacement is a pure rotation, the matrix A
becomes a rotation matrix, and the normalized
Pliicker coordinates of rotation axis are

Fig. 14. The finite screw $ which takes frame lq into 16.

467
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From equation (27), the secondary isotropic twist of Equation (37) gives a concise formulation of the dis-
A is placement matrix describing the location of the mov-
ing frame ~’ in the fixed frame 19 (see Fig. 2), at
each point of a finite screw motion. This parameteri-
From equations (19) and (20), the angle of rotation zation is given directly in terms of the angle of rota-
tion 4J. Note that for 4J = 0 the matrix N( 4J) E,
=

and for 0 = 0 the displacement matrix lV( 9) A, as

=

and the translation component is found to be
We may use either equation (28) or
calculate the translation scalar as
Then by either equation (30) or equation (34), the
axis about which the twist takes place is
This completes
4.3. Generating a Finite
It remains to show how the finite screw can be used
in trajectory planning. This requires the specification
of the A matrices for all points along the path of the
finite screw motion. From equation (35), the infini-
tesimal screw that generates the motion is
and by equation (26), the finite twist about the
$ through an angle 4> (where 0 ~ ~ ~ 0) is
expected. In robotics it is usual to refer the location
of the gripper frame to some fixed base frame 7A,
usually located at the base of the manipulator.
If the location of frame 19 in 26 is given by the
equation (33) to matrix B, then by the group property of composi-
tion, the location of the moving ~6’ in frame 91, is
given by ~V(<~)F.
Although we have not implemented this approach
to trajectory planing in an industrial robot, it would
appear that the method has some merit. This is par-
ticularly true when the manipulator’s working space
is free of obstacles that might otherwise interfere
the solution of the problem. with its motion. Eminently suited to finite screw
motion is the &dquo;pick-and-place&dquo; class of operations,
where the manipulator is required to move its grip-
Screw Motion per frame between two known locations. The effi-
ciency of such a task is perhaps best measured by
the cycle time, and so, provided that the manipula-
tor does not become obstructively contorted, it
might well be that the finite screw motion is the
best.
Given that a finite screw describes the &dquo;canoni-
cal&dquo; motion of a rigid body between two locations,
it is perhaps surprising that researchers interested in
problems of trajectory planning have ignored this
screw solution. Typical path planning strategies break the
motion into movements along straight lines and rota-
tions about fixed axes (Paul 1981). Although these
are themselves finite screws motions-rotations are
finite screws of zero pitch and translations are finite
screws of infinite pitch-we are not aware of any

where 0 g + gT/0. Expanding the exponential

= path-planning strategy that combines these two basic
motions into one. It is interesting to note that the
and noting Z’2’t -’’ - (- I)(’- ~2 and i2n =
I ~ , I I.-
-- 1........&eth;.&dquo;&dquo;II
- . _ - -

notion of effecting workpiece displacements via

finite screw motions is almost 100 years old, having
been first suggested by Saussure (1896).

5. Conclusions
We have demonstrated the equivalence of screw
geometry with matrix representations of the
euclidean group. To do this we made extensive use
of the Lie group structure of E(3) and its corre-
sponding Lie algebra. Our analysis suggests that the
finite screw is suitable for trajectory planning, and
we have developed a concise expression that gives
the transformation matrix describing the displace-

468
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ment at each point along the path of the finite screw
motion.
Acknowledgments
Dr. J. M. Selig of the Department of Electrical Engi-
neering at Southbank Polytechnic suggested that we
use dual-number matrices for the calculations in sec-
tion 4. This simplified the results considerably. The
authors also extend their sincere thanks to Dr. C. G.
Gibson of the Department of Pure Mathematics at
the University of Liverpool for fruitful discussions
on Lie groups and Lie algebras. This work was sup-
ported by Australian Research Council grant no.
A48716268.
Appendix A: Dual Numbers, Dual Vectors,
and Screws
A dual number is an ordered pair of real numbers a
and a* combined in the form f = a + ca*, where c
is called the dual unit and has properties
Dual numbers were introduced by Clifford (1873)
and are discussed in Yang (1974), Veldkamp (1976),
and Selig (1985). The following summary has been
derived from these references.
The operations of addition and multiplication are
defined for any two dual numbers a = a + ca* and
b = b + cb*. The rules for addition and multiplica-
tion are:
Provided that b # 0, the division alb is also defined:
for all a and b.
If f (a) is a differentiable function of dual num-
bers, then by a Taylor series expansion
A dual number fully specifies the relative posi-
tions of two lines in space when expressed in the
Downloaded from ijr.sagepub.com at MARQUETTE UNIV on August 17, 2014
form,
where 0 is the projected angle between the two
lines, and d is the length of the common perpendicu-
lar to the two lines. The dual number b is frequently
called a dual angle following Study (1903).
Using equation (A2) we can derive the following
expressions for trigonometric functions of dual
angles
Similar expressions can be found for all other trigo-
nometric identities. All trigonometric identities for
ordinary angles also hold for dual angles.
A dual vector is an ordered triple of dual numbers
(e7,, â2, fi3). This defines an ordered pair of vectors
A and A* combined in the form A A + EA * where
=
A = (a;, as, ~3) and A* ~ (a; , a2 , a*). The vector
A is called the principal vector, and the vector A* is
called the principal moment. Clifford (1873) called
this combination of a vector and a moment a motor,
a portmanteau of &dquo;motion&dquo; and &dquo;vector.&dquo;
We can use a motor to describe the infinitesimal
motion of a body where the principal vector
describes the angular velocity and the principal
moment describes the translational velocity. In this
application a motor is called a twist, and its six
coordinates are Plucker coordinates ( L, M, N; P*,
Q*, R*) of the screw on which the twist acts;
namely,
On each screw is defined a scalar quantity, called
the pitch, h, where
which is the ratio of translational speed to angular
speed. Screws of zero pitch are rotations, and
screws of infinite pitch are translations. The axis of
the screw is given by
Appendix B: Manifolds, Tangent Spaces,
Vector Fields, and Integral Curves
Excellent introductions to the theory of manifolds
can be found in Bishop and Goldberg (1968), Guile-
469
min and Pollack (1974), and Mishchenko and Fo-
menko (1988). This introduction aims to present the
material with simple geometric notions in preference
to rigorous definitions. For a more complete treat-
ment, the reader should refer to one of the texts
given above or another reputable text on the sub-
ject.
A set of points, which together comprise a regular
two-dimensional surface in the usual three-dimen-
sional space, 1R.3, serves to introduce the notion of a
manifold in an intuitive way. Two familiar surfaces
in [R3 are the sphere and the right circular torus,
both of which are two-manifolds. The two-sphere is
defined as the set of points in [R3 that are equidistant Fig. 16. A vector field on the two-sphere S2 and an inte-
from given point called the center. The two-torus
a gral curve to the vector field.
comprises the set points obtained by rotating a circle
in [R3 about a coplanar line through 2z radians. An
If the manifold M is smooth, then each point P on
alternative but equivalent definition of two-torus is M has a tangent space Tp(M). It is easy to visualize
the product of two circles in [R3. the tangent space of a two-manifold; it is simply the
Both the two-sphere and the two-torus have
plane that is tangential to the surface at the point P.
higher dimensional analogues. For example, in the In Figure 15 we depict the tangent space Tp(S’) of a
n-dimensional space fl~&dquo;, an (n - 1)-sphere is
defined as the set of points in R&dquo; that are equidistant
two-sphere, and we note that the tangent space has
the structure of a real vector space [R2 spanned by
from a given point. Similarly an (n - I)-torus is the
any two linearly independent tangent vectors t, and
product of (n - 1) circles. Both the (n - I)-sphere t,, to S2 at the point P. We can use analogy to visual-
and the (n - 1)-torus are (n - I)-dimensional ize the tangent spaces of higher dimensional mani-
smooth manifolds.
folds. For example, the tangent space of the three-
The formal definition of a manifold is a set M on
which each point P has a neighorhood that admits a
sphere S3 at each point P is a real three-space, [R3.
n
The tangent space to the manifold (~n is simply a
one-to-one continuous map into an open set of ~8&dquo;
space R&dquo;.
for some n. This means that every point on M looks
A vector field on a manifold M is a rule that
(locally) like the space l~’~. Given this, the simplest assigns a distinct tangent at each point P on M. A
manifold is the space U$&dquo; itself. In the context of the
euclidean group, the manifold ~3 is associated with
typical vector field on the the two-sphere S2 is
the translation group in three dimensions. The mani-
depicted in Figure 16. Any smooth curve on M
whose tangent vector at each point is in a vector
fold of the three-dimensional rotation group can be field at each of its points is called an integral currve.
identified with the three-sphere in [R4 on which dia-
An integral curve on a vector field on S2 is depicted
metrically opposite points have been identified. in Figure 16.

Appendix C: Groups and Lie Groups

This section gives some basic definitions from group
theory that can be found in any of the numerous
texts on the subject theory (Zassenhaus 1958). For a
discussion of the theory of Lie groups and Lie alge-
bra, we refer the reader to Samelson (1969), Price
(1977), Normand (1980), and Postnikov (1986).
DEFINITION C 1. A group is a set G that composes
under a binary operation (e.g., multiplication or
addition), called the group product; this product
operation is valid and unique for all elements of the
Fig. 15. Tangent vectors and a tangent space on the two- group. This means that given two elements gl, g2 E
manifold S’‘. G, their product g,~g2 is a uniquely defined element

470
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of the group. Formally, we say that G is a group if it
satisfies the following four axioms of group theory:
1. G is closed under the product operator; that
gl°gz E G for any gl, g2 E G;
2. The product operator is associative; that is,
gtUg2°t~,3~ - (91092)093 for any gl, g2, g3 E G;
3. There is one element e E G such that g-e g
e-g for all g E G. The element e is called
=
the identity element of the group;
4. For every g E G, there is an element g-’ such
that g°g-’
g-log e. The element g-’ is
= =
called the inverse of g.
We describe the group structure of the set G by:
Expression (Cl) is called composition; it says that
the group product maps a point in the set G x G
into G. Expression (C2) is called inversion; it admits
the existence of an inverse for each element of G. If
the group product is commutative-that is, glogz
92-91-then G is called an Abelian or commutative
group.
DEFINITION C2. Every element of the group G
defines two maps of the group into itself:
Expression (C3) is called a left shift by a; expression
(C4) is called a right shift by a.
DEFINITION C3. A Lie group is a set G such that
(1) G is a group, (2) G is a smooth manifold, and (3)
the group operations of composition and inversion
defined by equations (Cl) and (C2) are smooth maps
of G into itself relative to the manifold structure
defined in (2).
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