On Euler’s Rotation Theorem

DOI10.1080/07468342.2022.2015214arXiv2012.10757OpenAlexW4211138609WikidataQ113850999 ScholiaQ113850999MaRDI QIDQ6166763FDOQ6166763

Authors: Peter B. Gothen, António Guedes de Oliveira 

Publication date: 6 July 2023

Published in: The College Mathematics Journal (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: It is well known that a rigid motion of the Euclidean plane can be written as the composition of at most three reflections. It is perhaps not so widely known that a similar result holds for Euclidean space in any number of dimensions. The purpose of the present article is, firstly, to present a natural proof of this result in dimension 3 by explicitly constructing a suitable sequence of reflections, and, secondly, to show how a careful analysis of this construction provides a quick and pleasant geometric path to Euler's rotation theorem, and to the complete classification of rigid motions of space, whether orientation preserving or not. Finally, we present an example where we use the general scheme of our proofs to classify the composition of two explicitly given orientation preserving isometries. We believe that our presentation will highlight the elementary nature of the results and hope that readers, perhaps especially those more familiar with the usual linear algebra approach, will appreciate the simplicity and geometric flavour of the arguments.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.10757

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Geometry (51-XX) Differential geometry (53-XX)

Cites Work

• A Disorienting Look at Euler's Theorem on the Axis of a Rotation
• On the classification of the rigid motions of the plane

Cited In (3)

• On Cauchy’s Mean Rotation
• A Disorienting Look at Euler's Theorem on the Axis of a Rotation
• Euler's fixed point theorem: The axis of a rotation

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