14 Aug
2009
14 Aug
'09
9:53 p.m.
On Fri, 14 Aug 2009, Edward Grace wrote:
On 14 Aug 2009, at 18:43, DE wrote:
w = wedge(u,v);
w = cross_product(u,v) please :p
Err, that's only true in 3D (vectors of length 3). There's no such thing as a cross product between (say) vectors of length 2,4 or indeed anything else. The cross product is, in effect, a restricted version of the exterior (wedge) product which exists for higher dimensions.
Actually, it was developed the other way; the exterior product is one possible generalization of the cross product to higher dimensions. The cross product is unique in R3, but other generalizations are possible. IMO, cross_product(u,v) should still be provided for R3, even if it is simply an inline call to exterior_product(u,v). - Daniel