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The Groups of Regular Complex Polygons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

D. W. Crowe*
Affiliation:
University College, IbadantNigeria
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The two-dimensional unitary space, U2, is a complex vector space of points (x, y) = (x1 + ix2, y1 + iy2), for which the distance between (x, y) and (x', y') is defined by . A unitary transformation is a linear transformation which preserves distance. A line is the set of points (x, y) satisfying some complex equation ax + by = c. A unitary transformation is a (unitary) reflection if it is of finite period n > 1 and leaves a line pointwise invariant. Thus à unitary matrix represents a reflection if its two characteristic roots are 1 and a complex nth root (n > 1) of 1.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Mathematical Society 1961

References

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