Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 1 of 22

Rotation matrix
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In linear algebra, a rotation matrix is a matrix that is used to perform a rotation in Euclidean space. For example the
matrix

rotates points in the xy-Cartesian plane counterclockwise through an angle θ about the origin of the Cartesian coordinate
system. To perform the rotation, the position of each point must be represented by a column vector v, containing the
coordinates of the point. A rotated vector is obtained by using the matrix multiplication Rv (see below for details).

In two and three dimensions, rotation matrices are among the simplest algebraic descriptions of rotations, and are used
extensively for computations in geometry, physics, and computer graphics. Though most applications involve rotations in
two or three dimensions, rotation matrices can be defined for n-dimensional space.

Rotation matrices are always square, with real entries. Algebraically, a rotation matrix in n-dimensions is a n × n special
orthogonal matrix, i.e. an orthogonal matrix whose determinant is 1:

The set of all rotation matrices forms a group, known as the rotation group or the special orthogonal group. It is a subset
of the orthogonal group, which includes reflections and consists of all orthogonal matrices with determinant 1 or -1, and
of the special linear group, which includes all volume-preserving transformations and consists of matrices with
determinant 1.

Contents

1 Rotations in two dimensions

1.1 Non-standard orientation of the coordinate system

1.2 Common rotations

2 Rotations in three dimensions

2.1 Basic rotations

2.2 General rotations

2.3 Conversion from and to axis-angle

2.3.1 Determining the axis

2.3.2 Determining the angle

2.3.3 Rotation matrix from axis and angle

3 Properties of a rotation matrix

4 Examples

5 Geometry

6 Multiplication

7 Ambiguities

8 Decompositions

8.1 Independent planes

8.2 Sequential angles

8.3 Nested dimensions

8.4 Skew parameters via Cayley's formula

9 Lie theory

9.1 Lie group

9.2 Lie algebra

9.3 Exponential map

9.4 Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff formula

9.5 Spin group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 2 of 22

10 Infinitesimal rotations

11 Conversions

11.1 Quaternion

11.2 Polar decomposition

11.3 Axis and angle

11.4 Euler angles

12 Uniform random rotation matrices

13 See also

14 Notes

15 References

16 External links

Rotations in two dimensions

In two dimensions every rotation matrix has the following form:

This rotates column vectors by means of the following matrix multiplication:

So the coordinates (x',y') of the point (x,y) after rotation are:

, A counterclockwise rotation of a
. vector through angle θ. The vector is
initially aligned with the x-axis.
The direction of vector rotation is counterclockwise if θ is positive (e.g. 90°), and
clockwise if θ is negative (e.g. -90°).

Non-standard orientation of the coordinate system

If a standard right-handed Cartesian coordinate system is used, with the x axis to

the right and the y axis up, the rotation R(θ) is counterclockwise. If a left-handed
Cartesian coordinate system is used, with x directed to the right but y directed
down, R(θ) is clockwise. Such non-standard orientations are rarely used in
mathematics but are common in 2D computer graphics, which often have the
origin in the top left corner and the y-axis down the screen or page.[1]

See below for other alternative conventions which may change the sense of the
rotation produced by a rotation matrix.

Common rotations

Particularly useful are the matrices for 90° and 180° rotations:
A rotation through angle θ with non-
standard axes.
(90° counterclockwise rotation)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 3 of 22

(180° rotation in either direction – a half-turn)

(270° counterclockwise rotation, the same as a 90° clockwise rotation)

Rotations in three dimensions

See also: Rotation representation.

Basic rotations

The following three basic (gimbal-like) rotation matrices rotate vectors about the x, y, or z axis, in three dimensions:

Each of these basic vector rotations typically appears counter-clockwise when the axis about which they occur points
toward the observer, and the coordinate system is right-handed. Rz, for instance, would rotate toward the y-axis a vector
aligned with the x-axis. This is similar to the rotation produced by the above mentioned 2-D rotation matrix. See below
for alternative conventions which may apparently or actually invert the sense of the rotation produced by these matrices.

General rotations

Other rotation matrices can be obtained from these three using matrix multiplication. For example, the product

represents a rotation whose yaw, pitch, and roll are α, β, and γ, respectively. Similarly, the product

represents a rotation whose Euler angles are α, β, and γ (using the y-x-z convention for Euler angles).

The orthogonal matrix (post-multiplying a column vector) corresponding to a clockwise/left-handed rotation with Euler
angles φ,θ,ψ, with x-y-z convention, is given by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 4 of 22

Conversion from and to axis-angle

Every rotation in three dimensions is defined by its axis — a direction that is left fixed by the rotation — and its angle —
the amount of rotation about that axis (Euler rotation theorem).

There are several methods to compute an axis and an angle from a rotation matrix (see also axis-angle). Here, we only
describe the method based on the computation of the eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the rotation matrix. It is also
possible to use the trace of the rotation matrix.

Determining the axis

Given a rotation matrix R, a vector u parallel to the rotation axis must satisfy

since the rotation of around the rotation axis must result in . The equation
above may be solved for which is unique up to a scalar factor.

Further, the equation may be rewritten

which shows that is the null space of R − I. Viewed another way, is an

eigenvector of R corresponding to the eigenvalue λ = 1 (every rotation matrix
must have this eigenvalue).

Determining the angle

A rotation R around axis u can be
To find the angle of a rotation, once the axis of the rotation is known, select a decomposed using 3 endomorphisms
vector perpendicular to the axis. Then the angle of the rotation is the angle P, (I - P), and Q (click to enlarge).
between and .

Rotation matrix from axis and angle

For some applications, it is helpful to be able to make a rotation with a given axis. Given a unit vector u = (ux, uy, uz),
where ux2 + uy2 + uz2 = 1, the matrix for a rotation by an angle of θ about an axis in the direction of u is

This can be written more concisely as

where is the cross product matrix of u, ⊗ is the tensor product and I is the Identity matrix. This is a matrix form of
Rodrigues' rotation formula, with

If the 3D space is right-handed, this rotation will be counterclockwise for an observer placed so that the axis u goes in his
or her direction (Right-hand rule).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 5 of 22

Properties of a rotation matrix

In three dimensions, for any rotation matrix , where a is a rotation axis and θ a rotation angle,

(i.e., is an orthogonal matrix)

(i.e, the determinant of is 1)

(where is the identity matrix)

The eigenvalues of are

where i is the standard imaginary unit with the property i2 = − 1

The trace of is equivalent to the sum of its eigenvalues.

Some of these properties can be generalised to any number of dimensions. In other words, they hold for any rotation
matrix .

For instance, in two dimensions the properties hold with the following exceptions:

a is not a given axis, but a point (rotation center) which must coincide with the origin of the coordinate system in
which the rotation is represented.

Consequently, the four elements of the rotation matrix depend only on θ, hence we write , rather than

The eigenvalues of are

The trace of is equivalent to the sum of its eigenvalues.

Examples

The 2×2 rotation matrix
The 3×3 matrix

corresponds to a 90° planar rotation.

The transpose of the 2×2 matrix has determinant +1, but its transpose is not its inverse,
so it is not a rotation matrix.

The 4×3 matrix
is its inverse, but since its determinant is −1 this is not a
rotation matrix; it is a reflection across the line 11y = 2x.

The 3×3 rotation matrix

is not square, and so cannot be a rotation matrix; yet

MTM yields a 3×3 identity matrix (the columns are
corresponds to a −30° rotation around the x axis in orthonormal).
three-dimensional space.
The 4×4 matrix

The 3×3 rotation matrix

corresponds to a rotation of approximately -74° around

describes an isoclinic rotation, a rotation through equal
the axis (−1⁄3,2⁄3,2⁄3) in three-dimensional space. angles (180°) through two orthogonal planes.

The 3×3 permutation matrix
The 5×5 rotation matrix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 6 of 22

is a rotation matrix, as is the matrix of any even

permutation, and rotates through 120° about the axis x =
y = z.
rotates vectors in the plane of the first two coordinate
axes 90°, rotates vectors in the plane of the next two
axes 180°, and leaves the last coordinate axis unmoved.

Geometry
In Euclidean geometry, a rotation is an example of an isometry, a transformation that moves points without changing the
distances between them. Rotations are distinguished from other isometries by two additional properties: they leave (at
least) one point fixed, and they leave "handedness" unchanged. By contrast, a translation moves every point, a reflection
exchanges left- and right-handed ordering, and a glide reflection does both.

A rotation that does not leave "handedness" unchanged is an improper rotation or a rotoinversion.

If we take the fixed point as the origin of a Cartesian coordinate system, then every point can be given coordinates as a
displacement from the origin. Thus we may work with the vector space of displacements instead of the points themselves.
Now suppose (p1,…,pn) are the coordinates of the vector p from the origin, O, to point P. Choose an orthonormal basis
for our coordinates; then the squared distance to P, by Pythagoras, is

which we can compute using the matrix multiplication

A geometric rotation transforms lines to lines, and preserves ratios of distances between points. From these properties we
can show that a rotation is a linear transformation of the vectors, and thus can be written in matrix form, Qp. The fact that
a rotation preserves, not just ratios, but distances themselves, we can state as

or

Because this equation holds for all vectors, p, we conclude that every rotation matrix, Q, satisfies the orthogonality
condition,

Rotations preserve handedness because they cannot change the ordering of the axes, which implies the special matrix
condition,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 7 of 22

Equally important, we can show that any matrix satisfying these two conditions acts as a rotation.

Multiplication
The inverse of a rotation matrix is its transpose, which is also a rotation matrix:

The product of two rotation matrices is a rotation matrix:

For n greater than 2, multiplication of n×n rotation matrices is not commutative.

Noting that any identity matrix is a rotation matrix, and that matrix multiplication is associative, we may summarize all
these properties by saying that the n×n rotation matrices form a group, which for n > 2 is non-abelian. Called a special
orthogonal group, and denoted by SO(n), SO(n,R), SOn, or SOn(R), the group of n×n rotation matrices is isomorphic to
the group of rotations in an n-dimensional space. This means that multiplication of rotation matrices corresponds to
composition of rotations, applied in left-to-right order of their corresponding matrices.

Ambiguities
The interpretation of a rotation matrix can be subject to many
ambiguities.

Alias or alibi transformation

The change in a vector's coordinates can be due to a turn
of the coordinate system (alias) or a turn of the vector
(alibi). Any rotation can be legitimately described both
ways, as vectors and coordinate systems actually rotate
with respect to each other. Throughout this article, we
chose the alibi approach to describe rotations.
Pre-multiplication or post-multiplication
The vector can be pre-multiplied by a rotation matrix (Rv,
where v is a column vector), or post-multiplied by it (vR,
where v is a row vector). Throughout this article, we
described rotations produced by means of a pre-
multiplication. Alias and alibi rotations
Right- or left-handed coordinates
The matrix and the vector can be represented with respect
to a right-handed or left-handed coordinate system. Throughout the article, we assumed a right-handed orientation,
unless otherwise specified.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 8 of 22

Vectors or forms
The vector space has a dual space of linear forms, and the matrix can act on either vectors or forms.

In most cases the effect of the ambiguity is equivalent to the effect of a transposition of the rotation matrix.

Decompositions
Independent planes

Consider the 3×3 rotation matrix

If Q acts in a certain direction, v, purely as a scaling by a factor λ, then we have

so that

Thus λ is a root of the characteristic polynomial for Q,

Two features are noteworthy. First, one of the roots (or eigenvalues) is 1, which tells us that some direction is unaffected
by the matrix. For rotations in three dimensions, this is the axis of the rotation (a concept that has no meaning in any
other dimension). Second, the other two roots are a pair of complex conjugates, whose product is 1 (the constant term of
the quadratic), and whose sum is 2 cos θ (the negated linear term). This factorization is of interest for 3×3 rotation
matrices because the same thing occurs for all of them. (As special cases, for a null rotation the "complex conjugates" are
both 1, and for a 180° rotation they are both −1.) Furthermore, a similar factorization holds for any n×n rotation matrix. If
the dimension, n, is odd, there will be a "dangling" eigenvalue of 1; and for any dimension the rest of the polynomial
factors into quadratic terms like the one here (with the two special cases noted). We are guaranteed that the characteristic
polynomial will have degree n and thus n eigenvalues. And since a rotation matrix commutes with its transpose, it is a
normal matrix, so can be diagonalized. We conclude that every rotation matrix, when expressed in a suitable coordinate
system, partitions into independent rotations of two-dimensional subspaces, at most n⁄2 of them.

The sum of the entries on the main diagonal of a matrix is called the trace; it does not change if we reorient the
coordinate system, and always equals the sum of the eigenvalues. This has the convenient implication for 2×2 and 3×3
rotation matrices that the trace reveals the angle of rotation, θ, in the two-dimensional (sub-)space. For a 2×2 matrix the
trace is 2 cos(θ), and for a 3×3 matrix it is 1+2 cos(θ). In the three-dimensional case, the subspace consists of all vectors
perpendicular to the rotation axis (the invariant direction, with eigenvalue 1). Thus we can extract from any 3×3 rotation
matrix a rotation axis and an angle, and these completely determine the rotation.

Sequential angles

The constraints on a 2×2 rotation matrix imply that it must have the form

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 9 of 22

with a2+b2 = 1. Therefore we may set a = cos θ and b = sin θ, for some angle θ. To solve for θ it is not enough to look at
a alone or b alone; we must consider both together to place the angle in the correct quadrant, using a two-argument
arctangent function.

Now consider the first column of a 3×3 rotation matrix,

Although a2+b2 will probably not equal 1, but some value r2 < 1, we can use a slight variation of the previous
computation to find a so-called Givens rotation that transforms the column to

zeroing b. This acts on the subspace spanned by the x and y axes. We can then repeat the process for the xz subspace to
zero c. Acting on the full matrix, these two rotations produce the schematic form

Shifting attention to the second column, a Givens rotation of the yz subspace can now zero the z value. This brings the
full matrix to the form

which is an identity matrix. Thus we have decomposed Q as

An n×n rotation matrix will have (n−1)+(n−2)+⊗+2+1, or

entries below the diagonal to zero. We can zero them by extending the same idea of stepping through the columns with a
series of rotations in a fixed sequence of planes. We conclude that the set of n×n rotation matrices, each of which has n2
entries, can be parameterized by n(n−1)/2 angles.

In three dimensions this restates in matrix form an observation made by Euler, so xzxw xzyw xyxw xyzw
mathematicians call the ordered sequence of three angles Euler angles. However, the
situation is somewhat more complicated than we have so far indicated. Despite the small yxyw yxzw yzyw yzxw
dimension, we actually have considerable freedom in the sequence of axis pairs we use; and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 10 of 22

we also have some freedom in the choice of angles. Thus we find many different conventions zyzw zyxw zxzw zxyw
employed when three-dimensional rotations are parameterized for physics, or medicine, or
chemistry, or other disciplines. When we include the option of world axes or body axes, 24 xzxb yzxb xyxb zyxb
different sequences are possible. And while some disciplines call any sequence Euler angles,
others give different names (Euler, Cardano, Tait-Bryan, Roll-pitch-yaw) to different yxyb zxyb yzyb xzyb
sequences.
zyzb xyzb zxzb yxzb
One reason for the large number of options is that, as noted previously, rotations in three
dimensions (and higher) do not commute. If we reverse a given sequence of rotations, we get a different outcome. This
also implies that we cannot compose two rotations by adding their corresponding angles. Thus Euler angles are not
vectors, despite a similarity in appearance as a triple of numbers.

Nested dimensions

A 3×3 rotation matrix like

suggests a 2×2 rotation matrix,

is embedded in the upper left corner:

This is no illusion; not just one, but many, copies of n-dimensional rotations are found within (n+1)-dimensional
rotations, as subgroups. Each embedding leaves one direction fixed, which in the case of 3×3 matrices is the rotation axis.
For example, we have

fixing the x axis, the y axis, and the z axis, respectively. The rotation axis need not be a coordinate axis; if u = (x,y,z) is a
unit vector in the desired direction, then

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 11 of 22

where cθ = cos θ, sθ = sin θ, is a rotation by angle θ leaving axis u fixed.

A direction in (n+1)-dimensional space will be a unit magnitude vector, which we may consider a point on a generalized
sphere, Sn. Thus it is natural to describe the rotation group SO(n+1) as combining SO(n) and Sn. A suitable formalism is
the fiber bundle,

where for every direction in the "base space", Sn, the "fiber" over it in the "total space", SO(n+1), is a copy of the "fiber
space", SO(n), namely the rotations that keep that direction fixed.

Thus we can build an n×n rotation matrix by starting with a 2×2 matrix, aiming its fixed axis on S2 (the ordinary sphere
in three-dimensional space), aiming the resulting rotation on S3, and so on up through Sn−1. A point on Sn can be selected
using n numbers, so we again have n(n−1)/2 numbers to describe any n×n rotation matrix.

In fact, we can view the sequential angle decomposition, discussed previously, as reversing this process. The composition
of n−1 Givens rotations brings the first column (and row) to (1,0,…,0), so that the remainder of the matrix is a rotation
matrix of dimension one less, embedded so as to leave (1,0,…,0) fixed.

Skew parameters via Cayley's formula

Main article: Skew-symmetric matrix

When an n×n rotation matrix, Q, does not include −1 as an eigenvalue, so that none of the planar rotations of which it is
composed are 180° rotations, then Q+I is an invertible matrix. Most rotation matrices fit this description, and for them we
can show that (Q−I)(Q+I)−1 is a skew-symmetric matrix, A. Thus AT = −A; and since the diagonal is necessarily zero, and
since the upper triangle determines the lower one, A contains n(n−1)/2 independent numbers. Conveniently, I−A is
invertible whenever A is skew-symmetric; thus we can recover the original matrix using the Cayley transform,

which maps any skew-symmetric matrix A to a rotation matrix. In fact, aside from the noted exceptions, we can produce
any rotation matrix in this way. Although in practical applications we can hardly afford to ignore 180° rotations, the
Cayley transform is still a potentially useful tool, giving a parameterization of most rotation matrices without
trigonometric functions.

In three dimensions, for example, we have (Cayley 1846)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 12 of 22

If we condense the skew entries into a vector, (x,y,z), then we produce a 90° rotation around the x axis for (1,0,0), around
the y axis for (0,1,0), and around the z axis for (0,0,1). The 180° rotations are just out of reach; for, in the limit as x goes
to infinity, (x,0,0) does approach a 180° rotation around the x axis, and similarly for other directions.

Lie theory
Lie group

We have established that n×n rotation matrices form a group, the special orthogonal group, SO(n). This algebraic
structure is coupled with a topological structure, in that the operations of multiplication and taking the inverse (which
here is merely transposition) are continuous functions of the matrix entries. Thus SO(n) is a classic example of a
topological group. (In purely topological terms, it is a compact manifold.) Furthermore, the operations are not only
continuous, but smooth, so SO(n) is a differentiable manifold and a Lie group (Baker (2003); Fulton & Harris (1991)).

Most properties of rotation matrices depend very little on the dimension, n; yet in Lie group theory we see systematic
differences between even dimensions and odd dimensions. As well, there are some irregularities below n = 5; for
example, SO(4) is, anomalously, not a simple Lie group, but instead isomorphic to the product of S3 and SO(3).

Lie algebra

Associated with every Lie group is a Lie algebra, a linear space equipped with a bilinear alternating product called a
bracket. The algebra for SO(n) is denoted by

and consists of all skew-symmetric n×n matrices (as implied by differentiating the orthogonality condition, I = QTQ).
The bracket, [A1,A2], of two skew-symmetric matrices is defined to be A1A2−A2A1, which is again a skew-symmetric
matrix. This Lie algebra bracket captures the essence of the Lie group product via infinitesimals.

For 2×2 rotation matrices, the Lie algebra is a one-dimensional vector space, multiples of

Here the bracket always vanishes, which tells us that, in two dimensions, rotations commute. Not so in any higher
dimension. For 3×3 rotation matrices, we have a three-dimensional vector space with the convenient basis

The Lie brackets of these generators are as follows

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 13 of 22

We can conveniently identify any matrix in this Lie algebra with a vector in R3,

Under this identification, the so(3) bracket has a memorable description; it is the vector cross product,

The matrix identified with a vector v is also memorable, because

Notice this implies that v is in the null space of the skew-symmetric matrix with which it is identified, because v×v is
always the zero vector.

Exponential map

Connecting the Lie algebra to the Lie group is the exponential map, which we define using the familiar power series for
ex (Wedderburn 1934, §8.02),

For any skew-symmetric A, exp(A) is always a rotation matrix.

An important practical example is the 3×3 case, where we have seen we can identify every skew-symmetric matrix with a
vector ω = uθ, where u = (x,y,z) is a unit magnitude vector. Recall that u is in the null space of the matrix associated with
ω, so that if we use a basis with u as the z axis the final column and row will be zero. Thus we know in advance that the
exponential matrix must leave u fixed. It is mathematically impossible to supply a straightforward formula for such a
basis as a function of u (its existence would violate the hairy ball theorem), but direct exponentiation is possible, and
yields

where c = cos θ⁄2, s = sin θ⁄2. We recognize this as our matrix for a rotation around axis u by angle θ. We also note that
this mapping of skew-symmetric matrices is quite different from the Cayley transform discussed earlier.

In any dimension, if we choose some nonzero A and consider all its scalar multiples, exponentiation yields rotation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 14 of 22

matrices along a geodesic of the group manifold, forming a one-parameter subgroup of the Lie group. More broadly, the
exponential map provides a homeomorphism between a neighborhood of the origin in the Lie algebra and a neighborhood
of the identity in the Lie group. In fact, we can produce any rotation matrix as the exponential of some skew-symmetric
matrix, so for these groups the exponential map is a surjection.

Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff formula

Suppose we are given A and B in the Lie algebra. Their exponentials, exp(A) and exp(B), are rotation matrices, which we
can multiply. Since the exponential map is a surjection, we know that for some C in the Lie algebra, exp(A)exp(B) = exp
(C), and we write

When exp(A) and exp(B) commute (which always happens for 2×2 matrices, but not higher), then C = A+B, mimicking
the behavior of complex exponentiation. The general case is given by the BCH formula, a series expanded in terms of the
bracket (Hall 2004, Ch. 3; Varadarajan 1984, §2.15). For matrices, the bracket is the same operation as the commutator,
which detects lack of commutativity in multiplication. The general formula begins as follows.

Representation of a rotation matrix as a sequential angle decomposition, as in Euler angles, may tempt us to treat
rotations as a vector space, but the higher order terms in the BCH formula reveal that to be a mistake.

We again take special interest in the 3×3 case, where [A,B] equals the cross product, A×B. If A and B are linearly
independent, then A, B, and A×B can be used as a basis; if not, then A and B commute. And conveniently, in this
dimension the summation in the BCH formula has a closed form (Engø 2001) as αA+βB+γ(A×B).

Spin group

The Lie group of n×n rotation matrices, SO(n), is a compact and path-connected manifold, and thus locally compact and
connected. However, it is not simply connected, so Lie theory tells us it is a kind of "shadow" (a homomorphic image) of
a universal covering group. Often the covering group, which in this case is the spin group denoted by Spin(n), is simpler
and more natural to work with (Baker 2003, Ch. 5; Fulton & Harris 1991, pp. 299–315).

In the case of planar rotations, SO(2) is topologically a circle, S1. Its universal covering group, Spin(2), is isomorphic to
the real line, R, under addition. In other words, whenever we use angles of arbitrary magnitude, which we often do, we
are essentially taking advantage of the convenience of the "mother space". Every 2×2 rotation matrix is produced by a
countable infinity of angles, separated by integer multiples of 2π. Correspondingly, the fundamental group of SO(2) is
isomorphic to the integers, Z.

In the case of spatial rotations, SO(3) is topologically equivalent to three-dimensional real projective space, RP3. Its
universal covering group, Spin(3), is isomorphic to the 3-sphere, S3. Every 3×3 rotation matrix is produced by two
opposite points on the sphere. Correspondingly, the fundamental group of SO(3) is isomorphic to the two-element group,
Z2. We can also describe Spin(3) as isomorphic to quaternions of unit norm under multiplication, or to certain 4×4 real
matrices, or to 2×2 complex special unitary matrices.

Concretely, a unit quaternion, q, with

produces the rotation matrix

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 15 of 22

This is our third version of this matrix, here as a rotation around non-unit axis vector (x,y,z) by angle 2θ, where cos θ = w
and |sin θ| = ||(x,y,z)||. (The proper sign for sin θ is implied once the signs of the axis components are decided.)

Many features of this case are the same for higher dimensions. The coverings are all two-to-one, with SO(n), n > 2,
having fundamental group Z2. The natural setting for these groups is within a Clifford algebra. And the action of the
rotations is produced by a kind of "sandwich", denoted by qvq⊗.

Infinitesimal rotations
The matrices in the Lie algebra are not themselves rotations; the skew-symmetric matrices are derivatives, proportional
differences of rotations. An actual "differential rotation", or infinitesimal rotation matrix has the form

where dθ is vanishingly small. These matrices do not satisfy all the same properties as ordinary finite rotation matrices
under the usual treatment of infinitesimals (Goldstein, Poole & Safko 2002, §4.8). To understand what this means,
consider

We first test the orthogonality condition, QTQ = I. The product is

differing from an identity matrix by second order infinitesimals, which we discard. So to first order, an infinitesimal
rotation matrix is an orthogonal matrix. Next we examine the square of the matrix.

Again discarding second order effects, we see that the angle simply doubles. This hints at the most essential difference in
behavior, which we can exhibit with the assistance of a second infinitesimal rotation,

Compare the products dAxdAy and dAydAx.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 16 of 22

Since dθ dφ is second order, we discard it; thus, to first order, multiplication of infinitesimal rotation matrices is
commutative. In fact,

again to first order. Put in other words, the order in which infinitesimal rotations are applied is irrelevant, this useful
fact makes, for example, derivation of rigid body rotation relatively simple.

But we must always be careful to distinguish (the first order treatment of) these infinitesimal rotation matrices from both
finite rotation matrices and from derivatives of rotation matrices (namely skew-symmetric matrices). Contrast the
behavior of finite rotation matrices in the BCH formula with that of infinitesimal rotation matrices, where all the
commutator terms will be second order infinitesimals so we do have a vector space.

Conversions
Main article: Rotation representation (mathematics)#Conversion formulae between representations

We have seen the existence of several decompositions that apply in any dimension, namely independent planes,
sequential angles, and nested dimensions. In all these cases we can either decompose a matrix or construct one. We have
also given special attention to 3×3 rotation matrices, and these warrant further attention, in both directions (Stuelpnagel
1964).

Quaternion

Main article: Quaternions and spatial rotation

Given the unit quaternion q = (w,x,y,z), the equivalent 3×3 rotation matrix is

Now every quaternion component appears multiplied by two in a term of degree two, and if all such terms are zero what's
left is an identity matrix. This leads to an efficient, robust conversion from any quaternion — whether unit, nonunit, or
even zero — to a 3×3 rotation matrix.

Nq = w^2 + x^2 + y^2 + z^2

if Nq > 0.0 then s = 2/Nq else s = 0.0
X = x*s; Y = y*s; Z = z*s
wX = w*X; wY = w*Y; wZ = w*Z
xX = x*X; xY = x*Y; xZ = x*Z
yY = y*Y; yZ = y*Z; zZ = z*Z
[ 1.0-(yY+zZ) xY-wZ xZ+wY ]
[ xY+wZ 1.0-(xX+zZ) yZ-wX ]
[ xZ-wY yZ+wX 1.0-(xX+yY) ]

Freed from the demand for a unit quaternion, we find that nonzero quaternions act as homogeneous coordinates for 3×3
rotation matrices. The Cayley transform, discussed earlier, is obtained by scaling the quaternion so that its w component
is 1. For a 180° rotation around any axis, w will be zero, which explains the Cayley limitation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 17 of 22

The sum of the entries along the main diagonal (the trace), plus one, equals 4−4(x2+y2+z2), which is 4w2. Thus we can
write the trace itself as 2w2+2w2−1; and from the previous version of the matrix we see that the diagonal entries
themselves have the same form: 2x2+2w2−1, 2y2+2w2−1, and 2z2+2w2−1. So we can easily compare the magnitudes of
all four quaternion components using the matrix diagonal. We can, in fact, obtain all four magnitudes using sums and
square roots, and choose consistent signs using the skew-symmetric part of the off-diagonal entries.

t = Qxx +Qyy +Qzz (trace of Q)

r = sqrt(1+t)
w = 0.5*r
x = copysign(0.5*sqrt(1+Qxx-Qyy-Qzz), Qzy-Qyz)
y = copysign(0.5*sqrt(1-Qxx+Qyy-Qzz), Qxz-Qzx)
z = copysign(0.5*sqrt(1-Qxx-Qyy+Qzz), Qyx-Qxy)

where copysign(x,y) is x with the sign of y:

Alternatively, use a single square root and division

t = Qxx +Qyy +Qzz

r = sqrt(1+t)
s = 0.5/r
w = 0.5*r
x = (Q zy-Qyz)*s
y = (Q xz-Qzx)*s
z = (Q yx-Qxy)*s

This is numerically stable so long as the trace, t, is not negative; otherwise, we risk dividing by (nearly) zero. In that
case, suppose Qxx is the largest diagonal entry, so x will have the largest magnitude (the other cases are similar); then the
following is safe.

t = Qxx +Qyy +Qzz

r = sqrt(1+t)
s = 0.5/r
w = (Q zy-Qyz)*s
x = 0.5*r
y = (Q xy+Qyx)*s
z = (Q zx+Qxz)*s

If the matrix contains significant error, such as accumulated numerical error, we may construct a symmetric 4×4 matrix,

and find the eigenvector, (w,x,y,z), of its largest magnitude eigenvalue. (If Q is truly a rotation matrix, that value will be
1.) The quaternion so obtained will correspond to the rotation matrix closest to the given matrix (Bar-Itzhack 2000).

Polar decomposition

If the n×n matrix M is non-singular, its columns are linearly independent vectors; thus the Gram–Schmidt process can
adjust them to be an orthonormal basis. Stated in terms of numerical linear algebra, we convert M to an orthogonal
matrix, Q, using QR decomposition. However, we often prefer a Q "closest" to M, which this method does not
accomplish. For that, the tool we want is the polar decomposition (Fan & Hoffman 1955; Higham 1989).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 18 of 22

To measure closeness, we may use any matrix norm invariant under orthogonal transformations. A convenient choice is
the Frobenius norm, ||Q−M||F, squared, which is the sum of the squares of the element differences. Writing this in terms
of the trace, Tr, our goal is,

Find Q minimizing Tr( (Q−M)T(Q−M) ), subject to QTQ = I.

Though written in matrix terms, the objective function is just a quadratic polynomial. We can minimize it in the usual
way, by finding where its derivative is zero. For a 3×3 matrix, the orthogonality constraint implies six scalar equalities
that the entries of Q must satisfy. To incorporate the constraint(s), we may employ a standard technique, Lagrange
multipliers, assembled as a symmetric matrix, Y. Thus our method is:

Differentiate Tr( (Q−M)T(Q−M) + (QTQ−I)Y ) with respect to (the entries of) Q, and equate to zero.

In general, we obtain the equation Consider a 2×2 example. Including constraints, we seek to minimize

so that

where Q is orthogonal and S is symmetric. To Taking the derivative with respect to Qxx, Qxy, Qyx, Qyy in turn, we assemble a matrix.
ensure a minimum, the Y matrix (and hence S)
must be positive definite. Linear algebra calls
QS the polar decomposition of M, with S the
positive square root of S2 = MTM.

When M is non-singular, the Q and S factors of the polar decomposition are uniquely determined. However, the
determinant of S is positive because S is positive definite, so Q inherits the sign of the determinant of M. That is, Q is
only guaranteed to be orthogonal, not a rotation matrix. This is unavoidable; an M with negative determinant has no
uniquely-defined closest rotation matrix.

Axis and angle

Main article: Axis-angle representation

To efficiently construct a rotation matrix Q from an angle θ and a unit axis u, we can take advantage of symmetry and
skew-symmetry within the entries. If x, y, and z are the components of the unit vector representing the axis, and

c = cos(θ); s = sin(θ); C = 1-c

then Q is

[ xxC+c xyC-zs xzC+ys ]

[ yxC+zs yyC+c yzC-xs ]
[ zxC-ys zyC+xs zzC+c ]

Determining an axis and angle, like determining a quaternion, is only possible up to sign; that is, (u,θ) and (−u,−θ)
correspond to the same rotation matrix, just like q and −q. As well, axis-angle extraction presents additional difficulties.
The angle can be restricted to be from 0° to 180°, but angles are formally ambiguous by multiples of 360°. When the
angle is zero, the axis is undefined. When the angle is 180°, the matrix becomes symmetric, which has implications in
extracting the axis. Near multiples of 180°, care is needed to avoid numerical problems: in extracting the angle, a two-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 19 of 22

argument arctangent with atan2(sin θ,cos θ) equal to θ avoids the insensitivity of arccosine; and in computing the
axis magnitude to force unit magnitude, a brute-force approach can lose accuracy through underflow (Moler & Morrison
1983).

A partial approach is as follows.

x = Qzy -Qyz
y = Qxz -Qzx
z = Qyx -Qxy
r = sqrt(x2 + y2 + z2)
t = Qxx +Qyy +Qzz (trace of matrix Q)
θ = atan2(r,t−1)

The x, y, and z components of the axis would then be divided by r. A fully robust approach will use different code when
the trace t is negative, as with quaternion extraction. When r is zero because the angle is zero, an axis must be provided
from some source other than the matrix.

Euler angles

Complexity of conversion escalates with Euler angles (used here in the broad sense). The first difficulty is to establish
which of the twenty-four variations of Cartesian axis order we will use. Suppose the three angles are θ1, θ2, θ3; physics
and chemistry may interpret these as

while aircraft dynamics may use

One systematic approach begins with choosing the right-most axis. Among all permutations of (x,y,z), only two place that
axis first; one is an even permutation and the other odd. Choosing parity thus establishes the middle axis. That leaves two
choices for the left-most axis, either duplicating the first or not. These three choices gives us 3×2×2 = 12 variations; we
double that to 24 by choosing static or rotating axes.

This is enough to construct a matrix from angles, but triples differing in many ways can give the same rotation matrix.
For example, suppose we use the zyz convention above; then we have the following equivalent pairs:

(90°, 45°, −105°) ≡ (−270°, −315°, 255°) multiples of 360°

(72°, 0°, 0°) ≡ (40°, 0°, 32°) singular alignment
(45°, 60°, −30°) ≡ (−135°, −60°, 150°) bistable flip

Angles for any order can be found using a concise common routine (Herter & Lott 1993; Shoemake 1994).

The problem of singular alignment, the mathematical analog of physical gimbal lock, occurs when the middle rotation
aligns the axes of the first and last rotations. It afflicts every axis order at either even or odd multiples of 90°. These
singularities are not characteristic of the rotation matrix as such, and only occur with the usage of Euler angles.

The singularities are avoided when considering and manipulating the rotation matrix as orthonormal row vectors (in 3D
applications often named 'right'-vector, 'up'-vector and 'out'-vector) instead of as angles. The singularities are also
avoided when working with quaternions.

Uniform random rotation matrices

We sometimes need to generate a uniformly distributed random rotation matrix. It seems intuitively clear in two
dimensions that this means the rotation angle is uniformly distributed between 0 and 2π. That intuition is correct, but does

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 20 of 22

not carry over to higher dimensions. For example, if we decompose 3×3 rotation matrices in axis-angle form, the angle
should not be uniformly distributed; the probability that (the magnitude of) the angle is at most θ should be 1⁄π(θ − sin θ),
for 0 ≤ θ ≤ π.

Since SO(n) is a connected and locally compact Lie group, we have a simple standard criterion for uniformity, namely
that the distribution be unchanged when composed with any arbitrary rotation (a Lie group "translation"). This definition
corresponds to what is called Haar measure. León, Massé & Rivest (2006) show how to use the Cayley transform to
generate and test matrices according to this criterion.

We can also generate a uniform distribution in any dimension using the subgroup algorithm of Diaconis & Shashahani
(1987). This recursively exploits the nested dimensions group structure of SO(n), as follows. Generate a uniform angle
and construct a 2×2 rotation matrix. To step from n to n+1, generate a vector v uniformly distributed on the n-sphere, Sn,
embed the n×n matrix in the next larger size with last column (0,…,0,1), and rotate the larger matrix so the last column
becomes v.

As usual, we have special alternatives for the 3×3 case. Each of these methods begins with three independent random
scalars uniformly distributed on the unit interval. Arvo (1992) takes advantage of the odd dimension to change a
Householder reflection to a rotation by negation, and uses that to aim the axis of a uniform planar rotation.

Another method uses unit quaternions. Multiplication of rotation matrices is homomorphic to multiplication of
quaternions, and multiplication by a unit quaternion rotates the unit sphere. Since the homomorphism is a local isometry,
we immediately conclude that to produce a uniform distribution on SO(3) we may use a uniform distribution on S3.

Euler angles can also be used, though not with each angle uniformly distributed (Murnaghan 1962; Miles 1965).

For the axis-angle form, the axis is uniformly distributed over the unit sphere of directions, S2, while the angle has the
non-uniform distribution over [0,π] noted previously (Miles 1965).

See also

Rotation operator (vector space)

Rotation representation

Kabsch algorithm

Isometry

Orthogonal matrix

Rodrigues' rotation formula

Yaw-pitch-roll system

Plane of rotation

Transformation matrix

Notes
1. ^ W3C recommendation (2003). "Scalable Vector Graphics -- the initial coordinate system".
http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG/coords.html#InitialCoordinateSystem.

References

Arvo, James (1992), "Fast random rotation matrices", in David Kirk, Graphics Gems III, San Diego: Academic Press
Professional, pp. 117–120, ISBN 978-0-12-409671-4, http://www.graphicsgems.org/

Baker, Andrew (2003), Matrix Groups: An Introduction to Lie Group Theory, Springer, ISBN 978-1-85233-470-3

Bar-Itzhack, Itzhack Y. (Nov.–Dec. 2000), "New method for extracting the quaternion from a rotation matrix", AIAA
Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics 23 (6): 1085–1087 (Engineering Note), doi:10.2514/2.4654, ISSN 0731-
5090

Björck, A.; Bowie, C. (June 1971), "An iterative algorithm for computing the best estimate of an orthogonal matrix",
SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis 8 (2): 358–364, doi:10.1137/0708036, ISSN 0036-1429

Cayley, Arthur (1846), "Sur quelques propriétés des déterminants gauches", Journal für die Reine und Angewandte
Mathematik (Crelle's Journal), 32: 119–123, ISSN 0075-4102; reprinted as article 52 in Cayley, Arthur (1889), The

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 21 of 22

collected mathematical papers of Arthur Cayley, I (1841–1853), Cambridge University Press, pp. 332–336,
http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=umhistmath;cc=umhistmath;rgn=full%
20text;idno=ABS3153.0001.001;didno=ABS3153.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000349

Diaconis, Persi; Shahshahani, Mehrdad (1987), "The subgroup algorithm for generating uniform random variables",
Probability in the Engineering and Informational Sciences 1: 15–32, doi:10.1017/S0269964800000255, ISSN 0269-
9648

Engø, Kenth (June 2001), "On the BCH-formula in so(3)", BIT Numerical Mathematics 41 (3): 629–632,
doi:10.1023/A:1021979515229, ISSN 0006-3835, http://www.ii.uib.no/publikasjoner/texrap/abstract/2000-201.html

Fan, Ky; Hoffman, Alan J. (February 1955), "Some metric inequalities in the space of matrices", Proc. AMS
(Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, Vol. 6, No. 1) 6 (1): 111–116, doi:10.2307/2032662,
ISSN 0002-9939, http://jstor.org/stable/2032662

Fulton, William; Harris, Joe (1991), Representation Theory: A First Course, GTM, 129, New York, Berlin,
Heidelberg: Springer, ISBN 978-0-387-97495-8, MR1153249

Goldstein, Herbert; Poole, Charles P.; Safko, John L. (2002), Classical Mechanics (third ed.), Addison Wesley,
ISBN 978-0-201-65702-9

Hall, Brian C. (2004), Lie Groups, Lie Algebras, and Representations: An Elementary Introduction, Springer,
ISBN 978-0-387-40122-5 (GTM 222)

Herter, Thomas; Lott, Klaus (September–October 1993), "Algorithms for decomposing 3-D orthogonal matrices into
primitive rotations", Computers & Graphics 17 (5): 517–527, doi:10.1016/0097-8493(93)90003-R, ISSN 0097-8493

Higham, Nicholas J. (October 1 1989), "Matrix nearness problems and applications", in Gover, M. J. C.; Barnett, S.
(– Scholar search), Applications of Matrix Theory, Oxford University Press, pp. 1–27, ISBN 978-0-19-853625-3,
http://www.maths.manchester.ac.uk/~higham/pap-misc.html

León, Carlos A.; Massé, Jean-Claude; Rivest, Louis-Paul (February 2006), "A statistical model for random
rotations", Journal of Multivariate Analysis 97 (2): 412–430, doi:10.1016/j.jmva.2005.03.009, ISSN 0047-259X,
http://www.mat.ulaval.ca/pages/lpr/

Miles, R. E. (December 1965), "On random rotations in R3", Biometrika (Biometrika, Vol. 52, No. 3/4) 52 (3/4):
636–639, doi:10.2307/2333716, ISSN 0006-3444, http://jstor.org/stable/2333716

Moler, Cleve; Morrison, Donald (1983), "Replacing square roots by pythagorean sums", IBM Journal of Research
and Development 27 (6): 577–581, ISSN 0018-8646,
http://domino.watson.ibm.com/tchjr/journalindex.nsf/0b9bc46ed06cbac1852565e6006fe1a0/0043d03ee1c1013c8525
6bfa0067f5a6?OpenDocument

Murnaghan, Francis D. (1950), "The element of volume of the rotation group", Proceedings of the National Academy
Academy of Sciences 36 (11): 670–672, doi:10.1073/pnas.36.11.670, ISSN 0027-8424,
http://www.pnas.org/content/vol36/issue11/

Murnaghan, Francis D. (1962), The Unitary and Rotation Groups, Lectures on applied mathematics, Washington:
Spartan Books

Prentice, Michael J. (1986), "Orientation statistics without parametric assumptions", Journal of the Royal Statistical
Society. Series B (Methodological) 48 (2): 214–222, ISSN 0035-9246

Shepperd, Stanley W. (May–June 1978), "Quaternion from rotation matrix", AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control and
Dynamics 1 (3): 223–224, ISSN 0731-5090

Shoemake, Ken (1994), "Euler angle conversion", in Paul Heckbert, Graphics Gems IV, San Diego: Academic Press
Professional, pp. 222–229, ISBN 978-0-12-336155-4, http://www.graphicsgems.org/

Stuelpnagel, John (October 1964), "On the parameterization of the three-dimensional rotation group", SIAM Review
6 (4): 422–430, doi:10.1137/1006093, ISSN 0036-1445 (Also NASA-CR-53568.)

Varadarajan, V. S. (1984), Lie Groups, Lie Algebras, and Their Representation, Springer, ISBN 978-0-387-90969-1
(GTM 102)

Wedderburn, J. H. M. (1934) (– Scholar search), Lectures on Matrices, AMS, ISBN 978-0-8218-3204-2,
http://www.ams.org/online_bks/coll17/

External links

Rotation matrices at Mathworld

Math Awareness Month 2000 interactive demo (requires Java)

Rotation Matrices at MathPages

(Italian) A parametrization of SOn(R) by generalized Euler Angles

Rotation about any point
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix"
Categories: Rotational symmetry | Matrices

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011
Rotation matrix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Page 22 of 22

This page was last modified on 26 July 2011 at 13:33.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See
Terms of use for details.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotation_matrix 8/4/2011