Sigma J Eng Nat Sci, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp.

1013−1018, October, 2023

Sigma Journal of Engineering and Natural Sciences

Web page info: https://sigma.yildiz.edu.tr
DOI: 10.14744/sigma.2023.00118

Research Article

Spinor representation of directional q -frame

Tülay ERİŞİR1 , Kemal EREN2,*
1
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Erzincan, 24100, Türkiye
2
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Sakarya University, Sakarya, 54050, Türkiye

ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Article history
Received: 21 September 2021 Spinors play a fundamental role in geometry and physics. The Clifford algebra is the natural
Revised: 13 November 2021 linear algebraic setting where spinors and spin groups are formulated. In this study, spinors,
Accepted: 30 December 2021 which have many uses in Clifford algebras, have been given with a different representation in
E3. Firstly, the directional q -frame has been considered, and this frame is represented with
Keywords: a spinor in spinor space. Later, considering the relations between the directional q -frame
Spinors; Directional q -frame; and Frenet frame, the relations between spinors corresponding to these frames have been
Curves obtained. In this way, a different construction of the spinors by using in Clifford algebras has
been shown.

Cite this article as: Erişir T, Eren K. Spinor representation of directional q -frame. Sigma J
Eng Nat Sci 2023;41(5):1013−1018.

INTRODUCTION ideals of the Clifford algebra. Moreover, spinors in the left

ideal approach lie in geometric algebra rather than its even
Spinors are used in a wide field of study, from geometry
subset. Spinors in geometry and physics are elements of a
and Clifford algebra to quantum mechanics and general rel-
ativity in physics. The most important characteristic feature complex vector space that can be associated with Euclidean
of spinors is their behavior under rotations. In other words, space. According to the definition of spinors, they are
spinors are characterized by the specific way in which they equipped with a complex linear representation of the spin
behave under rotations. Namely, if a vector or tensorial group. Namely, the elements of the spin group act as linear
object rotates with θ, then a spinor which represents this transformations on the spinor space. Both the spin group
rotates by θ / 2. So, the spinor takes two complete cycles to and its Lie algebra are naturally embedded in Clifford alge-
return to its original configuration. Spin groups, including bra, and in practice, Clifford algebra is usually the easiest
rotation groups, are frequently defined in geometry and method to work together.
Clifford algebras [18, 19]. Hestenes first described spin- Cartan expressed the most general mathematical form
ors with real even multi-vectors in geometric algebra [12, of spinors in 1913 [5]. Based on Cartan’s study, Torres del
15]. Spinors are defined as components of left minimal Castillo and Barrales expressed the relationship between

*Corresponding author.
*E-mail address: [email protected]
This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by
Regional Editor Ahmet Selim Dalkilic

Published by Yıldız Technical University Press, İstanbul, Turkey

Copyright 2021, Yıldız Technical University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
1014 Sigma J Eng Nat Sci, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 1013−1018, October, 2023

spinor and curve theory [7]. That study is a fundamen- where “'” is the derivative with respect
tal work for scientists studying curve theory. With the to the arc-length parameter s. Moreover, the Frenet formu-
help of that study, the expression of the curve theory with las of this curve are and
spinor has been understandably expressed. After that, Kişi [14].
and Tosun gave the spinor representation of the Darboux The most known frame of a curve is the Frenet frame.
frame on a directed surface in E3 [17]. Moreover, Ünal et Moreover, the Frenet frame has an important place in
al. described the spinor formulation of Bishop frame of curve theory. Because many known types of curves such
curves in E3 in [20]. Then, Ketenci et al. investigated the
as Bertrand curves, involute evolute curves, Mannheim
spinor corresponding to a mutually orthogonal vector
curves, spherical curves are defined with the help of these
triad in three-dimensional Minkowski space E31. Thus,
frame vectors. However, there are some disadvantages of the
they introduced hyperbolic spinors. Based on that study,
Frenet frame. The main disadvantage of the Frenet frame is
they gave the hyperbolic spinor formulation of the Frenet
that it has undesirable rotation around the tangent vector
curve in Minkowski space E31 [16]. After that, Erişir et al.
expressed the spinor equations of an alternative frame of [2]. Alternatively, it is possible to define this with different
a curve in Minkowski space and the spinor formulation frames at the points of space curves. The first study that
of the relationship between the Frenet and Bishop frames was emphasized a different frame given by Bishop [3] and
[10]. In addition, the hyperbolic spinor representation of introduced a new frame along a space curve which is more
the Darboux frame was obtained in E31 [1]. After that, Erişir suitable for applications. The Bishop frame is widely used
and Kardağ expressed a new representation of the involute in computer graphics; however, it is not easy to compute
evolute curves in E3 with the help of spinors [13]. Then, the [22]. So, as an alternative to the Frenet or Bishop frames,
spinor formulation of Bertrand curves in E3 was given in a new adapted frame along a space curve, the directional
[11]. q -frame, has been defined [8, 9]. The directional q -frame
In this paper, firstly, spinors have been introduced alge- is defined with the help of the quasi-normal vector intro-
braically. Then, the spinor equations of directional q -frame duced by Coquillart [6]. The q -frame has many advantages
of curves have been defined. Later, the spinor relations compared to other frames (Frenet, Bishop). For instance,
between the Frenet frame and q -frame of any curve in E3 the directional q -frame can be defined even along a line (κ
have been established. Finally, the angle notation for these = 0). Moreover, the directional q -frame can be determined
spinors has been given. In this way, a different geometric easily. So, let (α) be a curve with arc-length parameter s, the
construction of spinors has been established. The aim of directional q -frame {t, nq, bq, k} along the curve is given by
this study is to research the spinor structure lying on the
basis of the differential geometry.
(1)
PRELIMINARIES
The Frenet-Serret formulas in differential geometry where t is the unit tangent vector, nq is the quasi-normal
describe the geometric properties of the curve itself irre- vector, bq is the quasi-binormal vector and k is the projec-
spective of any motion and the kinematic properties of a tion vector which can be chosen kx = (1,0,0), ky = (0,1,0) or
particle moving along a continuous, differentiable curve. kz = (0,0,1). However, the q -frame is singular in all cases
More specifically, these formulas consist of equations writ- where t and k are parallel [8, 9]. The variation equations of
ten in terms of each other of the derivatives of vectors called the q -frame are given by
tangent, normal, and binormal of the differentiable curve.
The formulas are named after the two French mathemati-
cians who independently discovered them; Frenet in 1847
(2)
and Serret in 1851. The tangent, normal, and binormal
unit vectors, often denoted by t, n and b, or collectively the
Frenet-Serret frame, in E3 and are defined as: “A curve is
considered as differentiable at each point of an open inter- where the q -curvatures {k1, k2, k3} are expressed as
val. Thus, one can construct a set of mutually orthogo- follows
nal unit vectors on this curve. “So, let us consider that a
regular curve (α) is given by the differentiable function (3)
where R is the arc-length parameter. If
and θ is the Euclidean angle between the principal nor-
for all , the curve (α) is called unit speed
mal vector n and the quasi-normal vector nq. Moreover, one
curve. Then the Frenet vectors of a unit speed curve (α) can can see the relation between Frenet frame and directional
be obtained by , and q -frame
Sigma J Eng Nat Sci, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 1013−1018, October, 2023 1015

(4)
(5)

[8, 9].

Spinors
where λ, μ ∈ C “−” denotes the complex conjugate, “ ”
t
Geometrically, spinors are introduced by Cartan [4] as
denotes the transpose, and “ˆ” denotes the mate [7].
follows. One considers the vector x = (x1,x2,x3) ∈ C3 is an
Moreover, in [7], the spinor equation of a unit speed
isotropic vector. So, . The set of isotropic
curve was given as follows. Let α : I → E3, (I ⊆ R) be a curve
vectors in the vector space C3 forms a two-dimensional
parameterized by arc-length. Namely, ||α'(s)|| = 1 and s is
surface in the space C2. Let this two-dimensional sur-
the arc-length parameter of the curve (α). In addition, the
face be parameterized by the coordinates ξ1 and ξ2 where
triad {n,b,t} is considered as the Frenet frame of this curve
, , x3= −2ξ1,ξ2. The two vectors
and the spinor ξ corresponds to this Frenet frame of (α).
(ξ1,ξ2) and (−ξ1, −ξ2) in the space C2 represent an isotropic Similar to the orthogonal triad {a,b,c}, the Frenet frame
vector in the complex vector space C3. On the contrary, the {n,b,t} can be represented by a spinor ϕ as follows;
same isotropic vector x corresponds to both of these vectors
in space C2. Thus, the two-dimensional complex vector ξ
= (ξ1,ξ2) described in this way is called spinor and can be
(6)
shown by the column matrix

where [7]. Thus, one can give the following

theorem.
Theorem 2.2 Let the spinor ϕ be represented the Frenet
Moreover, Cartan expressed that the spinors are two-di- frame {n, b, t} of the unit speed curve (α). So, the Frenet
mensional complex vectors and represent three-dimen- frame of this curve is characterized by a single spinor equa-
sional complex isotropic vectors [4]. Afterwards, Torres del tion as
Castillo and Barrales [7] said that the isotropic vector a + ib
can be represented by the spinor ξ = (ξ1,ξ2) where a, b ∈ R3.
Moreover, if one considers the matrices

where κ and τ are the curvature and torsion of the curve

(α), respectively [7].

by the help of Pauli matrices, then the spinor equations MAIN THEOREMS AND PROOFS
of the vector triad a, b, c can be written a + ib = ξtσξ , c
= −ξtσξ where a + ib is the isotropic vector in the space C3 In this section, the spinor representation of the direc-
tional q -frame is given. Let α : I ⊆ R→ E3 be a regular and
and c ∈ R3. Here, the mate ξ of the spinor ξ is [7]. unit speed curve and the directional q -frame of this curve
be {nq, bq, t}. Moreover, we consider that the spinor γ corre-
So, one can see that the vectors a, b and c have the same sponds to this directional q -frame. So, similar to the equa-
length and these vectors are mutu- tion (2.6), we can write the spinor equation of this frame
ally orthogonal. Spinors are needed if it is desired to code
basic information about the topology of the rotations group
since this rotation group is not simply connected. Thus, the (7)
spin group has two elements that representing it for each
rotation. The relation between orthogonal basis and spin-
t
ors mentioned above is two to one. That is to say that the where nq + ibq ∈ C3 is an isotropic vector, t ∈ R3, “ ” is
spinors ξ and −ξ represent the same orthogonal basis {a,b,c} the transpose, and “ˆ” is the mate. In addition to that, since
with axb,c . It should also be emphasized here that the tri- the directional q -frame is an orthonormal frame, .
ads {a,b,c}, {b,c,a} and {c,a,b} correspond to different spin- Now, we write the directional q -curvatures in terms of a
ors [7]. So, the following proposition can be given. single spinor equation as follows.
Proposition 2.1 Let ξ and ϕ be two arbitrary spinors. So, Theorem 3.1 Let us consider that the spinor γ corre-
the following statements are held; sponds to the directional q -frame of the unit speed curve
1016 Sigma J Eng Nat Sci, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 1013−1018, October, 2023

(α). So, the derivative of the spinor γ can be written in terms

of the q -curvatures as follows

and finally

where {k1, k2, k3} corresponds to the q -curvatures of the

curve (α) and is the mate of spinor γ, respectively.
Proof. Let γ be a spinor corresponding to the directional
q -frame of the unit speed curve (α). So, if the derivative of Now, we write the spinor equations of the quasi-normal
the second equation of (7) with respect to the arc-length vector nq and quasi-binormal vector bq of the isotropic vec-
tor nq + ibq. So, the following conclusion can be given as a
parameter s is considered, then one can obtain
result of equation (7).
Conclusion 3.3 Let γ be a spinor corresponding to the
directional q -frame of a unit speed curve (α). So, the qua-
si-normal vector nq, quasi-binormal vector bq in the isotro-
pic vector nq + ibq, and the tangent vector t are written by
On the other hand, if the reference [7] is taken into
consideration, we can say that is a basis for space of
spinors with two complex components. In this case, there

are two complex functions f and g that provide the equation

So, if these last two expressions are used,

we can write

where , “−” is the complex conjugate,

with the help of the equations (2) and (5). Thus, we t
and “ ” denotes the transpose.
obtain and then Theorem 3.4 (Main Theorem) Let α : I ⊆ R→ E3 be
a unit speed curve and the Frenet frame and directional q
-frame of this curve be {n, b, t} and {nq, bq, t}. Moreover, the
spinors ϕ and γ correspond to the Frenet frame and direc-
tional q -frame of this curve, respectively. So, the relation
between these spinors is
Now, we consider the Frenet curvatures of the
same curve α. Thus, with the help of equation (3), the fol- (8)
lowing conclusion can be obtained.
Conclusion 3.2 Let γ be a spinor corresponding to the where θ is the Euclidean angle between the principal
directional q -frame {nq, bq, t} of the unit speed curve (α). normal vector n and the quasi-normal vector nq, and “ ”
t

So, the q -frame of this curve is characterized by a single denotes the transpose.
spinor equation with the help of the Frenet curvatures Proof. Suppose that the spinors γ and ϕ corresponds to
of the same curve as the frames {nq, bq, t} and {n, b, t}. So, from the equation (4),
we know that

Proof. Consider that the spinor γ corresponds to the

directional q -frame {nq, bq, t}, {k1, k2, k3} and are the
directional q -curvatures and the Frenet curvatures of the
curve (α), respectively. So, we know that the relationship Then, if we use the equations (6) and (7), we have
between these curvatures is given by equation (3). Thus, if
we use the equation (3), we have
Sigma J Eng Nat Sci, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 1013−1018, October, 2023 1017

In the light of Theorem 3.4, the following theorem

related to the relation between the spinors γ and ϕ can be
given.
Theorem 3.5 Let {n, b, t} and {nq, bq, t} be the Frenet
frame and directional q -frame of a unit speed curve α :
I ⊆ R→ E3, ϕ and γ be the spinors corresponding to these
frames, respectively. Then, the spinor γ is written in terms
of the spinor ϕ as
Moreover, these spinors εx, εy, εz correspond to the first
columns of the Pauli matrices

where θ is the Euclidean angle between the principal

normal vector n and the quasi-normal vector nq.
Proof. Assume that θ and γ be denote spinors corre-
sponding to the Frenet frame and directional q -frame. So, Let us examine these three situations separately. From
from the equations (6), (7), and (8), we obtain equation (2.1), we know that .

Conclusion 3.7 Let α : I ⊆ R→ E3 be a unit speed curve

and the directional q -frame of this curve be {nq, bq, t}.
Moreover, the spinor corresponds to the q -frame
of this curve where C, and “−” is the complex con-
jugate. So, the following situations are valid.
It is known from Section 2.1 that the spinors γ (or ϕ) i) For So, the real
and − γ (or −ϕ) correspond to the same ordered orthonor- part of the spinor equation is zero.
mal basis. So, we can write
ii) For Thus, the
imaginary part of the spinor equation is zero.
Namely, R
So, we obtain
iii) For Thus, the real part of
the spinor equation γ1γ2 is zero.

Thus, the proof is completed. CONCLUSION

Thus, the following geometric interpretation can be Spinors are frequently used in physics, quantum physics
given as a result of Theorem 3.5. of fermions, general relativity, and abstract areas of algebra
and geometry. According to physicists, spinors are very lin-
Conclusion 3.6 Let the spinors ϕ and γ correspond to
ear transformations. Thanks to these properties, spinors are
the Frenet frame and directional q -frame of the curve α : somehow mathematical entities like tensors, allowing the
I → E3, respectively. If θ is the angle between the normal concept of invariance under rotation and Lorentz boosts
vector n and the quasi-normal vector nq, then the angle to be considered in a more general way. In this paper, we
have approached spinors from a geometric perspective and
between the spinors ϕ and γ is .
considered spinors as two-dimensional vectors in the com-
We know that the vector k is a projection vector that plex plane. Regardless of a specific application in geometry,
can be chosen as kx = (1,0,0), ky = (0,1,0) or kz = (0,0,1). If the most crucial feature of spinors is their behavior under
we consider Vivarelli’s study [21], we can write the spinor rotations. That is, when a vector or tensor object rotates
by a certain angle, a spinor corresponding to this object
representation of the projection vector k. We consider the
rotates half that angle. Therefore, for this object to return to
spinors εx, εy, εz corresponding to the projection vector k its original position, the spinor must rotate two full turns.
(kx, ky, kz) as follows Starting from this, geometric interpretations of the angle
1018 Sigma J Eng Nat Sci, Vol. 41, No. 5, pp. 1013−1018, October, 2023

between these spinors have been made by corresponding [7] Torres del Castillo GFT, Barrales GS. Spinor formu-
one spinor each to the Frenet frame and the directional lation of the differential geometry of curves. Rev
q-frame in three-dimensional Euclidean space. Therefore, Colombiana Mat 2004;38:27−34.
in this study, it is thought that by using spinors, a new per- [8] Dede M, Ekici C, Görgülü A. Directional q-frame
spective will be gained in the fields of physics, algebra, and along a space curve. IJARCSSE 2015;5:775−780.
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hyperbolic spinors corresponding to the alternative
Authors equally contributed to this work. frame. Adv Appl Clifford Algebr 2015;25:799−810.
[CrossRef]

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT [11] Erişir T. On spinor construction of Bertrand curves.

AIMS Math 2021;6:3583−3591. [CrossRef]
The authors confirm that the data that supports the [12] Hestenes D. Real spinor fields. J Math Phys.
findings of this study are available within the article. Raw 1967;8:798−808. [CrossRef]
data that support the finding of this study are available from [13] Erişir T, Kardağ NC. Spinor representations of invo-
the corresponding author, upon reasonable request. lute evolute curves in 3D. Fundam J Math Appl
2019;2:148−155. [CrossRef]
CONFLICT OF INTEREST [14] Hacisalihoglu HH. Differential Geometry. Ankara:
Ankara University Press; 1996.
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest
[15] Hestenes D, Sobczyk G, Marsh JS. Clifford algebra
with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication
to geometric calculus: A unified language for mathe-
of this article.
matics and physics. Am J Phys 1984;53:510. [CrossRef]
[16] Ketenci Z, Erisir T, Güngör MA. A construction
ETHICS of hyperbolic spinors according to Frenet frame
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There are no ethical issues with the publication of this
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[17] Kişi I, Tosun M. Spinor Darboux equations of curves
in Euclidean 3-space. Math Morav 2015;19:87−93.
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