Is there any advantage to represent 3D rotations in $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ rather than $\mathrm{SO}(3)$?

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If I want to solve an optimization problem and search for a rotation matrix, is there any advantage to represent the rotation matrix variable in $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ rather than $\mathrm{SO}(3)$?

Any intuitive explanation would be highly appreciated.