Questions about the conformal model of GA

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The vectors $a$,$b$, and $e$ are null vectors in the GA generated by $R^{n+1,1}$ such that $a.e=b.e=1$ where $e$ is the vector representing a point at infinity. We are told that $a$ and $b$ (and indeed all null vectors) can represent points of an n-dimensional Euclidean space, with $a.b$ being proportional to the square of the Euclidean distance between $a$ and $b$: $(a-b)^2=-2a.b$.

The points $x$ which lie on the line $A$ that passes through $a$ and $b$ and extends to infinity must satisfy $x\wedge a \wedge b \wedge e=0$.

Hestenes (p.3) then makes a couple of claims that I don't quite follow.

  1. The tangent vector $n$ for the line $A$ is $n\equiv (a\wedge b).e = a-b$. Why is this true?

  2. The length of line $A$ is given by $A^2=(a\wedge b \wedge e)^2=[(a\wedge b).e]^2=n^2$. Why is the equality in the middle true?

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You can use the BAC-CAB rule to evaluate the first formula. For any three vectors $u, v, w$:

$$(u \wedge v) \cdot w = u (v \cdot w) - v (u \cdot w)$$

Since $a \cdot e = b \cdot e = 1$, this quickly evaluates to $a - b$.

For the second part, use grade projection. In particular, remember that $a, b,e$ are all null, so you get

$$\langle abeeba \rangle_0 = 0$$

On the one hand, but using associativity, you can write the product in terms of vector and trivector parts:

$$\langle abeeba \rangle_0 = -(\langle abe \rangle_3 )^2 + (\langle abe \rangle_1)^2$$

The minus sign follows from the reverse of a 3-vector being its negative.

It's easy to get that $\langle abe\rangle_3 = a \wedge b \wedge e$, but the vector part requires a little more thought:

$$\langle abe \rangle_1 = (a \wedge b) \cdot e + (a \cdot b) e = a - b + (a \cdot b) e = n + (a \cdot b) e$$

Now, square it to get

$$n^2 + 2 (n \cdot e)(a \cdot b) + (a \cdot b)e^2$$

But $n = a - b$ and $(a -b) \cdot e = 0$. Similarly, $e^2 = 0$, so the result follows.