ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Quaternionic analysis

So you know how numbers are awesome? They help us count things and do math problems. But did you know that there is a special kind of number called a quaternion that can actually help us understand how objects move and spin in 3D spaces?

Basically, quaternions are like a mix between regular numbers and complex numbers (you know, the ones with i that represent the square root of negative 1). They have four parts instead of just two: a real number part and three imaginary parts. But instead of using i for the imaginary parts, we use j, k, and l.

Now, the cool thing about quaternions is that we can use them to represent rotations and other movements in 3D space. This is because when we multiply quaternions together, we can combine their rotations to create a new one. It's kind of like putting together puzzle pieces to make a bigger picture.

Quaternionic analysis is the study of how quaternions can be used to understand these movements in 3D space. It helps mathematicians and scientists in fields like physics and computer animation to better understand how objects move and interact in the world around us.

So, in summary, quaternions are a type of number with four parts that can help us understand rotations and movements in 3D space, and quaternionic analysis is the study of how we can use them to do this.
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