Euler PDF
Euler PDF
Euler PDF
1 Rotations
Consider two right-handed systems of coordi-
nates, XY Z and x1 x2 x3 , rotated arbitrarily Z
with respect to one another (see Fig. →). We
would like to be able to link easily the coor- x3
~ in the two frames of x2
dinates of any vector A
A
reference. Let ~eX , ~eY , ~eZ be the unit vectors A
for the axes of the first system, and ~e1 , ~e2 , ~e3 Y
the unit vectors for the axes of the second
system. Then, by definition:
~ = AX ~eX + AY ~eY + AZ ~eZ
A
X x1
and ~
Fig 1. Projection of the same vector A onto two different right-
~ = A1~e1 + A2~e2 + A3~e3
A handed systems of coordinates.
Then, we can express one set of projections in terms of the other one:
~ = (~e1 · ~eX )AX + (~e1 · ~eY )AY + (~e1 · ~eZ )AZ
A1 = ~e1 · A
~ = (~e2 · ~eX )AX + (~e2 · ~eY )AY + (~e2 · ~eZ )AZ
A2 = ~e1 · A
~ = (~e3 · ~eX )AX + (~e3 · ~eY )AY + (~e3 · ~eZ )AZ
A3 = ~e1 · A
or, in matrix form:
A1 ~e1 · ~eX ~e1 · ~eY ~e1 · ~eZ AX
A2 = ~
e2 · ~eX ~e2 · ~eY ~e2 · ~eZ · AY
(1)
A3 ~e3 · ~eX ~e3 · ~eY ~e3 · ~eZ AZ
Let us analyze the elements of the 3 × 3 matrix. By definition ~e1 · ~eX = cos φ1X , where φ1X is the
angle between the two unit vectors ~e1 and ~eX . Similarly, all other elements of this matrix depend
only on the various angles between various sets of axes, but are independent of the projected vector
~ It follows that for any other vector B,
A. ~ we will have automatically:
B1 ~e1 · ~eX ~e1 · ~eY ~e1 · ~eZ BX
B2 = ~
e2 · ~eX ~e2 · ~eY ~e2 · ~eZ
· BY
B3 ~e3 · ~eX ~e3 · ~eY ~e3 · ~eZ BZ
In other words, if we know the 3 × 3 matrix, then we can find the components of any vector in one
of the systems, if we know them in the other.
Before continuing, let us introduce some simpler notation. We will denote
A1 AX ~e1 · ~eX ~e1 · ~eY ~e1 · ~eZ
~ body ,
A2 = A
~ XY Z
AY = A and R̂ = e2 · ~eX ~e2 · ~eY ~e2 · ~eZ
~
A3 AZ ~e3 · ~eX ~e3 · ~eY ~e3 · ~eZ
~ body = R̂ · A
and therefore we have A ~ XY Z . It then follows that:
~ XY Z = R̂−1 · A
A ~ body
1
where R̂−1 is the inverse of matrix R̂, and it should be clear that its matrix elements are:
~eX · ~e1 ~eX · ~e2 ~eX · ~e3
R̂−1 = ~eY · ~e1 ~eY · ~e2 ~eY · ~e3
~eZ · ~e1 ~eZ · ~e3 ~eZ · ~e3
If it’s not clear, then derive them and check!
We can see that the matrix R̂−1 is just the transpose of matrix R̂ ( by definition, M is the transpose
of N , i.e. M = N T , if mij = nji for all i, j). This property is a consequence of the invariance of the
length of any vector under rotations. If we denote:
³ ´ ³ ´
~ Tbody =
A A1 A2 A3 ; ~ TXY Z =
A AX AY AZ
then
~2=A
|A| ~·A
~ = AX AX + AY AY + AZ AZ = A ~ XY Z = A
~ TXY Z · A ~ body
~ Tbody · A
(the vector has the same length in any system of coordinates). But A ~ body = R̂ · A
~ XY Z → A
~ Tbody =
~ TXY Z · R̂T (this last property can be checked easily using the definition of the transposed matrix),
A
and therefore:
³ ´³ ´ ³ ´
~ Tbody · A
A ~ TXY Z · R̂T
~ body = A ~ XY Z = A
R̂ · A ~ XY Z
~ TXY Z R̂T · R̂ A
2
The inverse matrix is then:
cos φ − sin φ 0
−1 T
R̂3 (φ) = R̂3 (φ) = sin φ cos φ 0 = R̂3 (−φ)
0 0 1
This makes perfect sense as well; if system 123 is rotated with +φ with respect to system XY Z,
then system XY Z is rotated with −φ with respect to 123. As a result, the rotation matrices should
have the same form with φ → −φ, and that is precisely what we found.
In the same way, we can write down the matrices for rotations about any other axis. For instance,
if OX and 0x1 are kept parallel and we perform a rotation by an angle θ about them, we find
1 0 0
0
R̂1 (θ) = cos θ sin θ
0 − sin θ cos θ
We can now use the fact that any general 3D rotation can be decomposed into a product of 3
rotations about 3 different axes, to find the form of a general rotation matrix.
3 Euler’s angles
We characterize a general orientation of the “body” system x1 x2 x3 with respect to the inertial system
XY Z in terms of the following 3 rotations:
1. rotation by angle φ about the Zaxis;
2. rotation by angle θ about the new x′1 axis, which we will call the line of nodes ;
3. rotation by angle ψ about the new x3 axis.
These rotations are illustrated in the following figure:
Z 3’
2
2" 2"
3 θ 3 ψ
2’ θ 2’
φ
Y 1
ψ
φ
X 1’ 1’ 1’
~ body with A
We can now write the general rotation matrix that links A ~ XY Z as the product of the
3 rotations about the corresponding axes:
cos ψ sin ψ 0 1 0 0 cos φ sin φ 0
R̂(φ, θ, ψ) = R̂3 (ψ)·R̂1 (θ)·R̂3 (φ) =
− sin ψ cos ψ 0 ·
0 cos θ sin θ ·
− sin φ cos φ 0
0 0 1 0 − sin θ cos θ 0 0 1
3
leading to the rather ugly general formula:
cos ψ cos φ − cos θ sin ψ sin φ − sin ψ cos φ − cos θ sin φ cos ψ sin θ sin φ
cos ψ sin φ + cos θ cos φ sin ψ − sin φ sin ψ + cos θ cos φ cos ψ − sin θ cos φ
R̂(φ, θ, ψ) =
sin θ sin ψ sin θ cos ψ cos θ
Fortunately, we will never need to use this matrix. All we really need is to be able to write the
components of the angular velocity Ω ~ in both systems of coordinates. Since Ω~ describes precisely
how fast the angles vary in time, we have:
~ ~ ~
~ = dφ + dθ + dΨ = φ̇~eZ + θ̇~e1′ + ψ̇~e3
Ω
dt dt dt
since the three rotations are about these particular axes.
~
Let us analyze each contribution to Ω.
˙~
1. φ = ~eZ φ̇ (with respect to XY Z system). Following the rotations, we find that with respect to
123 system, we have:
~eZ = cos θ~e3 + sin θ~e2′′ = cos θ~e3 + sin θ(sin ψ~e1 + cos ψ~e2 )
and therefore:
~˙ = sin θ sin ψ φ̇~e1 + sin θ cos ψ φ̇~e2 + cos θφ̇~e3
φ
˙
2. θ~ = ~e1′ θ̇ = θ̇(cos φ~eX + sin φ~eY ) (with respect to XY Z), whereas
˙
~e1′ = cos ψ~e1 − sin ψ~e2 → θ~ = cos ψ θ̇~e1 − sin ψ θ̇~e2
with respect to 123.
~˙ = ~e3 ψ̇ (with respect to 123), whereas
3. ψ
~e3 = cos θ~e3′ − sin θ~e2′ = cos θ~eZ − sin θ(− sin φ~eX + cos φ~eY ) →
4
where Ω1 = sin θ sin ψ φ̇ + cos ψ θ̇ , etc [see Eq. (2)].
For an asymmetric top, the general formula is rather complicated, and we will not use it. For a
symmetric top with I1 = I2 6= I3 , if you put the expressions for Ω1 , Ω2 and Ω3 in and simplify a bit,
you find:
1 I1 ³ 2 ´ I3 ³ ´2
L = M V~CM 2
+ θ̇ + φ̇2 sin2 θ + ~ CM , φ, θ, ψ)
ψ̇ + φ̇ cos θ − U (R
2 2 2
This is our Lagrangian in terms of our 6 generalized coordinates, namely R ~ CM , θ, φ, ψ.