1967/02/01 by Roger Penrose · 622 citations
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Algebra over a field #Algebraic and Geometric Analysis #Covariant transformation #Mathematical physics #Mathematics #Minkowski space #Pure mathematics #Quantum and Classical Electrodynamics #Relativity and Gravitational Theory #Spinor #Twistor space #Twistor theory
paper · doi:10.1063/1.1705200
published in Journal of Mathematical Physics 8(2), 345-366 (American Institute of Physics)
openalex publication_date 1967/02/01 · openalex created_date 2022/05/12 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
A new type of algebra for Minkowski space-time is described, in terms of which it is possible to express any conformally covariant or Poincaré covariant operation. The elements of the algebra (twistors) are combined according to tensor-type rules, but they differ from tensors or spinors in that they describe locational properties in addition to directional ones. The representation of a null line by a pair of two-component spinors, one of which defines the direction of the line and the other, its moment about the origin, gives the simplest type of twistor, with four complex components. The rules for generating other types of twistor are then determined by the geometry. One-index twistors define a four-dimensional, four-valued (``spinor'') representation of the (restricted) conformal group. For the Poincaré group a skew-symmetric metric twistor is introduced. Twistor space defines a complex projective three-space C, which gives an alternative picture equivalent to the Minkowski space-time M (which must be completed by a null cone at infinity). Points in C represent null lines or ``complexified'' null lines in M; lines in C represent real or complex points in M (so M, when complexified, is the Klein representation of C. Conformal transformations of M, including space and time reversals (and complex conjugation) are discussed in detail in twistor terms. A theorem of Kerr is described which shows that the complex analytic surfaces in C define the shear-free null congruences in the real space M. Twistors are used to derive new theorems about the real geometry of M. The general twistor description of physical fields is left to a later paper.